When I was in Midland I started a series of blogs that I called Huronia Consulting.It was intended to offer some ideas on how to improve the economy in the Midland area.It could be used by local politicians.This blog is entitled Huronia Consulting(part4) but it refers to Wasaga Beach and should really be called Georgian Consulting although Midland believes that Wasaga Beach is a part of Huronia.
Wasaga Beach is midway between Midland and Barrie;it is about 40 kilometres from each.It is on the east side of Notawasaga Bay and on the Nottawasaga River.It is on the northern border of Flos,Sunnidale and Nottawasaga townships.It's full time population is about17,000 with about 16,000 others that are considered seasonal.
Wasaga Beach should be considered as a close neighbour of Collingwood.There is considerable interaction between the two towns. It is only about 13 kilometres from the east end of Collingwood to the west end of Wasaga.The province just paved the highway between them so it is an easy drive in to Collingwood.
Comparison to other Resort towns
Bobcaygeon
Wasaga can be easily compared to other resort or tourist towns.A pretty town that comes to mind as a comparable is Bobcaygeon which is north-east of Peterboro.It's full time population is about 10,000.Bobcaygeon does get some tourists and some business from Peterboro but Bobcaygeon does get more business from it's closest neighbour-Lindsay.However more business does tend to go from Bobcaygeon to Lindsay rather than the other way.Bobcaygeon ,like Wasaga, has a healthy motel and hotel business.But Bobcaygeon ,being near two lakes,gets a lot of fishermen and hikers and hunters.There are one or two top of the line resort locations but a few low rent motels that hunters and hikers can use.Two or three are in the middle of town.Wasaga is getting some new high-priced motels but needs to keep some lower priced motels for the lower-income crowd.The question is-should all the motels along it's main street be high-priced or should there be a variety of types here.I think Wasaga like Bobcaygeon has to cater to all would-be tourists.Also a good business to encourage further would be rafting and touring down the river, such as Spirit Tours.Wasaga needs more of this;maybe even a fishing or hunting camp at the edge of town along the river.
Bobcaygeon also has some smaller business.It has one or maybe two bakeries evn though they only employ one or two people each.It like Wasaga has a few lawyers and a surveyor and real estate companies.But the big employer in Bobcaygeon is the Kawartha Dairy.It started selling milk only to Peterboro and Lindsay;now it sells a variety of products,including yogurt and ice cream to a much bigger market area (including Barrie).This is where Wasaga falls behind Bobcaygeon;it does not have the small businesses although it has excellent locations to do this.For example,the WasagaDairy which is a retail outlet could be converted to a milk processing plant if the property next door is bought as well.Just like in Bobcaygeon!
Niagara Falls
Another town to compare Wasaga to is Niagara Falls.The epitome of tourist towns.But there are two Niagara Falls.One has the casinos and the top hotels;the other(at the far end of Lundy Lane) has the cheap motels,the cheap restaurants and the strip joints.This end of Niagara Falls is very competitive.It caters to low-income tourists.I ,myself, have stayed here for several months.You used to be able to get a small breakfast for $1.00 (not counting coffee).Prices were listed out front on all motels so you knew the price by just walking by.This encouraged many tourists to come in that would have kept on going.There is a library for this end of town and one downtown.Both are fairly new and have all facilities and lots of room.This is something that Wasaga does not do.It does not compete on price and show it's prices right up front.This does bring in extra tourists who might not stay otherwise.Also as everybody knows Wasaga Beach needs a new and bigger library.This does encourage local business that need to do research and find things out.Libraries can,for example,show free films and documentaries and exhibit local artist's work.
2015
Small towns such as Wasaga Beach and Bocaygeon and West Lundy Lane (Niagara Falls) will move slowly.This way residents are less disturbed.But Wasaga Beach would be well advised to make at least a small move towards zoning that would allow a dairy and helping Spirit Tours get some new equipment.Two small steps that might make for a better 2015.
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