[溫哥華本地新聞] Vancouver faces mild population growth while Tri-Cities and Surrey boom 2011, leading, growth

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Vancouver faces mild population growth while Tri-Cities and Surrey boom

B.C. population grows to 4.4 million with urban areas leading the way, according to the 2011 Census


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Vancouver+faces+mild+population+growth+while+Cities+Surrey+boom/6119747/story.html#ixzz1ltdQDx6N

Metro Vancouver continues to lure new migrants and suck residents from B.C’s rural towns, but it appears most people are skipping Vancouver in favour of settling in the Tri-Cities or neighbourhoods south of the Fraser.
Port Moody, Coquitlam and Surrey were the fastest-growing communities in the 2011 Census, with some neighbourhoods in those cities doubling or tripling their population between 2006 and 2011, according to data released Wednesday.
Port Moody experienced 19.9-per-cent growth during this five-year period, followed by Surrey with 18.6 per cent. Vancouver’s growth rate, meanwhile, sat at 4.4 per cent, with population increases concentrated in its downtown core, Mount Pleasant and Fairview.
While growth was more vigorous than expected in the Tri-Cities, it is consistent with the regional growth strategy, which calls for development to be centred along transit corridors and town centres.
“If you look across the region we’re not seeing a lot of urban sprawl,” said Metro Vancouver chairman Greg Moore. “It’s going out to areas where we defined regional growth should occur.”
Population tripled in Surrey’s Clayton neighbourhood, for instance, while there was also significant growth in designated town centres like Newton and Guildford.
The Tri-Cities also took a hefty chunk of the growth in Port Moody and Coquitlam Town Centre, where the land was already zoned and ready, based on a promise that it would receive the Evergreen Line. Port Moody’s 19.9-per-cent growth took place despite a no-growth policy implemented in 2009.
“When we were saying zero to minimal growth we were still taking all these people from previous developments that had already been approved,” said Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay. “It was part of the plan. The part that was missing was the rapid transit line.”
A similar phenomenon was seen in the mid-1990s when Richmond experienced huge growth while expecting the Canada line. This growth slowed near 2000 but picked up again once the line finally went ahead, bringing an economic boom for the city, said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie.
Richmond, which saw an 9.2-per-cent increase in population from 2006-2011, has one of the highest jobs-to-worker ratios, with one-and-a-half jobs for every worker, Brodie said, as well as diverse industries and an educated workforce.
“With people coming from offshore or elsewhere to Richmond, they bring their networks as well,” he said. “It just magnifies the benefits.”
Immigration is a big factor in driving population growth in B.C., according to Stats Canada, along with interprovincial migration.
Metro Vancouver gained 200,000 more residents between 2006 and 2011, bringing its population to 2.3 million — up 9.3 per-cent — and more than half of B.C.’s population of 4.4 million, according to the latest Census data. About 30 per cent of the regional growth was in Surrey, which is cited to surpass Vancouver as B.C.’s largest city within the next decade.
The Tri-Cities, particularly Coquitlam, is also expected to continue growing, according to Metro Vancouver, which is developing a regional growth strategy aimed at densifying town centres around transit nodes to curtail urban sprawl and reduce reliance on automobiles.
“We’re building and concentrating our growth so we can facilitate better transportation,” Moore said, noting that areas like Port Coquitlam and Vancouver are already built out so will need to be redeveloped.
“From Metro’s perspective we want to concentrate growth in the urban containment boundaries and transportation corridors ... [Transportation] is going to be key to continuing this type of growth.”
But while urban centres continue to grow, rural areas are diminishing, with Prince Rupert and Williams Lake seeing the biggest population declines in the province.

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Ryan Berlin of the Urban Futures research institute said the results aren’t surprising, noting that urban centres have been wooing people out of rural areas for the past decade with their diverse populations, economic opportunities and lifestyle.

“This isn’t necessarily a new trend,” Berlin said. “As the population grows in the Metro region, some of our big communities are sucking people out of [rural areas] and they have been for a while.”

He noted it’s interesting that growing urban centres around Squamish and Chilliwack have topped the list of the fastest-growing areas. He suspects residents are attracted to their more affordable homes and lifestyles.

“There’s a lot of talk of the high house price affect ... it could be given the accessibility of these communities to the core of the region that they’ve become a more viable option in people’s eyes,” Berlin said. “Once you start moving out of the core of the region, you get more bang for your buck.”

The story will be told more fully, he said, once Stats Canada comes out with the details about who is living in these areas.

Squamish Mayor Rob Kirkham credits the new Sea to Sky Highway, cheaper house prices and the outdoor amenities in Squamish as bigs draws for new residents.

The district, which posted one of the biggest population increases — although it only rose by about 2,000 people — is becoming a community of young families, he said, with 60 per cent of residents being under the age of 40. It’s trying to cater to those needs with hiking and cycling paths and more downtown housing.

Take Matt Lucas and his wife Janelle, for example. The couple, which is expecting their first child, moved into a brand new condo in downtown Squamish five months ago because they loved the outdoors and figured it would be a great place to raise children.

Janelle vanpools to her job in downtown Vancouver but Lucas has a short jaunt to his shop, which is called Lucas Teas.

“This is like the perfect place to live,” said Lucas, an avid climber. “I have a five-minute walk to work and get to look at the [Stawamus] Chief. It’s so amazing.

“Vancouver is a really cool place. But here it’s more community based. You get to know everyone. I want the kids to be able to run around in the woods.”

Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz said she suspects people are also moving to her area because of the lifestyle as well as cheaper taxes and house prices.

Only about 13 per cent of residents work, play or shop outside the city daily, she said, and there are 15,000 students, so it’s not considered a bedroom community. She said the city has planned for the growth by expanding infrastructure and building up the hillsides, infilling and densifying in the downtown core to protect the farmland, which is “our bread and butter.”

She noted the city has also attracted and retained big companies, allowing people to live and work in Chilliwack.

“There are lots of people relocating here because of the proximity to hiking and the river and lakes and they want to have that opportunity to have recreation and maybe a slower pace of life,” she said, but added: “I hope it’s not too beautiful. We don’t want to be flooded all at once; we’re planning for a slower and more sustainable growth.

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Vancouver: 2,313,328 population from 2,116,581


Vancouver is seen from Stanley Park in this 2007 file photo.


Northeast view of snowy Metro Vancouver. According to the Census 2011 report released Wednesday, most Metro Vancouver municipalities saw population growth beyond 4 per cent in the last 5 years. Some areas grew by double-digit percentage points. Every community grew - not a single one recorded a population decline.


The latest Census figures show B.C.'s population increased by seven per cent between 2006-2011, pushing the population to 4.4 million, and making B.C. the second fastest growing province next to Alberta.