When you add it all up, it makes for a daunting list, but it’s got nothing on the past.
The laundry list of major projects either underway or on the books in these parts – everything from large-scale development at the Tsawwassen First Nation to almost 1,000 housing units on the Southlands to a casino in Ladner -- has some worried the South Delta they know and love will cease to exist.
There’s no doubt that every structure added to the mix has an incremental impact so I agree, at least to an extent, with those who opine that it’s chipping away at the livability of this area, although I do find a great deal of irony in such present-day hand wringing. What we’re talking about is substantial but it’s got absolutely nothing on what came before it.
In the days before the George Massey Tunnel, Delta was an isolated, rather sleepy municipality of about 8,000 people, many associated with the farming and fishing industries. When the tube opened in 1959, everything changed as homes were built by the thousands and a new school opened every September. Within a span of about two decades, Delta’s population increased tenfold to become a bustling burb of 80,000.
You would think the jump from 8,000 to 80,000 would be what really did this place in, but funnily enough, the community many are campaigning to save is the one that largely emerged after that development free-for-all. We’ve added another 20,000 or so people in the last 40 years to hit the 100,000 mark, which has also been done while still maintaining our small town charm, but it’s rather unfortunate the bump from 100,000 to, say, 125,000 is what’s going to tip the balance. Or at least that’s how the narrative goes.
Forgive me for being a bit facetious because I do recognize that every ounce of development adds to the congestion factor, but I’ve got to think those who pre-date the tunnel have to be more than a little amused by the worry that Delta is changing, and not for the better. If they had resisted progress way back when, the Delta we know, and the one many are looking to protect, wouldn’t exist today.
In fact, the vast majority of us wouldn’t even be here to put up a fight because the homes we live in would never have been built.
