Issue of Urban Sprawl in Regina

Issue of Urban Sprawl in Regina Ryan Boychuk Urban Issue of Urban Sprawl in Regina Introduction Urban Sprawl continues to be the trend of city growth in Canada. In the city of Regina, urban sprawl is a problem that needs to be addressed among the city planners. Negative effects of urban sprawl include, but are not limited to, increase in public expenditure, auto reliance, health, environment and social living. The purpose of this paper is to offer an empirical investigation of the factors proposed as generators of urban sprawl. The Auto Eccentric City Many believe as Salingaros (2006, p. 114) that, Sprawl exists only because it is an outgrowth of car activities. Thus, the focus here is on how auto reliance contributes to sprawl in Canada. Regina, like many other Canadian cities, is a very auto eccentric city. Sprawling communities are a major contributor to climate change and air pollution, in part because they require so much automotive transportation, which is heavily dependent on energy consumption from fossil fuels, the biggest source of greenhouse gases. Since 2005 Canadian vehicles have contributed to approximately 170Mt in C02 emissions. This number is due to the sheer amount of people in Canada that rely on vehicles to go virtually everywhere. According to data from the General Social Survey (GSS) on time use, the proportion of people aged 18 and over who went everywhere by car as either a driver or a passenger rose from 68% in 1992, to 70% in 1998 and then 74% in 2005. This rising trend in auto culture inadvertently cause s a push for more roads, more suburbs, successfully created more urban sprawl. As Regina continues to grow outwards and push for suburban development city plans are contributing to this ever growing traffic problem,. Not only is this detrimental to the environment but the lifestyle itself is unsustainable. The excessive use of fossil fuels in this auto reliant culture will eventually cause many irreversible problems in the future. The Increase of Public Expenditure The debate over the base tax proposal has revealed that Regina is a deeply divided city. The building industry, real estate interests, business organizations and people living in more expensive homes pushed the city council to impose a $400 base tax on residential property. The base tax would have shifted some of the burden of property taxation from those in the new suburban areas to homeowners who live in the older areas of Regina and have lower valued property. Low density development in outlying areas requires much higher expenditures on infrastructure and services, and this leads to reduced spending in the older city areas. Regina is following the pattern. Inner City Decline Christopher Leo of the University of Winnipeg has studied the problem of inner city decline and how the city is affected by this process. When a metropolitan area is divided into neighborhoods where poverty predominates and others were comfortable circumstances are the rule, it is inevitable that there will be a concentration of social problems in the poor areas. And where social problems predominate, lawlessness follows. Increasing crime and growing poverty lead to the decay of some downtown neighbourhoods. The neighbourhood profiles for Regina prepared by city staff using 1996 census figures highlight the effects of local urban sprawl development. For the city as a whole, household income averaged $45,000; for the central zone, it was only $29,000 and lower still in the Core and North Central areas. For the city as a whole, only 35% of homes were rented compared to 59% in the Central Zone and 71% in the Core area. Single parent families and Aboriginal people are much more likely to be found in the Central zone neighborhoods. To present date, little has been accomplished in combating this issue at hand. Gang violence has been a problem that the residents of North Central Regina have been constantly at arms with. According to a 2005 study done by the Criminal Intelligence Service Saskatchewan, there are approximately 500 gang members and associates operating out of Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert. Not only is the economic viability and safety of the community threatened, but also the residents are left feeling alienated. People living in these areas feel afraid to leave their houses, go to the park or even participate in community reinforcement activities. The NCCA is currently trying to get it’s funding to bring back the RAGS program and hopefully reduce gang violence in Regina. Rise of The Box Store James Howard Kunstler argues in The Geography of Nowhere that the box store is a form of corporate colonialism, going into distant places and strip-mining them culturally and economically†. Economist Tom Muellers studies found that 84% of Wal-Marts sales came from other businesses. For every two jobs created in a warehouse store, three are lost. They dont buy from local manufacturers or producers but larger national firms. Dairyland Foods, our prairie farmer-owned co-operative, recently sold out to Saputo Inc., a large private firm. Dairy farmers were told that if they did not get bigger and faster they would lose access to the national grocery retailers. The most widely-cited study of the box store phenomenon was done by Ken Stone. Ken was an economics professor at Iowa State University and he monitored the impact of Wal-Mart on Iowa between 1983 and 1993. The state lost 555 grocery stores, 298 hardware stores, 293 building suppliers, 269 clothing stores, 161 variety stores, 1 53 shoe stores, and 116 drug stores. A total of 7,326 businesses went under.10 It’s hard to see the positivity in light of this box store epidemic. This was a shocking number for me but taking a drive down victoria you can see this as an evident problem in regina. These stores do not only pose a threat economically but also culturally. Cities characters have been stripped as there unique local business have been outmatched. This in turn has created a very Dull homogenized atmosphere within Regina and cities in other areas of the world. The Effects on Health Sprawl affects us in surprising ways. It cuts into our precious free time and contributes to expanding our waistlines. A commuter who drives just one hour each day spends the equivalent of nine working weeks a year in a car. Researchers have found that people living in sprawling suburbs spend less time walking and weigh up to six pounds more than those living in pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. According to Ontario College of Family Physicians, there are five main health effects due to urban sprawl. These effects of urban sprawl are as follows, Commuting and driver stress, loss of natural environment, loss of social capital, loss of community and negative effects towards childhood development. †In these spread-out communities, homes are separated from schools, workplaces, stores and services, forcing people to drive virtually everywhere. More time driving means less time with family and friends, less time for oneself, and less time to engage in community activities. 1 Research shows that urban sprawl commuters spend 3 to 4 times more hours driving than individuals living in well-planned, dense communities.† 2 Those extra hours that we spend driving in cities such as Regina contribute to more back pain, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, asthma, headaches and stress. There is also research stating that traffic congestion also has adverse effects on ones blood pressure, mood frustration tolerance, illness frequency, work absences, job stability, and overall life satisfaction. Taking all this into account you can see that these additional stresses on our lives can contribute to depression, home abuse and many other damaging social problems prevalent in our society. â€Å"Thousands of pedestrians and drivers die every year in North America. The anguish and emotional scarring caused by the death of a loved one, permanent disabilities and related pain and suffering greatly impacts at every level of our social structure. 14% of traffic accident survivors have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 10 and 25% have psychiatric problems one year after an accident.† 2 Road rage is one example of mental health stress related to driving that has received considerable attention in recent years. Road rage is characterized by violent disputes between drivers that sometime causes serious injuries or even death; often road rage involves people who are not usually violent. The two primary causes for aggressive driving are being rushed or behind schedule, and increased congestion and traffic. Road rage also contributes to higher percentage of accidents as drivers tend to make poor decisions in a heightened mood. Walking or biking are not only healthier alternatives in terms of physique and stress relief but are also generally safer in biker friendly areas. Unfortunately, there is usually little emphasis on walking and biking services in car culture. Environmental Decline The environment that we live in affects our health in both negative and positive ways. Animals, plants, landscapes and wilderness all have a tremendous impact on human well-being, as humans are innately attracted to other living organisms. Positive effects of the natural environment have been documented and include improved social and cognitive functioning, and decreased violence.A study done in Chicago found that people who live in buildings surrounded by greenspace have a stronger sense of community, better relationships with neighbours and less heated domestic conflicts.1 Impact on Social aspects Research today is beginning to gather undeniable evidence that cons of Urban communities definitely outweigh the benefits. Over the past half-century, many writers have addressed the isolating effect of low-density suburban development. The use of vehicles does not encourage the same level of social interaction that could exist if residents met each other on the street (Katz and Bradley 1999). Suburban residents are also less likely to take on additional community responsibilities due to increased commuting times (Putnam 2000). Some writers have gone as far as suggesting that the most common interaction between neighbours in suburbia is through the blinking turn signals on their cars (Holtz Kay 1997). Simply put, low-density suburban developments do not foster the same level of social interaction as dense, walkable, neighbourhoods.2 Regina’s policies to Improve Infrastructure Green Field Development Urban sprawl and greenfield development share only one common trait they both occur on the outskirts of urban areas. Unlike urban sprawl, where there is little or no suburban planning, greenfield development is about efficient urban planning that aims to provide practical, affordable and sustainable living spaces for growing urban populations. The planning takes future growth and development into account as well as seeks to avoid the various infrastructure issues that plague existing urban areas. Regina is currently in a process to formulate the City’s Official Community Plan (OCP), which will shape the way future growth will unfold. The public consultation process, Design Regina, that accompanies the new plan is such a great idea. We all need to be involved in the conversation about the future of our city. Citizens, Community Developers, Builders and Public Officials all need to be engaged in this process. In 2013 The province of Saskatchewan approved the new Official communi ty plan, entitled design Regina and replaced the Regina Development Plan on December 2013. In this Plan they recognized the need for complete communities,thats is, communities that provide all necessary recreational, social and consumer need within close proximity to residential areas.6 â€Å"While the diversity of housing that has entered the market in the past few years has helped to improve housing choice based on location and housing preference, there is still a greater need for residential development in proximity to services and amenities to create complete communities. Similarly, the development of below market and affordable units in greenfield areas creates challenges due to a lack of nearby services resulting in increased transportation costs to meet a household’s everyday needs.† 3 Design Regina In the official city document for the cities future there seems to be many goals aiming towards greener, more pedestrian friendly cities. According to the document, we have have had improvement overall for affordable housing in Regina. They are also making strides to address the increasing homeless population. â€Å"The Cold Weather Strategy is a partnership program with the Ministry of Social Services and service providers to Regina’s homeless population, including shelters, emergency service agencies, the City, and health services. The purpose is to ensure services work together so no one is without a safe place to sleep on cold nights in Regina.† 3 There are also plans to increase housing diversity within the city to grant people more affordable housing that is still within city limits. With this plan we may see more development near inner city areas effectively breathing new life into otherwise stagnant areas. Works Cited 1 Kuo, F., and Sullivan, W., (2001). â€Å"Environment and Crime in the Inner City: Does Vegetation Reduce Crime?† Environ. Behav. 33, pp 343 – 367. 2 SPRAWL, U. Social Mental Health Ontario College of Family Physicians. 2013. http://ocfp.on.ca/docs/committee-documents/urban-sprawlvolume-4social-and-mental-health.pdf?sfvrsn=5> 3 Design Regina. 2011. 9 Apr. 2015 http://www.designregina.ca/> 4 Canadas Emissions Trends 2013. 2015. 9 Apr. 2015 https://www.ec.gc.ca/ges-ghg/985F05FB-4744-4269-8C1A-D443F8A86814/1001-Canadas%20Emissions%20Trends%202013_e.pdf> 5 GUIDE, ACS. Understanding Sprawl David Suzuki Foundation. 2010. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/publications/downloads/2003/Understanding_Sprawl.pdf> 6 Dont Confuse Greenfield Development with Urban Sprawl 2013. 9 Apr. 2015 http://reginahomebuilders.com/news/view/20> 7 Discourage Urban Sprawl David Suzuki Foundation. 2010. 9 Apr. 2015 http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/reduce-your-carbon-footprint/discourage-urban-sprawl/> 8 Causes and Effects of Urban Sprawl Conserve Energy Future. 2013. 9 Apr. 2015 http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-urban-sprawl.php> 9 Gang Culture in Regina and Saskatchewan | The Carillon. 2013. 9 Apr. 2015 http://www.carillonregina.com/gang-culture-in-regina-and-saskatchewan/> 10 Urban sprawl development in Regina, Canada and the 2005. 9 Apr. 2015 http://www.johnwarnock.ca/sprawldevelopment.html>

Research resources Essay

There are many resources that a student of accounting can refer to enrich his accounting knowledge and arm him/her with useful and practical experience in the accounting field. These materials are available both online and offline both subscribed and unsubscribed. These are online and offline libraries. Questia, an online library of books and journal available at http://www. questia. com/index. jsp, is a site that provides an opportunity to access books, journal and materials for all subjects and topics ranging from arts to science, and from arts to law. These materials are available to an individual upon subscription. They are accessed through the keying of the title or the required article or any phrase in that text. Athens and Amazon. com are other resources that contains rich informative and educative materials. The amazon. com, the site that allows access to useful textbooks and journals is available online at http://www. amazon. com/books-used-books-textbook/b? ie=UTF88node=283155. It is an online company that sells books. Athens is also available online at http://www. athens. ac. uk. Accounting information will be accessed by keying in the relevant topics. The Google scholar too will provide easy access to accounting materials on any trouble-some topic. There are also many textbooks and journals available in the library. New Vistas in Accounting – Vol 1, 2003, a book authored by D. G Prasuna is a textbook that provides a general outline on the major concepts in accounting and their usefulness on understanding the accounting practices and activities. Accountants handbook, volume 1, financial accounting and general topics, 11th edition, edited by D. R. Carmidiael (2007) among other scholars is a conglomeration of witty and remarkable tips on the basics of accounting, the standards an regulations as well the basics of reporting statement. Specific Sources In this research discussion Scofield Barbara (1994) in his article published by the national public accountant, titled:Full Disclosure of Interest Capitalization Decisions, he provides useful insights on the GAAPS standards on interest capitalization, shedding the light on the confusions arising from the requirements in the standards, their appropriateness and their shortcoming. This information is available online at http://www. allbusiness. com/accounting/436577-1html. The IASC foundation education website available at http://www. lasb. org/NR/rdon/yres/189CA297-4D7Epdf has a summary of the IAS regulations. In this case they were specifically touching on borrowing costs then definition and what they generally encompass. www. arthurconsulting. com/financialspecial6. htm, website by the Arthur consulting, Inc on financial analysis, gives useful tips on accounting for the impairment of long lived assets. It gives circumstance and events that are indicators that an asset has impairment as well as the criterion for impairment recognition. An international accounting journal by authors; Street D. L, Nicholas N. B, Gray S. J, titled: Assessing the Acceptability of International Accounting Standards in the U. S. An Empirical Study of the Materiality of U. S GAAP Reconciliations by Non-US companies complying with IASC standards (2000), from this page 22-63 gives a summary of GAAP standards in comparison with other international standards on accounting. It provides information that can help understand accounting standards and practices better. Domestic Accounting Standards,Iinternational Accounting Standards and the Predictability of Earnings (2001), an accounting research journal by Ashbough, Hollis, Pinces and Morton (2001) examines the variations of the various international standards and the accuracy associated with reporting using each standard. Ann Tarca (2004), in the Journal of International Financial Management and Accounting, article titled: International Convergence of Accounting Practices, Choosing between IAS and US GAAP. She samples different reporting by accountants using the different standards: GAPP and IAS and how specific firms prefer one standard over another. William Dorms (2003) in his book Finance and Accounting for Non Financial Managers. He provides all the basics you need to know. He provides an insightful outline of the basics in accounting in the different topics of intermediate accounting focusing especially on financial management and financial statement analysis. Essentials of Managerial Finance: Principle and Practice (1981). It is a large book of 807 pages authored by Steven E. Bolten and Robert Lawrence conn. It gives useful knowledge on the most troublesome on accounting. All the above source although not enough will arm a student with almost all information that he or she requires to gain basic knowledge on principles and practices of accounting. Recommendations A fresh student of intermediate accounting would need to take a glance at reading materials that provide information on the basics of accounting. This will arm him/her with information that will aid in understanding the basic concepts and accounting practices. These books and journals are available on the internet and in our library. Students will need to take detailed notes on these topics they find relevant to their studies. Having a look at the sample and published financial statements by the various firms and multinationals will give a practical hint on the application of this theoretical knowledge and affirm the need for accuracy and consistency in accounting. On specific cases for discussion, a student should ensure that they have conducted enough research for the specific topics. Keying in the title of these topics on the authoritative websites such as Google scholar and Questia will provide vital linkages to a wealth of sources and information. Many students at the introductory stage of accounting have come to me for assistance. I have assisted them by giving them the above information as well as demonstrating to them physically on how to search for information from our library as well as from the electronic journals and libraries. References Scofield Bartara, April 1st 1994. Full disclosure of interest capitalization decisions. The national public accountant. Pg. 1. Accessed on 21/08/07. Available online at http://www/allbusiness. com/accounting/436577. 1html IAS Borrowing Costs. Technical Summary. IASC foundation education. Accessed on 21/08/07. Available online at http://www. iasb. org. NR/rdonlyres/189CA297-4d7E-4826-80bc-3876874AS44/0/1as23pdf Financial analysis, 2002. Accounting for the impairment of long-lived assets. Arthur consulting group, Inc. Accessed on 21/08/07. Available online at http://www. arthurconsulting. com/financialspecial6. htm Ash Baugh, Hollis, Pincees, Morton, Dec. 2001. Domestic accounting standards, international accounting standards, and the predictability of earnings. Journals of accounting research. Blackwell publishing. Financial accounting standards board. Accessed on 21/08/07. Available online at http://www. fash. org.

By the River by Steven Herrick Essay

Steven Herrick’s work of â€Å"By the river† displays a bildungsroman novel in which harry goes on a journey through life, facing love and loss. Steven Herrick’s verse novel â€Å"By the River† is very successful in conveying the significant ideas about human nature. He uses key themes such as grief, environmental influence and coming of age to explore these ideas. To convey the themes Herrick uses multiple techniques such as imagery, repetition, personification and positive and negative influence throughout his text. Grief is a key theme throughout Herrick’s novel â€Å"By the River† highlighting the suffering and distress from losing a loved one. Herrick explores this theme through the death of Harry Hodby’s mother and his close friend Linda. The first element of grief depicted in the novel is shown through the quotes â€Å"we sit in the tender shade/leave him to share some time with our mother/his wife. Herrick uses collective nouns in this quote to convey the ownership of the mother that not only does it show her titles but also it shows the roles within their lives. Herrick then uses personification to describe the â€Å"tender shade† and how it has a positive connotation displaying his positive outlook on grief. A second element that is depicted throughout Herrick’s novel is shown in the quote â€Å"and dad/alone in the kitchen/stirring his tea/until it was cold in the cup† Herrick uses imagery in this quote to display the numbness in his life. By using the theme grief we clearly see the ideas about human nature and how they can have a positive and negative outlook on life. Steven Herrick explores the idea that environment can define who you are. Herrick uses imagery to show the impact of setting on Harry. He shows Harry’s confusion in the first poem â€Å"The Colour of My Town. † Harry shows us the effects the environment of the place he has grown up in has had on his identity. And example of this would be â€Å"after listening to all these ugly little voices, I want to run away†. Herrick personifies the voices creating the impression that the voices has an effect over Harry making it hard for him to chose certain decisions that would shape parts of his life. Also the use of depressive connotations like squashed and dead in â€Å"A dead snake, cane toads squash flat, nothing that lives, and nothing that shines†. Herrick uses this theme to create a sense of the environmental effect on Harry Hodby’s identity, and to show the significant ideas about human nature. Coming of age is another major theme throughout Herrick’s novel â€Å"By the River†. In this novel we see Harry go on a journey through childhood to adolescence experiencing various changes and pleasures of life in a country town. In the quote â€Å"I see clearly now/which part of me/is my dads/the part inside/the good part/the part that knows/Johnny Barlow/Linda/the ring/the white cross† Herrick uses a list method and lists multiple things to show how much Harry has taken in over time and realized what has actually happened throughout his journey. This shows his change from child to adolescence. Herrick uses the repetition of the word â€Å"part† to emphasise to his readers that Harry has finally found the part of him, which belongs to his dad. Coming of age is a very important theme in this novel and expresses very significant ideas about human nature. Herrick was very successful in conveying the key elements of human nature by expressing them through the themes, grief, environmental influence and coming of age. The poetic techniques Herrick used to explore these themes are clearly shown throughout his verse novel â€Å"By the River†. As an audience we watch Harry Hodby go from child to adolescence and observe the various changes of life in a country town.

Love, Friendship, Loyalty in William Shakespeares...

In William Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) attempt to explore themes of love, friendship and loyalty in his plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1600) and King Lear (1603-1606), there is distinct and constant portrayal of these themes classified of inconsistencies. It is crucial to understand that the historical context of Shakespeare’s writing is important in grasping a true understanding of the inconsistencies that exists in love, friendship and loyalty. Writing during the time of the renaissance, Shakespeare’s critical writing of such themes is of great importance in understanding the new socio-political framework of the early modern English times. Shakespeare therefore presents a new kind of paradigm for human relations unearthing past†¦show more content†¦Lear speaks; â€Å"Give me the map there. Know that we have divided in three our kingdom†¦ which of you shall we say doth loe us most,/ That our largest bounty may extend† (1.1). By divi ding his realm, Lear, Francis Barker argues, simultaneously â€Å"disarticulates the order of the family,† contravening those â€Å"necessary bonds of nature† that in a monarchy support â€Å"the political anatomy of the king’s body.† Body, family, land, ruler, and the corpus politicum so substantially interrelate and imply one another that, Barker argues, â€Å"It is with the same gesture of division that Lear fissures his kingdom, his family and his reason† (Traub 51). Identifiably, one may argue that the manner in which Lear opts to divide his kingdom among his three daughters is rather ridiculous and is vulnerable to fraud and dishonesty as we have come to see. Additionally, this was unacceptable to the standards of the Elizabethan society. In essence, to communicate the theme of love as it rests on the bribe of a division of the kingdom is a profession of how little regard there is of true expression of love and how love is able to be bought a nd not felt. Upon his request to have his daughters speak of how much they love him, his ‘fair’ Cordelia is observed as mere disappointment to Lear. She refuses to ‘heave my [her] heart into my [her] mouth† to acquire her dowry and engage in a marriage so superfluous andShow MoreRelatedElizabethan Era11072 Words   |  45 PagesElizabeth I (1558–1603) and is often considered to be a golden age in English history. It was an age considered to be the height of the English Renaissance, and saw the full flowering of English literature and English poetry. In Elizabethan theater, William Shakespeare, among others, composed and staged plays in a variety of settings that broke away from Englands past style of plays. It was an age of expansion and exploration abroad, while at home the Protestant Reformation was established and successfully