Blake: Fort McMurray Planning Its Core From Scratch

Councillor Whetham talked about this article at Monday night's Council Meeting. 

From a story in the Calgary Herald by Melissa Blake October 20, 2011

Panelists at a recent discussion on the future of Fort McMurray:

"One of our objectives for Fort McMurray is to have more families settle in the area.  According to our 2010 Municipal Census, about 25% of the residents in the region were temporary "flyin-fly-out" workers whose permanent homes were elsewhere.  We want to change that by demonstrating that Fort McMurray is a great place to settle and raise a family." said Ron Taylor speaking about Fort Mc Murray's plan to build a downtwon sustainable core.

He continued, "In one sense we are fortunate; we can plan our downtown from scratch and avoid much of the cost of urban renewal that other cities have faced in revitalizing their downtown cores.

Blake: Fort McMurray planning its core from scratch

“Downtowns are . . . about meeting growing demands for sustainable urban living,” said Keesmaat. “You are more likely to own one less car and walk to work if you live in an urban environment. You are more likely to have a smaller carbon footprint because you will live in a smaller space and use more public amenities.”

"That’s important to us here in Fort McMurray as we strive to become Canada’s most sustainable municipality." Keesmaat also said that downtown development is a key to the success of our city and our region.

To read the full article:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/Blake+Fort+McMurray+planning+core+from+scratch/5575780/story.html