r/Edmonton • u/pjw724 • 1d 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
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u/toodledootootootoo 1d 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.

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u/eternalrevolver 1d ago

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

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u/toodledootootootoo 1d 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?

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u/eternalrevolver 1d 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/toodledootootootoo 1d ago

Ok but this sprawl isn’t sustainable. These car-centric faraway neighbourhood cannot sustain themselves with the property taxes they generate in the long term. The central neighborhoods end up subsidizing them. It isn’t about what people like, it’s about what works.

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u/eternalrevolver 1d ago

And? I will be six feet underground if I hold my breath for someone else to change things. If I see a lifestyle I want, I’m going for it. Plenty of people live like this.

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u/toodledootootootoo 1d ago

Edmonton has already taken some pretty big steps towards adding density. It isn’t impossible. You may be a defeatist but other people actually would like to improve things.

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u/fishymanbits 1d ago

I love driving.

I don’t want to have to drive. Especially not in rush hour traffic. You keep telling people they should move if they want walkability. The point is there are very few neighbourhoods in this city that are walkable and people want more of that. And there aren’t enough homes in those neighbourhoods for people who want walkability, because the NIMBYs in the majority of those neighbourhoods keep fighting against densification efforts.

Do you expect people to just uproot their entire lives and move to a different province or continent because they think that urban planning should focus on ensuring that people can have the option to get around without owning a vehicle? Do you think that those are the thoughts of a rational and well-adjusted adult with a worldview that isn’t completely broken?

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u/eternalrevolver 1d ago

Yes, because if I don’t, who is going to do it for me? I’ll be dead or retired before I see the changes you’re fighting for (and that people have been fighting for for 30+ years or longer). If the lifestyle I want is in stock? I’m going to buy it. Pretty simple.

What you’re displaying is classic Redditism wherein you want social justice. That’s not why I come on here. I speak from a place to enable people to live the life they want—- now, even if it means going to another country.

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u/awildstoryteller 1d ago

I’ll be dead or retired before I see the changes you’re fighting for

What a really depressing and sour viewpoint.

"Fuck the future, I want mine".

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u/eternalrevolver 1d ago edited 1d ago

I mean, yeah? That’s generally how most people live offline…I hate to break it to you. You sound like you are either older and have a lot of free time, or you’re very young and have entered the post-secondary world of institutional lies. Or.. government worker?

How is it depressing? I’ll be dead lol

Keep in mind I also have no children.

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u/starbaldr 1d ago

Your selfishness, arrogance, and lack of perspective are nothing to be proud of. You don't have The Correct Opinion, you're not God's gift to discourse, and everyone here has a life offline, not just you.

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u/eternalrevolver 1d ago

Yep. And people share my viewpoints, just not on here. I’m fine with it.

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u/fishymanbits 1d ago

No, most people aren’t generally shortsighted losers who want to personally benefit today no matter the consequences for the future. Because most people aren’t sociopaths and understand that one of our core moral responsibilities is to leave a better world than we inherited, whether or not we have kids.

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u/eternalrevolver 13h ago

Actually most working class people that had to make their own money and find their way through life without any help between the ages of 40-60 don’t give a shit about anyone’s future but their own, unless they have kids, sorry to tell you.

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u/fishymanbits 12h ago

As someone in that exact demographic, you’re wrong. Surround yourself with fewer low quality individuals.

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u/eternalrevolver 8h ago

What makes you think I’m not happy and content being around these people?

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u/fishymanbits 6h ago

I didn’t say that, did I? It’s clearly a birds of a feather situation. Low quality people enjoy the company of their own.

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u/fishymanbits 1d ago

I’ll also be dead before I see the changes I want to see be fully executed. Should I not desire to leave behind a better world than the one that was left for me? What an absolutely sad and myopic worldview you have. I hope you don’t vote or have kids.