An example
of this clashing is the semi-recent
opening of the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) Chilliwack campus in the
Educational Park. This installment of this new campus in itself is a fantastic
idea. A university campus nestled into the southern parks of Sardis, surrounded
by a vast array of beautiful flora and fauna as well as a minute walk to the
river, there could be no better place for a student encountering the stress of
final exams - that is, until the gunshots start. The RCMP's Pacific
Regional Training Centre (PRTC) had similar roots in its conception as the
government of Chilliwack undoubtedly tried to hide the training facility in its
back pockets as not to disturb the quiet suburban community that is Chilliwack.
However, as I mentioned earlier, the development of these areas has started a
social clash amongst institutions. Paul J. Henderson of the Chilliwack Times
writes in his article $19 million for
RCMP indoor firing range in Chilliwack, “The
disruptive sound of gunfire from the PRTC's current open air range has long
been the bane of the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) students and
faculty, Vedder Crossing residential neighbours and Rotary Trail users.”[19] Interestingly enough,
although Henderson mentions the ‘residential neighbours’ and ‘Rotary Trail
users’ it is evident that the action towards silencing this disruption comes
from the influence of the newly instituted UFV campus rather than from the long
time ‘Trail users’ and ‘residential neighbours.’
Other,
more recent, interactions with this space has been the prospect of installing a
campus for care for senior citizens to help them transition from independent to
assisted and then to medical living inside of the community of Garrison
Crossing. Although this is not as an aggressive clash as that of the obnoxious
gunfire assailing the students of UFV and residents of the community, this plan
does insinuate a change in the demographic of the area. The proposal is looking
to utilize an 8 acre portion of the Garrison Community in order to, as Jennifer
Feinberg of the Chilliwack Progress writes in her article Campus of care for seniors proposed for Garrison, “provide a
facility to meet the needs of older adults as they transition through a variety
of levels of care.”[20] Although
I don’t see the aged citizens of Chilliwack providing as much grief to the
Sardis, Vedder, and Garrison residents as the cacophonous symphony of firing
guns had in years past, I do see this installation creating a new shift in the
culture of the community. This proposal comes as a testament to the
sociospatial dialectic of the neighbourhood as even Feinberg quotes the zoning
proposal "Such a facility would place housing adjacent to amenities with
access to community kitchens and food services, and space for group activities,
supporting communal interaction. Other benefits include the ability to move
seniors into housing appropriate to their needs, as they age, without
separating them from their neighbourhood and established social networks."
[21]
Sardis, Garrison,
and Vedder is a multi-level neighbourhood that is shaping and being shaped not
only by the world around it but by the people within. As shown in the sections
on Residential Community, Recreational Community, Business Sector, and
Educational Park, this community is steadily developing a culture within
Chilliwack. The space that it occupies feeds the culture that the community is
trying to build through the use of outdoor/indoor activities, business
establishment, residential instalments, and by utilizing and properly
developing an area dedicated to learning. In terms of social geography this
area is a well spring of dynamic information that provides perspective on
culture, demographics, space, and influence. By molding and creating an
environment that thrives within itself, Chilliwack has established a
sub-community dedicated to the culture, sure of its identity, and thriving in
its reality.
[19]
[20]
[21]
Ibid.
