South Delta isn’t like a lot of other places in the Lower Mainland.
I often find myself explaining that to outsiders, people who have a vague idea our two communities exist, but don’t have much to go on beyond a ferry terminal or a wildly popular farmers’ market. I tell these people that South Deltans are fiercely protective of their quality of life, that they cherish the small town charms that their hometowns afford.
To help put it in some perspective, to drive home the point that we’re a little bit different from the rest of Greater Vancouver (different from even North Delta for that matter), I use three examples that are darn near impossible to duplicate pretty much anywhere else in the region. I tell them that South Delta doesn’t have a building that’s more than six storeys tall, that you can park for free anywhere you like (including at our fabulous little hospital) and that I can’t recall a gun being shot in the commission of a crime in the more than three decades I’ve been around here.
Eyebrows raised, they quickly recognize this place is unlike other suburbs, that it’s got more of a small town vibe than big city feel, however that doesn’t mean it will stay that way forever. Whether it’s Fraser Health’s wish to implement pay parking at Delta Hospital or the Century Group’s plan for high-rises at the Tsawwassen Town Centre Mall, there are efforts afoot that would force a revision of my talking points.
In fact, my spiel took a hit earlier this month when police responded to a report of shots fired in a Tsawwassen neighbourhood. Thankfully, the only thing hit was a vehicle in what police are describing as an ongoing dispute between parties known to each other, not the kind of gang violence that’s becoming all too commonplace in our region.
Nevertheless, it’s hard not to sense that our slice of suburbia is changing little by little. I’m already having to revise my pitch to outsiders from no guns being fired to no one getting shot and perhaps in the not too distant future I’ll need a further amendment to say South Delta only just approved its first building beyond six storeys.
As Bob Dylan sang more than half a century ago, The Times They Are a-Changin’. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen too fast.
