What is happening?
Regional Sustainability: Challenge and Opportunity
In 1976, the Puget Sound Georgia Basin was home to 4.1 million
people. 25 years later the region has grown significantly to 7
million and by 2025 growth is expected to push the population
to 9.4 million, with immigration accounting for over half of that
growth.1
As indicated by the figure below,
growth in many areas within the Puget Sound and Georgia Basin
has outpaced the average global growth rate. This difference in
population growth rates is expected to continue over the next
several decades.
Chart: Anticipated Puget
Sound, Georgia Basin and World Population Growth Rates
Source: Washington State Department of Ecology
Ethnic Diversity
Click on the graph below to view a larger version of "Percentage
of Minorities and Aboriginals by Region or County in the Puget
Sound Georgia Basin."
Source: BC Stats, State of Washington Office of Financial Management
Through
immigration, the region is becoming more ethnically diverse with
increasing representation of Asian, Latin, and European cultures.
The region is also the home to many First Nation communities (on
the Canadian side) and Indian tribes (on the U.S. side) with long
established cultural, social, religious and resource-based traditions
and customs within local areas. And still, the region and its
naming conventions are strongly influenced by the region's early
western European explorers. The varied nature of these overlapping
cultural communities has important implications for the respective
customs, hubs of communication and opinion, and political discourse
that will eventually establish the path into the future of the
basin.
Diversifying Economies Using Growth Easier in Urban
Areas
Cities and larger communities in the basin have had some success
in using growth to help develop more diverse local economies.
But the rural communities in the region are still struggling with
the decline that has occurred in traditional industries like forestry
and fishing.
Rural Economic Diversity
Rural economies are diversifying, with more home-based offices,
and agriculture-related industries such as wineries and farm-based
tourism (pumpkin picking, hay rides, festivals, etc.). However,
there is an economic divide between the more urban areas, which
have a more diverse economy, and the rural areas that have been
more dependent on natural resource development.
Differences in Health
People tend to be healthier in the more urban areas of the region
and slightly less healthy in the rural areas.
Population Health