Make better use of assets Rural Ramblings

One of the first things I noticed when I returned to the area after an absence of pushing two years was how quiet the towns of Edson and Hinton were from how I remember. I can’t talk for Whitecourt as I haven’t been there yet.

I guess a good deal of that has to with the economy. Some folks are fine, others just about managing to get by, others are not getting by and others have moved away, back home or following the jobs.

Empty buildings, especially large empty buildings are not good for the economy of a town or its image. It’s a dilemma for municipalities as these buildings are likely privately owned. I’m guessing it’s a province wide, even a country wide issue.

Everything is changing, I’ve said this for a long time and now, more quickly than people might think. Technology is going to mean job changes and job cuts, perhaps on a scale that we haven’t seen for many decades. Jobs at all levels are affected, high paid to low paid. The wind of change will strike at all. I don’t think many of us will feel the good of it.

The future is our children, as it’s always been. They have the chance to adapt and adopt far quicker. I think we need a lot more post secondary education and training right on our doorsteps. I’ve always questioned the ethos of sending kids away to colleges and universities in the cities.

The cynic in me has always thought that this was more about keeping educational institutions afloat rather than benefiting those they say they serve. Those institutions must bend to the wind of change too. One doesn’t need to be on campus to attend a lecture, read a book, do a test, all of this can be done remotely.

Here’s a mad idea, why not put some of those empty buildings to good use? Many of them have good facilities for offices/ classrooms, even workshops in some trades. Yes, students may have to attend a central campus for some specialities but not likely all the time. Encourage our own children to stay where they were brought up, if they want to of course. It’s likely that some of them may start businesses of their own and some of those businesses will thrive and employ local people and towns will prosper.

Someone or someone’s in government at all levels needs to see and realise the opportunity from dead space. Make better or even some use of the assets that we have.