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Glamorgan and the city – Metro US

Glamorgan and the city

Jackrabbits sleep under zucchini plants, birds chatter a midday song and barnacle fossils turn up from time to time in backyards.

Neighbourhood children used to hunt salamanders where the Co-Op makes its home en route to horse and pony rides at the old army stables.

A lot has changed over the years for the former ranch-land community of Glamorgan, where wide girth evergreens make their presence felt and the hustle and bustle of big city life is seeping into its quiet, well-groomed streets as it prepares for its 50th anniversary June 14-15.

“We’re considered part of the inner city now, and I struggle with that,” said retired high school math teacher Paul Downes, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 25 years.

“(When both people) are going to work every day, I think you lose some of those connections that were once there,” he said. “That’s the nature of modern life, of this city, unless you both work, you can’t afford to stay here and sometimes, I miss it.”

A new outdoor rink, with its warm bunker to get changed in, was a welcome addition, as was Mount Royal College’s move towards degree-granting status, all which services the younger generation that live there now.

“But I’m not impressed with the growth of the city,” said Linda Crosby, who lives in a 50-year-old house where backyard barnacle fossils turned up after sewage excavation more than a decade ago. “There’s too much traffic, too many people, it’s getting big, it’s busy and you just have to learn to live with it I guess.”