Statistics Canada has named Saskatoon the fastest-growing city in our nation. While there is no award for this great achievement, it’s notable that Saskatoon annihilated runners-up Regina and Calgary in the battle for this prestigious title. Yeah, take your Saddledome and shove it, Calgarians.

Indeed, with our city’s population getting closer and closer to 300,000, it seems we’re on the fast track to become the next Calgary. With its overpriced homes, high rent and serious urban sprawl, Calgary is not the city we want to model Saskatoon after.

Are you scared yet?

I’m not sure our city is ready for the rapid growth already taking place. Saskatoon shines, but maybe we need to put the dimmers on just to make sure we don’t get too excited about the speed with which we’re growing. Growth without thought or planning is dangerous for a city’s longterm stability. We need to take our time, cover all of our bases and then go in for the big finish.

Statistics Canada has also found Saskatoon to have the youngest population in Canada, with a median age of 34.9 years. Can a city of young citizens maintain itself, or more importantly, can these young-blooded Saskatoon residents afford to live here?

Saskatoon’s real estate market continues to maintain its high price range, making it truly unaffordable for many people to buy into the housing market.

Out of curiosity, I checked out an online mortgage calculator to see what I could afford to buy — that is, if I was actually making real money, as opposed to the $100 I make every two weeks from my minimum-wage job.

According to the Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors, the average price of a home in Saskatoon is around $300,000. Goodness! Where is the gold mine, right?

With a minimum down payment of around $15,000, I would have to make a whopping $80,000 a year to pay off a mortgage of $306,000 over a 25-year period, even at a low interest rate of four per cent. Are you shitting your pants yet? I sure am.

Needless to say, the young people of our city are going to have major troubles buying into the property market unless mommy and daddy are able to cough up the difference, or unless individuals actually find and maintain jobs that pay handsomely.

Or, secret option number three: marry rich. If you see me skulking around the medicine, engineering and law buildings, don’t be alarmed. I’m just looking for a well-to-do partner — no biggy. Don’t call the campus police on me; I’m not dangerous, I’m just planning for my future.

These are dark times, people. Even those who rent continue to see increases in monthly rental costs, making the sustainability of living in town a major issue.

According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Cooperation, average, per-month rental costs in 1990 were $268, $360, $437 and $503 depending on whether you lived in a bachelor, one bedroom, two bedroom or over three bedroom suit, respectively.

Comparing these prices to CMHC’s numbers in 2011 shows an average increase of 223 per cent in rental costs. That means we’re paying over double the cost for the same dimly lit basement suites that we were in 1990. What nonsense! This is a significant jump over a 21-year period.

So sure, Saskatoon is a bumpin’ city. We’re busting at the seams and to deal with it we are sprawling far and wide as opposed to up and down. As much as I’m pleased to see Saskatoon thriving, we need to be ready for this growth.

Saskatoon needs rent control, and it sure would be nice if our housing market dropped drastically in prices.

I’m also not convinced that our transit system can handle our continued growth. Hopefully with the completion of Circle Drive our city will be more easily navigable, but the Victoria and North bridges still need immediate attention for us to effectively get from point A to point B.

I fear that soon Saskatoon is going to look like a potato stuffed into jeans: lumpy, out of control and totally unattractive. If I wanted to live in the urban sprawl that is Calgary, I’d move there — not that I would be able to afford a property there either.

I hope Saskatoon continues to grow, but with much more attention from city planners, city councillors and Mayor Don Atchison to ensure that we’re growing in a cohesive manner that predicts, addresses and acts upon issues arising from development.

If Saskatoon continues to be so bloody expensive, I may just pack my bags and move to the most affordable city in Canada, even if it is Windsor, Ont. Who would ever have thought that a move down east would be more cost-effective in the long run than staying in Saskatchewan? Certainly not me.

The next time you tell someone you’re from Saskatoon, don’t forget to tell them we’re the fastest-growing city in Canada. It’s a good icebreaker and the ultimate segue into talking about the numerous issues with our city’s cost of living, depending on individual circumstances.

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Graphic: Stephanie Mah