Welcome to Rurban Living?

Lorna Jean Edmonds | Aug 07, 2024

Am I mistaken or have many traditionally ‘rural’ ridings and the counties, cities and communities within them more recently evolved into something different? Look around you – are your neighbours the same? Are the shops the same? Are the services - roads, schools, health care - the same – better and/or worse? What about the environment and the arable land for farming? What has changed and what has stayed the same? 

I am referring to the communities and their ridings which not so long ago were truly rural but are now feeling a shift. These ridings were not caught up in the immediate tentacles of the Toronto, Ottawa, London and their major highway lineal ‘reach’ that led to widespread developments and urban sprawl. These represent the bastion of rural ridings with cities that garner populations historically of less than 200,000, like Kingston and its riding Kingston and the Islands, and some without even a city larger than 20,000 like its neighbor, my riding of Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston. Perth-Wellington, Simcoe North and Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry are other examples and there are many more!

In 2020, I moved full time to a rural community in South Frontenac. Quite frankly, I knew very little about rural living and its livelihood. It’s magical yet it too has its limitations. It’s expensive. Energy is costly and, for too many, reliable high-speed internet is still out of reach. You want to buy local, but food can be pricey. Just buying the basics in supplies and tools I needed to purchase can be arduous unless I (ab)used the luxury of Amazon for even some of the little things. Being a farmer, and keeping your farm in the family, or at all is getting harder and harder. Urban creep is seriously stretching municipal infrastructure – water, sewers, roads and community and emergency services to mention a few.

As many rural Ontario ridings become a mixture of rural and urban-like communities with people who have lived here all their lives to newcomers from near and afar, life and their livelihood are changing. The newbies are commuter families, retired persons and tele-workers who choose to reside outside of a major city or move for financial and lifestyle reasons! They are joining families who have resided in rural Ontario for many years, if not centuries. By virtue of moving in together they collectively bring a new set of wants and needs. The landscape has changed. These ridings are no longer what we think of traditionally rural and much more of a melange of the rural and the urban.

Just look at the changes in size and demography of a number of our small towns like Carleton Place. Sprawling and diversifying suburbs are surrounding long-standing communities; further redefining the traditions and cultures of predominantly farming, natural reserves, lakes, parks, small towns and villages! As an Ottawa commuter and tele-working city, Carleton Place for example has become bigger and more diverse. It is one of the fastest growing communities in Canada. Innovation with new businesses and boutiques are drawn to these emerging communities from both a price sensitive perspective and new families to serve. With the high cost of living of recent years, sadly, the demand for food banks and affordable housing is daunting coupled with the continued inability to access basic health care, rehabilitation and social services in a clinic/centre or at home typical of rural ridings. This is not to mention the cost to the environment in terms of the use of fossil fuels, loss of arable land, and the generation of excessive waste, particularly plastic.

We have critical needs in basic public infrastructure and a changing population of aging, persons with disabilities, and indigenous communities and those with young families. Farming is essential to our livelihood as are welcoming new immigrants. Our economy and tax base must grow to support these changes by investing in innovation, jobs and supporting new residents. And do so while navigating the mitigation of climate change and food and housing security and sustaining our agricultural lands, parks and natural resources. The fabric and landscape of these distinct communities across Ontario have changed.

Recognizing this, how do we wish to move forward? A key step is to relook at who and what we are and call it what it is – the fusion of ruralites with urbanites into the ‘rurbanization’ of these regions and communities. Perhaps it’s no longer rural but ‘Rurban Living’.

If so, then new thinking and leadership strategies with a rurban framework is needed. I love living here, but unless we speak loud and clear to our new reality, our livelihood will, in time, come at a price. No plan is a plan and inaction will result in some grim realities. Let’s start to advocate even more than we are now for critical investments that align with our rurban needs and will sustain and enhance the richness these ridings must continue to offer. Where we live is pretty special!

Let’s start a conversation about your thoughts about ‘rurban’ living? Please take a moment to complete this 3 minute survey @ https://tinyurl.com/LJEDMONDS . And stay posted for future posts about Rurban Living!