Editor:
Our days of being a quiet little undiscovered pocket of paradise in the Lower Mainland are over.
It can be seen on the crowded beach in the summer, traffic, speeding, high housing prices and a huge mall.
Now there is the possibility of a cruise ship terminal at Roberts Bank in the future. Change and development is inevitable all around us, but Tsawwassen is at a critical tipping point and Delta needs to see the writing on the wall.
Are we to be yet another generic overpopulated “commuter city” that people just live in but never visit, or do they want to capitalize on the changes around us by creating something different and special?
Does Delta want to attract visitors to Tsawwassen as an actual destination instead of just cars full of consumers whizzing past us to the ferry or mega-mall; running red lights along 56th to get to Point Roberts to pick up their parcels; or just use our beaches in the summer but never bother to visit our town centre?
Sure, more housing might be necessary to a degree, but the reality is, the true benefactors of that are the developers and realtors, not the actual residents or community. Tsawwassen needs to do something beyond building endless high-density housing and just trying to convince locals to “shop locally” to create a sustainable, independent community. It needs to draw people into town for what we can offer tourists and visitors too.
If people who moved here wanted to live in a Richmond or Surrey, they would have.
Our town can’t stay the same as what perhaps initially drew us to move here, but it doesn’t have to become a shadow of its former self.
If local businesses and residents want to see our community thrive and remain special (staying the same is just no longer an option), Delta needs to come up with a creative and unique long-term plan for Tsawwassen instead of just taking the easy route and doing what every other boring “city” has already done to death.
Kristin Roberts
