Community Life

Goal 8

Spruce Grove has a strong civic culture and a high quality of life.

Goal 9

Spruce Grove offers diverse cultural and recreational programs in first-class facilities.  

To achieve the social aspect of sustainable development, Spruce Grove must continue to develop a dynamic and diverse community.  This needs to occur at both the community and neighbourhood scale. A strong base in this area already exists.

Examples include facilities such as Horizon Stage, West District Park, and the TransAlta Leisure Centre, programs such as Safe City and Neighbourhood Link, and the strong sense of community spirit that already exists.

Building on this already strong base will play an important role in overcoming charges that Spruce Grove is merely a bedroom community and in enhancing its own distinct identity as a vibrant and dynamic place.

Volunteerism and social capital

Increase community and neighbourhood-level social capital.

• Implement strategies to strengthen neighbourhood identity and cohesion
• Create non-structured neighbourhood gathering places
• Undertake non-statutory neighbourhood planning
• Provide a mechanism to promote volunteer opportunities in the community
• Identify and protect existing civic spaces and create new ones

Health and wellness

Promote public health and wellness through community design.

• Increase connectivity for biking and cycling between gathering places
• Distribute public open spaces and parks across the community
• Provide active transportation opportunities
• Monitor air and water quality indicators

Safety and protective services

Continue to provide a safe community.

• Apply Crime Prevention through Environmental Design guidelines 
• Incorporate safety considerations and best practices in universal design for private vehicles, transit, pedestrians, cyclists, and emergency vehicles.

Culture and heritage

Foster the development, enhancement, and preservation of cultural resources and opportunities and integrate these into the fabric of the community.

• Integrate cultural resources into gathering places
• Develop a cultural strategy
• Foster a range of opportunities through city-led initiatives and partnerships
• Identify and preserve heritage resources
• Explore options for procuring and displaying public art

Learning

Continue to foster and support both formal and informal learning opportunities through policy initiatives and partnerships.

• Work with local school boards to identify and plan for changing needs
• Encourage a range of formal and informal opportunities

Sports and recreation

Foster a diverse range of active and passive sports and recreation options for people of all ages and stages of life.

• Provide easy access to informal and formal open spaces
• Pursue partnerships to increase sports and recreation opportunities
• Strengthen Spruce Grove as a regional sports tourism destination

Preventative social programs

Identify and respond to social needs in the community.

• Continue to develop, support, and promote programs for target populations
• Increase community knowledge of resources
• Support initiatives that strengthen social networks
• Respond to changing social needs through partnerships and diverse strategies 

Affordable housing

Increase rental or ownership options targeting households with an affordability problem (identified as those paying in excess of 30% of their gross income for housing) capable of independent living and who earn less than the median income for their household type and not requiring on-going subsidies.

• Provide greater selection in densities and types
• Integrate affordable and market housing
• Achieve 10-15% of total units as affordable housing in new neighbourhoods
• Pursue a range of strategies to increase affordable housing options
• Continue to monitor the housing market to ensure strategies are working.