I believe it is time for residents of South Dundas to begin thinking about what we want our community to look like in future years. We all love the lifestyle we enjoy so the challenge is to maintain our way of life while we develop our community. Food for thought ...
What's in a name?
I recently attended the AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) conference in Ottawa and came back convinced that we have a fundamental problem as a community. Without exception, everyone that I spoke to thought that South Dundas was “around Hamilton”. For those of you unfamiliar with “Dundas”, it is a community that is located near Hamilton. How can we possibly attract industry, people and jobs if no one knows that our community exists? I think it is time to seriously consider re-branding our community. Your suggestion for a new name for South Dundas?
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Baby-boomers … one more time.
In the 1950’s we were building schools for the baby-boom generation. In the 1960’s we built universities. Over the next 20 years those same boomers will be retiring. We live in a pristine area close to two of the largest metropolitan areas of Canada. If we want to grow our community then I believe that all we have to do is encourage developers to promote the area as a retirement community. Personally, I believe that we should focus on four areas to grow South Dundas. These include:
• Promoting the area as a retirement community.
• Developing our parks and community with both residents and tourists in mind.
• Attracting specialized manufacturing operations controlled by entrepreneurs that want our lifestyle.
• Attracting logistics and distribution companies that can benefit from our access to Highway 401.
I am sure we could grow South Dundas to fifteen or twenty thousand people without negatively impacting our lifestyle. And, taxes and water costs would go down for all as we would better utilize our infrastructure. Your thoughts?
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Building on our history …
We have all witnessed the loss of thousands of good paying manufacturing jobs in recent years. It seems to me that we should sit back, take stock of our assets and figure out the best way to use them to build our economy. We have to find ways to create jobs in our community. One of our strengths is our history and Upper Canada Village has helped celebrate that history for decades. What more can we do, you ask? Why can’t we become a “centre of excellence” for the old skilled trades demonstrated at the Village each day? Why shouldn’t we brand products manufactured by these historic methods with a stamp that says they were produced in our community?
If we do this, no one could move the jobs to China, Mexico or India. To be “authentic” they would have to be made in “Upper Canada”. And while we are at it, why not attract students to this area from all over the world to learn English and Canadian history from hands-on experience? Your thoughts?
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