Why Preserving Place is the Best Investment a Town Can Make
When you’ve lived in a place long enough, you get used to a certain rhythm. Familiar streets, familiar faces, familiar ways of doing things. So when change starts to arrive—whether it’s a new subdivision or the promise of hundreds of new residents—it’s only natural to feel uneasy. Growth can be exciting, but it often comes with a question quietly tugging at us: Will we lose what makes this place special?
The truth is, we might—unless we’re deliberate about the choices we make.
In my work helping communities navigate growth, I keep coming back to a concept I call place-based wealth. It’s an idea that sits at the heart of what makes a town or city thrive. Place-based wealth isn’t just about budgets or tax revenue. It’s something deeper. It’s the accumulated value of a community’s history, its natural beauty, its architecture, and its culture. It’s the sense of belonging that comes from a walk down a well-loved main street, or the pride you feel when you tell a visitor the story of your town’s past.
Communities that understand their place-based wealth—and choose to invest in it—tend to flourish. They attract new businesses, talented people who could live anywhere, and visitors who fall in love with the unique charm of the place. They create an identity that people want to be a part of.
On the other hand, communities that forget this wealth in the rush to grow often end up losing their soul. The Greater Toronto Area offers a cautionary tale. Once-distinct towns have been swallowed by sprawl, their historic centres overshadowed by strip malls and cookie-cutter housing. Many of these places are now defined not by their uniqueness, but by their proximity to the next highway on-ramp.
I often think of the writer James Howard Kunstler, who said, “When every place looks the same, there is no such thing as place anymore.” It’s a simple truth, but one with profound consequences. In a world where people and businesses can work from almost anywhere, quality of place is no longer a luxury—it’s a competitive advantage.
The good news is, we have a choice. Growth doesn’t have to mean giving up what makes a place special. It can be an opportunity to double down on the things that matter. Revitalizing historic streets, creating walkable neighbourhoods, and designing public spaces that invite connection aren’t just nice ideas; they’re smart, future-proof strategies.
A town’s wealth isn’t just in its coffers. It’s in the stories that live in its buildings, the beauty of its landscapes, and the strength of its community ties. If we take care of these things—if we recognize them as the assets they are—our towns can grow in ways that make us proud.
