Thanks for all the good guesses. And maybe an apology for the “only four restaurants” clue. My reliable source may not have taken into account Deep Cove.
But maybe those of you who live in the District of North Vancouver can clarify. For indeed, that is the municipality in question – not the City of North Van, note.
Most surprising to me is the fact that over half the population will be aged 65 and over within the decade, and the implications that will have for the District’s future – especially given their citizenry’s reluctance to change. “‘They expect to go out of their single-family homes (which constitute over 60 per cent of the housing stock) in boxes,” said my source, and aren’t much interested in accommodating any significant growth in the meantime. Hence the closing schools, the decline in jobs (only about half the population is working) and the lack of anything open much past 7 pm.
There are dozens of restaurants in the district, as well as at least 5 pubs…
Your “reliable” source may also have not taken into account Lynn Valley, Edgemont VIllage, Parkgate, and Marine Drive west of MacKay. 🙂
I agree that the population statistic is quite surprising, though it seems to be consistent with mine and my peer’s experience. I finished high school in North Van in the mid-nineties so am at an age where most of the people I know from that time have either A) moved to the city or B) moved to a more affordable suburb ,depending on their preferred lifestyle. All of our parents are now in their mid sixties and beyond are still on their 1/4 acre piece of cul-de-sac heaven.
I do question whether your reliable source has ever been to North Van District though. There are dozens of restaurants and at least half a dozen pubs, and one “bar” The Avalon (if you don’t count a pub as a bar). There is Marine Drive, Edgmont Village, Lynn Valley, and Deep Cove that all have mixed commercial areas. Or perhaps they were indulging in a bit of hyperbole?
Your reliable source also forgot the Raven pub, the Maplewood pub, the Black Bear pub, the Pemberton pub, and I’m probably forgetting at least one. Maybe they have a different definition of bar. Maybe they also have a different definition of restaurant, one that doesn’t include places like the Bakehouse in Edgemont, Genji in Parkgate, Belmondo Cafe in Maplewood, Kypriaki Taverna and La Cucina in Norgate and Deep Cove Pizza in of course Deep Cove to name six examples.
The rest of the examples do fit, but those two threw me off completely.
(apologies to the person I called out for suggesting North Vancouver. In hindsight, silly of me. We all get defensive of our hometown.)
Also, I should point you to the newly passed district of north vancouver official community plan, which is in keeping with the densification and growth meme (although with some pushback, certainly) and Michael Geller’s work in the Lions Gate area: http://gellersworldtravel.blogspot.com/search?q=SOFAR
Yay, I win! Isn’t it fun being smarter than other people?
Sorry, I’m just too happy. This is going to make me happy for a week.
So you got it right but the clues were wrong… does that really make you smarter? 😉
Living in the DNV as I do these days, some of these clues sound somewhat plausible, but I’m not sure they really hold up to scrutiny. For example, in our area (close to Edgemont) there are loads of old ranchers whose owners have been there 40 years and are not going anywhere, which lends weight to the “leaving their homes in a box” part.
But “50% of the population over 65 in a decade” implies that the median age would be at least 65 before 2020. And in 2006, according to the census data, the median age was 41.7, less than a year older than the provincial median. I would love to know by what mechanism the median age of the population would increase by 23 years inside of 14. Are we importing old people from somewhere?
see: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-591/details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=5915046&Geo2=PR&Code2=59&Data=Count&SearchText=North%20Vancouver&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=