Edmonton City Streets-don't be afraid to say something
I was SO unimpressed with my City yesterday. So muchso that I wrote them an email. The snow removers came thru our streets and moved all the snow from the road to right in front of our houses. There's no place for people to park and for those that have driven our streets before, you'll know that there's already not much space to drive. I'm putting the contents of my email to the City below, but wanted to encourage you all to remember that the governments are there to not only make thoughtful decisions for other, but listen to the voices of the peoples too. If you have something to say, don't be afraid to let your voice be heard.
(Ok, a bit corny in some ways...but I was pretty upset that we had to shovel snow for 2 hours just to park our car not in the middle of the street to get hit)
This is my email:
My husband and I came home yesterday from a 12 hour work day at our business to find both our parking spots in front of our home taken up by snow. Why is it that this snow has been pushed into the parking spots of the home owners? Where does the City expect those people to park? All the roads in our area are like this and in some places, there is barely (inches) enough room for other vehicles to drive by and get thru the roads. My husband and I spent 2 hours shovelling snow so that we could park our vehicles enough over as to not get hit by people driving by; and still there is at least a 3 foot gap from our vehicle to the curb that is occupied by snow. I phoned the City's 24 hour road number and was told that this snow will not be picked up and to shovel myself out. What does the City expect those with disabilities or health conditions to do? "Suck it up princess and shovel?" Our family moved to Edmonton just in the past year and a half after debating for a while between this city and Calgary. I'm aware that Edmonton is currently working ambitiously to promote and increase the growth of this City. There are a lot of great programs and initiatives coming from the City of Champions, however I find it hard to understand why a city in Alberta (with the weather the way it is) not planning ahead or learning from it's past to budget enough money in their budget to effectively and properly remove snow from their taxpayers' streets. This is unacceptable. If the City is entertaining the thought of continuing to raise it's taxes, and thinks that people will be drawn to move here, or for that matter, stay here - and be proud citizens and happy Edmontonians, they may be surprised. Please reply to this email and correct me if I'm wrong on any of these points. I would like to know the plans that Edmonton has for improving it's currently snow removal program.
Regards,
Victoria Hutchinson
Edmonton, Alberta