In the future the strip might be a very different place indeed- a pedestrian/cyclist-friendly community hub where the car is no longer king. Many of the strip malls and vacant parking lots will have been converted to high-density housing. The mobile home park will be a green European-inspired cooperative with ample affordable housing and self-sufficient in energy needs. The existing rail line that traverses Bells Corners will be used for rapid transit, with stations on Moodie and Richmond.
He then paints a darker picture:
Another possible outcome: the strip becomes even more congested and ugly as suburban sprawl continues apace and desperate Kanata and Stittsville SUV commuters look for a route downtown that's slightly less congested than the Queensway. Some of them may stop at one of the numerous big box stores that the councillor has helped to bring in. The BIA will still be stringing up Christmas lights in winter and flower baskets in summer in an unsuccessful attempt to mitigate the ugliness of the strip. The trailer park will have been converted to a luxury gated community thanks to the developers and their friends on City Council. Barbed wire will keep out the rabble who are crammed into their Westcliffe hovels.
Two divergent futures for the community of Bells Corners, I couldn't have put it any better.
In some ways, our community is no different from thousands of other suburbs developed in the past 50 years, "anchored" to a strip of mini-malls along an arterial road. But Bells Corners is also unique, with the incredible advantage of being completely surrounded by NCC Green belt. It has the potential to be an oasis rather than a blight.
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