On several key data points, West Vancouver is lagging behind the Metro average.
That’s according to a new “community profile” document received by council at a meeting Monday.
The profile is updated every five years, in step with the release of new census data. The information supports council decision making, staff policy development and community understanding, according to a staff presentation.
“Typically, we compare census from 20 years ago to where we are today to understand how our community is evolving, as well as comparing us to the region to see what’s different, what’s similar and so on,” said senior planner David Hawkins.
West Van’s population is typically growing slowly, and actually declined in the 2016 census period, but picked up for the 2021 count. The population has grown seven per cent over the past 20 years (less than a third of a per cent annually), compared to Metro Vancouver growing 33 per cent over the same period, the data shows.
“The region has grown by almost five times as much,” Hawkins said.
West Van residents are continuing to age.
“We’ve moved from one in five to one in three residents being over 65 years of age. And this is different to the region.”
For example, people age 30-34 make up around three per cent of the population in West Van, compared to ages 70-74 making up nearly seven per cent.
In Metro Van, the 30-34 age bracket accounts for nearly eight per cent of residents, and 70-74 around five per cent.
Generally, residents in their 20s, 30s and 40s are less common in West Van.
“Planners often talk about the missing middle in terms of housing stock, and there is a relationship between age diversity and housing diversity,” Hawkins said.
Around 64 per cent of homes in West Van are single-family, compared to the Metro average of 44 per cent.
That’s related to the turnover of new construction, Hawkins said, adding that more than half of residential and commercial buildings are at least 50 years old.
“There has been replenishment of commercial and residential building stock over the decades since then, but in particular, we’re noticing a real lack of renewal of commercial buildings,” he said.
With West Van’s Top 3 careers in business, finance and law, there’s a mismatch in the types of companies that operate in the district, which tend to be more service oriented, Hawkins said.
“If you are working in West Van, then ... seven out of 10 are coming in from outside of West Van, whereas if you are a West Van resident who is still working, then six out of 10 of you are leaving the community,” he said.
“This is obviously what leads to congestion on our main east-west arterials,” said Hawkins, adding that 30 per cent of kids in West Vancouver schools are commuting to the municipality.
Final report shouldn't be an 'indictment' on West Van, councillor says
Coun. Linda Watt highlighted there are areas where West Van is similar to the Metro average, like the five-per-cent decrease in home ownership compared to the 4.4 per cent average.
When it’s ultimately published on the district’s website for the public, the community profile should reflect that West Van isn’t a standard community, she said.
“I certainly would like there to be some kind of a reflection showing how we are a choke point, in addition with the six million people coming in on the ferries and all the rest of it,” Watt said.
“The expectation, in my opinion, that we should be densifying at the same rate, without any adequate transportation, it troubles me,” she said. “And I just want to make sure that this doesn’t become some kind of an indictment on the way our housing and our demographic is here in West Vancouver, and on the types of housing."
Watt said she hoped the final report reflects how West Van is comparable to other areas, “so it doesn’t look like we are grossly out of step in certain areas where we may not be.”
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