Kawartha Lakes life for all

We often see the world in stereotypes. For instance, some people who live here speak of the ‘cidiots’ from Toronto who arrive during the summer to wreak havoc on our small communities and pristine lakes. All it takes is one Mercedes with a lead-footed driver to cement this image in a few people’s minds.

The truth, however, is that this situation is not the norm, but the actions of a few who colour our perceptions. (The same goes for the plain-old, home-grown Kawartha Lakes’ idiots who tear up and down Durham Street in Lindsay every Friday and Saturday night.)

Then there’s the rich property owners who build massive ‘cottages’ on one of our 250 lakes, as this month’s feature story examines. Sometimes these structures dwarf the small family cottages around them, oblivious to the ostentation and the unbridled excess they represent.

There is certainly some truth that Kawartha Lakes is facing more ‘Muskokaization’ and gentrification. People are looking for more creature comforts with each passing year. Is that an attitude really confined to city dwellers, though? It’s just that their dollars happen to go further, given the higher paying jobs in Toronto and higher real estate cash-ins for those who sell and move northward.

Sneering at others won’t change them, and that negative energy sure doesn’t make anything better.

Maybe the first step is to stop dismissing people as undifferentiated “cottagers” or “Torontonians” or, yes, “cidiots” and start seeing them as…neighbours. You know — people. Or, if it helps, fellow citizens of Kawartha Lakes. Heck, maybe they’ll even start seeing us as something more than “locals.”

Our towns and villages are evolving. We have high-quality businesses, services and restaurants we’d never have imagined we’d see outside the city. People are moving here because they know what a great thing we have, and they’re prepared to commit to our community.

Growth is inevitable. Change is inescapable. Let’s get to know each other.