HA! Is there an answer to this question?
Well… Actually there is!
Triumphs of Experience is a book written by George Vaillant in 2012. It chronicles “the longest running study of human development in history”.
In 1938 Harvard University started a study “to determine as best as possible what factors contribute most strongly to human flourishing”.
Now in the past I have spent hours summarizing an abstract for you to read and get the gist of an article. This time you have to hit the link and read for yourselves.
I will say this however… Like most things in life the answers are often upstream. Way Way Way upstream.
There are two good times to plant a tree. 20 years ago and right now. 
Cheers,
Sheppy
Monday’s Workout:
Warm-up: 15 minutes
A).
20 Pull Aparts
20 Face Pulls
10/10 Ring Row and Reach
B).
2 Rounds:
7/7 Split Squats with KB
7 Goblet Squats
7/7 RDLs or Bowler Squats
Skill: 10 minutes
Choose 1 of 3
25 strict pull-ups (as few sets as possible)
3×10 kipping pull-ups
3 big sets of butterfly pull-ups
Strength: 15 minutes
Front Squat – 5×5
Conditioning: Partner WOD – AMRAP in 12 minutes
Partner A: 15 Cal Row
PArtner B: 10 Burpees
Partner A does a 15 cal row, while partner B does 10 burpees.
When both partners have completed their task, switch! Go back and forth for 10 minutes. You’re only allowed to switch stations each time when both partners are finished their task.
Robert, your love of Calgary's car happy lighting infrastructure blatantly contradicts your critiscm of translink's choice of skytrain over LRT. LRT for a corridor (let's hypothetically call it "Broadway") requires turning restrictions on 90% of the intersections and removal of almost all of its parking spaces. Where would you park your car after zooming from East Van to Kits in under 4 minutes thanks to all of the well-timed green lights? You certainly wouldn't have zoomed that distance in the LRT. Because it is slow. Also you would still be waiting at the LRT station because the volume of users would far exceed its capacity on day 1.
What makes a man happy: sex and sandwiches.
I don't want to lose the viaduct either. Vision is in the pockets of developers. Plus Translink consistently picks Skytrain for expansion which is hugely expensive compared to other options like light rail and they keep buying new diesel busses instead of expanding their electric fleet. So many buses run almost empty, I wonder how much better they are for the environment with overall ridership to carbon emitted. Then there is the messed up way that traffic lights work in this city. In Calgary for instance they have the Green Wave or whatever they call it. You may stop at one light but once it goes green, every light will be green in front of them. You can see all the lights change one after another. Here, they say they are timed but they are not. There is rarely a time that I try to get across town and don't stop at every light. It is like they want every car in Vancouver idling all day. I'd love to give more money to improving this city but the messed up way this place is run just makes me think it will be wasted.
First and foremost: THE FUTURE OF THE VIADUCTS IS NOT PART OF THIS REFERENDUM.
Second, rather than get into the details of how wrong you are about the north east false creek lands, I'll just leave this here http://former.vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20140513/documents/p2.pdf
If you'd prefer not to read, ask me lots of questions in person. Please educate yourself before spreading incorrect information.
Lastly, the provincial carbon tax is revenue neutral, meaning every dollar generated by the tax is returned to taxpayers through reductions in other taxes. It is not intended to reduce the City of Vancouver's carbon footprint. It is designed to place a value on carbon in a marketplace that places more value on lattes than humanity's future.
The Viaduct teardown (or not) is not connected the the referendum, that is purely a City of Vancouver decision. I say leave it up.
However, I am pretty much in favour of the referendum, I think that a tax on general economic activity is actually quite an appropriate way to fund transportation as it hits everyone who benefits from the services.
One fact to note is that the 0.5% PST adder is the way that TransLink proposes to raise its typical 1/3 share of major capital projects. This means that taxpayers will foot the rest of the cost through provincial and federal income tax as well as other general government revenue sources. In the end, there is only one taxpayer - YOU - so what the referendum really is about, is do you want the improved transit services in the region or not.
Thanks for sharing Wendy.
I believe tearing down the Georgia Viaduct is part of this plan as well.
Personally, living in East Van, that is how I enter the downtown core 9/10 times. The viaduct moves a lot of traffic in and out of downtown. It would be a HUGE inconvenience for me to have to take transit downtown.
And correct me if I am wrong but originally they were going to create green space there but now the Aquilinis will build high rises. Really? First Gregor Robertson sells them Olympic Village now they get to build condos on an important throughfare? All under the guise of "green" or "better transportation options". Clearly there is collusion going on. Personally I do not like feeling like the big guys are having their way with things no matter how trivially to affects me.
The .5% sales tax is already on top of other bullshit Vancouver taxes. For instance the 7% carbon tax. Everybody knows it is paying for the Olympics - Not improving Vancouver's carbon foot print.
Thumbs down on the referendum for this voter.
Not related to this post. But something I've been thinking about since Saturday. A surprising number of peeps in the Circle didn't know anything about the upcoming transportation referendum. So here are the facts:
When is the referendum?
The mail-in ballots will be sent out beginning March 16, 2015 with voting until May 29, 2015.
What is a transportation referendum?
While common in the US, transportation ballot initiatives and referenda rarely, if ever, take place in Canada. A transportation referendum lays out a set of transportation planning principles, potential funding sources, and/or specific transportation investments to be voted on.
What are citizens being asked to vote on?
The Mayor’s Council has put forward a transportation investment plan, which outlines key transit, biking, and road upgrades that will be voted on. Generally, it includes the construction of a new Surrey LRT and extension of the Millennium Line Skytrain as well as increased bus, Seabus, and HandyDART service. The investments in the plan will allow for 70% of the region’s residents to have access to frequent transit. Check out the highlights of the plan here.
What format will the the referendum question take?
The format will be mail-in ballot. The question is, “Do you support a one half percentage point (0.5%) increase to the Provincial Sales Tax in Metro Vancouver, dedicated to the Mayors’ Transportation and Transit Plan, with independent audits and public reporting?”
How will the plan be funded?
The investment package will be funded by contributions from both the provincial and federal governments as well as a 0.5% sales tax for Metro Vancouver.
Why is this transportation referendum important?
Metro Vancouver faces a number of significant transportation challenges. Roads are congested, transit cannot meet current demand, and people and goods are not moving efficiently throughout Metro Vancouver. In the face of substantial regional population and economic growth, strategic investments in transportation will need to be made in order to ensure livability in the region.
Surprisingly I don't find it hard to believe it would have taken hours to summarize love.