This Alberta town has mountains on one side, Calgary on the other — and some big growing pains
CBC
Tucked away in a picturesque river valley at the foot of the Rocky Mountains is the town of Cochrane, Alta.
A short drive from Banff National Park to the west and the city of Calgary to the east, it has become the fastest-growing community in Canada's fastest-growing province.
It's a metamorphosis that Gord Davies has watched happen over more than 75 years. His childhood home served as the town's first hospital in the early 1900s; now it's the Cochrane Historical Museum.
"There were probably 400 people when I was a young kid starting school," Davies said, reflecting on where the town has been and where it's headed during an interview inside his former home. "We basically had the run of the town."
A lot has changed since then.
Cochrane is now a bustling municipality with nearly 40,000 residents. Its population almost doubled in size over the past decade alone and by the town's own projections, it could more than double again by 2050 to 90,000 people.
Davies understands why more people are choosing to call the town home.
"Cochrane sits in one of the most beautiful geographic situations in this area with the mountains in the distance and the valley, the river," he says. "I think that's a huge attraction for people. And it's commutable to the city."
Cochrane is about 15 kilometres northwest of Calgary. Heading in the other direction, it's about 85 kilometres to the gates of Banff National Park.
A little over a year ago, Lauren Lord, a freshly minted Cochranite who works remotely, traded Toronto for a home in the Alberta town. She has no regrets.
"I'm a pretty big outdoorsy person, so really just wanted to be closer to nature, mountains," she said.
In Toronto, Lord rented the main floor of a bungalow with two bedrooms and one bathroom. For the same amount in Cochrane, she lives in a duplex with three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
But with more and more people making Cochrane their home, infrastructure in the town is struggling to keep up.
"Traffic has been the biggest problem," Davies said. "You used to be able to go to an appointment five minutes before. Now it's at least 15 or 20 before you go because you never know what you're going to run into."
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