RADIO FREE KASLO, October 11, 2024

Kaslo is a lovely village in British Columbia's West Kootenay region, surrounded by stunning nature.To the east looms the Purcell Range, to the west, the Selkirks. Situated on an alluvial peninsula, lower Kaslo juts into fjord-like Kootenay Lake, pointing like an arrow toward the Purcells. The town is flanked on the north by Kaslo Bay, the largest  inlet on the lake, and to the south by the Kaslo River.The parcel of land on the immediate southern bank of the river, where it flows into the lake, is known by locals as South Beach. It's prized for its expansive beachfront with beautiful lake and mountains views, it's flatness (a rarity in a part of the world that is far more up & down than level), and its proximity to Kaslo.A good portion of South Beach is privately held. The owner has signalled a desire to turn much of it into a trailer park — a proposal many in the village find alarming.Like so many rural communities, Kaslo suffers from an acute lack of affordable — never mind innovative — housing. It also struggles, as do most small mountain towns these days once reliant on either long-gone or dwindling extractive industries, to create new, well-paid jobs for locals, shore up its tax base, and generally, to create new economic opportunities for the town and region. The trick is how best to do that, in a way that offers local young people a chance for more-then-decent jobs, pays attention to rapidly emerging 21st century challenges, supports existing small businesses — and does all that without paving Paradise.Could a South Beach trailer park be part of the answer for Kaslo? Or....