Like a peacock’s strut, West Vancouver is as beautiful as it is baffling. It’s old and new, small and sprawling, rich in assets and poor in maintenance funds. And so we thank the West Vancouver Community Stakeholders for commissioning a survey to allay that confusion.
But while the survey data is definitive, the opinions expressed are not. Aside from vehement opposition to topping up Park Royal towers and broad support for a vacancy tax, the poll reveals a morass of contradiction that illuminates how hard it is to serve the will of the people.
The people say traffic congestion is the most pressing issue in the district. The people are also aghast at bus-only lanes. Essentially, we need a change-maker who won’t disrupt the status quo.
The survey also asked if residents support: “Taking active steps to increase the size of the West Vancouver population by building more high-density apartment buildings and condos.”
Respondents were opposed. But suppose they were asked to support housing for teachers who commute from outside the district. Suppose the question was framed in terms of the municipality’s abysmal vacancy rate, dearth of housing diversity, the spate of downsizing seniors, or what a planner recently called: “the most unaffordable housing in the region.”
A successful politician tells a community what it needs to hear. A leader offers a community what it needs. Rather than pointing us in the right direction, the survey illustrates a crossroads. It’s up to mayor and council to find the right path. The next election is three years away. That’s the only survey that counts.
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