Perhaps as a result of the rapid change and growth in Squamish, social media sites including local Facebook pages are full of discussions about real estate prices, rental hikes and who belongs in town.
One post asked people who had been in Squamish more than 25 years to post, creating a virtual club of old-timers. No doubt there is a strong bond among those who have been here a while, as all have witnessed rapid change – especially during recent years with the closure of plants including the Woodfibre pulp mill in 2006, the new world attention brought by the 2010 Olympics in the region and the growth that has stemmed out of the highway improvements for the Games.
In the past year, that growth has been exponential, as District of Squamish council has dealt with proposals for new housing developments on almost a weekly basis. This week, it’s the proposed development for Garibaldi Springs Golf Course that is to start with 200 townhouses in phase one. Last week, a development for a possible 1,000 homes on the Cheekye Fan in Brackendale was being discussed in Squamish. Construction has now begun to prepare for a massive Oceanfront development, and the town beach, Nexen, is being renamed Newport Beach. Meanwhile, the debate about whether a liquefied natural gas plant is right for Squamish continues to rage, and large tourist resorts are being planned. There’s so much happening that it's hard to keep track.
Amid all this change, divisions have been created, and they’re not healthy. Are you an old-timer or a newcomer? Were you born in Squamish? Were you born in B.C.? Were you born in Canada?
None of this matters. What truly matters is that the people who live here now are those who belong and those who care about our collective future. We all belong in this beautiful region we have chosen to call home, the land of the Squamish Nation where we are all privileged to live.
If we don’t divide ourselves into factions and groups, we’ll be able to continue to have the kind of discussions needed to move positively through the growth and to help those in need. And everyone has the power to speak with our elected representatives at the municipal, provincial and federal levels about what should happen to keep Squamish a strong community.
To many of us, it’s a paradise.
– Editor Christine Endicott
