Edmonton has a pothole problem. A bad one. Don't believe me? Take a look at what commuters and pedestrians have to deal with on a daily basis:
Whoops! That's not Edmonton, but a scene from the Battle of Paschendale. My mistake. But trust me when I say this: we gots us some big ol' potholes. In fact , bitching about potholes has become one of Edmonton's most popular pastimes, surpassing "bitching about gas prices," "bitching about tax hikes" and lagging behind "bitching about rents." The situation has become so critical that the City is planning on sinking an additional $17 million into road repairs this year, lest streets suddenly swallow entire school buses.
That's all well and good, I suppose. I can't fault the city for trying to address its basic infrastructure needs, especially after years of neglect from the provincial government. But there's part of me that wonders that maybe, just maybe, if the city hadn't pursued a development policy that allowed it to spread across the prairie in all directions like a malignant tumour, if it didn't enable the construction of far flung subdivisions requiring intensive infrastructure development, if they had focused their efforts on infill development and lifted a finger to promote alternate forms of transportation (bikes, transit, your fucking feet you fat, lazy fuck), then this pothole thing wouldn't be nearly such a big deal. But that's Edmonton for you: no foresight, no big-picture thinking. So my message for today to Edmontonians who complain about potholes (but balk at the tax hikes necessary to pay for things like paving the roads) is this: get out of your goddamn car.
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