Town values youth involvement in planning decisions

Town of High River staff are asking youth about the future development of their community and discovering that they have some strong opinions.

“Bring necessities closer. Providing necessities closer to the communities will cause less dependencies on vehicles and may cause a drop in emissions.”

 “High River needs to work on the services for the public, such as retail and transport.”

“Put more light in the street for the pedestrians to walk safely in the night.”

These are a few of the comments that staff from the Planning Services Department heard from students during several presentations at the two local high schools. With the recent annexation in the north end of town, the Town has been engaging with residents to discover how people want to develop this area and the opinions of potential future homeowners have been an important part of that discussion.

“We wanted to get the support and guidance from the people who will be the leaders of tomorrow and who will be living and working in this community when this future development actually happens,” said Khalid Mohammed, policy planner for High River. “This is why it is so important to hear their opinions now because we are talking about planning and building our community over the next 30 years.”

The presentations were part of a consultation process in the development of a Growth Management Strategy (GMS) for the newly annexed land. They highlighted some of the issues that the GMS will deal with and provided an opportunity for the public to share expertise and knowledge regarding growth and growth related issues. Information was provided on the differences between conventional plans for urban growth compared to sustainable types of development, including the costs of each.

The students also had an opportunity to complete a questionnaire at the end of the discussion and Mohammed was amazed at the insight the students displayed.  “I was wowed by how the youth quickly grasped the need to build pedestrian and transit friendly neighbourhoods, where people can live, work and play without needing a car,” he said.

Recent studies in the United States have indicated that fewer young people are getting their licences, a trend that is also happening in Canada, increasing the demand for efficient public transportation systems. “Young people want to have amenities close to where they live, which would translate into more mixed use type of zoning in future development plans,” explained Mohammed. “These shifts in perception are so huge because they determine the shape of future housing trends and these choices need to be addressed.”

Approximately 124 students participated in the three workshops held at Highwood High School and Notre Dame Collegiate High School. Their top five priorities for future development reflect this shift in thinking where public transit and an increased number of bike lanes were second only to increasing the number of recreation facilities on this list. More housing choices placed third followed by walkable neighbourhoods and protecting environmentally sensitive areas.

Both teachers and students deeply appreciated the opportunity to participate in the process and Highwood High School is even exploring ways that urban planning can be incorporated into its current curriculum.  As one student wrote on the comment sheet “I wish this was done sooner for our generation.”