Metro Vancouver needs to accommodate tens of thousands of added residents every year. How to do it has become a popular election issue
Dan Fumano
The Province
North Vancouver
Between 2011 and 2016, the population of the North Shore — West Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver and the District of North Vancouver — increased around 0.68 per cent annually, census data show, almost half the regional annual average. During that period, West Vancouver’s population declined.
But zeroing in on the City of North Vancouver, the numbers tell a different story. The city of 12 square kilometres around Lonsdale Avenue had an annual growth rate of 1.96 per cent, about 50 per cent above the regional average.
That pace of development earned four-term Mayor Darrell Mussatto the nickname Density Darrell. And all that densification — and particularly its impact on people’s ability to get to, from, and around the North Shore — figures to be a big part of this election.
Density Darrell isn’t seeking reelection, but opponents of mayoral candidate Coun. Linda Buchanan paint her as the heir to his legacy. Buchanan said while she has her own vision for the city, she largely defends its direction during Mussatto’s mayoralty.
Her top opponents this year — former Coun. Guy Heywood, sitting Coun. Rod Clark, and local businessman Kerry Morris — have all criticized the pace of development and promised to scale it back.
The key issue appears to be around development’s effect on traffic. While housing affordability is an issue on the North Shore like elsewhere in Metro Vancouver, a poll commissioned this year by the District of North Vancouver found almost twice as many respondents identified traffic and transportation as a top issue over affordable housing.
“We have gridlocked ourselves,” said Morris, who came within 900 votes of unseating Mussatto in the 2014 election. “We haven’t planned our community to deal with the density we are now faced with.”
“If you walk around this community and you look at a person of the age of 45 or 50, and you say: ‘Hey, how do you like your community?’ They will almost to a man or woman tell you: ‘I hate it. I hate this traffic, I hate all this density.”
Asked if he ever hears from North Van residents under the age of 45 who actually like the more urban feel that more density has brought to North Van, Morris acknowledged that “maybe even 50 per cent would give you: yes, they do like it. But, yes with a reservation: yes, but there’s no parking.”
Heywood was a two-term North Van City councillor before deciding not to run for reelection four years ago, to focus on his work in finance. Now, he wants to return to public service as mayor.
Morris and Heywood both say North Van’s city hall has been unduly influenced in recent years by developers.
“We’re not big enough to earn the attention of TransLink, that’s all going to go to the Broadway corridor (subway) and the Surrey light rail,” Heywood said. “Yes, it’s a big problem across the region, but each part of the region has a different ability to take that burden. And up until now, the City of North Vancouver has taken a disproportionate piece of the burden, and North Vancouver as a whole is paying the price.”
For her part, Buchanan said she’s proud of her work on council the past two terms alongside Mussatto, adding: “For myself, as mayor, I’ll want to build on those successes, even as we confront some of the issues of affordability and traffic that, in reality, all communities are struggling with.”
Buchanan pointed to the Shipyards redevelopment, new public spaces, active transportation routes, and cultural amenities that North Van has added in recent years, calling them “all those things that create a really urban, vibrant place to be.”
“I don’t think it’s realistic to think that we can stop, and put the brakes on things,” Buchanan said. “I think most people actually like the vibrancy.”
A long-awaited report on North Shore transportation was released this week. Among other findings, the report noted the North Shore — once a bedroom community for those commuting to downtown — has added more than twice as many jobs as working-age residents since 2011.
The city needs to provide more housing for everyone from downsizing seniors to young workers wanting to live near their jobs, Buchanan said, adding: “We need to find those creative solutions to find the right type of housing … to support the people that want to be living in our community. And it’s going to probably be a different built form than what was in previous generations.”
Dwellings and population, for selected municipalities
- Figures for past years are from census data and municipal governments
- Projections for 2021 are from municipalities’ Regional Context Statements submitted to Metro Vancouver
SURREY
Dwellings
2012 dwelling units: 164,935
2017 dwelling units: 191,790
2021 projected dwelling units (as of 2014): 199,950
2021 projected dwelling units (revised projection as of 2018): 208,320
Population
2012 population: 502,725
2017 population: 557,310
2021 projected population (as of 2013): 593,600
2021 projected population (revised as of 2018): 598,580
VANCOUVER
Dwellings
2011 occupied units: 264,573
2016 occupied units: 283,916
2021 projected units (as of 2013): 309,000
Population
2011 population: 603,502
2016 population: 631,486
2021 projected population (as of 2013): 685,000
BURNABY
Dwellings
2011 dwelling units: 91,383
2016 dwelling units: 98,030
2021 projected dwelling units (as of 2013): 117,800
Population
2011 population: 223,218
2016 population: 232,755
2021 projected population (as of 2013): 270,000
NORTH VANCOUVER CITY
Dwellings
2011 dwelling units: 24,206
2016 dwelling units: 24,645
2021 projected units (as of 2015): 25,600
Population
2011 population: 48,168
2016 population: 52,898
2021 projected population (as of 2015): 56,000
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