Editor’s note: The following is one of the letters from Jennifer Mansour’s class at Learning Connections.
In my eyes, there are too many new lots being developed every day in Squamish, which is why I think that we should stop building so many big houses, as well as lots with only half-filled spaces in this town.
If we don’t stop constructing new buildings, our town will get so crowded that we will turn into a town similar to Vancouver.
Why is turning into Vancouver a bad thing? It is a bad thing because many citizens of Squamish moved here for the outdoor recreation. I don’t want people to continue building big lots only to be filled by houses that can only fit one or two families, when we could be building apartments to fit more people.
This way, there would be more room and we wouldn’t have to keep tearing down the forest and destroying the environment by cutting down trees and other plants environment in Squamish.
One solution is to tear down old buildings and create new ones. I for one, am for that. It’s the creating new lots and new single-family structures that is making our town way too crowded.
I also think that people should not be allowed to make any more new lots, but be allowed to tear down the old building currently taking up the land that you own and build whatever you want on that land, therefore stopping the demolition of the forests and making it possible to create new buildings that house more people at the sites that used to have older single family homes.
You might be wondering, well if we are not allowed to make new lots, how will we provide houses for people wanting to move to Squamish? Well, instead of taking up more space and making a one-family house on a big lot, we should build more townhouses and apartment buildings on already made lots which, as a bonus, will save your money and the wonderful forests of Squamish.
Sarah Raiser
