It seems Squamish gets better every year.
MoneySense magazine has ranked the “Best Places to Live” in Canada – and this year, Squamish ranks 74th, significantly higher than its placing of 133rd in 2014 and 157th the previous year.
“It’s a huge jump,” Mayor Patricia Heintzman said Monday in an interview with The Squamish Chief. “I was obviously very happy to be up to 74. We are trending in the right direction.”
The magazine bases its rankings on a variety of statistics and factors, including job prospects, affordability and weather.
The top spot of the 209 ranked cities in Canada this year is Boucherville, Quebec, a small city near Montreal.
Ottawa was the highest-ranking large city and No. 2 overall.
Heintzman recalls when the list was first issued, Squamish ranked low. She said her reaction was: “They don’t get it, because we are an awesome town.”
But she realized that some factors, such as a high growth rate, are actually seen as negatives if they believe the growth is not sustainable. And the magazine factors in amount of precipitation, but not air quality.
“If they were gauging air quality, we would be one of the best,” the mayor said. “Understanding their methodology is helpful, as well as taking it as it is, with a grain of salt.”
The jump in Squamish’s ranking this year is based partly on improvements in crime rates, unemployment, health care and the number of people who travel to work by cycling or public transit.
The crime rate has dropped 30.9 per cent in the past five years, according to the statistics provided, and violent crime severity also decreased significantly.
Unemployment dipped to 6.2 per cent this year – two percentage points lower than the previous year, the mayor pointed out.
More Squamish people now own luxury vehicles and recent-model cars, as there has been an increase in discretionary income, house values and average household net worth (currently at $424,221 in Squamish), according to the report.
The new cars and luxury vehicles in town “are indicators of people spending money,” said Heintzman. She noted if one of the indicators was the number of bicycles valued over $2,000, “we might be near the top.”
“Where we did see improvements is in the health care piece,” she added, noting that MoneySense factored in the rising number of doctors and health care staff.
The magazine also noted Squamish’s higher incomes than other cities, strong arts and sports community and ease of walking, cycling and taking transit to work.
Now 3.6 per cent bike to work, almost double the previous year, and the number on public transit jumped to 3.8 per cent, “but there is room for massive improvement,” said Heintzman. “We are continually trying to build our transit system, so there is room for growth there…. Council has been focusing on a more walkable, bikeable community and on transit. We are seeing the improvement.”
She hopes the ranking for Squamish will be higher in future years. “I think we can do a lot better,” said the mayor. “We are going in the right direction but there is work to be done.”
