What is attractive about little mountain towns?

Many years ago, I drove through the Crowsnest Pass towns and was so impressed that I told people about that nice place that I found. Now I am one of the old timers here. It was a place that, according to one visitor, “time has passed by”. It had the historical look and all the amenities that a person needs. Hospital, mall, grocery stores, hardware, and lumber.

When I arrived, a herd of mountain sheep greeted me by an old white Anglican church. Cars were slowing down and folks taking pictures. Now uniformed public servants chase them away. The place was old but clean. I remembered visiting the towns some years before when mining was still going on. The same streets and buildings, but coal dust dulled the colors. Now the sun looked brighter. Beside an old home on the main street, a deer was napping in the shade and two fawns were grazing. “Free lawn care included”, crossed my mind, but there was a fence keeping creatures out of the flowers.

It was clear that the place was changing. The whole world was transforming. No longer we need many people for menial jobs and not everyone can be technicians or white-collar workers. Those were quickly disappearing as well. Computers were doing the old jobs. The new interest now was around traveling, recreation, and jobs are in the service industries. The Pass is an ideal place for it.

In the mornings when the sun rises, the mists lift over the mountain trails, lakes, rivers, and forests, drawing people. People are good for the economy. We should not be trying to do all things with less labor, but the opposite. We must realize that we feed each other or we all be gone. It is good for the economy if many people have good, well-paying jobs. Here in the Pass, there is a feeling of healing in the air. In the period after the first world war, they sent injured veterans here to a sanatorium in Frank.

It was amazing to look for a retirement place where moose and bears roamed and half of the population owned pets. Here in the mountains, there was an obvious relationship between people, animals, and nature that didn’t exist in the city, but it was under threat.

After I moved here, some old people told me about their worries. An old friend expressed the sentiment in a few words. People come to visit here, he said, and they are impressed by what we have. They like our way of life and some move here. A short time later, they get busy changing the place to be exactly like the places they moved from. You can see it in everything.

People talk about shopping locally to keep the place going. The new business owners bring the city business attitude in. Soon prices here are rising since competition is far away. They forced the locals to go to big box stores away from town, and when they get too old to travel, seniors move. Our community is changing. He pointed out the fact that we had a lot of little self-sustained businesses and they disappeared when Walmart arrived in a nearby town. True enough, I met many of our locals at Walmart, Costco, and other chain stores.

Slowly, in front of my eyes, the little community that attracted me began to change and the friendly little town atmosphere dissipated. My son-in-law came for a visit and said, grandpa, what is happening to your little town? I drive through the main street and every business has a for sale or rent sign. Is the place going to survive? I was wondering myself.

The town didn’t realize what was really killing it. Instead of working to retain the little community atmosphere, they tried to make it more like the city. Soon we saw new bylaws forcing people to not have pets. Another old resident called me to complain. He lost his closest relatives in a short time and was denied his ability to drive, for his safety, of course.

His lifelong friend, his cat, was sentenced to life in prison by the authorities. Might as well be stuffed as decoration. There must be a cat hater on the council. The guy had a dog that took him for walks. When all public spaces were taken off limits for free, well-behaved dogs, he had to give the dog up. He can’t drive to an “off-leash” place. You know Avner he said, our environment determines our life span. Studies prove that people who attend church live 15 years longer, and married and pet owners live 8 years more. I could not argue. He is right.

As I watched, things were changing again. The hills filled up with new homes and the for sale signs disappeared. Older homes are being renovated and people move in to work from home. Others are coming to spend their holidays here, close to animals and nature. I hope that our local leaders will notice and act quickly.

Let people have pets and relearn how to live with nature, not be at war with it. That is our edge. Reward little businesses that don’t gouge residents and welcome competition instead of killing it in its infancy. The best council is one that removes useless laws not enact new restrictions wholesale. Let us be what we are, a little community that lives with nature and provides what cities can’t.