Monday, May 28, 2007

Resident Army

Resistance to development whether its good bad or ugly is an integral part of the process. Resistance results in interaction, discussion and discourse. When we come together to support a cause we find strength in our community and our relationships. When we can acknowledge the arguments of others and concede their points and their truths we learn and grow from the experience.


Anyone you talk to these days will comment on all the building thats going on, you can't miss the signs with ridiculous names dreamed up by some marketing student selling the life in sunny little White Rock.


Ocean Park Lane, Miramar Village ("some live for vacations, others live them everyday"), the Belaire, Rosemary Walk. It's no wonder that those who live here already want to protect what others find so desirable.



Sometimes those residents go a little too far in their crusade for the status quo. Instead of being "informed and enlightened" they are of the radical anti-development, self-taught environmentalist and directly, adversely affected camp. In White Rock we've seen the initially hostile WRRA (website link on the side) gradually tone down their approach while the optimistic lawsuit of the Friends of White Rock Society seems to have lost momentum even before it got going. Are we just resigned to our fate- or are we gradually seeing that the "political will is there to occasionally challenge the status quo" and end our marriage to the "utilitarian model of urban development." (Geo. 350 online readings Module 6). Just because its all we know doesn't mean its right.

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