The Chilliwack
Progress Thursday
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Vancouver may lose its status as ‘biggest city’ Lower land prices in cities like Chilliwack attributed to growth outside Metro Van Jeff Nagel Black Press Port Moody and Surrey were the fastest growing cities in Metro Vancouver in the 2011 Census, spurring the region’s population to grow rapidly. Double-digit growth was also recorded in Burnaby, Langley Township, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge, according to data released Wednesday. Outside Metro Vancouver, growth in cities like Chilliwack hit double digits as well. Surrey’s population grew 18.6 per cent to 468,251, an increase of more than 73,000 since the previous count in 2006. The City of Vancouver gained about 25,000 residents, or 4.4 per cent over the five-year period, to 603,502. Port Moody climbed 19.9 per cent to 32,975. The nearly 20-per-cent gain happened despite Port Moody city council’s decision a few years ago to restrict further development until the Evergreen Line SkyTrain extension is built. Burnaby added 10.1 per cent to reach a population of 223,218 and is the Lower Mainland’s third-largest city after Vancouver and Surrey. Richmond added 9.2 per cent more people to reach 190,473. Surrey accounted for one-quarter of the provincial gain and 37 per cent of Metro Vancouver’s. Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts predicted her city is on track to pass Vancouver’s population in as little as 10 years. Although Surrey gained nearly 50,000 residents relative to Vancouver, not everyone is convinced it will be B.C.’s biggest city any time soon. Urban Futures demographer Ryan Berlin said Surrey would pass Vancouver in about 15 years if the pace of the last five continues. Continued: CHILLIWACK/ p11
According to the 2011 Census, Chilliwack has grown in population by 12.6 per cent over the past five years. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
As population grows, Chilliwack struggles to keep ‘small-town flavour’ Robert Freeman The Progress Chilliwack had one of the largest gains in population among B.C. cities between 2006 and 2011, jumping 12.6 per cent to 77,936, according to a recent Statistics Canada report. Squamish had the largest population gain in the province with 14.6 per cent. “It’s not surprising,” Mayor Sharon Gaetz said, about Chilliwack’s reported growth. And the city has been preparing for such a population
increase, she said, using a larger figure of 82,000 as a planning target. “We believe, as do most municipalities, that growth needs to pay for itself,” Gaetz said. Development cost charges (DCCs) are used to pay for new roads, sewers and water services as the city grows to take the burden off taxpayers. “We’re growing not only by attracting more people here, but we’re also growing from within,” Gaetz pointed out. More than 15,000 children of Fraser Valley families are
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attending university classes at UFV, staying home instead of moving out of the area. “That’s a new trend, something Sharon Gaetz we haven’t s e e n before,” Gaetz said. Only 13 per cent of the city’s population leaves the community to work or to shop, according to a regional transit study.
The low cost of housing, the low cost of living, the proximity to natural attractions like the mountains and Cultus Lake, plus the lure of Chilliwack’s “small-town flavor” are all attracting new residents here, the mayor said. How to keep that small-town feel - “that’s going to be our challenge as we get bigger,” Gaetz said. Planning is the key, and the city is currently working on its official community plan, which was last updated 12 years ago in 1998. Continued: PLANNING/ p11