The Biggest Mistake of Our Lives?

My husband and I have lived in Glen Morris for eleven years now. We were both raised in very small towns elsewhere in Ontario, moved to Hespeler when we got married, then moved to Glen Morris for peace and quiet and to get away from suburbia. The first couple of years were excellent. I remember my husband commenting to co-workers how much I was thriving.

Over the years our experience (as well as at least two of our neighbours) has drastically gone downhill to the point where if we could move tomorrow, we would absolutely jump at the chance. Moving here has turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes of our lives.

Our experience in Glen Morris? Let’s see … our incredibly rude, former neighbour now runs the only restaurant in town. Glen Morris Lion’s Club meets there so joining that community group is out of the question. Our former minister (whom we thought was a friend) took selfies in the washroom at my Dad’s funeral and posted them on Facebook. After being called out for it twice and subsequently fired, she continues to bad mouth me to an unknown number of people. We don’t go to any community events because that bully is at most of them.

Next up and by far our biggest issue – the traffic. When the police station was still in downtown Paris, we saw a regular police presence with radar speed traps but since they moved we hardly see them anymore. Our street – Glen Morris Road West – has gotten completely ridiculous with traffic, speeders, tractor trailers, dump trucks, and people passing in mindless & dangerous situations. Two summers ago a tandem dump truck almost didn’t stop for a school bus letting students off. It is honestly an accident waiting to happen – especially with new families with very young children joining the community. We did the whole Brant Safe Streets spiel, we have contacted several entities – the police, by-law, our local councilwoman – on numerous occasions to see about getting digital speed signs like they have on East River Road or photo radar cameras. We asked about signs indicating no use of engine brakes. To try and block the traffic noise we have even gone to great personal expense over the past five or six years to first plant trees, then put up a fence along the road, and last we had renovations done on our home to improve the insulation and windows. NOTHING has worked. We both work from home and there are days when we can hardly stand to be in our own home, can’t have the windows open, and even have gone to the extent of wearing noise cancelling headphones INSIDE the house just for peace and the ability to concentrate. We are left feeling like second-class citizens, living on the wrong side of the river. ESPECIALLY when our tax dollars are used for paving pathways in a park that hardly anyone uses (on Brook St.) and a new community center with a traffic by-pass for people on Princess Street. A by-pass for ALL the traffic that goes past our home and still once more our concerns are overlooked and/or ignored. WHY CAN WE NOT HAVE TWO PERMANENT DIGITAL SPEED SIGNS – ONE AT THE BASE OF THE BRIDGE AND THE OTHER COMING INTO TOWN AS THE SPEED CHANGES FROM 80 TO 60? You can’t honestly tell me they are too expensive when all this other work is/has been approved.

We have not felt inclusion, neither of us are thriving. Ideas on how we can make Brant a more welcoming and equitable place? Perhaps pay attention to residents’ concerns and treat all people in town the same regardless of where they live? When there are digital speed signs on the other side of the river and we virtually BEG multiple times to several people for the same as what they have … and we get no action, no change, just words. That is absolutely not equitable.