Your Liveability Index by Amanda Ridgway

Quality of life. What does that mean exactly? And how do you measure it to ensure that you keep it, or better still, improve it over time.

For an individual it would be easy. I made Fernie my home because of the people, the amazing mountains I wake up to every morning, and because I get to do the things I love, just stepping out my front door, everyday. I know it gets better because I have ongoing and increasing opportunities to do these things.

But what about measuring the quality of life of a community? How do you create a baseline that you can compare a community’s progress over time when what makes up quality of life is different for everyone?

Well, if you look to the United Nations, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and to the many communities throughout Canada, you would create a Quality of Life Index; a series of indicators that best represent those aspects of place, people and profit important to a community’s well-being. Then you would publish a report regularly so that everyone cannot only see how the community is doing but also quickly red flag any concerns and make adjustments if required.

That’s exactly what’s going on in Fernie right now. The City of Fernie working with the Official Community Plan Implementation Committee has contracted Halcrow Consulting to engage the community in producing Fernie’s own Quality of Life Index and Liveability Report.

But what to measure?

No two people in Fernie would have exactly the same response to the question. Similar maybe. The same, probably not. We all have our own unique, special things that make us love or want to be here. Some of us are here because it’s safe. We can walk the streets without looking around us. It’s okay to send the kids off to school or let them go to Stop-N-Shop for an ice cream by themselves.

Maybe it’s putting on your shoes, grabbing your bike, your poles, your backpack, your keys, whatever you need, walking out your door and making your way to wherever you want to go. No traffic, no crowds. Just fun in the outdoors, away from it all.

For some, it’s the smiles. When you walk down 2nd, going about your business, you can look up, and smile. What you get back is not avoidance, but rather a knowingness and acknowledgement that, yes, I'm loving being here too. Isn’t it a fantastic day?

Maybe it’s all of the above or something entirely different.

Measuring the quality of life of a community is measuring the sum of its parts. Collectively we add more value than individually. Don’t get me wrong, individually we rock! But collectively, our energies combine, our efforts multiply, our love for the simple things of life coagulate, drawing us together in an amazing, diverse, full life that creates that Fernie vibe. It’s capturing this and measuring it over time that the City of Fernie Quality Of Life Project is working hard to achieve.

And you? What indicators would you use? Air quality. Job opportunities. Housing. Recreational activities. Wages. Health Care. Nightlife. Entrepreneurial opportunities. New homes to buy. Please get involved. Have your say. It’s your liveability index. Then each year or two, learn how we as a community are doing in maintaining and improving our collective quality of life.

Visit www.fernie.ca and click on Quality of Life & Liveability Report for opportunities to get involved, have your say and see what your neighbours describe as their quality of life in Fernie.