**** virginia

[Asher]

Calgary's "metro" area does not exist outside of wikipedia. It's not a real concept.

People who live in Calgary's "metro" area do not live in Calgary:
- Their mailing address does not say Calgary
- They do not pay any taxes to Calgary
- They do not receive any services from Calgary
- They do note vote in Calgary elections

The stupid definition on wikipedia counts tiny farm enclaves well over an hour outside of the city. It's not a real metro area.

Further, only a complete ****** would include these unofficial, arbitrary "metro areas" when talking about a city proper.

As for the "farmboy hick" comment -- Calgary just elected a Muslim mayor named Naheed Nenshi.

How many US cities have shown such progressiveness?

[dannubis]

Never mind. Wrong place

[Al B. Sure!]

Calgary's "metro" area does not exist outside of wikipedia.

Asher, I understand that Calgary's metro area could be this vast farmland area. That would mean that my assumptions that your general area in Alberta is rural would be correct (and you are far more rural than anything I, as an East Coast American, have witnessed) but Calgary is the largest city in the province so obviously it is a good sized city. Yet, as the comparison of city-only densities showed, your city isn't dense at all, especially not by American standards and Philly is closer to Tokyo in density than to Calgary. By what I know, if I were to go to Calgary, I would think I'm in the suburbs. I'm obviously having some fun with the statistics but my basic point in a big gulf in our perceptions of what a city is still stands. Why join the 'Genius Clique' and call me a ******, though? That's uncalled for.

I'm much more interested in KH's math now, though.

[giblets]

Alby really knows how to hold a grudge.

[Asher]

Asher, I understand that Calgary's metro area could be this vast farmland area. That would mean that my assumptions that your general area in Alberta is rural would be correct

Your assumption was about the CITY. You said the CITY was rural.

Of course the farmland OUTSIDE OF THE CITY is rural.

Calgary is the largest city in the province so obviously it is a good sized city.

Third largest in the whole country.

By what I know, if I were to go to Calgary, I would think I'm in the suburbs. I'm obviously having some fun with the statistics but my basic point in a big gulf in our perceptions of what a city is still stands.

No, you are being retarded.

Your perception was Calgary was RURAL, now you are claiming it is SUBURBAN. I agree with the suburban characterization. The rural characterization is flat-out wrong.

[Al B. Sure!]

Your assumption was about the CITY. You said the CITY was rural.

Of course the farmland OUTSIDE OF THE CITY is rural.


Third largest in the whole country.


No, you are being retarded.

Your perception was Calgary was RURAL, now you are claiming it is SUBURBAN. I agree with the suburban characterization. The rural characterization is flat-out wrong.

The point is... suburban... rural... tomatoes tomatoes (wow that really doesn't make sense typed )... to a city boy like me, it's all the same.


I still want to know where 30% came from, though.

[Asher]

The point is... suburban... rural... tomatoes tomatoes (wow that really doesn't make sense typed )... to a city boy like me, it's all the same.

Rural and suburban are most certainly not the same. As you now obviously know.

This is why housing in Philly is very cheap. Apparently you have very terrible high schools.

People have to move to Virginia to have good high schools, apparently.

[Al B. Sure!]

Rural and suburban are most certainly not the same. As you now obviously know.

This is why housing in Philly is very cheap. Apparently you have very terrible high schools.

Well could you explain the property tax issue? Am I misunderstanding what 'assessed property tax' means because it was saying a $57K house has a $1600/year property tax. Is that right? How much are property taxes in Calgary? Do property taxes in Calgary fund the city's schools?

[DinoDoc]

How many US cities have shown such progressiveness?

Houston elected a lesbian mayor in 2009.

[Elok]

I live in a rural area. The nearest grocery store (or any store, for that matter) is about a ten-minute drive away. The "town" the grocery store is in might technically be called suburban, but that feels a bit pretentious. It's basically one central street with businesses and maybe a couple of blocks of houses in either direction.

I don't think any populated area that I've actually heard of could be characterized as "rural."

[KrazyHorse]

The point is... suburban... rural... tomatoes tomatoes (wow that really doesn't make sense typed )... to a city boy like me, it's all the same.


I still want to know where 30% came from, though.

I already explained, ******...

[Al B. Sure!]

KH must be off using the same math that enables Philly to be only 30% more dense than Calgary to make millions for Goldman Sachs.

I await his return and the explanation how Philly county being more than 3x as dense as Calgary city core becomes a 30% difference in density.

[Al B. Sure!]

I already explained, ******...

There's that word again... ******...

So where? I compared Philadelphia city-core county to Calgary's city-only... no Metro areas involved. Why isn't that good enough?

Now, maybe you want to count only a particular part of Calgary? Something to dissipate the issue of 'amalgamation' though Philly was also once smaller but amalgamated surrounding areas (Mt. Airy, Kensington, Northeast, Germantown, etc. into Philadelphia county; before Calgary was even built, though)? Do you have statistics I am not privy to? Would you like to share so I can crunch the numbers myself and get to the specific 30% value?

[Asher]

Well could you explain the property tax issue? Am I misunderstanding what 'assessed property tax' means because it was saying a $57K house has a $1600/year property tax. Is that right? How much are property taxes in Calgary? Do property taxes in Calgary fund the city's schools?

Calgary has fairly low property tax. About half of what Toronto's is...

Property Tax in Calgary is the sum of provincial and municipal taxes.

For a house in 2010, the combined tax rate is 0.0058734% * assessed value of the house.

A $300,000 house pays $1762 per year in property tax.

A $57,000 house pays $334 per year in property tax.

School systems in Alberta (and Ontario) are more complicated than yours. We have two separate public school systems: "Public" and "Protestant/Catholic". The "Protestant/Catholic" schools are where we segregate all of the less-intellectually-able people who think it's proper to learn about religion in school.

People choose which system to fund, based on their faith. In Alberta, if you're Catholic you must fund the Catholic system and your kids must attend Catholic schools unless you negotiate with both boards to transfer your kids. This is to prevent contamination of the public schools from the evil religious people.

As far as I know, schools are funded solely by provincial funding (so the 10% flat income tax we have in Alberta).

[Asher]

Houston elected a lesbian mayor in 2009.

Yeah, there's a surprise. Sexually repressed Texans enjoy watching lesbians.

Do you think it'd ever be possible for a Muslim mayor to be elected in Houston?