Comments on: The Great (Edmonton) Airport Debate

By: Graham

Graham — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:06:06 +0000

Rio??? Rio has a downtown airport that services only their biggest business partner. Sau Paulo. Check your facts. Edmonton has HUGE asset that virtually all cities around the world would love to have and we are pissing it away.

By: Graham

Graham — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:06:00 +0000

By: Mark Donovan

Mark Donovan — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:09:00 +0000

I’d love to see them build something like Montreal’s McGill student ghetto area. Stoic row houses with a small town feel in the heart of a big city – and also not allow chain restaurants… like a little Berkeley in the heart of Edmonton. Maybe some pedestrian streets and sidewalk cafes for the summer? Not likely in Edmonton, but one can hope. Here’s some links to see what I mean if you’ve never been there: http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/adams/monttour/mcgillarea.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Street_of_the_Ghetto_McGill,_Montreal_2005-08-30.jpg This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Party of One

Party of One — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:55:00 +0000

It’s not about thinking "Big", it’s about thinking "Better". If people are seriously concerned about a 25-40 minute ride to downtown Edmonton from the international, maybe they should get behind an extension of the LRT to the airport. Oh, but wait…that’s public transport and many of those advocating for the City Centre airport wouldn’t be caught dead in public transit. Too dirty, too smelly, too many actual people that they may actually have to interact with, or at least be in close proximaty to…Horrors! No, for many of them the issue is how much they have to pay for PRIVATE conveyance (cabs, mostly). Yeah, you CAN get to Paddington Station in 20 minutes from Heathrow…because they built the Victoria Line of the Underground out to it. But we don’t have the business or political leadership that will promote that sort of thing in Edmonton. This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Darryl Raymaker

Darryl Raymaker — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:17:00 +0000

I like the last anonymous. Edmontonians will regret having closed Edmonton Municipal Airport. Think Toronto Island, Chicago Midway, Milan’s Linate, all in the center or near downtown. Even Heathrow, where you can get downtown in 20 minutes to Paddington Station. Think big Edmontonians. You are throwing away one of the great advantages of your city for nothing but a few pieces of silver. This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:13:00 +0000

This is RIDICULOUS. There’s no way the city centre airport should be closed. This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Roman

Roman — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:54:00 +0000

Cities around the world – Singapore, Buenos Aires, Rio, Melbourne, Bangkok, even Vancouver – have airports a fair distance from the city centre. The Edmonton International is not unusual. This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:46:00 +0000

I think you are all going to be shocked at how much business Edmonton is about to lose. That airport does not service a few people. It services northern alberta, northern bc, northern saskatchewan, the Yukon and the Territories. That’s a lot of people that are going to fly the extra 45 to calgary instead of drive the extra 45 into the city. You may not agree but council has just given Calgary quite the boost. This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:26:00 +0000

Scott McKeen: Fifty years of airport rancour must end with decision to close it … in another fifty years. This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Party of One

Party of One — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:51:00 +0000

The problem with the "partial" closure is that the city has now limited the development opportunities in the new area. You’re NOT going to put residential buildings in such close proximity to the still operating runway, are you? And if you did, who would want to live there? Take a look at the old railway lands north of 104th Ave. THAT’s what you’re going to get by the Muni…and I remember when they built Oliver Square, someone (Scott McKeen?) said "the most redeeming feature of this project is that it can be bulldozed to make room for some more worthwhile development". One can only hope that the left-over airport comes to a quick end so that we don’t end up with another industrial park that people have to commute to from the suburbs… This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:32:00 +0000

You think AEG did a good job? They lost. Not only that, they got smoked. With respect, if I were Cal Nichols, I’d be thinking long and hard about spending any more money on GLG or AEG or whatever they re-incarnate themselves as next. Dave says they are 0 for 2, but their "trade missions" to Washington and Europe were, I’m reliably informed, badly organized. This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: AEG Fan

AEG Fan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:10:00 +0000

Thank you for acknowledging the work of the AEG. It was a learning experience for them and I think they did a good job. This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Darren

Darren — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:05:00 +0000

I’ve asked this before but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of info on the future of the Edmonton Indy in relation to the fate of the airport. Does this mean the Edmonton Indy is done? This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:54:00 +0000

I’ll take, but I say they get as far as building a strip mall, a small chunk of high-end townhouses and maybe a car dealership. Either way we both lose. This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:01:00 +0000

$100 dollars says this airport is never going anywhere. any takers? This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Gordon Radey

Gordon Radey — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:41:00 +0000

Great post. It was time to shut down the Muni and leave it in the past. A phased closure is the smart way to shut it down. Let’s look forward to the future now! This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:22:00 +0000

What an indecisive council we have. Two clear options, and what do they do? they create option 1.5. How embarassing. You know what is going to come out of all of this? Absolutely nothing. After the next election this issue will come up again and the decision will change, perhaps we’ll even get a pro-Airport mayor. Just wait until this issue really takes off. For those who think this issue is done with, I feel sorry for you, almost as sorry as I feel for the councillors who actually feel they made a real decision. All they’ve done is show their cowardice. for shame. There won’t be any green or sustainable development happening as long as the city councils motto is "let’s meet in the middle and piss everyone off". What a disgrace. My children will be dealing with this issue in 50 years. I’m finished with it. This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:16:00 +0000

Well said Dave. Great to see so many young activists working for what they believe to be the best long-term outcome for the city. This bodes well for our future. To relate back to your post yesterday, public policy debate somehow feels a lot more genuine absent all the partisan jousting and approved talking points. This comment was originally posted on daveberta.ca

By: Walter Schwabe

Walter Schwabe — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:54:38 +0000

Thank-you for your comments…

By: Walter Schwabe

Walter Schwabe — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:54:00 +0000

Thank-you for your comments…

By: D Brocks

D Brocks — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:02:26 +0000

The downtown airport services a privileged few and is supported a few special interest groups who make illogical arguments based on a 20-30 min cab drive from the International airport as being the main basis of their argument to maintain it. Reality check…almost every other major city in North America has the same distance for travel from their International Airports to downtown! I have been to probably 30-40 major cities in Canada and the US and can attest to the fact that this rationale for maintaining a second airport in a city of 1 million is absurd. Close it now. Unfortunately I doubt that the councilors in Edmonton have the common sense to go against logic or heaven forbid cross Cal Nichols and fellow over the hill councilor Ron Hayter, but one can only hope.

By: D Brocks

D Brocks — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:02:00 +0000

By: BradleyHugh

BradleyHugh — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:07:00 +0000

The Great Airport Debate is now live! http://tinyurl.com/GreatAirDebate #yeg #ecca Tune in and share your thoughts This comment was originally posted on Twitter

By: SaveECCA (SaveECCA)

SaveECCA (SaveECCA) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:33:20 +0000

AEG’s @dmac666 looking forward to talking airport with @mastermaq in “great airport debate.” http://tinyurl.com/nv8fuj #ecca #yeg

By: SaveECCA (SaveECCA)

SaveECCA (SaveECCA) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:33:00 +0000

AEG’s @dmac666 looking forward to talking airport with @mastermaq in “great airport debate.” http://tinyurl.com/nv8fuj #ecca #yeg

By: paulney

paulney — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:49:00 +0000

The Great (Edmonton) Airport Debate is going live tonight at 7:00pm. Check out details at http://tinyurl.com/GreatAirDebate #ecca #yeg This comment was originally posted on Twitter

By: SaveECCA

SaveECCA — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:33:00 +0000

AEG’s @dmac666 looking forward to talking airport with @mastermaq in “great airport debate.” http://tinyurl.com/nv8fuj #ecca #yeg This comment was originally posted on Twitter