I have been following the discussions about the new Habitat development in our community.
My wife and I both disagree with this project. As a young couple of professional immigrants we want the city to help people with low resources to get housing, but what we don’t share is why it has to be in this community, which is already overwhelmed with condos and townhouses.
When we bought our house we didn’t know about the city naming convention. Later we realized that the Akinsdale area is recognized as the most overpopulated, poor community in St. Albert with high crime.
We don’t understand why the city council doesn’t hear the voices of the people in our community that pay taxes and make St. Albert one of the best places to live. We are already burned with the negative mortgages, meaning that currently my house is worth less than what we paid two years ago. However we are still trying to pay our duties as citizens.
Please don’t add more pain to the struggling working class people in this beautiful neighbourhood. We need recreational parks and green areas for our kids to keep the standard of life we chose and to keep saying aloud with pride “I live in one of the best towns in Canada.”
Juan Gonzalez and Marianella Barrantes, St. Albert
