Letter to the Editor
I am writing this letter to put an idea into the public sphere. For the last two years I have been quietly harassing public officials about an idea I have for the creation of a task force to determine the viability of a technology or intelligence park in the Comox Valley. As a Realtor I am acutely aware of how the local economy is performing. It is no surprise to me that businesses in the downtown core have been having problems attracting business. Most of the shops are specialty shops and our local and national recession has greatly reduced the discretionary income of everyone in the private sector that I know. I have watched a number of young people and families pick up and go to where there is work. It is handy to blame the big box stores and the idea of sprawl as the enemy, but I believe the enemy is ourselves, and our lack of strong private sector employment. Costco or Wal Mart are not competing with a specialty golf shop. They do not have the selection or expertise that a true enthusiast would need. When private sector spending money dries up, so do the businesses that they support.
Our local economy was previously wealthy in natural resource extraction and processing. Long gone are the mills, the fish, mining and the large scale logging that created this valley with reasonable too well paid jobs. The local economy hinges on government work- military, health, education and support services. When there are large influxes of humans from Alberta and the lower mainland the building industry booms and when the economy retracts, as it is now, it busts. Without finding new industry we will continue to go through a boom and bust cycle and be primarily dependent upon the largess of government/ tax monies.
While there has been an effort to promote tourism and agriculture they are generally low wage paying jobs and often are seasonal in nature. Tourism is also very prone to the effect of the overall economy. I propose that we take a more visionary approach, that we as a community recognise that we want well paid technology oriented industries brought to the valley. I propose we pursue developing the Comox valley as a leading centre for technology companies looking to expand or relocate.
A technology park is a large building or series of interconnected buildings that have common facilities that small to medium sized firms can share such boardrooms, small conference areas and video suites for tele conferences. A technology park encourages the interaction between the different aspects of the technology industries. By sharing common facilities small companies can reduce overhead and spend time developing their product. By being physically close to other professionals engaged in IT work, there will inevitably be idea sharing and the formation of new companies and products. This is not a new concept and is very successful in Victoria where the tech industry is producing 1.6 billion dollars a year in revenue.
Technology parks have blossomed across North America and due to our relatively very low real estate prices and phenomenal quality of living, I believe that we are well positioned to take advantage of the strong technology sector in BC and AB and establish a tech park in the valley. We need to create a strong and stable private sector economy if we are to have a vibrant community that supports independent stores, artisans, restaurants and retains young people in the community. As a soccer and skiing coach of kids in their teens I find it deeply concerning that every young person I speak with envisions that they have no working future in this community. We have a College and good high school institutions that could easily be preparing knowledge based workers who could find work in this community, if it was here.
I work with knowledge workers all the time. They are one of the backbones of my business and all of them wish that there was some kind of centralised location where they could rent/ own office space that suits there business needs. There is an innate desire to congregate and have informal casual encounters with people who are engaged in similar endeavors. The current state of affairs in downtown Courtenay has led me to believe that if such a place was established in the core that it would solve many of the merchants problems and help reinvigorate the commercial heart of the valley.
Letters to the editor do not offer enough space to lay out the entire argument and proposal so here is a link to the idea www.jamessmith.ca/category/intelligence-park/ at the bottom of the blog is a pdf document that can be downloaded. I should note that I have made numerous attempts to get politicians of all political stripes to take a look at this idea and so far I can’t even get a phone call returned. So I am making a public plea. If you want to save your downtown, create a community that is economically balanced and successful we need to find a way to attract knowledge based companies and their workers . There are a two different parcels owned by the city of Courtenay that would both be excellent locations for an tech park that had a residential mixed use component in the downtown core. The single biggest problem facing the core is that in order to thrive it needs more people living and working downtown. Of course attracting this industry will take a concerted effort and will almost certainly require tax breaks and reduced development cost charges. Do we as a community have the vision and bravery to embark on this discussion or are we satisfied with a low wage service economy for retirees? I personally want a vibrant community that is healthy , wealthy and wise. Which can only come about if we have a successful sustainable economy, a place where our best and brightest see a future. The creation of a task force to study the viability of a tech park for the valley is the best place for us to start this process. I have had the privilege to meet a number of very well qualified individuals who are keen to see this come to fruition. They are all professional IT workers, whether they be designers, programs or project managers. They know this industry and should be the core of the task force. We will try and make a formal appeal to the council of Courtenay. If you believe that a knowledge based economy is what this valley needs, let them know. If anyone is interested in contributing to this discussion or concept please visit www.jamessmith.ca/category/intelligence-park/, leave a comment and some contact info.
James Smith
Craigdarroch Beach
Great prices! Bring your job and escape the 16 ft wide lot
The Comox Valley remains a buyers market. Bargains abound and there are now some homes that are showing pricing that is comparable to four and five years ago. In my oceanside neighborhood, which is lovely , there has been 2 sales in 2011 and there are currently 18 different homes or lots for sale. It is difficult to pinpoint why this lovely waterfront subdivision with a long waterfront street and two crescents is not receiving more activity. It was not so long ago that a parade of out of town buyers would slowly make their way down the streets looking to see what was available, if anything.
After spending some time with old friends who currently live in Vancouver, it struck me as even more bizarre that these slightly dated homes on private treed lots steps to the ocean were still available, as a number of them are priced well below replacement value and on quality lots. After much rumination I have concluded that are a number of factors contributing to the lack of sales, despite some good pricing. The lack of buyers from Alberta, who have turned their eyes towards highly underpriced vacation properties in the US south west, is a big factor. But prices are sky rocketing in Vancouver, making single family home ownership virtually unattainable to anyone unprepared to be an absolute slave to their mortgage. I expected to see a spillover from the Vancouver market, but our lack of jobs appears to be the biggest problem in attracting new young families frozen out of the Van city market. It is for this reason, that in order to sell a few homes and save some lives, I am attaching a link at the bottom of this blog to a CVIP proposal I have written to establish a Task Force to determine the viability of technology / intelligence / innovation Park, whatever it may be called is irrelevant until we as a community decide to try and create an agreeable environment for creative industries who wish to relocate to a sane place.
I have spent the last week with two sets of clients looking to get out of the city and into some Small Town Livin(g), a family from Toronto ( a city so easy to pick on I wonʼt even start) and Vancouver (the supermodel city, pretty, unattainable and expensive). Both are looking at the valley because of lifestyle and the ability to do creative intelligence based work from home offices, both have young families and are looking at a long term quality of life shift. I believe both are the tip of an iceberg. That is why I am going to try and create a public discussion regarding a tech/creative park right now. Real estate prices are great and as soon as the dollar drops and home prices is in the south western states start to increase, the Albertan retiree will be back and prices will rise.
This is easily the best buyers market I have seen in my 6/7 years as a Realtor and I am encouraging any young people thinking of working outside the box to get over here and look at some of the deals available in every price point and in almost every part of the Valley.
My phone is on and ready for your emails.
Please have a look at the proposal for the creation of a task force, send me your feedback, I will create a Facebook page and lets see if we can find someone to champion this concept in the looming municipal elections. I would much rather be featured in the Globe and Mail over a Tech Park than a Coal Mine ( which is barely in the Comox Valley). So lets stop whining about a lack of non rape and pillage jobs and see if we canʼt push an agenda onto the Economic Development bodies that will bring clean and green jobs to our little chunk of paradise.
Jobs, jobs, jobs
A Intelligence Park!? A tech Park, are you crazy? Why? Where? In the middle of nowhere. You have to get a big anchor. Youʼll never get an anchor. Nobody will come.
Yes I have been banging this drum for years and while almost everyone who works in IT locally tells me a Intelligence Park (I-P) is a great idea, there are those who disagree. If the actions of the local government and itʼs publicly funded Economic Development Society can be judged by what they do, they DONʼT think it is a good idea. They paid (handsomely Iʼm sure) for a study done in 2006 that outlined the great potential the area had to become a small hub in the burgeoning tech sector. Yet nothing has been done and the only answer I get from elected official (ex head of IT at UBC) is that we need an anchor. Which seems to me (please correct me if I am wrong) a ridiculous request when we have not even established a body to investigate the hows and why of what could be done, a Task Force. How can one man fight such a battle. I canʼt, I need help and am asking to the public to help me form a society dedicated to getting the local government to help promote the Valley as a place for Intelligence based businesses, much in the same manner that they currently perform for tourism and agriculture. I am not looking for money, merely the assistance and support of bodies that can help foster an environment that will help produce a positive result, ie eliminate or dramatically reduce Development Cost Charges, rezone land currently outside the zoning needed for an I-P. Consider a way to encourage a Park through a graduated Commercial Tax break on real estate. These are not revolutionary ideas, they are techniques and practices that municipalities around the world to help promote local economies. It almost seems that the very bodies that should be doing the most to create CLEAN and GREEN economic activity and job creation are doing the most to prevent it. We must as a community look to the future and ask how we can sustain a true community if the young people have to leave to find work.
“Hey aren’t I a Realtor? Okay a couple notes on the market. It is my assessment that a growing strength in the commodities market will produce a boost to employment figures in Western Canada which will help strengthen the residential real estate markets in Edmonton and Calgary, which will in turn produce retiree buyers for Vancouver Island. A return to some stability for acreage, view and waterfront properties should be the result. At this point views remain free and waterfront is at the lowest price in almost five years. I smell the bottom of the market and am encouraging all readers to come out of the closet and take a look at what is available.
