Squamish

Squamish has a lovely brewpub and excellent beer

Why consider Squamish?

This is a community that you may not have considered as a place to live, visit or invest in. Perhaps this is because it has been something of a forgotten community.

Squamish is located along the Sea to Sky Highway north of Vancouver and south of Whistler in the coastal mountains and is a community of unparalleled scenic beauty, lifestyle advantages and outdoor recreation.

Before 1958, when Highway 99 was opened, connecting Squamish to Vancouver, Squamish must have been a very isolated community. Now it is on the route to Whistler and beginning to be a destination in its own right.

Squamish now has a population of approximately 17,000.

What can you do in Squamish?

There is more to Squamish than an comfort stop en route to or from Whistler. If your read the following list you will see that it is living up to it’s self-penned name: “Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada”. All of these activities are available within minutes of your home in Squamish:

walking,
hiking,
camping,
boating,
golfing,
bird watching,
canoeing,
skiing,
cycling,
fresh and salt water fishing,
four wheel driving,
helicopter tours,
horseback riding,
mountain biking,
mountaineering,
river rafting,
rock climbing,
squash,
tennis,
indoor swimming,
hockey,
ocean and white water kayaking,
scuba diving,
snowmobiling,
windsurfing.

Does Squamish have a vision ?

One thing that I think has served Vancouver and Whistler well is it’s urban planning. Squamish has learnt from this and has an ambitious long term vision for the community: the Squamish Downtown Waterfront Concept Plan

Some of the major elements of the plan are defined and described as follows:

better use of the waterfront
this includes sea wall access, similar to that in West Vancouver or Stanley Park.
integrated commercial and residential housing
so artisan shops, restaurants, retail, and a hotel complex are incorporated with condos and townhouses throughout.
creation of offshore island
by restoring the waterways, an island is created and a bridge will connect the existing downtown with the island, thereby also creating a channel of quiet waters ideal for kayaking, canoeing, and other water-based recreation opportunities.
restoration of the beach
the existing beach at the south end of the island is restored and transformed into a featured public amenity.
Cruise ship terminal
A full service marine terminal will accommodate passenger ferries and cruise ships.
Hotel and Conference Centre
Tourist accommodation and facilities for large professional events supports the tourism industry.

Sea to Sky University

Squamish is to be the home of a new University - the Sea to Sky University. Development is due to start this year, with the first student starting studies in September 2006.

Real estate

If you are interested in buying in this area (or anywhere in BC) please use our buyer's agency form to tell so that we can help you find the right area and the right home. Our local experts are available here and for most other areas.

Below is a table showing the Benchmark prices for typical property in Squamish. This comes from the Vancouver Real Estate Board’s monthly statistics.

Benchmark Prices: Vancouver as at October 2008
Category	Benchmark $	1 Yr Change	3 Yr Change
Detached	$518,668	-3.90%	25.60%
Source:Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver - MLS ®