Finding ways to make home ownership more affordable is a top concern for residents living in the Fraser North region. But otherwise most people who live here are content and positive about life, a report on quality of life reveals.
Tuesday the Vancouver Foundation released its VitalSigns 2016, a study of the attitudes of B.C. residents about their feelings of safety, sense of belonging and community priorities.
The report showed that Fraser North residents differ little from folks elsewhere in the province but do feel strongly about issues of homeownership.
For example, when asked about their priority for improving housing options in Fraser North, 71% said affordability of homeownership was their number one issue compared to 56% across B.C. and 33% of Fraser North residents said new ways to help people finance homes was also a priority, compared to 19% across B.C.
Some of the other findings include:
• On average, Fraser North residents rated their feelings of positivity at 7.4 out of 10 and gave 7.6 out of 10 for leading a purposeful and meaningful life. However, only 43% said newcomers were welcomed on their street.
• On safety, 73% said they felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark compared to 78% across B.C. and 67% said a wallet containing $100 would be returned to them if lost compared to 70% across B.C.
• On volunteering, 61% said they would volunteer to be more active in their community compared to 65% across B.C. However, only 40% said they had volunteered in the last 12 months compared to 50% across B.C. And only 21% of respondents said they had attended a cultural or ethnic event in the past 12 months compared to 31% for the rest of B.C.
• Most residents have a strong sense of belonging to their local neighbourhood, (65%) and most (61%) said they felt a strong sense of belonging to groups and activities.
As many as 7,000 people across B.C. were surveyed for the VitalSigns report.
