Back in Edmonton`s horse-and-buggy days, you could probably reach the outskirts of town with a slingshot and frozen road apple.
Edmonton in 1892 was a svelte nine square kilometres. Then came the age of the internal combustion engine: asphalt, traffic lights, freeways, pump jockeys, eight-tracks, traffic helicopters, shock jocks, cassette players, self-serve gas, travel mugs and heated seats, CD players, hands-free cellular, GPS, satellite radio and a 30-minute commute to the `burbs, complete with toasty bum and a BlackBerry reminder to stop for milk.
0908CALG Second year of slippage for home builders
CALGARY - Rising labour and material costs as well as a continued cooling in the housing sector will rip into profits of Canadian home builders for a second consecutive year, according to a report Thursday from the Conference Board of Canada.
As demand for new-home construction weakens, profits this year are expected to dip three per cent, to $3.6 billion, from a year ago. This follows a 16.4-per-cent year-over-year plunge in 2007.
The Conference Board report says profits will drop another 6.6 per cent next year, to $3.3 billion, before an upswing from 2010 through 2012.
Airdrie resident Shauna Miller would trade in her commuter bus in an instant to hop on a train to Calgary.
But she doesn`t think a rail link between the two cities is coming any time soon, even if a new federal government delivers a national transit strategy.
"We`ve been hearing about it happening in Airdrie for the past 15 years," said 25-year-old Miller, a downtown Calgary insurance underwriter, as she waited for her 5:10 p.m. bus to take her home to Airdrie on Thursday.
0908ALTA Get set for $200 oil, says CIBC economist
The fundamentals for oil are enormously strong, outspoken analyst Jeff Rubin told international business leaders Thursday -- warning those fundamentals may in fact be too strong as high energy prices spark inflation globally and a reordering of the world economy.
Speaking to the Global Business Forum in Banff, Rubin also argued indicators show the underlying cause of the crisis gripping U.S. and world financial markets linked to the credit crunch -- weakening U.S. home prices -- is close to an end.
More subsidized housing is on the way for Calgary`s west side with council set to spend $1.8 million to buy land that will see the development of 75 affordable units. Council on Monday will debate plans to purchase the remainder of a parcel of land in the West Springs area near Old Banff Coach Rd. that will allow the city to build 75 multi-family units that will help deal with the city`s affordable housing crunch.
0908CALG Developer taking the high road on traffic jams
Earlier this week, a story "broke`` on the electronic media in Calgary that residents of the northwest neighbourhood of Evanston were having difficulty getting out of the community on their drive to work.
It was taking more than an hour to get onto Beddington Tr., which is being widened, from Panorama Rd., the main route out of Evanston, because, where the two roads meet, traffic is controlled by a three-way stop sign. The intersection was such a mess, the Calgary Police Service was called in to manually direct traffic.
0908ALTA Take a deep breath: Alberta`s got it good
Jeff Rubin has a simple message for Albertans worried about plunging oil prices: chill out.
In fact, the outspoken chief economist for CIBC World Markets is adamant that oil prices, which have slid from record highs of $147 US a barrel in mid-July to the low-$90s, are predestined to return to triple digit values -- perhaps even testing the $200 mark in a year or two.
0908EDTN Rice Howard Way`s TLC cleanup project expands
EDMONTON - A city initiative that aims to give the downtown core a little TLC received its official launch Friday.
The Total Look of Clean campaign began as a pilot project in late June.
Phase 1 of the program is to clean around Rice Howard Way. The plan is to expand the program into other downtown areas as well as high-profile areas such as Whyte Avenue.
0908ALTA Alberta optimism not blown away in turbulence
EDMONTON - One of the most turbulent months in financial history may be spreading fear on global markets, but Alberta companies still believe their business will grow in the fourth quarter, says a new survey.
Confidence in Alberta`s economy is waning from the peak of the boom, but it`s still solidly positive, said the ATB Financial Business Sentiments Index released Friday.
Given tumbling stocks, failing financial firms and softening oil prices, the slip isn`t surprising, said ATB Financial senior economist Todd Hirsch.
EDMONTON - Alberta`s privacy watchdog has ordered the Real Estate Council of Alberta to stop collecting and keeping some personal information from real estate agents.
A realtor complained to the Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner that she was required to provide a copy of her birth certificate as a condition of renewing her real estate licence, the commissioner`s office said Friday.
0908EDTN Nine new city schools set to open in 2010
Half of the 18 new schools being planned by the Alberta government will be built in Edmonton, six of them on the south side.
A multi-year, $634-million contract has been awarded to Babcock & Brown to build the schools in Calgary and Edmonton.
The plans call for three public kindergarten-to-Grade 9 schools on Edmonton`s north side - in the Carlton, Hollick-Kenyon and Lake District neighbourhoods.
The south side, meanwhile, is set to receive three Catholic schools - a kindergarten-to-Grade 6 in the Terwillegar Heights area and two kindergarten-to-Grade 9 schools in Rutherford East and the Hamptons.
It seems a long time ago that with much fanfare we celebrated the re-opening of Glenmore Trail where it passes under Elbow Drive. And no question once you drive east under the 14th Street S.W. confusion of ramps it is pretty plain sailing until you get way past Barlow Trail. But it is still a bit of a nightmare -- at any time of the day -- getting to 14th Street from the Crowchild Trail overpass.
Heading in that direction from the north, once across the usual bottleneck on Crowchild Bridge there are no other obstructions until curving over Glenmore Trail. It is difficult to climb over, and I see many motorists avoiding it altogether by driving straight into Lakeview and as if by magic doing an about turn somewhere to re-appear on a slipway onto Glenmore Trail.
0908ALTA Alberta steps to the fore on global energy stage
Alberta`s role on the energy stage will only continue to grow as it becomes the dominant supplier to the United States, a leading oil strategist said Friday.
Daniel Yergin, who heads Cambridge Energy Research Associates, told the Global Business Forum that Americans are woefully oblivious to Canada`s role as their lead energy supplier.
"Western Canada is now a key factor not only in the North American energy equation, but also in the global energy equation," he said.
A massive cash infusion for SAIT and a boost to the downtown presence for two other schools marked the highlights of a $425-million announcement by the province Friday.
The funding total, which could top half a billion dollars, will create 5,400 new post-secondary spaces in Calgary, Premier Ed Stelmach said.
Friday`s announcement also signalled the beginnings of a downtown space for the University of Calgary, but also a likely halt to plans for a formal urban campus in an East Village site that would have included the U of C.
The only Calgarians hoping to see more traffic these days are builders.
People are stalled in the gridlock of indecision, and with new show homes opening in every quadrant of the city and beyond, the residential construction industry is anxious to see people coming through the new show home parades, perhaps even to buy.
But there are signs the traffic light is turning from red -- and if not to green, at least to amber.
0908EDTN Construction pace declines to lowest level in 13 years
For 14 straight months, construction starts of single-detached housing have fallen in Edmonton, says a federal agency.
"This year`s production so far represents the lowest output of new single-detached homes since 1995 when only 1,411 were started," says senior market analyst Richard Goatcher of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. in Edmonton.
Work started in August on only 184 homes in the provincial capital, down nearly 74 per cent from the same month last year, says CMHC.
In the middle of the afternoon on a warm summer day, constables Gord Denison and Tania Simister pull their police van into an area known as the crack cul-de-sac.
The troublemakers scatter, while a few people laze around on a patch of grass.
Denison, an eight-year veteran of the Calgary Police Service, walks up to a man in the group. He talks to him for a few minutes, before pouring out a beer the man hid as Denison and his partner approached.
