Destination: Okotoks
by Emily Senger
D’Arcy Ranch Golf Club, Big Rock
Because it was better than the one we had in High River, my best friend and I went to the swimming pool. Later, our moms bought us ice cream cones at the local Dairy Queen. These are my earliest childhood memories of Okotoks. The other memory that I have of Okotoks, one that took place a decade later, isn’t quite as happy; a demoralizing defeat on the basketball court at the hands of the Foothills Falcons, who scored on my High River team again and again and again.
Today, both the Dairy Queen and the high school are still there. But that’s about the only thing that hasn’t changed in Okotoks in the years since those memories were made. Okotoks was no exception to the economic boom of the first decade of the 21st century. As a result, the town, located just 18 kilometres southwest of Calgary, experienced a massive population boom. In 2002 (the year of my on-court humiliation at the hands of the Falcons), there were a respectable 394 housing starts in town. Four years later that number nearly tripled, skyrocketing to 1,071 starts.
The population of Okotoks more than doubled between 1998 and 2009, making the town one of the fastest growing in Canada during the period. Much of that growth has been the result of an expanding community of Calgary-bound commuters, which now numbers nearly 22,000 people. Though the rate of expansion slowed to 8.4 per cent last year – still pretty impressive in the midst of a recession – the legacy created by this decade-long growth spurt is apparent everywhere. It’s apparent in the rows and rows of matching two-storey homes with minivans and SUVs parked in the driveways. It’s apparent in the under-construction 32nd Street Bridge and River Crossing, which will add a long-overdue second bridge over the Sheep River. It’s apparent in the big-box store complexes that continue to pop up against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, including the new Home Depot, the Walmart and the 155,000-square-foot Costco Wholesale outlet that’s still under construction.
All this development in the last decade means that much of Okotoks is new and shiny, and the matching houses could just as easily be in any suburb in Calgary or Edmonton. But certain streets have managed to maintain their small-town charm. Just north of the Sheep River, in Olde Towne, independent shops line the main downtown drag. A few high-quality restaurants here have found homes in heritage buildings that date back to the turn of the 20th century. A block south of Olde Towne, a pedestrian bridge over the Sheep River leads to Lion’s Park, where the young, or young at heart, can splash in the icy river water on a hot summer day. The municipality is focused on keeping this area vital, both through ongoing efforts to attract new businesses to the downtown streets and the recent addition of Olde Towne Plaza, a public gathering space with benches and a small stage.
That’s not the only thing the people of Okotoks have done to ensure that the values of Olde Towne didn’t become a casualty of new development. In 1998, the town council passed a motion to adopt a sustainable Master Development Plan, part of which includes capping growth with a boundary that will accommodate approximately 30,000 residents. The decision was based partially on the town’s water limitations – the Sheep River aquifer can only support about 30,000 people – and partially on the desire to maintain a small-town feel. It makes sense in this family town, which attracts the kind of people who want to live in a smaller community without giving up the conveniences of having the southern edge of Calgary a 15-minute drive away. Housing prices in Okotoks remain cheaper than in the city, making the town a top pick for young families and first-time homeowners.
But the combination of comparatively cheaper home prices and the Calgary convenience factor may overwhelm the community’s desire to stay small. Now that the population is getting close to the magic 30,000 figure, council passed another motion about growth in May 2009 that would, among other things, “consult with the public if a growth model beyond the 1998 Master Development Plan is to be considered.” Given the ongoing industrial, residential and commercial development in Okotoks, as well as its appeal to new and prospective residents, it stands to reason that it will look just as different a decade from now as it did a decade ago.
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