Further Afield

Riding my bike just 10km in a roundabout way from my house took me through the agricultural lands which surround South Surrey and White Rock. There is a notable contrast where the last line of housing developments gives way to fields, barns and the ever friendly alpacas.

It really reminded me why population concentration is so important. We need to control sprawl so we can continue to grow food locally. By limiting the amount of food we must truck from far off places we increase the self-sufficiency of our communities and the impact our food choices have on the environment. If the periphery becomes urban itself then the city has nowhere from which to draw resources and must export its consumption requirements and their associated impacts to other areas which can absorb them.

Continuing further I happened upon an industrial park pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Just a 10min drive from uptown this will eventually be a source of real jobs in South Surrey, not just retail and tourism but jobs that lead to careers which are fair scarce currently. Hopefully this will allow some people to reduce their commute instead of drawing more reverse commuters out of the city as businesses move to where the land is cheap, plentiful and supports offices and warehousing at the same location.