The Open Space Toolkit for Alberta

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Albertas Natural Amenities Rush
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The Open Space Toolkit for Alberta

• A community workshop series designed to help
  rural residents understand and practice
  sustainable land use and conservation.

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Module 1 Albertas Natural Amenities Rush

• Goals
• To better understand the nature of Albertas
  current amenity-driven growth in relation to the
  natural landscape.
• To identify significant demographic and
  socio-economic trends influencing the natural
  landscape in your area

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Open space is integral to the way we think of
ourselves as Albertans. It has shaped our
character and values.
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A house in the country

• We like to see our values reflected in the
  places where we live.
• The dream A primary residence, a second home
  
• or at least unrestricted access to the
  country.

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The greatest population growth is taking place at
the cities far outskirts. In the rural
metro-adjacent (RMA) areas and surrounding
communities.
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Natural Amenity Centres

• Hotspots of population growth where the big
  attractions are the natural setting, access to
  outdoor recreation, and a distinctive community
  character.

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• Albertans are enjoying the best of both the
  city and the country, due to new technologies,
  new thinking about work, new wealth

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Impacts of Rural Migration

• Community character and cohesion
• Open lands habitat subdivided and fragmented
• Crowdedness, noise, lights, traffic
• Infrastructure, housing, services
• Bringing urban expectations to rural areas

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Two Waves of Change

• Traditional economies (resource based) are
  growing less or declining due to global events
  and competition
• New migrants rapid population growth triggers
  econ, social and environmental challenges

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Managing Change

• Most communities do not understand the forces
  driving the changes, or have the power, capacity
  or resources to influence the results.
• The scale and pace of change can outstrip a
  communities abilities to plan for or manage it.

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While economic prosperity is welcomed

• Rapid change is
• unsettling to both old and new residents, and
  values conflicts inevitably arise.

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• One change stands out
• The loss of natural landscape is a highly visible
  phenomenon and represents a tangible loss of what
  many people value most about country living.

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Natural Landscapes

• Meet basic human needs by providing ecological
  services
• Provide habitat for native plant and animal
  species
• Provide opportunities for people to connect with
  nature

• Provide working lands for food production
• Offer amenities for residents and visitors who
  desire scenery, recreation access rural
  atmosphere
• Confer economic and fiscal benefits

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So whats driving the growth?

• The Chinook Institute has woven four major
  contributing factors or trends into a shorthand
  formula to help frame our understanding of
  amenity-driven growth.

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• Baby boom bulge (BB)
• Environmental and cultural values (ECV)
• Global economy and technology change (GETC)
• Strong economy (SE)
• the Natural Amenities Rush (NAR)

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The Boomer Bulge (BB)

• Born between 1947 and 1966
• Having a tremendous influence on social trends,
  values, and markets and will continue to do so
  well into their retirement years
• What the boomers want, the boomers get

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The Boomer Bulge (BB)

• Older boomers
• children have left home
• family inheritances and legacies
• generally have done well financially retiring
  earlier, doing more, spending more.
• Younger boomers
• in mid-career with mortgages, children.
• have had to compete more but are still
  recreating, renovating, looking to buy second
  homes or recreation properties.

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The Boomer Bulge (BB)

• As they think about retiring, upgrading,
  downsizing or simplifying

the bulging third of Albertas population are
looking to the urban fringe or communities beyond
as a place to make that adjustment.
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Environmental and Cultural Values (ECV)

• In the mid 80s two emerging trends re natural
  amenities rush (L. Moss)
• Continue to value resources for extraction and
  exportation, but growing sense of people valuing
  resources for what they offered when left
  untouched.
• Distinctive cultures of local peoples and rural
  places increasingly seen as valuable assets.

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Amenity Migration

• People moving to places that offer the positive
  attributes associated with the countryside, small
  towns, and outdoor recreation.

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How one defines amenity is largely a matter of
individual taste

• Healthier environment (clean air, water)
• Small town ambience (pace, traffic, noise, social
  cohesion)
• Lower taxes
• Less crime, more security

• Better schools
• More open space
• Access to recreational opportunities in natural
  areas
• Proximity to wilderness and wildlife

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• The amenity rush is fueled by a mixture of
  economic, cultural and environmental values.

All are convinced that new surroundings or
situation will lead to a better quality of life
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The Global Economy and Technology Change (GETC)

• The neweconomy has profoundly influenced
• The way goods are produced
• The types of goods produced
• The services now in demand
• The types of occupations needed, and
• Changes in our information, communication and
  transportation technologies.

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The Global Economy and Technology Change (GETC)

• In the 1950s corporations used big factories
  that combined manufacturing and business elements
  all under one roof

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The Global Economy and Technology Change (GETC)

• Todays global economy is a web of
  internationally intersecting materials, goods and
  finances.

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The Global Economy and Technology Change (GETC)

• So what does this mean for Alberta?
• New occupations knowledge workers with
  specialized knowledge and analytical skills
• The greatest number of new jobs created between
  1990 and 2000 were knowledge jobs, classified as
  business services with the greatest
  percentage in professional, scientific and
  technical services.

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The Global Economy and Technology Change (GETC)

• New technologies - advances in computers,
  telecommunications and transportation systems to
  better coordinate cross border commerce
• This allows people to set up business in home
  offices, and businesses to set up in smaller
  communities that offer attractive natural and
  cultural amenities.

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• The result amenity migrants who are
  willing to commute or, if necessary, take a cut
  in pay to access their lifestyle choices.

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Strong Economy (SE)

• Albertas strong economy will likely continue
  for another decade.
• It may not be the prime driver of the
  provinces rural rush, but it certainly
  contributes to how quickly and how far it
  spreads.

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Strong Economy (SE)

• Alberta Trends
• For past 20 years, AB has strongest economy
  highest investment per capita
• One of lowest unemployment rates one of the
  highest provincial employment rates
• Largest increase in employment force
• In 2005, only debt free province in the country
  annual surpluses

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Strong Economy (SE)

• The National Picture
• Inflation, interest and mortgage rates have been
  very low, which makes a property purchase
  reasonable, even given substantial increases in
  property prices.
• Mid to late boomers, semi-retire or retiring a
  few years (current average age 61) early to buy
  their piece of paradise

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Strong Economy (SE)

• The continued prosperity of Alberta will in
  turn will draw more workers to the province, and
  more migrants to the amenities of the Albertas
  other great natural resource reserves, its
  mountains, lakes, rivers and natural landscapes.

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To recap

• Baby boom bulge (BB)
• Environmental and cultural values (ECV)
• Global economy and technology change (GETC)
• Strong economy (SE)
• the Natural Amenities Rush (NAR)

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Community Case Studies

• The Chinook Institute studied four Alberta
  communities/regions that are hotspots of
  amenity migration. We wanted to better understand
  how the trends are playing out in these places,
  and each communitys unique response to the
  challenges of growth.

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Town of Canmore
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Municipal District of Foothills
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Town of Cochrane
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Town of Sylvan Lake
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• The four factors of the formula all contribute
  to the growth in the provinces hotspots of
  amenity migration, however the look and feel of
  growth plays out differently in each place.
• And each community responds in a unique way
  to the opportunities and challenges.

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• Good information, good planning and good
  community process
• are critical to shaping a growth trajectory that
  accommodates change yet protects the attributes
  that made the community so attractive to so many
  people in the first place.

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We can either be victims of change or we can
plan for it, shape it, and emerge stronger from
it. The choice is ours. Luther Propst, in
Balancing Nature and Commerce
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