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So - #yycbudget2021 talks are happening next week, and we’ve decided to make today “Hidden Costs Day”. Thread 1/
When it comes to budgets, it’s pretty common to talk about the direct costs of something… x $’s for an overpass, x $’s saved from such and such cut. But what about the hidden costs of those choices? 2/
We know that lower income communities have worse infrastructure and that more pedestrians are injured or killed in these areas. This infrastructure neglect comes at a cost - the loss of our citizens, greater healthcare needs, lost work days, childcare, and more. 3/
We know that when there are places to walk to and great paths to get there, people choose to walk more. But when our infrastructure looks like this… people are WAY less active - and that inactivity costs Canada roughly 10 billion dollars every year. 4/
But, if we could prioritize infrastructure to look like this 
we’d make it that much easier for people to get the 48 km of cycling per week they need to lower their risk of heart disease by nearly half - saving our healthcare system lots of $$$. 5/
we’d make it that much easier for people to get the 48 km of cycling per week they need to lower their risk of heart disease by nearly half - saving our healthcare system lots of $$$. 5/
Those choices would also mean lower costs for families who didn’t have to buy a car, or a second car. The cost of owning a vehicle in Canada? $8,600-$13,000, or 20% of a middle-class after-tax household income. 6/
If fewer folks had to get around by car, we likely wouldn’t see high cost of pollution on health - estimated at $2.94 billion in the Calgary Regional Airshed Zone. 7/
Also - this 8/
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And this 9/
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Line items come with hidden costs - the other side of the budget that questions if we’re achieving what we want to achieve. What is a budget meant to accomplish? We've been wondering about wellbeing - let us know what you think budgets are for - #yycbudget2021 #yyc #yyccc 10/
