Red Deer's potential: it is what it is

While the staff at the Red Deer Advocate was compiling its 13^th annual Report on Central Alberta, Urbanics Consultants was compiling its report for the city in general.

Both were issued this week. The theme of Report on Central Alberta is our Centennial and the special issue records many of the milestones and important historic events of Red Deer and area. As a city, we've come a long way in our 100 years.

The Urbanics report reads more like the report cards issued to school students. Our city is young, says the report, and it has a way to go to reach its potential.

But isn't that what all report cards say? “Potential” is very much a moving target.

In many ways, Red Deer could be the avatar for the entire province. We have a young population profile, our economy is tied to the industries around energy exploration and development, and as such our city's character is defined around the way people live when they work in the energy field.

Do you recall how national reports have been saying for years that crime — especially violent crime — is on the decrease? Well, nationally, it is. Demographers claim that's largely due to an aging population.

Middle-aged people and seniors don't get involved in robberies and such, not in the same proportion as young adults. The young adult population that much of Canada used to be has grown up, has learned from its mistakes.

That Red Deer's crime rates are reported by Urbanics as so much higher than the provincial or national averages is most likely a reflection of our young population profile. It's also a reflection of our economy.

We have a young population, and we have a population with a low rate of post-secondary education. And we have a larger proportion of young adults with less education earning wages a person with a masters degree or even a PhD could scarcely dream of.

A decade of university will not get you the paycheque of a pipeline welder with a journeyman's ticket. Don't even think about it getting you a job that includes the overtime rate of a heavy equipment operator. 

Studies that say higher education leads to higher pay don't reflect the Alberta economy. In that regard, Alberta is not like the rest of the world. And Red Deer now stands as its avatar.

Thus, we have the combination of a young population, with many of our citizens earning other-worldly salaries, who have not had to invest in four to six years of university at $40,000 a year.

What does that lead to? Higher crime, for one thing. This kind of cash-rich, young, and active environment attracts more than just skilled tradespeople. Comes with the territory.

Does that mean we're not reaching our potential? I don't think so. As they say, it is what it is.

So why bother with the report card?

In my opinion, the Urbanics report confirms a great deal of the direction our city council has taken in its long-term planning.

Our greatest economic strength — a strong cohort of young, high-income families — also highlights our biggest challenges.

Red Deer needs to diversify its economy more, says the report. Where have we heard this before, like, a million times?

Easier said than done, in the Alberta experience. If we want to grow that part of the city which has more education and is more entrepreneurial, we have to be the kind of place where those people want to live. That isn't easy to achieve. Or cheap.

The Urbanics report approves of council's emphasis on renovating the city's core, of putting more housing close to downtown. This — so the plan goes — attracts more of a diversity of business to the area.

But the infrastructure has to be there. And infrastructure alone will not convince more people that they would rather go to school and do high-tech stuff, and do it here, than do it in a large city. As opposed to picking up a trade and buying a house in the suburbs with a garage big enough for a truck and RV — before you're 30 years old.

In making his report to council, Phil Boname, president of Urbanics Consultants did not answer this disconnect. Not his job, really.

Red Deer's “potential” does indeed include more people with degrees living in it, and better promotion of our central location in the province as a place for diverse businesses to locate and grow. There are no city councillors and no business leaders in Red Deer who are not fully aware of that.

Issue all the reports you like, but cultures and economies are very hard forces to turn. Planning, observing and building supportive infrastructure is the best you can do.

In the meantime, Red Deer is what it is. On the whole, it's where I want to be. Who wants to live in a city that's already achieved it potential?