GR EIA T E.R NT AGNT GOON MER Ri iS 40 YEAR'S QE iXge ies Raley NG Ey) Willd REGIONAL PUBLIC ATTITUDE SURVEYS BY KEN CAMERON, FCIP, RPP AND JACINT SIMONTHE 2012 GREATER VANCOUVER URBAN FUTURES SURVEY! OF A GEOGRAPHICALLY REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF HOUSEHOLDS IN THE METRO VANCOUVER REGION IS THE THIRD IN A SERIES. EACH SURVEY FOCUSED ON URBAN ISSUES AND ATTITUDES, MOBILITY AND HOUSING, AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS. THE 1973 SURVEY SHAPED THE PREPARATION OF THE ORIGINAL LIVABLE REGION PROPOSALS IN 1975 AND THE 1990 SURVEY WAS PART OF THE CHOOSING OUR FUTURE PROGRAM THAT LED TO THE LIVABLE REGION STRATEGIC PLAN ADOPTED IN 1996. THE 2012 SURVEY IS BEING USED TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PRIORITIES AND SUPPORT FOR VARIOUS FUNDING MECHANISMS IN ANTICIPATION OF A REGIONAL REFERENDUM ON THESE ISSUES. How has regional opinion evolved over the past 4o years? TOP ISSUES AND TOP CHALLENGES ‘The surveys asked participants to rank the Importance of major policy issues (Figure 1) and major policy challenges (Figure 2) ‘Among policy issues, expansion of the public transit system and the need to make ‘more efficient use of the present transpor tation system have moved to the top of the list in comparison with previous surveys. Environmental concerns, conversely, are no longer the most important issue as they were in 1973 and 1990, perhaps because of the significant priority given to improved environmental management in recent decades ‘When asked about policy challenges (Figure 2}, survey respondents ranked the provision of healthcare as the most important challenge, followed by trafic congestion and homelessness (which was not even mentioned in the eater surveys). ‘The challenge of increasing the housing supply was pushed up above the subsiding environmental concerns, mostly by ‘younger respondents living in the Burrard Peninsula, BEDROCK VALUES Some values have remained consistent ‘over time in the Metro Vancouver region. Support for protection of agricultural lands from urbanization has been consistently very high as it has been for public transit ‘The 2012 survey demonstrated increased support for user pay means of financing ‘transit such as tolls and gasoline taxes.