In the heart of the northwest.

Dryden's central location attractive for businesses serving mining and forestry industries

Dryden continues to see growth and activity, and the community's chief building official credits high land values as being a contributing factor.

Dave Warren says Dryden's quality of housing, paved and uni-stone streets and general high upkeep of property and boulevards are all responsible for keeping land values in an upswing, and he says it is working in the city's favour.

"We've got good economic activity because the town is prosperous," Warren says. "The high land value just shows you the prosperity of the town. Houses stay up in value because of the quality of the town and the activity."

Warren says, aside from the $3-million learning centre that Weyerhaeuser is building in town, most of the activity taking place in Dryden revolves around smaller projects, like a new Tim Hortons restaurant and a new Safeway gas bar.

"There aren't big projects that are boosting (the town), but they're all adding to it," Warren says. Those are the economic indicators that the town is doing well.

"Now we've got the local school board looking at building a super school in town and getting rid of two or three of the country schools. We also have Confederation College, the high school and the City of Dryden looking at building an adult learning centre as well with a 500-seat auditorium. So there's lots going on - nothing big - but it's steady growth."

Warren says a common misconception is that the city remains prosperous despite high land values, but he believes the opposite is true; High land values are helping the town remain prosperous, he adds.

"It's high because the quality of the homes in the town are second to none and people keep maintaining their homes. The streets are all paved, some of the back lanes are paved, the grass boulevards are uni-stone sidewalks, and there's lots of street lighting and snowplowing. That all helps.

"Housing (statistics) show we're getting people retiring here from Sioux Lookout, Red Lake, Fort Frances because we've got everything here. To add to that, we've got an outfit called Versa Care looking at building a 64-bed long-term care home in town, and we just finished one. That will create a fair bit of employment, but it also shows you that people are looking at it more as a centre. It's a nice, easy distance to travel if you're going to visit your loved ones.

Warren also says there is nothing to indicate growth will slow down any time soon.

"We've got a few commercial developments coming up in 2001 that will keep that growth going."

Companies looking to service the forestry and mining industries are showing "a fair amount of interest" in the community, and he says it may be because of Dryden's central location.

"It's like people have found now that we're physically in the centre of things. If you're a travelling salesman or someone who travels a lot, you can get to all the different places. (Because of that) we're getting a fair amount of interest from businesses that want to set up to supply to forestry or mining industries. It's a central location for them."