The Price of Independence

As much as we desire our independence it does come with a price. That freedom that we feel from being at the helm of our own ship has a trade off. It involves money. To be independent in this world demands it. The perks of steering our own course are many, we inspire more loyalty to our community from having a separate border and governing body, we are more involved in the vision and shaping of our town, and through these aspects we can keep a broader perspective from being on the “outside”.
The drawbacks come from the tax dollars needed to sustain our new status of a thriving and growing community that has yet to have big town or city amenities and the nearness to Calgary means that we will shop where we work , along the commute or where the prices are lower. We cannot compare ourselves to Airdrie, or Okotoks because of this factor. Changing our status to city as a marketing strategy is weak, because there are just too many other considerations in the mix, with being so close to Calgary. For new businesses, they are no different than the consumers they hope to attract. It comes down to dollars and cents, and to traffic.
Lori Nielsen