When I was 13 years old, my family moved into unit 13 of a townhouse complex – no bad luck omen there.
It was a hard year at school for me given I had limbs like a newborn deer, didn’t understand algebra and every girl except me seemed to have boobs already, but that is another story.
Being kept awake due to the paper thin walls of our townhouse added to my challenges that year.
I could hear the neighbours getting up and using the bathroom during the night and because their bedroom was next to mine, I could also hear the man and his wife having raucous fights and then the final results of their make-ups.
But on the plus side, our townhouse had a nice backyard with a tree that had a rope swing I loved.
There was an open field behind the complex where I played with other townhouse kids. The development was on a quiet street where I could ride my bike and not get hit by a car.
We had a big carport; my parents even put a shed and large freezer in it, plus their truck. My brother and I had rooms of our own.
Many townhomes and apartments have followed, each with their own positive and negative attributes.
Increasingly, children in Squamish are being raised in townhouse complexes or other types of housing that puts them in close proximity to others.
Out of 167 building permits issued in Squamish from January to Sept. 1 of this year, 101 were for dense housing: multi-family complexes, duplex units or carriage homes sharing property with single-family homes.
Even more dense housing is to come with Waterfront Landing and Newport Beach on the oceanfront, to name just two big development projects that will include multi-family complexes.
As a community, we have to be thoughtful, purposeful and clear about what we want in these denser developments. Thicker walls are a given in modern builds, but what else is most important to us?
Is it green space, internal sidewalks, big garages, large decks, extra bathrooms, quiet locations, or all of the above? Coun. Karen Elliott put out a call to hear from residents on this issue ([email protected]).
Think about it and let your thoughts be known, your kids’ childhoods may just depend on it.
