A senior’s predictions for 2050

This is in response to the story headlined “Students forecast face of the Valley in 2050” in the March 13 edition of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.

I hope high school students remain in the Mat-Su Valley! I hope these students and their peers in other high schools remain in the Valley to help build the future.

I’m a senior — well, I’m a senior citizen and I’m 66 1/2 years old. Some of my friends who are older call me “a teenage senior citizen,” and I still do have my rebellious spirit. In 2050, I’ll be 105 years old, so here are my top 10 predictions for the year 2050.

1. The population of the Mat-Su Valley will be about five times what it is now. That’s a lot of people.

2. There will be at least two huge indoor malls with several big chain stores as anchors, and numerous smaller chains and many local businesses selling all types of products and services, many of which we don’t even know we need today.

3. The number of farms will slowly increase and the variety of vegetables and fruits will also increase to feed more people locally. There will be an even greater emphasis on fresh produce and healthy living.

4. Tourism also will slowly increase and stay on an upward spiral at least until 2100. You read it first here! This includes the relatively new agrotourism — tours of the increasing number of farms. There also will be more hotels, more and varied restaurants, more tour guides, even more assorted winter sports, more hiking, hunting, fishing, and sightseeing tours of all kinds.

5. I predict that in the 2040s there will be the grand opening of a large Alaska-themed park along the lines of Disneyland or Disneyworld (but not Disney affiliated). Somewhere in Alaska (maybe among our current high school students) is someone who has, or will have, the vision, experience and know-how to organize and build such an Alaska attraction — and it’ll be built in the Valley and will draw people from all over the planet.

6. In or before 2050, the Mat-Su Borough/Valley will host the Olympics — either the winter or the summer Olympics, and it will be televised all over world.

7. The current talk about a Regional Transit Authority will be old news by 2050. Possibly by 2015, this much-talked-about transit entity will be established and by 2025 will have coordinated all the transit providers in Southcentral Alaska for the smooth flow of riders (including tourists and visitors) to all parts of this huge borough. And perhaps by 2050, the talk will be of coordinating all the bus systems in the state of Alaska. It could be an excellent example for the Lower 48.

8. With this huge influx of people, there also will be an increase in the number of religious buildings of all the major faiths from all the continents and in various languages. This will mean, of course, that people will have to practice what they preach: kindness, courtesy, respect and fairness to everyone.

9. The downside of all these increases will be more taxes to pay for services, roads and construction — and government. Everybody has to pay taxes.

10. Finally, I predict the Frontiersman will be a daily newspaper with various sections focusing on assorted topics on different days of the week. Computers are great, but there’s nothing like holding a real newspaper in one’s hands.

It is now 2012 and the future has arrived! It appears to be exciting and adventurous, and I’m grateful to be alive at this time.

Rosemary Vavrin, a Wasilla resident, is retired from her education and media careers.