FaithBlacquiere

FISH VILLAGE 

Once upon a time there a small village named Fish Village
Fish Village was a lovely place to live

 

Far from the Big City and the Big City’s suburbs
But close enough that they could shop there, work there, or access services there
People knew each other and their neighbours
The village was surrounded by farms and forests
Fish River ran past it
The escarpment provided spectacular views
The village had a Farmer’s Market
The highlight of their year was the Agricultural Fair
People came from all over the region to visit the village on these occasions
“How nice it is to be able to visit a real village” they said 

BUT THEN

Developers saw that people liked to live in Fish Village and that the land was cheaper
So they bought the land and planned to develop

BUT THEN

They found that the Village wells and wastewater system
couldn’t handle a lot of development
So development was capped
And the Big City helped them make a Development Plan
But then the Big City approved more developments

The Province in which Fish Village was located decided
That development should be directed to villages
The Big City Plan said they should intensify and build houses closer together

AND SO IT BEGAN

Homes in Fish Village flooded because of the wastewater system
The Big City approved a retirement village for over 100 seniors
Who will have to travel many miles to the Big City to get to a hospital
Who have nowhere to go if they have mobility problems
More people had to travel out of the village because there were not enough
jobs and stores and recreational facilities and schools
Traffic increased and parking problems surfaced

MEANWHILE

The Big City kept approving developments upstream along Fish River
Soon Fish Village sump pumps were having problems
The wells couldn’t handle the demand
Fish River water levels were rising so far and wide that the cows
 had to run for safe ground
And still the Big City kept approving developments
And the Big City allowed people to change the Fish River banks and path

AND AS FISH VILLAGE GREW

The Big City decided the village needed more ambulances, more stores,
more schools, more jobs, more parking, more buses
MORE of everything 

AND IT CAME TO PASS

That Fish Village was changed forever
And was no longer a Village
That Fish River frequently flooded Fish Village
That developers had destroyed the forests and parts of the escarpment
That developers had bought up all the farmland
So there were no longer farmers interested in the Farmers Market and Agricultural Fair
So there were only more buildings and no more spectacular views 

AND IT CAME TO BE

That the only small villages left in the Province were
Upper Canada Village, Black Creek Village and other Museum Villages
All of which were too far away to visit 

THE END