There is currently a new commercial development project happening in Canmore that is attracting the ire of the anti-development crowd. It is a large building with apartments, stores, restaurants, and even a hostel going in.
Plenty of the criticism directed at the project focuses on the business that are going to be basing themselves there. Many are chains and it doesn’t look like there will be more than a couple new “local” businesses.
A common sentiment is that the town doesn’t need more restaurants, new chains, or a shopping center. This point of view completely misses the point of why development happens.
Development happens when the owners of property believe a shopping center, warehouse, apartment building or whatever will be more valuable than the current state of the property.
Then individuals decide if they want to invest in the project and individuals decide if they want to use the repurposed land to start a business or rent an apartment. Finally, individuals decide if they want to patronize those new businesses.
Before this happens, you can only guess at what the individual consumers in the city want. Some of the new businesses will not be profitable, but many will. Only the test of time will show what the people actually wanted. But time won’t show what people needed. Because development isn’t about what people need, it is about individuals deciding what is best for them and their property, all the way from the original landowner, to the business owners, to the renters, and to the end consumers.
Leave a Reply