Are you comfortable eating a 3000 mile caesar salad? Would you prefer to eat locally produced fruits and vegetables it they were readily available? Would you pay extra to avoid this food commute?
Kind of a catch 22 eh? Agricultural land is worth far less than industrial or residential because of the low profit in the agricultural sector. Yet, we can afford to buy lettuce that is fresh off atruck from California. Sounds a change in agricultural policy is needed.
While the protection of BC’s grasslands isn’t exactly the issue this blog is meant to tackle, there are too many similarities between the two to ignore. Often ignored are the numerous animal species’ that rely on agricultural land to survive. From horses on hobby farms to birds of pray who use these fields as their hunting grounds, these lands support a vast array of animal life.
This video I found, produced by the “Grasslands Conservation Council of British Columbia”, uses unique imaging to promote the problem of urban sprawl.
This video informs people of the problem and the need for action, while offering some entertainment. If traffic to this type of awareness video can be increased, there is no telling what kind of legs this movement could grow. Check it out and let me know what you think.
While I know this is kind of last minute, this issue supprised me by actually getting a couple of votes in the inov8.ca innovation competition. While I know there is only one day left, it would be much appreciated if you could register, vote, and comment on my page at http://www.inov8.ca/Talk.asp. Tell your friends and let’s see if we can get this issue near the top of the list.
My Thought s About ” Single 10-lane bridge to replace Port Mann”, the cbcnews article. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/02/04/bc-new-port-mann-bridge.html
People living in the Fraser Valley were no doubt excited by the BC government’s recent announcement of a new Port Mann Bridge. In the cbcnews article published on Feb. 4, 2009, it was announced that the government would spend even more money to build an even larger bridge. While this may seem like good news for the environment (less cars idling in traffic, more opportunities for transit users, etc.), the government is simply allowing urban sprawl to occur with even fewer barriers than before. The current Port Mann Bridge, and the traffic that goes with it, is one of the last barriers to prevent people from moving east into the Fraser Valley. The lack of traffic that will come with the new bridge, and resulting 35 minute commute from Langley to Downtown, will make people far more willing to move to the suburbs.
This effect will most likely cause an increase in property values in the Fraser Valley as more people look to new suburbs for their next house purchase. As a result, developers will find it even more lucritive to develop in the valley and further development application signs will grace completely useful agricultural land.
I’ve mentioned a couple of times that real estate prices are a direct driver of the urban sprawl that has occurred in Vancouver over the past few decades and destroyed some of Canada’s best farmland. I thought I’d take this opportunity to show you exactly what I mean.
If you don't mind the commute from Langley everyday, you can buy this 10 year old, 3500 sqft, 4 bedroom, house on a 10,000 sqft lot for $500,000.
For the same $500,000 in Vancouver, you can get this 850 sqft, 2 bedroom condo.
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Something to think about. In my last post, I mentioned how us west coasters absolutely love our cars. The interesting part is, this comes out of economic necessity. While gas prices may seem high at this moment, in reality this is a new phenomenon. Over the past couple of decades, the price of gas was a relative bargain. As real estate prices in the city core grew significantly, homebuyers were driven into the suburbs where they could purchase a house and land for the same price as a small apartment, with the slight problem of having to drive significant distances to work and play. Even after commuting time and gas prices are included, real estate outside of Vancouver (often times built on land that was formerly agricultural) is still too good of a bargain to pass up. So, it appears that the affordability of gas, along with real estate prices, has had an influence on the sprawl of our cities and destruction of farmland.
Connecting the Sprawl to the City
I have recently done some research into the concept of smart-growth, which is basically a fancy way of describing sustainable growth with as little urban sprawl as possible. This concept seems directly in line with what I believe is needed for the lower mainland. Anyone who has ever visited a major US city knows that Vancouver has a relatively small city centre, and even worse, geographic barriers that prevent it from growing. While 30-story apartment buildings may not seem that green, the effect they have on our environment and the land used to build on is significantly smaller than that of developments in the suburbs. Could the barriers to expansion Vancouver faces be overcome by creating higher developments in current suburbs?
The Vancouver Sun published an article slightly more than a year ago outlining the difficulties Greater Vancouver has in controlling its urban sprawl (http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=22ce2e22-95e0-4f18-8067-923477cfff81). It basically says that new developments in the lower mainland are failing to think about land destruction when planning new projects. One has to wonder if the new focus on sustainability in building practices is making people believe that they can expand the amount of land they inhabit because they are making up for this destruction in other ways.
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Welcome to my blog. What will most certainly become the go-to resource on the problem of agricultural land destruction in B.C. I am currently working out in the fields, hoeing rows and bailing hay, and consequently have not had time to make another post. I assure you, once the work is done and the animals are taken care of, I will be blogging. I hope this blog will appeal to anyone who cares about how future generations will feed themselves and who is tired of seeing houses pop up in ever increasing amounts on what used to be useful farming land. For now, check out my about page on the left navigation bar and be sure to check back regularly for more exciting commentary on this incredibly relevant problem.
