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This paper investigates the cost of providing drinking water to municipalities with populations less than 1,000 in Alberta, Canada, and presents the current unit costs, cost recovery ratios, and affordability for a sample of 25 communities. Unit costs are found to vary considerably with the volume of treated water and the type of source water. Of the 25 communities investigated, only one community recovers the full cost of treating drinking water, while two of the communities recover their portion of the capital costs (i.e., accepting grants as a gift) as well as the marginal costs. Seven of the communities recover the marginal cost of treating drinking water. The authors conclude that water rates designed to cover the marginal cost are possible for small communities if 2% of the median household income is considered an affordable proportion of income to be dedicated to drinking water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A large recent literature argues that cities’ capacity to attract and retain creative talent crucially supports innovation and economic health. Instead of understanding ‘creative’ contributions statistically through education, job classification, income, and economic growth, this paper qualitatively explores workers’ attitudes about the city in which they pursue a career. This paper identifies and reports on factors of attraction and retention of individuals that have been identified as ‘innovative workers’ by firms in Calgary, a natural resource-based centre in Canada studied in the years 2006–2008. The data were drawn from interviewees’ responses to questions about attitudes toward the city as a place to work and about possible moves to alternative locations, in the context of a study of the social dynamics of innovation from the city perspective. Analysis qualitatively extends seven established themes of the socio and economic development. We find that economic opportunities, several environmental factors, personal networks, and professional networks were most attractive, while socio-cultural diversity was less emphasized. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]