
The Executive Director of Venture Kamloops says one of the goals of economic development is to grow the community and Kamloops is a prime example where growth is a hot button issue.
Jim Anderson says we have to be able to portray the city as a place that offers quality of life no matter where in the city you live. “For that reason, from an economic development standpoint, your plans have to encompass all the areas of the city. So you can’t have areas, there can’t be the viewpoint of residents in an area that they’re being neglected. Things need to be taken care of so that everyone is enjoying the same quality of life.”
Anderson says Kamloops is already a big city when talking about its geographical size, but it needs more people within that. “We look at very carefully, when we’re working on economic development, is increasing the tax base. The bottom line is everything you pay for to run a city costs more every year and one of the ways to help mitigate that financial load is to have more people to help pay for it.”
Anderson believes when talking about growth, there are concerns for existing residents including housing prices and increased traffic. “We hear on the daily about people who talk about the drive in from Valleyview in the morning it is not like is used to be, or if you’re trying to get up to Aberdeen in the afternoon and things are just busier and there are more people and things are happening. It becomes uncomfortable and I think there’s a discussion that needs to be had around that.”
The latest Kamloops Official Plan establishes a growth plan to support a projected population of 120,000 by 2039.