According to the 2014 municipal census, more than 93,000 people call Lethbridge home. A large majority are between the ages of 20 and 29 due to the post secondary institutions.
Most of the growth has been seen on the West side. In 1971, there were fewer than 70 residents living in the West. Just one year later, that number had tripled. That also happened to be the year the University of Lethbridge moved to the West side. Now, it’s the fastest growing part of Lethbridge.
“The Westside is growing twice as fast as other areas in the city, so that growth is still happening, and at a very rapid rate,” says Mayor Chris Spearman.
Spearman says city services have kept up with population growth, but are we growing too fast?
“I don’t think we want to discourage growth , we are a really nice size city . If we continue to grow at 2.5%, in 20 years we will be about 155,000 people. I think you will still be able to get around town in 10 or 15 minutes ,” adds Spearman
The mayor spoke at the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs Thursday on the city’s strategic plan to tackle the costs and benefits surrounding growth
“What we have in essence is a blueprint. It’s not cast in stone, but we want to talk to the community. We want to make it a living a document so we are staying on message,” explains Spearman. “Given the amount of investment happening in our city, and you add up all the things that are happening like the hospital expansion and a new trades facility and science building. Several of our industries in our area are expanding and close to a billion dollars if you add it up.”
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