Growing up in Milton, Guelph has always been a fall back city. It’s a nearby place where the cool kids went when they wanted to see a show, when they wanted to escape the drudgery of their home town. It seemed almost trendy for us young Milton folk – a place that was had good live music and bars you could go to and feel proud telling your friends about it the next day.
I’ve now lived here since June – still at the grasshopper level, not quite a Guelphite yet. But for the first time in a long time, I’m pretty excited about the community I’m in. Working at the paper, I was thrown into this city in a swift ‘sink or swim’ fashion. It was overwhelming during the first several weeks on the job, but talking to a few lifers in the community made me take a good look around.
People actually care about this place. People want to see it improve and grow in positive ways. This whole idea of integrity and pride in one’s home is fairly new to me. Milton was a place people moved to, to commute to the the bigger cities. It’s near the country and on the 401, allowing it to become an escape for commuters. It’s a place to sleep at night and raise your kids while you head off to Toronto to work.
I saw the purpose of Milton as being a place to own your very own white picket fence – live that cookie-cutter dream. The rows of houses are pieced together overnight in a style resembling Pleasantville – void of style, colour or character. The city is expanding like a cancer, bringing people from all over to move into the cheap little houses, right on the GO Train line.
Guelph seems to bypass that mess. It is far enough off the beaten track so that those living in this place aren’t here to commute to somewhere else. They’re here because they want to be. They have invested in the community and are committed to watching those seeds it bloom.
Tonight I stumbled upon the 10th anniversary celebration of Cornerstone restaurant. Hundreds came out to celebrate with live music, good beer – even a giant cake was cut in commemoration of the event.
Guelph and I danced, we sang, we ate cake and drank beer together. It felt welcoming, warm, like it was the right place at the right time. These little moments seem to happen much more often in Guelph than I’ve experienced anywhere else I’ve lived (Milton, Ottawa, Erin…). They are the reason I love this place.
In saying all this, I can’t guarantee I’ll live here for the next number of years. But for me, it’s a fairly big step to admit that I really do like this place. If I did stick around here long enough to earn it, I would be honoured to be able to call myself a Guelphite.
