Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Editor, The News; Tuesday April 4, 2006
Note: I was going to just post excerpts but felt Mr. Gibson deserved the courtesy of his entire letter, so I have highlighted the parts I want to emphasis.
Abbotsford’s residents are living in a city that is trying to be something it’s not.This is not a small town that’s experiencing growing pains. It’s a city. Period. And as a city it needs to have progressive thinkers in charge that can handle city problems and growth.There is no reason why issues time and time again get put on the back burner to be dealt with in the future. The future is now here in Abbotsford, and I believe this city is long overdue for some of the amenities that come with a population base the size of which is here now, and growing rapidly.
We should have an arena the size of which can handle a WHL team, not a BCHL team. Why should Chilliwack be supporting a larger market team in a much smaller market? Other uses for the arena would attract people and money here, not the other way around. A casino? Why not have one here instead of seeing our dollars head elsewhere? The dangers that come with gambling do not simply disappear if an Abby resident gambles in another city. It’s past time for this city to build some sort of entertainment district, clustered close together south of the No.1 highway. This would keep policing costs down, keep young people in town and realistically accessible to taxis as transportation.
This city is a ghost town at night, and it should be a hub to draw people from the smaller cities that surround us. Residents of Chilliwack, Mission and Aldergrove should be feeding our economy, not the other way around. And our 1 o’clock closing times are a joke that gets laughed at by visitors to our city. The people who really want this are long in bed at this hour. Keep our streets safe? Does anyone see the streets as safer since these changes were implemented?
You need big thinkers in a big city, and more tax dollars earned at night would help fund the issues that really are hurting Abbotsford – addiction and homelessness. City in the country? It’s starting to look like East Hastings in the country.
Rodney Gibson Abbotsford BecomingHastings in the country
Abbotsford’s residents are living in a city that is trying to be something it’s not.This is not a small town that’s experiencing growing pains. It’s a city. Period. And as a city it needs to have progressive thinkers in charge that can handle city problems and growth.There is no reason why issues time and time again get put on the back burner to be dealt with in the future. The future is now here in Abbotsford, and I believe this city is long overdue for some of the amenities that come with a population base the size of which is here now, and growing rapidly.
We should have an arena the size of which can handle a WHL team, not a BCHL team. Why should Chilliwack be supporting a larger market team in a much smaller market? Other uses for the arena would attract people and money here, not the other way around. A casino? Why not have one here instead of seeing our dollars head elsewhere? The dangers that come with gambling do not simply disappear if an Abby resident gambles in another city. It’s past time for this city to build some sort of entertainment district, clustered close together south of the No.1 highway. This would keep policing costs down, keep young people in town and realistically accessible to taxis as transportation.
This city is a ghost town at night, and it should be a hub to draw people from the smaller cities that surround us. Residents of Chilliwack, Mission and Aldergrove should be feeding our economy, not the other way around. And our 1 o’clock closing times are a joke that gets laughed at by visitors to our city. The people who really want this are long in bed at this hour. Keep our streets safe? Does anyone see the streets as safer since these changes were implemented?
You need big thinkers in a big city, and more tax dollars earned at night would help fund the issues that really are hurting Abbotsford – addiction and homelessness. City in the country? It’s starting to look like East Hastings in the country.
Rodney Gibson Abbotsford BecomingHastings in the country
# posted by James W Breckenridge : 10:05 AM
