Comparative Geography of Two Municipalities Within British Columbia

The objective of the study is to evaluate which of the two municipalities I intend to settle in for the next 10 years and start a family has the suitable demographic parameters. In this paper, the geographical nature of both municipalities will be discussed in full details together with its demographical characteristics. The first municipality being Metro Vancouver and the second municipality is the 100 Miles House located in South Cariboo. This paper gives a brief but detailed comparison between the two municipalities.

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The first municipal I intend to settle down into is Metro Vancouver for the next 10 years and start a family. The population of Metro Vancouver is estimated to be 2,313,328 which depicted an increase of population by 9.3% from 2006. The physical area of Vancouver is 2,882.5 with 802.5 persons in every square kilometer in comparison with 8,965,121.42 square kilometers of the national land which has 3.7 persons for every square kilometer. The census metropolitan area of the land area is 92,648.98 square kilometers with a population density of 249.58 people for every square kilometer.

By the year 2011, 891,336 private residents had settled, a 9.1% increase from 2006. The population age is 65, and the percentage population age is 13.5%. The population of the working age is 71.2% and children aged between 0 14 has a percentage of 15.3%. 40.2 year is the median age in Vancouver as compared to 41.9 median age of British Columbia. There is a total of 633,460 families in Vancouver representing 9.2% deviation from 2006. In addition, there are 73.8% married people, 10.7% customary couples and 15.5% single parent families (Statistics Canada, 2006).

the married and customary families have kids with 24 years and below at home as compared to 46.9% of spouses with kids aged 24 and below at home within Canada. The kids either biological or adopted in the nuclear family is 91.6% contrary with 8.1% in stepfamilies. In general, 12.6% of spouses with kids with the age of 24 and below are stepfamilies. Persons with age 15 and above are either wedded or customary married, 49.5% and 6.9% respectively making a total of 56.5%. The rest (43.5%) are wedded nor customary married. The number of private households is 891,335 a 9.1%. 26.9% out of these are made up of married or common-law spouses with kids with the age of 24 and below, an increase of 2.8% (Mark,2012).

The structural type of dwelling in Vancouver is 33.8% of residents residing in single detached houses while 14.5% resides in apartments with 5 or more story. The remaining population lives in other types of dwellings. Among the people found in Vancouver, English is the main mother tongue (56.0%). Other languages include French (1.1%) and other languages that are not official.

Most people speak English (68.4%), a few French (0.4%) and the rest use languages that are not official (25.4%) (Demographic analysis, 2016).

In addition, there are about 2,660 homeless people (59%) in Vancouver. This is based on whether the individual has his/her own place to stay for 30 days or more and if the individual pays rent or not. 15% are spread in Surrey and the others found all over the municipal.

Distribution of total homeless population

Metro Vancouver is 2700km2, elevated at 60m with a total population of 2,463,431 and a density of 802.5/km2. It originates from the lower mainland and extends to lower Fraser valley. It is situated between British Columbia Island and Georgia, and most of the land is in the western part of the Burrard Peninsula. Vancouver is identified among one the cities one can live in the world despite it being expensive. Many multinational events have taken place in this city.

Its worldly known because it is named after George Vancouver who explored Burred Island in 1792 and the city was nearly consumed by fire on June 13, 1886, after the railway reached the city. In addition, it was the first European settlement region. This city is ranked among regions with the highest number of people in North America with 13,817 persons/km2. Urban planning was the major cause of this parameter. Nevertheless, this region is able to host the high number of people due to Vancouver is and lack of urban migration in high numbers. In addition, it has a big open space where Stanley Park is located (Statistics Canada, 2006).

Vancouver has oceanic climate and has dry summers. The highest range of temperature during July is 71F. Besides the summers, Vancouver experiences rainy season during winter and low temperature (33F) in the month of January. In size, the city municipal is 114km2 with a terrain of hills and flat areas. Vancouver is mainly dominated by the North Shore Mountains and Mount Baker on clear days.

The main economic activity in the city in the year 1867 was logging and sawmilling. Currently, the main economic activity for the city is forestry with Port Metro Vancouver playing a significant role in the economy of the city as well. Second in the line is tourism due to the municipals popularity in the world. Thirdly, it has a large film production center which kickoffs every September of every year. English, Scottish and Irish were Vancouvers ethnic groups during the early days. Nowadays Vancouver is highly inhabited with Chinese speaking individuals. Other ethnic groups in the city include Italy, the Punjabi and the Greeks (Allen, 2011).

Cultural patterns in Vancouver was greatly influenced by seasons. For instance, during the winter season, the Coast Salish individuals settled on the side of the ocean. They constructed their houses using tall red cedar. Most rivers are inhabited by Interior Salish persons who built pit houses. Nowadays, the former peoples traditions, art, and history are placed in the regions cultural make-ups. They valued nature and humanity as a way of life. Their culture is reserved for various attraction sites such as Stanley Park or the museum of anthropology. Another aspect that has contributed to Vancouvers history is nature. For instance, the winds and Fraser River.

The other municipal I intend to settle in British Columbia would be 100 Mile House formerly called bridge creek house. This Municipal is located at South Cariboo, founded in the year 1862 and incorporated in 1965. Mitch Campsall is the head of the city. Approximately 100 Miles House covers 53.29km2 in size and has 927 m elevation (Mark, 2012).

Roughly it has a population of 1,886 people and a population density of 35.4 per square kilometers. It has an urban demography of 1,721 persons. In the year 2015 while Vancouver and other communities were facing people migrating to other areas this towns population grew by 1.6% partly because of migration into the rural areas. In addition, 100 miles has a distinctive population distribution with age groups of 65 and above already established as compared to Vancouver where it is steadily growing.

Due to the various recreational resorts present in the town most retirees are migrating into the region. However, in the period between 2006 and 2011, there was an increase in the number of youths, children, and residents aged 45-54(Allen, 2011).In comparison with the level of education in Vancouver, and both of the towns have equivalent education levels. In spite of the degree holders being below that of Vancouver, the number of diploma holders is slightly above the average.

In years 2014 and 2015 there was a high rate of educated workers migrating from Cariboo region to other places as compared to Vancouver region whose levels of educated escalated from 68.1% to 70.2%.100 miles house has a high rate of consumer insolvency in comparison with that of Vancouver. This is caused by unemployment, business decline and inadequate medical services which are readily available in Metro Vancouver.

Some of the locations to the north of this city are Lac La Hache (26km), Williams Lake (91km), Mcleese Lake (135km), Quesnel (210 km) and Prince George (329km). To the south of the municipal, the following locations are present: 70 Mile House (40km), Clinton (72km), Cache Creek (112km), Spences Bridge (159km) and Vancouver (456km).The main economic activities of the city include ranching and forestry. Other sources of revenue in the town are tourism and log home.

The main tourist attraction site is the bird life. Other sites include boat riding and fishing provided by the numerous lakes present in the city. These include a 101-mile lake, 103-mile Lake, Lac La Hache, Canim Lake, Sheridan Lake, Horse Lake, Bridge Lake and Green Lake. Besides the bird life and the lakes, Caribou Ski Marathon plays a significant role to Nordic skiers (Statistics Canada, 2006).

Other activities offered by the indigenous to the tourists and visitors include ATV riding, snowmobiling, hiking, and cross-country skiing. This municipality houses 1,913 residents. 45.9 is the median age of the town with a of the whole population being over 65 years old. In addition, the town has an expectation that the number of elders with ages between 65- 74 increasing by 59% in the next 20 years.

There is another speculation that the family cohesions (22-44 years) will grow gradually but this will drastically decrease by the year 2036.However, there is an increase in the rates of unemployed people by 8% indicating financial strains. The median income of the 100-mile house is below the British Columbia median with residents of the Williams Lake having the lowest income (Demographic analysis section, 2016).

The housing plan of the 100-mile house is more diverse as compared to other communities of the British Columbia in the north. Single detached dwellings are below a 1/2, row homes are 20%, and the rest are apartments.

Out the housing stock, in every 10 houses, 1 house needs repair, 56% of the houses are aged 35 years, and approximately 9% of the residential houses were built as from 2001.

78% of the communities in Cariboo region have their own homes as compared to 70% of Vancouver. In the next 20 years, the demand to pay rent is estimated to increase by 11% less than Vancouver.

For the past 10 years, this municipal has experienced negligible development in its residential area. In addition, for last 5 years, there has been minimal change in the residential market with the mean price for selling a single detached house ranging between $200000 and $260000.There is an increase in the demand of housing market and the mean for selling detached residential home being slightly average as compared to that of Vancouver. Unfortunately, it is stipulated the prices may hike gradually.

From my research above I would settle down in Metro Vancouver in the next 10 years due to the aspects of population, physical geography and economic activities that favor my future family and my professionalism as a microbiologist.

Works cited

Statistics Canada. Canada 2006 census: Greater Vancouver regional district community profile July 4, Retrieved 2007. Statistics Canada BC municipalities population

Allen, Bumpass. Greater Vancouver regional district-population growth (Code 5915) census profile. Statistics Canada, 2011

Demographic analysis section, BC Statistics. BC Population Estimates: January 2016

Mark, Aleksandra. British Municipalities Population and Geography.2012.