The State of the City

This week Mayor Stephen Mandel addressed "The State of the City," so I picked out some of the statements that I found most interesting:

• By 2011 Edmonton will be able to divert 90% of waste away from land fill (currently at 60% which is pretty good)
• 400,000 people are expected to move here in the next 25 years (meaning we could outpace the rest of north america). We experience 10 years worth of growth in just 5 years.
• Greater Edmonton’s economic growth rate reached 5.5 per cent or $2.1 billion in 2006. Edmonton’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP ) climbed to $42 billion – one of the largest increases in history, with projections of an additional 4.5 per cent, or a $1.9 billion jump in economic growth in 2007.
• Mayor Mandel thinks Edmontonians have a lot to be proud of in this city, but the government can’t be held responsible for caring for the city alone, residents should take better care of the city – don’t litter, clean up after yourselves, don’t vandalize etc. He’s got a point, I think if people here were more proud, we would care more about our surroundings and respect things more.

• Edmonton International Airport became the country’s fastest growing airport in 2006, handling more than five million passengers – a 15.5 per cent increase over 2005. A $200 million, five-year expansion of the airport has been announced, to include a new terminal concourse, a larger enhanced transborder area, additional parking stalls and a hotel.

• The northeast of Edmonton has 20,000 acres of undeveloped land, the mayor’s vision is that this space will be a mix of commercial, industrial, park space and residential areas created in a way that "connects people an minimizes car use
• A new neighbourhood is being developed east of downtown called The Quarters. It will be a walkable community with energy efficient design, lots of green space and high density development that will bring even more energy downtown. A green promenade will extend along 96 street from 104 avenue right down to Louise McKinney Park, linking the area to North America’s largest green space (the river valley)
• We’ll hear more about the potential for an arena downtown in early 2008 (after the Mayor gets reports from a bunch of committees)
• The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology announced a $750 million expansion plan that will make it the largest technical school in Canada and one of the largest in North America. Across the Saskatchewan River, the University of Alberta is being transformed by $1.7 billion of construction.
• For those of you who think Edmonton is a blue-collar town, 46% of Greater Edmonton residents have earned a post-secondary degree, diploma or certificate, making Edmonton one of the most educated workforces in North America.

You can read the full address here:

http://www.edmonton.ca/citygov/mayor/Speeches/state_of_city07.pdf

Or "The State of the City Report here:

http://www.edmonton.ca/citygov/mayor/Speeches/stateofthecity07_report.pdf