“What’s going to happen as a function of the lack of diverse housing options is literally over half of the population is going to disappear within a generation,” he says. “All the young kids are going to move out because they can’t afford to buy in, with rare exceptions.”The mayor grew up in West Vancouver, above his parents’ furniture store. His old bedroom is still there in the district’s Dundarave village.
“We’re a little community,” he says, comparing West Van to Carmel-By-The-Sea and Laguna Beach in California or, closer to home, White Rock and Oak Bay. “But do we need creative housing solutions for our firefighters, police and teachers? Yes we do, and it can’t all be rental. We want them to feel invested in this community.”
The bridge also handles ferry and Whistler traffic heading to downtown Vancouver or the airport. Many, if not most, residents fear more housing means more traffic jams. The district began, controversially, buying historic homes along Ambleside 40 years ago and preserving them, which may surprise many. Councils through the years have stuck with the plan., West Vancouver’s oldest settler building , and turn it into a coffee shop by day, wine bar by evening.