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The gold standard of a small city
By Stan Chung
Op-Ed Commentary
Every community wants to grow.
More jobs. More homes. More investment. More visitors.
Those things matter. They pay for schools, recreation centres, roads, and the services that make a community function.
But they do not tell us whether a city is becoming a better place to live.
The question I keep returning to is simpler.
If we built the ideal small city, what would we actually see?
Not in a strategic plan or an economic development report. On an ordinary Tuesday afternoon.
I think we would see dignity.
Dignity is easy to recognize even if it is difficult to measure. It appears in small moments that make someone quietly think, this is where I belong.
Here are 10 signs a community is moving in that direction.
The first is that different generations naturally spend time together.
A grandparent, a parent, and a child can walk downtown without anyone feeling left behind.
There are benches when legs grow tired, shade on a warm afternoon, places for ice cream or coffee, a library worth wandering into, safe crossings, and reasons to linger.
The second is that walking feels normal instead of exceptional.
Are trees too much to ask for?
Tree-lined streets invite people outside because they are comfortable and connected. Walking is no longer an activity. It simply becomes part of the day.
The third is that public washrooms are clean, safe, and easy to find.
Few communities boast about their washrooms, yet everyone depends on them eventually.
Parents with young children, older adults, visitors, people living with illness, and downtown businesses all benefit when this basic piece of infrastructure is treated as essential to community dignity.
The fourth is that housing lets people remain part of the community through every stage of life.
Young adults can begin here. Families can grow here. Older adults can downsize without leaving the neighbourhoods they know.
A city that works for only one stage of life quietly asks everyone else to leave.
The fifth is that downtown feels alive on an ordinary day.
It does not need a festival.
People are reading on benches, meeting friends for lunch, shopping, stopping to talk, or simply enjoying one another’s company. The best downtowns are busy because they shape belonging.
The sixth is that safety grows from visible care as much as visible enforcement.
The lights work. Streets are maintained. Parks are active. People facing hardship find support before hardship becomes crisis.
Over time, residents begin trusting public spaces because they keep seeing them as useful ways to build our togetherness.
The seventh is that culture is woven into everyday life.
Music. Public art. Local history. Festivals. Stories.
They remind people where they are and why this place is unlike anywhere else. Culture is not something added after the important work is finished.
Culture is the fabric of our togetherness.
The eighth is that Ktunaxa history and presence are visible throughout the city rather than reserved for special occasions.
Language, public art, shared decision-making, and long-term relationships with rights-bearing people become ordinary parts of civic life.
Reconciliation begins to look less like an event and more like a habit of living together.
The ninth is that economic development asks a larger question than how many jobs were created.
It also asks whether people choose to build a life here.
Investment matters. So does a young family buying its first home, a graduate deciding to stay, or a retiree choosing familiar neighbours over a fresh start somewhere else.
The tenth is perhaps the simplest.
The city becomes easier to love each year.
Not because it grows larger or wealthier, but because daily life becomes a little easier, a little healthier, and a little more connected.
Communities often measure success through permits issued, taxes collected, or dollars invested. Those numbers matter.
The real measure?
Do children want to come home after postsecondary? Can older adults remain independent? Do neighbours know one another?
Can three generations spend an afternoon together without planning around obstacles?
When the answer is yes, a community has achieved something more valuable than growth.
It has become a place that where ordinary people can live with dignity.
– Stan Chung, PhD lives in Cranbrook. He is a writer, strategic advisor, speaker, and a 2026 Governor General’s laureate.
