I grew up in Squamish and have recently returned after living abroad for 12 years. I work in digital marketing and my mother works as a realtor.
Last Thursday, I attended the District of Squamish’s public visioning event, where Squamish residents came together to create a collective vision for 2040. The event was inspirational and had a great turnout, with many people sharing their vision for the town in 2040, 24 years from now.
A journey to the past can help reveal what lies in the future. Rewind back to 1992 – that’s 24 years ago. Squamish, most commonly recognized as the McDonalds on the way to Whistler, had a population of 11,000. Industrial forestry dominated life in Squamish, and Interfor was a major employer. The drive to both Vancouver and Whistler took an additional 10 to 15 minutes along a winding, double-lane highway, scenically stunning but alarmingly accident-prone. The cost of a three-bedroom home in Garibaldi Highlands in 1992 was $155,000. That same house today costs $800,000, a remarkable increase of 416 per cent.
Squamish sure has changed a lot in 24 years. Gone are the days of the Bowling Alley on Second Avenue and the brown, orange and beige civic centre. The Olympic boom saw the upgrade of the Sea to Sky Highway, the building of big box stores like Walmart and Home Depot, and Quest University in 2007.
As the rest of the Western world tumbled into a recession, Squamish continued to surge forward with the Sea to Sky Gondola and Squamish Valley Music Festival firmly establishing Squamish on the international stage. The New York Times ranked Squamish as one of the top 52 places to go in 2015, and in 2011, the town’s population reached 17,000, a 14.6 per cent increase from the previous census in 2006.
No longer is Squamish just a pit stop town on the way to Whistler or a bedroom community of Vancouver. People are moving to Squamish in droves because of what it offers, not only because of what it’s close to.
The development boom in Squamish is transforming the landscape of the town. The average home price has increased 62 per cent in the past 5 years, and the insatiable demand for life in Squamish is only curbed by the actual inventory of properties available.
Things sure have changed in Squamish in the past 24 years. Looking ahead to 2040, the population could continue to grow and that same three-bedroom home in Garibaldi Highlands might cost $3.3 million. Who would have thought back in 1992 that this is what the town would become?
Meghan Zuvelek
Squamish
