Environment

  1. The percentage of registered borrowers from the Medicine Hat Library in 2005 was 17%. This was down from 19% in 2000 and is less than half of the registered borrowers in similar sized Alberta communities.      

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    Registered Borrowers, Circulation per Registered Borrower and Expenditures per Capita for Libraries 2000-2005
      Registered borrowers as a percent of the population Circulation per registered borrower Library expenditures per capita ($)
      2000 2005 2000 2005 2000 2005
    Medicine Hat 19.04 17.06 54.50 na 27.19 31.37
    na = not available

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  2. In 2001 the proportion of the working population employed in arts, culture, recreation and sport in Medicine Hat was 1.78. This was 35% below the national proportion and nearly 20% below the provincial proportion.      

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    "Remember that many cultural and art workers are volunteers and not necessarily in it for the money." Survey Respondent

    » Source

  3. The total public open space per 100 persons in Medicine Hat is 2.77 hectares. The average of four similar sized communities in Alberta is 2.26 hectares per 100 persons.        

    Municipality Maintained Parks, Playfields and Open Spaces; comparable Alberta Cities
      Medicine Hat 4 City Average
    Population 2001 52,571  
    Parks* (ha) 243  
    Developed Park Space per 100 persons (ha) 0.46 0.61
    Natural Areas ** (ha) 1458  
    Total Public Open Space *** 100 Persons (ha) 2.77 2.26

    * Parks includes all (irrigated) turf that is under municipal control and is maintained by the municipality
    ** Natural areas include undeveloped areas such as Environmental Reserve, valleys, ravines, coulees, etc.
    *** Total Public Open Space – includes all public open space, developed and natural
    Source: Source

  4. The total length of the trail system in Medicine Hat is 92 kilometres. At the average human walking speed of 3.6 kilometres per hour, it would take 25.6 hours to walk all the trails. That does not include stopping for ice cream!

    Source 1 & Source 2

    In the Medicine Hat Quality of Life Study published in April 2007, 71% of survey respondents stated that the ‘availability of public walking paths and bike trails’ was important to them.

    The Vital Signs project requested 140 respondents to rate the areas of most importance to them.

    The Top 5 results were:

    • Health Care
    • Housing
    • Leadership
    • Cost of Living
    • Safety