The Municipality released the results of its 2018 Island Survey last week and results show, as Councillor Maureen Nicholson told council on Monday, “overall quality of life ranks very highly,” with 94 percent of respondents rating quality of life as good or excellent.
The last comparable survey taken on Bowen Island was done in 2012. While that survey emphasized financial decisions in the municipality, this year’s focused on housing.
Questions about transportation were also included in the survey. Of the 608 survey respondents, 46 percent said they were dis-satisfied with support for modes of active transportation, and more than 50 percent of respondents expressed their dis-satisfaction with pedestrian and bicycle safety.
Chair of the Bowen Island Municipal Transportation Action Committee (BIMTAC) David Hocking, says these results are in-line with research done in the recent Island Transportation Master Plan, but they are notable.
More than 76 percent of Bowen Islanders believe that more housing is needed on Bowen, and 48 percent believe the Municipality is responsible for housing.
“The opinion is, that we are on the hook,” said Nicholson.
The results of this survey will be used to inform council’s strategic plan for the coming year, and collect a baseline of information for comparisons over time.
