Brief Thought...

Problem: Bellevue's old downtown is a ghost town. Buildings have been sitting for years with plywood covered windows, peeling paint and no commercial tennants. Bigger problem is that these buildings are probably being neglected leading to serious damage.

The commercial zoning of these buildings in an area with no demand for retail space makes these buildings virtually impossible to sell - nobody can get money from a bank no matter how cheap the space is.
Is there a type of zoning that will allow people to officially live in the fronts of these spaces while still leaving the opportunity for business use in the future? If the bulk of these old buildings were rezoned to allow residential use in the storefronts could the municipality tell people, "yup, you can live in there but you have to restore your building to a heritage standard - essentially forcing people to restore the fronts in exchange for zoning that would make living in.... and convince banks to allow financing of"
Imagine just a couple of the old store fronts fixed up. Signs of light and life at night in just a couple storefronts. Nice heritage colors. Next thing we have turned Bellevue's old downtown back into a beautiful spot where maybe a little shop or 2 and a cafe would want to be. A beautiful, authentic little piece of paridise in the mountains. Sounds better than letting these buildings and the history they represent fall into disrepair.
There are people out there with dreams of finding their own personal mountain paradise. These people want to live idealistic lives. They want to be a part of a community. They want to be a part of something funky and fun. Bellevue's old downtown could be alive with color, light, life, personality, celebration of history, ideas. I know there are people who will find this crazy. Please let what I'm doing in my old building give some idea of the possibilities we have in Bellevue. This old forgotten downtown could help attract new types of residents, inspire new ideas, bring more visitors who will export better impressions of the Pass. This place used to be a coal mine. It is now a gold mine of possibilities.

Quick building update

First unit: almost done.

Front and rear unit: need doing.

Facad: happening...

Cost: adding up fast

Reward: priceless.

Great Fun

So Sunday came around this week and guess what? Off to Crowsnest. On the agenda: look at progress with the building, attend a meeting with a bunch of holiday home owners, stuff ourselves at Stone's Throw and go for a late season XC ski.
1. The building is coming along. We can actually imagine sleeping in a bed, with a functioning bathroom in a civilized version of the indoor camping we have been doing for 2 years.
2. We met some really nice people with great ideas. Felt really great chatting with a group of people who's goals revolved around creating great experiences for visitors to Crowsnest Pass and trying to convince people to continue visiting in the future. You can see some of these places at: http://www.crowsnestpassholidayhomes.com
3. It is always my favourite part of visiting the Pass. Steve (Stone's Throw) and I have a gift for acting like 10 year old best-buds whenever we get together. There is nothing wrong with acting like an idiot and just laughing sometimes.
4. XC skiing: This should be a post on its own. Cross Country skiing for many is supposed to include perfect track-set conditions or it just isn't fun. The tracks were a mess but I had an awesome time. People tend to get upset when conditions aren't what they expect - enjoyment is only possible for them if everything goes as expected. Well for me in this case, I was laughing my ass off because the skis were impossible to control, there was too much grip in a couple spots and none in all the other spots. I was surrounded by a beautiful day, nature and the coolest forest anywhere. It wasn't a conscious decision like "this sucks, but I must be more positive and have a good experience." This was a tiny example of living in the moment and appreciating the fun of the unexpected in beautiful surroundings. Hey, kinda like a life lesson. Hmmmm?
Perhaps my next post will have to include a V8 engine or a motorcycle before people start thinking I'm a little fruity.

Update of the building

Just wanted to give a visual update of the progress. I don't want to say too much about what the plans are - I prefer to surprise people with pictures. As you can see (if you have amazing vision), there are new windows in the rear of the building. There is also a new, wood construction, well insulated, hurricane strapped/framed rear third of the building.

There is an extremely large beam that we discovered when the lath&plaster ceiling was removed - the ceiling was destroyed and had been hidden above a TBar ceiling. Glad to see the TBar go. Happy with thoughts of exposed massive beams overhead.

The second picture is a teaser of the middle suite. It is now completely painted and awaiting fir t&g flooring and a kitchen install.

My next blog will be a charity blog asking for donations towards the ongoing renovation of a 1927 commercial building in Crowsnest Pass. Boy, is this more rewarding than RRSP contributions!

That Thing

So yesterday I drove down to Bellevue to paint in interior of the "middle suite" in the building. Of course, I ran into a snow storm - the 5th one I have driven through in the last 5 weeks of back and forthing to the Pass. If anyone out there is a son or daughter of Mother Nature, could you please take out the garbage, do the dishes or clean your room - your mom is in a bad mood!
One of the benefits of doing a 5 hour round trip on a regular basis is that you become very relaxed and tend to do some soul searching (or you think about business) - this time it was soul searching.
What is it about Crowsnest Pass, I was thinking. Well as strange as it sounds because I tell anyone who will listen that the scenery is amazing, there are these forgotten parts of history, the mountaing biking is great etc.. The one thing that really has put Crowsnest Pass over the top is the people. For Andrea and I we first met "locals" when we became instant friends with Steve and Jessica at Stone's Throw - through them we met more people and through them even more. The people, especially those who have made a conscious life-choice to move to the Pass seem to have a few great things in common - I will make a list because I don't put much thought into my posts and this is as close to organized as I can get.

1. Non-materialistic: people know there is more to life than a bigger house, larger vehicle, a better this or fancier that. This is so refreshing.
2. Lifestyle seekers: there are people who want to live in an outdoorsy town because it is cool or represents some sort of status and there are those who absolutely love the outdoors and want to immerse their lives in it - I think we all know which applies to those in the Pass.
3. Passion for Community: I have yet to meet people with so much interest in their municipal politics. This is where I put a positive spin on how "locals" see it. I know everyone I chat with has serious misgivings about the current state of municipal politics in Crowsnest - partly because things are a mess and partly because people actually notice its a mess and care enough to talk about it. The attitude in most towns is "who cares about politics." Sure there are political issues but the point is that the people really care!
4. Willingness to Help: Be it trailbuilding, volunteering with events or helping when someone's (in this case, mine) building has been damaged in a storm - many of the people I have met are extremely generous with lending a hand. I was going to start listing people who I have noticed lending a hand but it includes too many people whos names I don't recall.
5. That "je ne sais qua". Jeez people are great to chat with, are welcoming, generous, funny - all combined - it is great people.

The relevance of this stuff comes full circle for me. When I was 8, my parents moved the family from South Africa to Canada. My dad at the time was 38, my mom 40. While my parents absolutely love Canada and appreciate the great lives we have all had here, I know they have one regret about the move. They left behind a group of friends who all had that "something special" kind of friendship. As a small child I could even tell. Groups of families 4x4ing in the mountains of Lesotho or hiking or going to nature reserves - me and my parents were surrounded by like minded people. Since moving to Canada, I know my parents missed it and so did I - not feeling much of a connection with people (or not often at least). So here I am. I'm 38; the same age as when my dad left those friends and that place behind. I'm realizing I have found that place where people like me feel at home.

I am now going to grab a power tool and make some noise - far too "feely" for me.