Does your neighbourhood make you happy?
Properly, a Canadian tech-enabled real estate brokerage firm, has some thoughts about what makes residents in some neighbourhoods happier than others. And two New West neighbourhoods are tops in one of the categories.
The company’s recently released Properly Happiness Index looks into the features that Metro Vancouver residents actively seek out when picking a new neighbourhood. The report, released annually, also uncovers what it believes to be the happiest neighbourhoods based on proximity to some sought-after features.
Are folks happy with where they live?
According to Properly, the company’s survey found that 62 per cent of Metro Vancouver residents are happy with where they live. It also found that 74 per cent of Metro Vancouver residents feel that access to services that promote a healthy lifestyle has a positive impact on their overall happiness.
The survey revealed what makes people happiest about their neighbourhoods, and Properly pulled out the top Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods based on their proximity to various amenities.
Where does New West rank?
According to Properly, 19 per cent of respondents citied being in close to a recreational facility makes them happy about their neighbourhood. Of those respondents, Queensborough ranked highest, based on its access to cultural facilities, arts facilities, libraries, and playgrounds in one neighbourhood.
Uptown New West ranked second in that category, followed by Willowbrook (Langley), Burnaby Heights (Burnaby), and Riley Park (Vancouver).
New West neighbourhoods didn’t make it into the Top 5 in any of the survey’s other categories, such as being close to a park or outdoor area. Proximity to a park or outdoor area was cited as being important to 55 per cent of respondents and was particularly important to people aged 55 and older.
In that category, Vancouver’s West Point Grey neighbourhood ranked tops because of its proximity to both park space and water access. Other neighbourhoods in the Top 5 were Port Haney (Maple Ridge), Albion (Maple Ridge) and Citadel (Port Coquitlam) and University Endowment Lands (Vancouver).
Fifty per cent of the survey’s respondents cited being close to restaurants, bars and coffee shops as something that makes for a happy neighbourhood, with this being more important to non-parents than to people with children. Golden Village (Richmond) ranked highest for access to the most food options in the region, followed by Windsor (Burnaby), Downtown Vancouver (Vancouver), West End (Vancouver), and Grandview-Woodland (Vancouver).
Other services deemed to contribute to happy neighbourhoods include being close to childcare or school services (18% of respondents) and being close to your cultural or religious community (10% of respondents).
World Happiness Report 2022
In March, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Centre for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and partners of the World Happiness Report 2022 released its annual report. The report uses global survey data to assess how people evaluate their own lives in more than 150 countries around the world.
In the World Happiness report 2022, Canada ranked in 15th place. Tops on the list was Finland, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Israel, New Zealand, Austria, Australia, Ireland and Germany.
Rankings on the World Happiness Report are based on how survey respondents assess their own lives based on six factors: GDP per capita; social support; healthy life expectancy; freedom; generosity; and corruption.
