REINVENTING THE COMMUNITY

Quick question. Do you ever just pause and take a look around you and acknowledge the changes that have been happening around you? John Lennon wrote in one of his songs “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” He was so right. We often get caught up in the day to day madness of jobs, raising kids, making and saving money. Always making future plans. Then we wake up one morning, take a look around and say where did all these houses come from? In the early 70s when I would drive into Toronto I would always head down Thickson Road to the 401. On the north-east corner of Thickson and Rossland there was this lone gas station, seemingly out in the middle of nowhere. I would often wonder why the heck they’d put a gas station out there. 50 years later I know why. It’s now in the middle of a massive housing development. DOH!!! Same thing for North Oshawa. It used to be a true pleasure driving past Winfield’s Farms and marvel at all the grazing horses. So serene and was truly an idyllic picture. Been there lately? Costco, high rises, malls and hundreds of townhouses. If you mentioned to someone that didn’t know what this area used to look like, they’d think you were nuts. As inevitable as it seems, that is progress. There was a time when you would drive by the CTV studios on the 401 at McCowan Rd in outer Scarborough and you would be on the outer edge of the Toronto part of the GTA. Not now. Have you been to an Oshawa Generals game in the last number of years? First class facility with all the modern conveniences of a big city arena. Remember the Civic Auditorium? Wow! Talk about a difference. Forget the fact the new building is twice the capacity. Everything about it is different. In many ways for the better. In some not so much. I miss some of the innocence of the old buildings. And the uniqueness. Most of the facilities being built these days are cookie cutter. You could be in Kingston, London, Oshawa or Guelph and for the most part the arenas are the same. Again, that is progress. A big part of that process is just how Oshawa has re-invented itself. Used to be that as GM went, so did Oshawa and a good amount of the surrounding communities. It was THAT dominant. Not so much any more. The sole reliance on GM has pretty much evaporated and in its place has come tech companies and schools. Ontario Tech University and Durham College have become a major force in the area, creating jobs and commerce by the bushel. Which also brings a different mindset. Many still work at the motors and I hope that never stops, but the fear that used to be around every time GM decided to lay off workers would grip the entire community. It wasn’t fair to the workers, their families or the area at large. But, again, that has changed – for the better. Take a moment to look around and see what has changed. You may surprise yourself.

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