Article 1 - What Makes A Summerlander?

This short article is intended to provoke discussion and thought prior to the Smart Growth workshops.

People instinctively (sometimes unknowingly) sort themselves into like-minded groups. A common sorting method is choice of place to live. In other words, Summerlanders and Vancouverites are different. Summerlanders are (mostly) folk who chose to live in a small town rather than bigger places like Penticton, or Kelowna, or Vancouver. They are people who place more value on the benefits of small town living than they do on the advantages of city life.

What are "Summerland values" and the benefits of small town living? I suggest the following:-
1. A sense of community, of belonging. You know folk when you walk down Main Street.
2. Feeling safe. Summerland is too small to attract organised crime, prostitution rings, etc.
3. Lower property taxes
4. Few traffic problems. Few parking problems. No parking meters!
5. Compactness. Almost everyone is within a seven minute drive of the Downtown. For many, the Downtown is but a short walk.
6. Community involvement. A goodly percentage of Summerlanders volunteer, belong to churches or service clubs, etc.
7. Clean air. No industrial pollution to speak of.
8. A human scale. No multi-story towers or malls you can get lost in!
9. The benefits of strip malls, big box stores and industrial areas close by in Penticton and Kelowna, without the disadvantages that come with them such as heavy traffic, pollution, an ugly urban landscape, etc.
10. No rat race.

We have chosen to move here or to stay here. We forego the materialistic advantages of city living, such as higher salaries and better promotion prospects, for that small town quality of life.

Comments and discussion please!