Archive for the ‘Growth’ Category

The Capital Region Growth Plan is quite a plan. I see a lot of good in the plan but I also see a lot of guesswork. 35 years is a long way down the road and with technology moving as it is, I’m sure we truly have no concept of what will be. There is a plan in place but just as all other plans it has a lot of ifs and what ifs in it. My thought is if you are working within a plan you would first select the parts of the plan that are best for your community. I see the opposite happening in St. Albert. We are choosing to give up things we do not have to and are not taking advantage of the benefits the plan includes. Our DARP plan for one violates many of the good intentions of the Capital Plan which in my eyes makes us look silly. The point of teamwork is not to be directed by another, but to be assisted. I believe the population growth plans for St. Albert are too steep. I also believe that St. Albert is not taking care of its natural resources as intended as well as the health and happiness of its residents as intended. The Sturgeon River should have also been identified as an environmentally sensitive area within St. Albert. My thought once again is we are not keeping our vision within view.

It should be a dream of ours to leave a city better than we found it for future generations. We want to be a city that people want to live in, not have to live in. The tools of government can be used to create conditions. I would like to see St. Albert develop a Green building policy. It is builders, developers and buyers that change a market, but they can still be guided by conditions. Once the ball is rolling,  what developer would not want to be part of a leading green project, that was actually contributing to the true sustainability of community? Sustainability is not only important for health, but for boosting local economy with jobs & services in everything from green technology to fresh food and green building product. I believe that there is not a more beautiful city than St. Albert and I also believe that there is not a city more perfect for the distinction of being a leading green developer.  This is a  goal we as a city could get excited about.

So we have bus loads of real estate investors landing on our city. We’re hearing at these type of gatherings that thanks to the roadways, interest in St. Albert is on the rise and in fact some say we will just have to accept the change they believe to be in our near future. We all know that supply and demand dictates. St. Albert is a beautiful city with so much to offer and if interest is imminent, I would say it’s never too soon to start calling the shots. The city had made some bad choices by making special allowances to outside interests. Now is the time to say, if you want to invest in our city, you do it our way. We have the right to expect any and all investors to adhere to the design and land use rules of our city. This is the time we say if you build, you must build green. This is the time we say, you must leave lots of green space. This is the time we say you can’t build that many stories in St. Albert. This is the time we say, we don’t want rental properties with long distance landlords. Now is the time to be firm and now is the time to call the shots.

Housing prices within our city and as well in the province have climbed substantially over the last few years. Housing prices increasing, not a great benefit unless you’re selling and moving to a less expensive location. For many who have no intent or have never had intent to sell, they are being hit by the reality of tax increases in line with the new value of their home on paper. Nothing has changed for many, same house, same neighborhood but suddenly things aren’t so affordable anymore. For those who are renting, landlords pass the increased taxes onto renters and likewise things aren’t so affordable any more. Panic sets in when many can’t afford to live where they always managed. Many levels of  government are faced with this growing concern and many are looking for a quick fix. We’ll build less expensive housing many claim, we’ll selflessly help others claim, some give to charities who claim they will help in an effort to lessen their own guilt. The fact is as housing prices rise, taxes need to be adjusted, formulas need to be adjusted. I will use Akinsdale Gardens as an example (supposedly an area of affordable housing in St. Albert), most that are listed for sale currently sit just under the 200,000 mark and taxes are listed as 2100-2200. What can possibly built for less than these listed prices and what will taxes be on those properties. For anyone to claim they can provide new affordable housing in St. Albert they are just not considering the reality of affording the upkeep of affordable housing in St. Albert. There are many people in St. Albert that  could use a hand at affording their homes currently and I think thats where we need to start. Any charity work that is to be done in St. Albert should begin with helping seniors with renovations, lower income families with renovations, for some who are truly struggling-pay ahead  taxes or services for a few years. We all have to get off the bandwagon of thinking affordable housing is something we have to build, the fact is a lot of people who are looking for affordable housing already have housing that they just can no longer afford. Again, we need to make homes affordable before looking towards affordable housing.

Another thought today. Over the last few days I realized how much we need to slow down the pace. I read about a violent fight outside of a local St. Albert bar, I heard of an argument that led to a man hitting a women over a position at a gas pump, I witnessed a person driving around a Tim Horton’s line-up of cars and almost instantaneously being honked at for fear they were possibly thinking of sneaking in line. I saw people yelling at each other in traffic, I saw people cutting each other off in traffic. As I was not personally involved  in any of these situations it just made me sad for all sides that this is so common and as well all adults taking part. St. Albert is growing, getting very busy and we need to slow down and focus on what we want to become.

Yesterday I had another opportunity to speak with a man who moved his family into St. Albert in 1990. He runs a very successful business that he has grown through the years. He mentioned that a couple of years back, as a St. Albert resident of Woodlands he had the funds to purchase land in Campbell Business Park, ideally thinking he could run his successful business and basically jog to work. He was shocked when he was told that his building would not cover enough of the property as he had trucks to park as well and was refused the land. This man is now operating his business on Edmonton land and paying taxes to Edmonton and has recently chosen to move out to Sturgeon county to be closer to his work. The end of this story is lost business and jobs in St. Albert, lost hard working citizen and family and lost taxes. We should not hear stories such as this one. If there is anyone St. Albert should cater to in business, it should be it’s citizens. Again, it seems the city will bend over backwards for a promise from almost anyone who has no personal interest in what the city becomes, and in the same does not truly use the value of all of the talented, creative and intelligent people that call St. Albert home.  I would love to have St. Albert develop a Green Business Theme and encourage all types of business to find the green way of doing their business and connect. I believe it is very important to encourage St. Albert residents to set up at home and have a say in what their community becomes.

Growing business is front and centre with so many downtowns. Most areas have now realized that traditional business just doesn’t compete with the box stores. Downtown needs to have a heart of its own, a draw that can’t be resisted. In thinking of a welcoming experience, I think of small business that are home as well. There are many brilliant imaginative people in St. Albert and many have brilliant children ready to tackle the world. The experience of business and the curiosity of all that is new could be dynamic. Many young people don’t want to stay in St. Albert for lack of something to do, and many leave St. Albert taking their talent with them, some will look at starting business outside of St. Albert.  To make our families succeed at living, working and staying in St. Albert we can work together, and downtown might be a good choice. By nurturing among families and business incubation we could create a trend of combination business/residential above owned by separate individuals. Many new business ventures require a lot of vested time and true it would be nice to get away from business at the end of the day, but many new owners just don’t anyway. To have the option to live above your business or teach above your business would be attractive to many and there are days it would also be nice to just crawl upstairs. There could be restaurant and entertainment options outside of regular daytime business to enjoy. To be able to enjoy the neighborhood that you as well do business in keeps pride in the area. When a downtown is simply rented out by someone from another area, a downtown can quickly lose its charm. It has been suggested that increased park benches and downtown lighting (solar of course), can slow down the experience and make downtown a place that people want to spend time. It has also been suggested that downtown could be home to more events and entertainment.