Kapuskasing: Model City

If I was to design a small city I’d create Kapuskasing. Its town centre is organized around a circle, with a fountain and flowers, with lots of benches for sitting and chatting. The circle of establishments that surround the circle include useful things like the post office, the bank, a music store, a small restaurant and a video store. The downtown radiates out from this circle, with a large park only a block away, that overlooks a river, with rocks for sitting on, and lots of wildflowers. In this park there is also a kids water park, fun for splashing, climbing equipment and lots of shady trees for sitting. This park is across from the seniors residence. The industrial area is on the other side of the river, but there is mixed types of housing all in the downtown area – small houses, wee apartment blocks, shops, and so on. As it stands now, its crisp and well maintained. The schools, libraries, parks and museum look well supported. There are hanging flowers on every lamp post, that sort of thing. 

Unfortunately  this town  is dying. Its economy is totally dependent on the Spruce Falls Pulp and Paper, well, that and the new phosphate mine nearby. And the mill is cutting back. Unlike my earlier post - the population is actually down to around 7500. As the fellow in the LCBO (Liquor store) said to Mac, every store that opens in this town shuts quickly. You can get a three bedroom house here for 100,000.  The only things that are succeeding are the liquor store, the beer store and the pharmacy. And the population is shrinking. Nonetheless, they’re bringing in 40 new Ontario Provincial Police Officers.

So if I was to design a small city I’d want it to look like Kap,  but make sure that its economy was diversified, and more self sufficient. It could survive much better if it tried to make things for its own. But most stuff is shipped in, and like so many other cities, the WalMart is sucking up all the business that’s left here.