OPINION: Cornwall truly is a great place to live

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By Nick Seebruch
OPINION: Cornwall truly is a great place to live
The Cornwall Clocktower with a banner celebrating 2020 high school graduates. The Pride flag can be seen in the background. Taken June 2020 (Nick Seebruch/ Seaway News).

At the end of last week on Friday, MacLean’s released their annual ranking of the best cities in Canada to live. This year’s list was based around best cities to live in and work remotely, and Cornwall ranked very favourably, breaking the top 10 at number eight out of more than 400 cities.

It is great that our city is looked on so favourably in this list from MacLean’s. Cornwall out ranked major Canadian cities including Regina, Charlottetown, and Toronto.

Achieving this accomplishment is a big deal, and I can think of a few ways that the city can capitalize on this positive press.

Housing, housing, housing

I’ve said it before, and it remains true, housing will be the biggest challenge the City of Cornwall faces in the coming years.

Accolades like being named one of the top 10 best places to live and work remotely doesn’t do much good if there aren’t places for people to move to in Cornwall.

Earlier this year, the Mayor commented during a council meeting that employers where telling her that a lack of housing was an obstacle for them to recruit new talent and bring those workers to Cornwall.

Ballooning rental and home sale prices also could hold Cornwall back on future lists and push the city down in the rankings if real estate prices continue to soar.

Fortunately, the Mayor has formed a housing advisory committee to work on the issue. It is a big task to take on, but one that needs to be addressed quickly.

Transportation

I’ve begun to feel for awhile now that the City has had a bit of a chicken and the egg relationship with public transportation.

A good example of this argument comes from the battle over Sunday service. There is a vocal segment of the Cornwall public that want to see a Sunday bus service from Cornwall Transit; I usually see a petition for Sunday service submitted to Council at least once a year. Cornwall Transit has said that the numbers don’t support having a Sunday service, but maybe there isn’t a demand because people feel that they need to own a car in this city?

For a long time, it has seemed to me that Cornwall is a city that puts drivers first, where you need to have a car to get around.

We know that we are starting to see more immigration to Cornwall from larger cities like Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto, which all have robust public transit systems, and this is something they will come to expect from a municipality.

Cornwall has a master transit plan, but maybe it is time to create a more aspirational doctrine that is based on what Cornwall Transit could be to serve a growing city.

Dog park

Living in a home with two young pups really makes me wish that Cornwall had a public dog park. Just as having green outdoor public space is important to families with children, having a dog park is important to pet owners too.

When I visited my friend while she was staying in Toronto in January of 2020, I was impressed how close the neighbourhood dog park was, and how well it was used.

Even without Cornwall growing in the way that it is, I would still advocate for a dog park. Across North America the demand for dogs has skyrocketed, with Cornwall being no different. The local OSPCA is often out of dogs because people have been eager to adopt during the pandemic.

I feel like having a dog park is something that a city should have, and given a picture I received last week from a reader, which showed doggy bags strewn all over the walking trail near St. Anne’s school, I’m sure even non-dog owning residents would appreciate it too.

What do you think readers? How can Cornwall capitalize on being named one of the best cities to live in Canada? Email me a Letter to the Editor to nseebruch@seaway.media

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