Editor:
I continue to watch in awe as White Rock stumbles down the community and economic development road. It never grows old.
Been there, seen it unfold before – thousands spent on consultants who all work from the same song sheet; engage the public through an extensive consultation process; produce a long-term vision, along with pages of corresponding goals and objectives that are never achieved.
Why, you ask. The political wherewithal is not there to say no to all the competing interests that inevitably get involved in small-town politics. And yes, White Rock is a small town, despite having a town centre, a lower town centre and a waterfront, which, in of itself, is nonsensical.
The key to success lies in working together on building a single hub the creates a critical mass of commercial, cultural, and civic activities – the building blocks are already there. If you get this right, the rest will take care of itself.
Unfortunately, the only logical place for this hub is “uptown” centred on North Bluff Road (16 Avenue) and Johnston Road (152 Street). That would mean working with the City of Surrey, which is politically a non-starter on both sides of the fence – or is that a wall? The solution is to get businesses – through their associations – to act as a bridge between the two municipalities.
And while I dare dream here in technicolour, all eyes are on the waterfront hoping that the tourism gods will smile favourably on an “old pier,” and a large white rock. What these folks don’t realize is that tourism is a fickle industry.
It is also high-maintenance, requiring major investments in marketing to maintain, let alone sustain itself against the competition. In this case, that would be the beaches at English Bay, which tend to attract lots of people, despite the high costs of parking and the lack thereof.
I think it is about time for a Plan B.
Darwin Nickel, White Rock