Growth caps might be the way to go

Re: A population cap would help water woes

I support Mr. Zeger's "controlled growth" concept in principle. It's a socially and environmentally responsible response to some of the issues that have been occurring as a direct result of unchecked growth here in this valley. Even Vernon City Council has implemented some controls on growth, not wanting to make the same mistakes as Kelowna.

Boulder, Colorado a communist haven? Puhleez! Forty years of a successful policy in a top-ranked livable city pretty much trumps that notion.

Ask yourselves: What are the reasons that Kelowna keeps sliding on livability scales?

There are other examples of growth caps already happening in Alberta. Red Deer I believe. Alberta is about as non-communist as you can get here in Canada.

I believe the naysayers have missed the point of Mr. Zeger's comments and have even stated the reasons why these caps should be considered.

Periods of boom and bust, water metering/shortages, traffic jams, stressed residents etc.are all indicative of poor planning and over-development. These not-so-subtle problems are NOT creating a population of happy citizens living in a sustainable environment especially when everyone displays a "me first, gotta keep up with the neighbours" attitude.

As far as attacking a person's right to living space...

In my opinion, living in stacked shoe box, hamster cage high rise dwellings is not the ideal situation for humans. Being "duped" into thinking so is a testament to the successful ploys of greedy developers who must get some kind of perverse thrill from putting cutesy names on concrete, steel and glass, sun blocking high rise abominations in their sales pitches. In fact that's about as communistic a lifestyle as you can get anywhere on this planet complete with Strata Apparatchiks.

One person's rights end where another's begins, so as far as I'm concerned the greater the space between me and my neighbours, the happier we all will be.

Let's take a break from rampant development, finish what's been started, see where we all are and then decide how successful this long strange trip down Developer's Row has been.

Yours in comradeship,

Bob Horkoff