Do Victorians Live In a Pressure Cooker?

Do we live in a pressure cooker? As we look at houses for sale, we see the squished little properties where every last square foot has been built out-- where they build toilets into coat closets and calling it a bathroom. We're literally getting squeezed. Victoria's population of 78,000+ is small by comparison to a lot of places. But look at it from a viewpoint of population density and check out where Victoria ranks among BC cities. This explains why such a "tiny" place can have such road congestion and cramped housing.

. City Population Area (sq. km) Cooker Factor (population / area) . Vancouver 578,041 114.71 5,039.15 . Victoria (City not region) 78,057 19.68 3,966.31 . North Vancouver 45,165 11.85 3,811.39 . New Westminster 58,549 15.41 3,799.42 . White Rock 18,755 5.16 3,634.69 . Duncan 4,986 2.05 2,432.20 . Langley 23,606 10.22 2,309.78 . Burnaby 202,799 89.12 2,275.57 . Port Coquitlam 52,687 28.85 1,826.24 . Richmond 174,461 128.76 1,354.93 . Surrey 394,976 317.19 1,245.23 . Port Moody 27,512 25.62 1,073.85 . Coquitlam 114,565 121.69 941.45 . Nanaimo 78,692 89.3 881.21 . Port Alberni 17,548 19.92 880.92 . Colwood 14,687 17.76 826.97 . Courtenay 21,940 26.68 822.34 . Armstrong 4,241 5.24 809.35 . Nelson 9,258 11.72 789.93

. Fort St. John 17,402 22.74 765.26 . Penticton 31,909 42.02 759.38 . Parksville 10,993 14.6 752.95 . Cranbrook 18,267 25.14 726.61 . Enderby 2,828 4.23 668.56 . Langford 22,459 39.55 567.86 . Kelowna 106,707 211.69 504.07 . Dawson Creek 10,994 22.32 492.56 . Powell River 12,957 29.77 435.24 . Grand Forks 4,036 10.44 386.59 . Vernon 35,944 94.2 381.57 . Castlegar 7,259 19.8 366.62 . Abbotsford 123,864 359.36 344.68 . Williams Lake 10,744 33.11 324.49 . Merritt 6,998 24.94 280.59 . Terrace 11,320 41.52 272.64 . Kamloops 80,376 297.3 270.35 . Chilliwack 69,217 260.19 266.02 . Quesnel 9,326 35.34 263.89 . Fernie 4,217 16.05 262.74

. Greenwood 625 2.52 248.02 . Prince Rupert 12,815 54.9 233.42 . Revelstoke 7,230 31.9 226.65 . Prince George 70,981 316 224.62 . Trail 7,237 34.78 208.08 . Campbell River 29,572 143.48 206.11 . Pitt Meadows 15,623 85.38 182.98 . Kimberley 6,139 58.31 105.28 . Salmon Arm 16,012 155.36 103.06 . Rossland 3,278 57.97 56.55 . Kitimat 8,987 242.63 37.04