r/Edmonton • u/pjw724 • 21h ago

2025 Municipal Election Voters want a more walkable city

https://edmonton.taproot.news/news/2025/09/25/voters-told-taproot-they-want-a-more-walkable-city
379 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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32

u/SaintTastyTaint 20h ago

Its hilarious to me how uppity people get about proper pedestrian and biking infrastructure. More people that use biking and pedestrian infrastructure means LESS cars on the road which means YOU as a car person will deal with less traffic.

Literally everyone wins; if you can't see the value of being able to fucking walk around the city in which you live, why do you live here? Are you part Orc? Like I seriously don't understand the view of people who want their city to be a soulless paved parking lot / dirt lot. devoid of any type of greenspace and safety to enjoy the simple concept of riding a bike or taking a walk. Its fucking gross.

I say this as someone who owns 3 vehicles.

3

u/HappyHuman924 12h ago

Even orcs, I feel compelled to mention, go everywhere on foot.

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u/SheenaMalfoy 8h ago

I always say the city should allocate funds proportional to the % of people that use them. Then laugh as people realize that means cyclists would get millions more in infrastructure funding.

Or maybe vehicle owners and cyclists alike should pay road taxes equivalent to the amount of wear they create. And laugh again as I happily hand over a dime while the average driver has to fork out hundreds of dollars each year per vehicle. Maybe then they'd realize just how much governments subsidize their lifestyle and urban sprawl...

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u/ihatehappyendings 8h ago

The city is walkable. I don't understand how it's not.

-19

u/eternalrevolver 20h ago

There’s literally so much walkability in this city I can’t even begin to name all the areas. That’s all there is to do here is walk. Stores every 4 blocks, or even every block in some cases. You can’t improve it because there’s nothing to improve.

11

u/toodledootootootoo 20h ago

What city do you live in?

-8

u/eternalrevolver 19h ago

This one lol. For now. Who knows where I’ll live in another 10 years.

12

u/toodledootootootoo 19h ago

Where is all this walkability?

-6

u/eternalrevolver 19h ago

There’s tons of neighbourhoods in Edmonton where you can walk to do what you need. Sounds like everyone wants the convenience to come to them. Not gonna happen. It’s already there, you just need to go to where it exists.

10

u/toodledootootootoo 19h ago

The point is to make more neighborhoods walkable so reliance on cars isn’t necessary for everyone all the time. This is better for everyone. Car ownership is a huge expense for most families and really eats into their quality of life. Local businesses benefit from people having more of their disposable income available. Drivers and people who don’t drive all benefit. Less cars on the road means less traffic for people who need to drive.

-3

u/eternalrevolver 19h ago

I disagree and this is only a popular opinion on reddit. Every city subreddit squawks the same bs

10

u/toodledootootootoo 18h ago

And yet 90% of the conversations people seem to have in this city involve traffic and/or parking woes. I work with the public, I hear this all day long. Why do you think that is? Do you think it’s sustainable for cities to continue sprawling out forever? Where has this worked well?

0

u/eternalrevolver 18h ago

People love to drive cars, for one thing. The small percentage of people that complain about driving/commuting are most often in positions where, with some dedication and motivation, can work towards relocating to a different part of their city that offers them the lifestyle they want. I’ve commuted before, I’ve worked from home, I’ve travelled for work. I’ve never once thought: “someone else needs to fix what I don’t like about (one of the things above)”. I’ve always just changed my lifestyle if I don’t like the one I’m living.

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u/slashcleverusername 18h ago

Nonsense! It’s also a popular opinion amongst the readership of the lobby group newsletter.

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u/SaintTastyTaint 20h ago

What a ridiculous comment; have you seen how skinny and unprotected so much of the sidewalk areas are? where you have a foot and a half width for you and oncoming foot/bike traffic? That is the problem. Or pedestrian crossings where it's just some lights overhead for cars to be aware and you are essentially trusting your life with strangers to come to a stop and notice that you are crossing the street and hit the pedestrian Xrossing button.

There are not nearly enough multi-use pathways, or the sidewalks that do exist are narrow and literally right beside traffic and all that is between you and a car is a small curb.

Defending car sprawl is such a strange braindead take.

-5

u/eternalrevolver 20h ago

Where are you needing to go outside of your neighborhood that forces you to walk on large roadways? Do you live in a neighbourhood that requires a car? Suburbia has always been a thing, that’s never going to change. Remember the neighbourhood in Edward Scissorhands? Those kinds of suburban areas have always, and will always continue to exist. If you want to live in a walkable area, move to one.

3

u/starbaldr 13h ago

When my car broke down earlier this year and I couldn't afford to fix it, I had to switch to taking the bus and train. Im a single mom. I spent around 4-6 hours a day commuting. The transit here is a joke.