Big City Comes to Cottage Country
Living smack dab in the middle of Ontario’s “cottage country” definitely has its benefits, but it also comes with a few drawbacks as well. There are the beautiful lakes and beaches, the grand provincial parks, and the breathtaking scenery and history. The biggest plus is the small and mostly quite towns. That is, until the weekends.
The weekly trek of “cottagers” from the big cities, like Toronto, is a phenomenon that simply amazes me. If I lived in the city, I would want to escape it as well, so I understand their desire. What gets me is that by them doing so in the numbers they do; they bring many aspects of the city with them so their plight seems a pointless one.
A simple twenty minute drive on three and four lane freeways turns into a half day sit and wait as traffic backs up for miles and miles every Friday and Sunday. Small towns see an increase in size from two to three, and sometimes even more, times than their normal population. A simple trip to the grocery store is like a trip to a three ring circus and gas prices take a significant jump at the local stations.
And then the kicker to it all is that you hear them complain about how it isn’t what it once was. Of course it isn’t, because they are destroying the very thing they are seeking. And in the process they are ruining it for the year round residents. It’s a vicious cycle that can’t be escaped.
Ok, enough ranting. Thanks for putting up with it. Back to regular programming tomorrow, promise.
hunting sense, Ontario, Toronto, cottage country, cottagers, rants
June 12th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
I live in Traverse City which is in Northern Michigan. It’s a beautiful city on the shores of Lake Michigan with about 16,000 or so regular residents. It is also a tourist mecca.
From Memorial Day to Labor Day we get overrun with “fudgies”, the local’s not so affectionate name for tourists. Come Cherry Festival week in July, our small city swells with a couple hundred thousand people.
I guess it’s the price you pay for living somewhere beautiful year around. It also seems to be somewhat of a necessary evil. The small towns around here that don’t attract tourists tend to have lots of budget problems. Those that do attract tourists tend to fare better.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I live in Mills county, Texas, within 20 miles of the geographic center of Texas. We have 3 major highways intersect here and on holidays we are covered up with traffic. I honestly don’t know where all the folks are going, but it must be somewhere. As someone famous once said, “Everybody’s got to be somewhere.”