Objective

In order to solve these issues, we have set up the following research question: hoW can greenfIeld be bluePrInt for a sustaInable and actIve communIty?

Therefore, Our Goals is to:

Help Okotoks to find a new example of a new neighbourhood that could deal with population growth and expanding by designing a plan for a more sustainable Okotoks. The vision for the Greenfield area is to design a plan that is not just a cohesive community but also contributes to the community of Okotoks as a whole. Taking into account what exactly the town wants to improve on themselves but also the issues that stand out to us as experts (Brinda, 2018).

The aim of this project is to come up with a plan in which we can be a blueprint that influence the urban sprawl and reduce car dependency by changing urban developments and influencing citizen behaviour. We want to motive people to make more sustainable choices. Furthermore, GreenCross wants to create a new identity for the town of Okotoks and bring it out of its shell of being a bedroom community. Giving it a unique brand while also increasing its sustainability along the way.

With Our special company for Okotoks being: •Preserving Historical Identity Setting an Example • Creating a Socially Balanced & Vibrant Environment • Embracing Innovation and Sustainability •Increase Available Services •Creating a Unified Active Community

Discover Okotoks

History

Background Information & Tribe History

The Blackfoot Confederacy consisted of 3 different tribes, the Siksika (Blackfoot), Piikani (The Peigan) and Kainai (The Bloods). The word “Siksika” translates to “Blackfoot” in their native language which is part of the Algonquian linguistic group. Sik (black) and iká (foot). They were called Blackfoot because of their black moccasins.

During the pre-colonial era, the Blackfoot Nation was semi-nomadic, moving with the bison herds while taking the seasons and weather into account. They mainly branded themselves as hunters and warriors. They interacted first with British settlers by getting into the fur trade. By the 18th century, the Blackfoot population was nearing the 18,000’s. This number was significantly reduced by wars and disease brought by the Europeans.

The tribe was granted a reserve, which they called Siksika 146. It’s located to the east of Okotoks, roughly 90 km from Calgary. The reserve is the second largest in First Nations reserve in Canada, spanning around 700 km² (186,000 acres).

Heritage Preservation

The Blackfoot people lived sustainably, going back to their roots and core beliefs is an inspiration of what society could be like once more. Living not with next to nature but in it, to use all the elements around you while braving all the seasonal changes. The Siksika people currently have a growing population, this has caused issues with granting people financial sovereignty. Blackfoot history is primarily orally passed on through the generations.

History

Story of the Rock:

“One hot summer day, Napi, the supernatural trickster of the Blackfoot peoples, rested on the rock because the day was warm and he was tired. He spread his robe on the rock, telling the rock to keep the robe in return for letting Napi rest there. Suddenly, the weather changed and Napi became cold as the wind whistled and the rain fell. Napi asked the rock to return his robe, but the rock refused. Napi got mad and just took the clothing. As he strolled away, he heard a loud noise and turning, he saw the rock was rolling after him. Napi ran for his life. The deer, the bison and the pronghorn sheep were Napi’s friends, and they tried to stop the rock by running in front of it. The rock rolled over them. Napi’s last chance was to call on the bats for help. Fortunately, they did better than their hoofed neighbours did, and by diving at the rock and colliding with it, one of them finally hit the rock just right and it broke into two pieces.”

Figure 4: Okotoks Rock

Inventory

Demographic

At present, Okotoks, has a population of 28,881 people. In the last two censuses, its populations grew by 4,370 people, an average growth rate of 3.57% per year from 2011 to 2016. And its expected to increase into 90,000 by 2080. The population is an important metric for economic developers to measure their economic health and investment attraction. Businesses also use this as a metric for market size when evaluating start-up, expansion or relocation decisions. Okotoks is one of Alberta’s family friendly communities and has one youngest average population ages in the Province of Alberta at 34.6 years of age (figure 5). Majority of the population are married, making up 57.75 per cent of the population. Having a married population is highly beneficial to Okotoks, as married couples usually bring in larger incomes. Most people in Okotoks have completed a high school education. Coming in second, 25.06% of inhabitants say they have completed a university degree. (Townfolio, 2017) In Okotoks the median household income is $116,163 per year. The median household income in Okotoks is greater than the national household median income in 2015. (townfolio, 2017)

Inventory

Bedroom community

Many people live in Okotoks and work elsewhere. Over 6,910 people in Okotoks commute out of town for work. Okotoks is a desirable place to live because it’s within a reasonable commute distance to Calgary. Only 3,935 people currently work locally in Okotoks. Although the town’s main industries are retail and construction, this daily out-pour of people can have a significant impact on local businesses and the vibrancy of the Okotoks community. Okotoks at the moment is not an attractive place for businesses, most of the local jobs provide only local services. Several people are also employed in health care, professional services, resource extraction, education, and public administration. (Place in Canada, 2012)

Unmaintained Facilities

Okotoks has had some trouble covering the cost of services that are required to meet the demand. Because most of the town is low density and sprawled, the maintenance of those services is expensive. Lower density results in higher long-term costs and then the expenditures are not being covered by the revenues of local services. They are often covered by money from residents through taxation. This situation leaves Okotoks struggling to pay for services like infrastructure, sewers, emergency responders, medics and police that are required to keep a community running. This daily commute not only affects traffic flow, but also increases greenhouse gas emissions. Which in turn affects Okotoks’ local economy and quality of life, as people have less time and money to spend in the community. (Brinda, 2018).

Schools are well facilitated in the town of Okotoks. There are mainly elementary and secondary schools, these can be found scattered around town. This educational factor is what has made Okotoks a nice place to live in for families with children. Okotoks is a sports hub for baseball, with an indoor and outdoor training facility as well as a baseball school (figure 7)

Legenda

Shops

Healthcare

Banks & ensurance

Restaurants

Schools

Figure 6: Facilities Map

Inventory

This is in addition to lacrosse, soccer, hockey, curling, badminton, hiking, fishing, and three local golf courses. Various trails can be found in addition to over 800 kilometres for equestrian use throughout Kananaskis Country. Okotoks has a close proximity to winter sports, downhill and cross-country skiing, motor sledding and more in the region and Kananaskis Country.

Car oriented Centres

Clustered centres are located around the main road in Okotoks (Figure 7). These centres provide all kinds of services, ranging from supermarkets, restaurants and hardware stores to car garages. Although these are very assessable by cars, the large parking lots are not attractive and are usually empty in the evenings. Okotoks has an historic downtown relegated for shopping and dining experience. Within downtown the Olde Towne Okotoks is located in the heart of Okotoks, consisting of a unique collection of businesses. In the downtown, quaint shops, restaurants, salons and mainstream services for gifts and services can be found. Okotoks is a progressive town with a vibrant arts community and the Okotoks Art Gallery reflects this wealth of creativity and dynamic energy (Place in Canada, 2012).

Declining employment rate

As Okotoks unemployment rate is increasing at a rate of 0.46% per year over the past 15 years from 2001 to 2016. This alarmingly increasing rate has weakened the overall the economic situation in Okotoks. The employment rate has been declining by 4.2%, as seen in the last two censuses, the town has an average decline rate of 0.84% per year from 2011 to 2016. Further decrease in employment rates indicates a negative economic condition in which job seekers cannot find employment. Although there are quite a few local services and business, these companies do not cover the unemployed population. The level of education of the population majority comes into effect, as the jobs available are not targeted towards those of higher education. These people have more opportunities in Calgary that are currently not existing in Okotoks.

Calgary

Barrier

Barrier

Figure 7: Map of the Facilities

Inventory

Homogeneous neighbourhoods

Okotoks has a lot of homogeneous neighbourhoods. These neighbourhoods are often fitted with only big three- and four-bedroom single detached houses (figure 8). This has led to increasing expense, prices have almost duplicated in the past 15 years. The average house price within town is higher than the average cost of Canadian housing. Most of the homes in town are owned, with that number being around 80%.

Low density layout

A big part of Okotoks is low density. As set most neighbourhoods are homogeneous and the clusters of services and facilities are often one level large buildings. Even the iconic centre’s is not any denser than the surrounding areas. This makes the maintenance of the city and its services expensive but is not covered by the ravenous of taxed for the government of Okotoks. This form of a low dense sprawling city is not sustainable.

Figure 8: Figures of current housing

Inventory

Okotoks identity

Okotoks is committed to maintaining its enviable lifestyle. The town’s efforts reflect the residents’ desire to build a community that preserves all things about small town living while generating unparalleled recreation, education, and employment opportunities. Okotoks is an outdoors place, it’s a town that is not only connected to nature by surrounded by it. Rivers, meadows, rolling foothills, and mountains inspire residents to have an active lifestyle. In town, the Rotary Performing Arts Centre, Okotoks Museum and Archives at Heritage House, the Okotoks Public Library, the Okotoks Art Gallery at the Station, the Sheep River valley, and farmers markets can be found.

Hidden Green spaces.

Public parks in town are often located behind the backyards of houses (figure 9). Backyard fences create blind walls in the parks, while houses are orientated towards the green parks for a more beautiful view, this benefits the individual but from a community perspective this isn’t optimal. It creates a lack of social control in the public spaces which can result in unsafe places. The enormous size of the parks decreases the chance of human interaction. Because more people in a smaller space creates increased chances of human interaction. The size of the park also affects vision and comfort within a public area, it decreases the sight of human activity in the park, which should give it a lively atmosphere.

Figure 9: Map of the Green

Inventory

Car dependency

The infrastructure of Okotoks is almost completely based around motorized vehicles. The town has two main parallel 2A highways that connect Okotoks to the city of Calgary in the north. These routes create fast and direct ways to all the public facilities that are based around these highways. The car-based infrastructure of Okotoks does not provide an efficient or sustainable daily urban system. While the wide streets make for good car accessibility, it lacks other networks such as public transport and a complete bike and pedestrian networks. As the congregated, sprawled and low dense layout of Okotoks separate where people live from where they shop, work, recreate and educate create zones and thus results in people having to use the car for everything. This explains the increased use of the car and the high rate of private ownership.

Usage of different transport modes.

The majority of the people in Okotoks are travelling short distances, in which most destinations are within 15 minutes (figure10). These destinations are therefore within close range but outside of their own neighbourhood community. There is a blatant lack of infrastructure for the bike and pedestrians which has resulted in high car use. This is not only providing for a car based daily urban system, maintaining a high private car ownership, but is above all not healthy for the environment and the residents but the town of Okotoks as a whole. This daily commute does not increase greenhouse gas emissions and affects our local economy and quality of life as people, but also directly related back to the further development of cities, as the spread out further, people must drive more and have less time and money to spend in the community.