Editor:
Just a few comments about council’s July 7 unanimous decision approving part of Municipal Reserve land for affordable housing in the Larch area.
I was deeply saddened to what extent we have lost our sense of place and belonging due to rapid development in a short period of time. My concern is that future councils will use more MR land as an option for affordable housing.
My sadness came out of nowhere after the meeting. So I reread Bob Sandford’s book, written in 2008, The Weekender Effect. He relates Canmore’s dilemma to pressures from real estate speculation and increasing urban values, diminishing our small town character and lifestyle.
Our resources are seen as a cash cow for the wealthy, to put it bluntly. More land for the wealthy and less for affordable housing.
Despite the insatiable appetite for protected land, Canmore residents have saved wilderness, wildlife corridors and green space. However, we are now an accident looking for a place to happen, with councils forced up against the wall to magically manifest land for crucial affordable housing.
Locals are trying to save and protect what we have left. It may seem like a no-win situation for all concerned. Bob had the foresight to predict this dilemma in 2008 based upon other mountain towns, i.e. in Colorado, which discovered that when a mountain town approaches 40 per cent part-time residences, the sense of community begins to implode.
This is what happened on July 7. The loss of our green space, noted by Bob, constrains our sense of freedom and affects our psychic and physical relationship to our landscape and mountains. That relationship is based on our love for our way of life and our connection to this valley.
However, all is not lost. In his book, he asks two questions. What freedom will remain when every lot is developed? And how free will locals feel when all the common spaces are gone?
He also asks three more questions: will locals be able to afford to live in your community after full buildout and will they want to stay? Where will the dispossessed go? What do you want your community to be like after it grows?
I agree with Bob’s view, we must stand our ground. Unless you have love for a place, you cannot identify with it.
Eileen Patterson,
Canmore
