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Whistlerites’ sense of belonging remains strong, while trust in municipality dips to record low

The 2022 Community Life Survey offers a snapshot of a community in recovery following lean pandemic years
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Locals maintain a high satisfaction with Whistler as a place to live, but concerns continue to mount around health-care, learning opportunities and municipal decision-making, according to the 2022 Community Life Survey.

If you ask any local what it is they like best about Whistler, chances are you will hear both about the resort’s awe-inspiring natural surroundings and its strong community fabric. After a devastating global health crisis that kept residents cooped up indoors and abruptly shut off the tourism engine that helps this town run, it would be understandable to think that Whistlerites’ satisfaction with their community and tight sense of belonging may have deteriorated, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

On Tuesday, Jan. 10, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) unveiled the results of its 2022 Community Life Survey, and they show a community that has, through it all, maintained a strong sense of belonging and a high level of satisfaction with the place they call home (for the most part—but we’ll get to that).

Based off of phone interviews with 508 respondents completed over several weeks this summer, 90 per cent of permanent residents reported either a “very strong” or “somewhat strong” sense of belonging in Whistler, up from 84 per cent in 2021. It was also seven-per-cent higher than the average between four benchmark communities the RMOW surveyed: Squamish, Revelstoke, North Vancouver and West Vancouver.

“I’m pleased to see Whistlerites report such a high sense of belonging,” said Mayor Jack Crompton at Tuesday’s meeting. “I think it’s critical to the success of our community. It’s that commitment to this town that has brought us through everything we’ve experienced and it’s that commitment that’s needed to face the big challenges we’re facing today.”

Second homeowners, meanwhile, went the opposite direction, with 59 per cent saying they felt a sense of belonging in the resort, a six-per-cent dip from the 2021 survey. This comes despite data showing that second homeowners have returned to the resort in longer durations since COVID restrictions have eased: 64 per cent of responding second homeowners averaged 10 days or more in the resort during 2022’s peak winter period, compared to 61 per cent the prior winter, while 63 per cent stayed 10 days or more during 2022’s peak summer period, compared to 57 per cent the previous summer.

“We have started to see this disconnect appear where we have a very high sense of belonging among permanent residents, while second homeowners, historically, are a little bit below that,” said economic development analyst Richard Kemble in his presentation to elected officials at the Committee of the Whole meeting.

Satisfaction with Whistler as a place to live remains high, with 84 per cent of permanent residents saying they are “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” to live here, compared to 91 per cent of second homeowners. Notably, while second homeowners’ satisfaction rates have largely remained steady over the years, residents’ satisfaction levels have been on the decline since 2013, when an incredible 99 per cent of locals said they were satisfied with life here.

Part of that high satisfaction can likely be traced to how Whistlerites view their neighbours. One question asked respondents how trustworthy they believe people living in Whistler are, with 97 per cent of permanent residents and 89 per cent of second homeowners saying they trust their fellow community members.

Interestingly, it’s another example of locals and part-timers trending in opposite directions: residents’ trust in their neighbours was up five points from 2018, the last time this question was asked, while second-homeowner trust levels went down six points in that span.

Opinions also diverged when it came to how Whistlerites view visitors to the resort. Fifty-six per cent of second homeowners surveyed last year believed that visitors appreciate and respect Whistler’s mountain culture, down from 64 per cent in 2021 and 67 per cent in 2020, while just 39 per cent of residents felt the same, identical to 2021 and down from 47 per cent the year prior.

That’s not all that Whistlerites had to say about visitation. After more than two lean pandemic years, 68 per cent of residents said they were satisfied with the number of visitors coming to the resort in 2022, up 13 per cent from 2021, when tourism slowed to a trickle. Sixty-three per cent of second homeowners said the same last year, but that was down four points from 2021, a sign perhaps that Whistler part-timers enjoyed the relative quiet that came with COVID.

Amidst a surge in regional demand for outdoor green space, 76 per cent of residents said they were satisfied with access to local parks in 2022, a 13-per-cent slide from 2020, the first time the question was posed, while 87 per cent of second homeowners said the same, down from 96 per cent in 2021 and 93 per cent the year before that.

Always a strong metric among locals, 97 per cent of residents said they were satisfied with recreational opportunities in the resort, which is a likely contributor to the three-quarters of Whistlerites who reported being in excellent or very good heath last year.

That hasn’t translated into satisfaction with local health and medical services, however. With only one full-time family practice remaining in the resort, Whistler requires another 18 GPs to meet Canada’s national per-patient average. Only 54 per cent of residents were satisfied with the medical services available locally, a 21-per-cent decline from the previous year. Improving health and medical services, along with formal learning opportunities, were identified in the survey as the top two priority areas for improvement.

Housing, Employment and Income

Rebounding visitation contributed to Whistler’s unemployment rate falling back to a pre-pandemic level of four per cent last year, down from a record-high 12-per-cent unemployment in 2021.   

A majority of residents—69 per cent—reported working for a Whistler-based business that provides goods and services to locals and/or tourists, down nine per cent from 2021, while eight per cent work for a local business that primarily provides goods and services for clients outside of Whistler, down one point from the year before. Eleven per cent of residents reported working for a business that is located outside the community, and 18 per cent said they work remotely, down from 24 per cent in 2021.

Even with the tourism rebound and a seeming abundance of jobs available, nearly a third of residents (31 per cent) saw their financial situation worsen in 2022, although that is still an improvement on 2021, when 45 per cent of locals reported a blow to their wallets. Forty-seven per cent of residents said their finances stayed the same last year, while 22 per cent said they got better.

Housing continues to eat up a growing proportion of residents’ funds, with 45 per cent of locals spending 30 per cent or more of their income on housing last year, the maximum threshold to be still considered affordable by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Veering into decidedly unaffordable territory, 27 per cent of responding residents said they spent 40 per cent or more of their income on housing in 2022. This is mostly in line with the trend of recent years. In fact, you have to go all the way back to 2007 to find the last time the proportion of residents in unaffordable housing situations dipped below the 30-per-cent mark.

Even after taking cost out of the equation, a declining number of residents—72 per cent—reported satisfaction with their living arrangements last year, a 20-point plunge from the last time the question was asked in 2017.

Second homeowners continued to show high levels of satisfaction with their housing arrangement, at 88 per cent, down slightly from five years ago.

Transportation and Transit

Call it another effect of COVID recovery: Whistlerites views on traffic and Highway 99 fell back to pre-pandemic levels after two-plus years of relative smooth sailing on the roads. Seventy-two per cent of both residents and second homeowners said they were satisfied with their ability to get around Whistler by vehicle, down from 2021’s recent high of 81 per cent for residents and 72 per cent for part-timers, and consistent with six-year averages.

Opinions on the Sea to Sky Highway also dropped back in line to pre-pandemic levels, with 68 per cent of residents reportedly satisfied with their ability to travel to Whistler on the highway, down from 80 per cent in 2021 but steady with 2019’s 66-per-cent satisfaction rate. Eighty per cent of second homeowners last year said they were satisfied with Highway 99, a nine-point decline from 2021 but in line with the 77-per-cent satisfaction levels from 2019.

Car-sharing grew more popular in 2022 as people were less protective of their COVID bubble, with 21 per cent of residents reporting commuting to work last winter with at least one other person, up 11 points from the year before. Roughly half of commuters, however, travelled by car alone last winter, which is slightly down from the two prior years.

Understandable given last year’s interminable strike that shut down transit services across the Sea to Sky for an excruciating 137 days, satisfaction with local transit dropped to a record low 46 per cent among residents last year, and 49 per cent among second homeowners. That’s down from 77-per-cent satisfaction for residents and an 82-per-cent satisfaction rate for second homeowners the year prior.

Municipal services

Residents’ trust in resort officials hit a record low in Whistler’s election year, with just 40 per cent of responding locals saying that the RMOW had the community in mind when making decisions. That’s down from 56 per cent in 2021 and 49 per cent in both 2020 and 2019, and well below the record high of 78 per cent from 2015, the only year to crack the 70-per-cent mark.

Residents’ belief in their ability to influence municipal policy also declined in 2022. Only half of respondents last year were satisfied with existing opportunities to provide input into the RMOW’s decision-making, down six points from 2021 and the third lowest percentage since the survey was launched in 2006. (Surveys were not conducted in 2011 and 2016.)

“Sitting on the governance committee, looking at [those results], that shows us some of the work we need to do in that area to gain the trust of people who live here,” said Councillor Cathy Jewett.

A vast majority—78 per cent—of residents said they were satisfied with the municipal services provided across the community, while 82 per cent of locals said they received good value for their property tax dollars
last year.

To view the full survey results, visit whistler.ca/surveys