For my undergrad I attended a small university in BC called Trinity Western University. We have about 3000 students and were a small community about 10 minutes outside of Langley. There was a running joke at the school about the “Trinity Bubble”. People got so wrapped up in this little community that they sometimes wouldn’t leave for several weeks! They would live in dorms, eat in the cafeteria, attend classes, and on the weekends they would hang out on campus as well. They lived in the “Trinity Bubble”. It was a safe little place where they did not have to face the real world because they lived in their little bubble.

Watching the recent events of the Bellingham City Council, Ferndale City Council and Whatcom County Council, I can’t help but wonder if they are living in a “bubble” or at least trying to create one.  Their recent decisions would lead me to believe that they do not want growth and they do not want anyone else coming into Whatcom County.

At the same time, I have heard moanings that we do not have enough family wage jobs here and that young people feel that they cannot stay because there is no opportunity here. I once heard that Bellingham has the highest ratio of baristas who have masters degrees. So they want good jobs to come, but not growth. How is that supposed to work?

Growth is inevitable. Even if people stopped moving to this area, there would still be all of our children, and their children, and their children’s children. Natural population increases will occur if nothing else. And what are our grandkids and great-grand kids supposed to do for jobs?

I’m not saying that big box stores provide a ton of family wage jobs. Although there are management positions, a lot of them are lower income jobs. But they are still jobs.

Furthermore, “good” jobs will likely come from other types of businesses. But what business is going to want to move here or set up any kind of headquarters here? One look at our newspapers recently and they would worry about whether they would even be allowed to build an office! And what if they need to expand? Would the city council let them?

I understand that Whatcom County is a very special and unique place and that we locals are protective about that. But many other people are also realizing that and wanting to take part. Are we really going to stay in our bubble and say that no one else is allowed in? The bubble simply isn’t realistic or sustainable.

But big box stores do not have to burst the bubble! WELL PLANNED COMMUNITIES WITH DESIGN REQUIREMENTS make all the difference in the world! A strip mall can be a long concrete wall with doors in it, or it can be a community. If we implement design requirements that make communities, maybe the big box stores wouldn’t be so offensive to the people that seem to hate them so much.

We need to decide what we want our county to look like in 25 years. Anyone who says they want it to look exactly the same is living in a dream “bubble”. Lets be realistic and acknowledge that growth is inevitable and required if we want to have a sustainable community.

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