It’s quiet here. Maybe a little too quiet.
A visiting artist from Calcutta remarked this week that Squamish is a place that is almost completely opposite to his home city, which bustles with activity, with people moving and doing business on every corner.
Here in Squamish, it seems a new townhouse development is being planned for virtually every corner, and realtors are busy behind the scenes signing new sales transactions, but it would be a stretch to describe Squamish as bustling in any way.
The downtown, for example, is usually so quiet that it’s easy to find parking and get great service in the stores, where there are often only a few other customers. The arrival of film crews is highly noticeable as they create a buzz and fill the sidewalks and empty parking lots – then vanish.
Squamish’s growth on the residential side continues unabated, with more huge developments in the works, but little seems to be happening on the business side to create jobs. Our district leaders are so busy dealing with developers and government assessments of projects, and wading through thousands of pages of documents, that there is no time to notice the obvious: Squamish is becoming a bedroom community.
This is unfortunate, as the town has a ripe opportunity to pursue commercial and industrial growth. Squamish does not have to become Vancouver’s bedroom; it can instead become its offices and its factory space – or at least strive to achieve some balance between residential and industrial so that people can both live and work here.
Metro Vancouver is currently facing a severe shortage of industrial land, providing the perfect chance for Squamish to grow. We’re close to the city, and with the improved highway, it seems we’re even closer now. A new economic development position should be created to approach Vancouver firms that could create satellite offices or move their headquarters to Squamish.
If we continue to build houses, townhouses and apartment buildings without also building the commercial and industrial side of Squamish, our taxes will continue to rise. Fewer corporations are contributing to the tax base, so residential ratepayers have to pick up the slack – and continue to make the long commute to the city, polluting the pristine B.C. environment when we could instead be leaving the cars at home and walking to work.
What Squamish needs is an aggressive strategy to entice industrial investors here and create jobs.
– Editor Christine Endicott
