Calgary's mayor says diversity is the key to renewing mature neighbourhoods

Mayor Naheed Nenshi had a guest op-ed in the Calgary Herald the other day and I completely agree with his observations. We can't keep on like this - opening up one new suburban community after another and populating it with young families, many of whom would love to live in mature neighbourhoods but can't afford the premium land cost and the higher taxes.

Nenshi's description of these cookie-cutter neighbourhoods brought to
mind the repeating scene from Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands"with
its pastel uniform houses and green, oh so green lawns.

From the Herald article:

...If a neighbourhood is made up entirely of young families, for example, we are always struggling to keep up with rec facilities and programs for kids. The province rushes in to build schools. Within a relatively short period of time (measured in years and not decades), the kids all grow up, the schools are empty, and we struggle to build facilities in the next neighbourhood out.

We can’t keep on like this.

We need to encourage people at different lifecycles to live in all neighbourhoods—to keep schools open and hockey rinks and buses full and to ensure that seniors can stay in their homes as long as possible.

We can't keep on like this. Mayor Nenshi is right.