Summary

We thrive on the strength of our connections

What is the secret to a high quality of life in our region? And what is the secret to our personal happiness?

It isn’t more money or a better education, which only make a small difference. Nor is it our gender or age, our ethnic background or whether we were born here.

What really seems to matter when we gauge the quality of life in this place we call home, and what makes the biggest difference about how we feel about our own lives, is the degree to which we feel connected to one another.

A strong sense of belonging — really feeling that there is a place for us in our community — and a bond of trust with our neighbours have the greatest influence on how we rate the quality of life in our community.

The same holds true for how we judge our personal happiness and our interest in life. When we feel that we are truly part of our community and when we believe we can trust the people who live around us, then we are likely to describe ourselves as happy.

Strong social connections aren’t as tangible as our beautiful mountains or temperate climate or as having a good job or a nice house. But they are essential to our experience of our community and our personal lives … and to making us feel enthusiastic about our region.

By starting with each other, drawing people in and giving people of all ages and backgrounds the opportunities to form meaningful ties, we can increase the quality of life and the happiness in our region – for everyone.

Here are highlights from the public opinion survey, given to a representative sample of 1,200 metro Vancouver residents with the help of Environics Research Group. For full results, click here.

Results do not add to up 100 due to rounding and "don’t know " or "no answer" responses.