Editor,
Being one of the people who has brought the issue of excessive railway noise to council and having been quoted on it in The Chief ["Neighbours unite against train din," Aug. 6], I naturally followed with interest the railway noise poll ["How bothersome is train noise in Squamish?"] in The Chief's online edition.
For those not familiar with, or not having access to the online Chief, here are the results out of 242 votes:
19 per cent voted for "It drives me crazy"
12 per cent for "I kind of like it"
23 per cent for "It has definitely gotten worse"
46 per cent for "We are a train town - get used to it"
The first three categories need no comment, however, the votes for the last one are not as straightforward.
They can cover a whole range of emotions, from indifference or resignation to grudging acceptance of an apparently unchangeable fact.
It is the usual disgruntled advice given to newcomers by those having long been conditioned to tolerate all sorts of abuse, large and small.
Unfortunately, it is also an attitude, which stands in the way of change; it signifies stagnation and ultimately decay. One blogger even went so far as to suggest to another writer who complained about the rail noise to "move back to Vancouver, where she probably came from."
Without taking anything away from the old timers whose efforts have made Squamish into the pleasant place it is and therefore its ability to attract newcomers from elsewhere, need it reminding what this former logging town would be like without the contribution of those new residents?
Would a collapsing tax base, deteriorating infrastructure, a deeply depressed property market and no prospects for the future, followed by the inevitable exodus of the young also be best met with a shrug and a "get used to it"? I think not.
As to the comment "we are a train town" - of course Squamish is not the resort up the road and will hopefully utilize what is left of its industrial base, which includes the rail line, for creating local employment and building its new future.
However this does not preclude putting curbs on industrial noise pollution. Other places could do it, why not Squamish too?
Wolfgang Wittenburg
Squamish
