The 60s was a transitional decade for Bowen. The shift from Vancouver's 'playground' to Vancouver suburb began in 1957 when the Union Steamship Company closed its upscale hotel, and car ferry service to the island began, but stories from the Vancouver Sun reveal that the transition to commuter community was not as rapid or as smooth as promoters had hoped. On July 6, 1960, a story quoted Ray McDonald, operator of the Evergreen Boat Rentals, as follows: 'There's been a slump on the island for five years and it's getting worse People come on the ferry and go back on the next. They've seen everything they can see and done everything they can do.' Caretaker-manager John Baillie stated that the company's 180 cottages were still for rent, but it was likely that the property would be sold or subdivided. C.L. Cliffe, president of the island Ratepayers' Association, claimed that 'the rest of the island is building,' with an average of 75 real estate transactions a year, but the story concluded that only four businessmen were making the daily commute with its high ferry cost of $3.90 for car and driver. Furthermore, with 'lots snug in darkest bush wearing $1,000 signs,' Bowen real estate was 'no wild bargain.'
Two years later the Sun (Oct. 25, 1962) reported that the number of permanent residents had increased from 185 to 450, and that 134 lots were to be offered in the hotel area, with $100,000 to be spent on roads, waterworks and power lines. There were still 84 cottages for rent, but they would be 'removed or renovated to comply with the new building regulations.'
But tourism was not entirely forgotten, and on September 6, 1966, the Sun quoted Larry Eckhardt, West VancouverHowe Sound Social Credit candidate, as declaring that he was 'appalled at the total lack of tourist facilities' on Bowen. If elected, he would create more picnic areas and make the beaches more accessible to the public. Judging from a column by 'Penny Wise' a year later, however, nothing had changed. 'The finest marine playground on the Pacific Coast' had become 'an exclusive de luxe resort for private summer-home dwellers,' leaving the beaches shut off from public access and private roads barred by logs. Not only had refuse from visiting yachts made Snug Cove 'the biggest septic tank in the world,' but, with no public washroom facilities available, visitors waded into the swimming pool owned by Bowen Resorts 'to cope with nature's needs.' The result, according to a nearby owner, was that 'children get impetigo.' Not only had the government refused to provide toilet facilities but there was no waiting room on the dock to serve the thousands of people who travelled by ferry each year. The population of Bowen was growing however, and USC estate agent Grahame Budge predicted that within 10 or 15 years 'Vancouver people will be erecting permanent residences. [] The Island might well replace West Vancouver as Vancouver's bedroom' (Vancouver Sun, 14 Sept. 1967).
