When I was growing up, Alberta was in a recession. The destructive impact of the National Energy Program lasted well into the mid 90's.The community I was raised in, however, seemed to be much more integrated than it is now. I used to know almost every household within a four block radius of my house (especially the households with kids). There was a park on my street where all the kids in the community would meet after school. From there we would play street hockey, basketball, football, and other games of all sorts. We were always outside, year-round, rain or shine. Our parents were all friends and if we got into trouble or out of hand, they knew immediately. There was always some sort of community activity going on like a BBQ or dance.
Just before attending school in Vancouver Island, I spent a few months in my old community. 14 years later and I don't even recognize the place anymore. My parents only know a handful of people (mainly just the homes within the immediate vicinity) and they say that they haven't seen a street hockey game played in years.
In the last 10 years, Calgary has gone through a period of extreme growth. A huge migration of people from other areas of Canada and the world have decided to make Calgary their home. I believe that this has created a considerable disconnection between Calgarians and there communities.
It will be interesting to see what happens with this economic slowdown. Now that property values aren't doubling every six months, I have a suspicion that people will become more planted. With continued loss of jobs I can foresee individuals becoming more reliant on their communities for support.
Maybe community building peaks in hard economic times and weakens in good economic times.
Just a thought!!
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That may have something to do with the fact that in order to afford the Calgarian lifestyle people have to work ungodly hours. Which would lend itself to not doing anything outside of the home, as when you get there all anyone can think of is crashing.
ReplyDeleteIt may be an ideology shift as well, as in my parents day people worked to live, where now its becoming more and more so that people are living to work. If that is the case, society as we know it is definately not sustainable, as without balance people will burn out.