Since moving to Sundre, I have become acquainted with the fact that there aren't many rental options for living arrangements within the community.
When I was initially offered this job in town, I only had two weeks to find a place to live. It was hard-hitting when my start date was fast approaching and I still didn't have anywhere to call home. In all honesty there aren't many places to look in this full little town.
Much to my fortune, my publisher informed me of friends of his who were going away for the winter and were looking for a house-sitter. I have been staying in their home for a generous rate since November and I've got until late March/early April until I'm on my own ñ again.
Previous to this notice, I did find an apartment, but with the rate they were expecting I would be living paycheque to paycheque.
I have gathered that a number of the homes in Sundre are occupied with people that are retired and settled. When it comes to the few apartment buildings that are in town, the majority of them are for people of the ages 45 plus.
Finding a place to live in Sundre is not only an issue for me, but for other people coming into (or attempting to) the community as well. My question is: why is the town always calling for and finding ways to attract more people to come into the community when we hear very little about ways to increase rental stock.
For example, in the midst of the controversy with the town's original intentions of selling off pocket parks in the community, an abundance of people were saying that an attraction for young families is needed in Sundre.
Well, how can young families come to Sundre if there is no space for them? Green space available for families is secondary to having places for them to live.
On another note, Sundre is trying to attract more doctors to the community, as there is a significant shortage, which of course, is a danger to the health of everyone.
To my understanding, the Sundre and District Health Professional Attraction Committee approached town council with the difficulty of attracting doctors to the community when there are no places for them to live. The town's response to this issue was the idea to build a doctors' residence.
Well, do you really think doctors want to live in a building with fellow doctors, when some have families to raise and are looking for homes to live in? And do you really believe that this would solve the problem of people having issues with finding a place to live in Sundre?
Why should the community have buildings for people to live in, but limit the type of people that are able to live in them?
I think town officials should review the rental capacity of Sundre and do something about it that will actually help. Find an effective way to encourage more rental houses and apartments to be built.
I realize people don't necessarily want the town to expand, because they adore the small-town atmosphere. But how can we encourage people to live here if there simply is no affordable, available rental space? It seems contradictory to me. It's time to stop and look at the big picture: more people means more living options.
