Vancouver Island: a true island?

[royalroadscaptain]

I'm in the mood for an interesting discussion. I'll make the statement and rationales below controversial and shamelessly one-sided just to keep the discussion interesting . Here it is:

The statement: Vancouver Island is less of a true island than all other communities served by BC Ferries.

Rationale: The Southern and Northern Gulf Islands, the central and Nothern Coast (including Haida Gwaii), and the Sunshine Coast are more isolated from the rest of the world than Vancouver Island is. Vancouver Islanders have more transportation options and less need to travel across the water.

Moreover:

- people on Vancouver Island give less meaning to their identity as islanders than smaller island residents do;

- the ferries seem to insulate small island communities from the rest of the world and give people a sense of safety, distinction, etc.. Is Vancouver Island insulated at all?

- Vancouver Island resembles an urban-suburban society typical of the mainland more than any other BCF destination does;

- Vancouver Island-bound ferries are so large and so anonymous than they feel more like floating shopping malls or airports, in contrast to how intimate small island ferries feel. And ferries symbolize the communities they serve...

- A bridge would change life on Vancouver Island much less than it would change life on any of the small islands (or the Sunshine Coast) served by BCF;

- The pace of life and daily rhythms of Vancouver Island residents are more similar to those of mainlanders than they are to those of small island residents. In fact, can we even speak at all of "island time" for Vancouver Island?

- Vancouver Islanders travel so infrequently across the water (again compared to small island residents) that at times they even forget they're living on an island. And as opposed to small island residents--who know their ferries well--most Vancouver Islands would be hard pressed to name their ferries.

I think it'd be fun to hear from both Vancouver Islanders, and others, if people don't mind saying where they're from...

[Nick]

I've been thinking about this for a few days. I have to say that I agree, Vancouver Island is less of an island than the other locations BCF serves.

I have friends who are 20 years old, and have never left Vancouver Island. There are very few reasons somebody would have to go to the mainland for something they need. I think the reason for this is both physical size, and population.

Vancouver Island has upward of 600,000 people, mostly spread out on the east coast, south of Campbell River. Having that many people means there is a demand for many services, having which makes us seem less isolated. The only reason most people would have to leave is for highly specialized medical care.

Also, the physical size of the island makes it seem less claustrophobic, so people don't leave for vacations and entertainment as much as they might on a smaller island. You can go for a 4 day vacation while remaining on the island, and still feel like you are away from home. It helps that it's an 8 hour drive to get from one end to the other.

While I do feel that V.I. feels less of an island than say, Gabriola, I do think that it still has an island feel to it compared to the Lower Mainland.

[Mill Bay]

I've just been thinking... the sense of isolation in terms of being an island might have been greater if BC and the Island had remained two separate colonies and later become separate provinces; if leaving the Island meant not simply just going to another place physically but also meant crossing an actual legally defined boundary.

[Scott]

I think Vancouver Island definitely is an island. Of course, it's easier to point out the "island characteristics" on the smaller islands, but that's just a matter of scale.

I'm not an Islander myself, but I married one and have lots of friends there. I've been told by one that he noticed that everything was just a bit slower on the Island... less intense, less stressful, more laid back. And he wasn't coming from Vancouver, he was coming from Kamloops.

I think you also have to consider that the ferries aren't there all the time. For almost 6 hours of the day, there really isn't a way to get from Vancouver Island to the mainland or anywhere else in the world unless you have your own boat or airplane.

I'll probably have more thoughts on this tomorrow:)

[Neil]

Maybe, in retrospect, this 'sub-board' wasn't such a good idea. This thread has been up for three days, and I just noticed it this afternoon. Not a lot of traffic in this backwater, no matter how valid the topic.

Last time we were over at Hornby, my older daughter raised just this point, and at first I thought to take issue with her, but then I realized I pretty much agreed. To my kids, Vancouver Island has always been the highway we drove along to get us to the ferry that took us to the real island. Even to me, the big box region on the north side of Nanaimo feels like Surrey. There's also a strip mall around there with a Tim Horton's and an adult video store- can't get much more Surrey than that. Wal Mart, Chapters, and Michael's? That's not a real island.

An island feel isn't always defined by a body of water. I've always loved the sense of disconnection you get from the unpopulated stretch of highway that takes you from Port Alberni to the west coast. Likewise, north of Campbell River on the way to Port MacNeill and Port Hardy. An empty FM radio band in the car contributes to the feeling of being away.

Vancouver Island is half the size of Ireland. Hundreds of thousands of people. Much of it is slow and rural, but drive through Victoria, Nanaimo, or even Courtenay these days and the feeling is not generally one of 'getting away from it all'. Not like on the small islands, and even there, a place like Ganges feels increasingly gentrified.

An 'island feel' is so subjective to what we're used to individually, and what we want. To me, Kauai is more of a proper Hawaiian island, whereas all of Oahu seems like a country extension of Honolulu, because you're never more than a relatively short highway ride away from the big city.

I grew up thinking of islands as small, peaceful, rural places, and not just smaller chunks of mainland life, separated by water. To a certain extent, Vancouver Island feels like the latter.

So, a qualified 'yea' to the proposition.

[royalroadscaptain]

...and I thought I was being controversial!

I wonder if you guys think this particular argument below also has something to do with it:

- Vancouver Island-bound ferries are so large and so anonymous than they feel more like floating shopping malls or airports, in contrast to how intimate small island ferries feel. And ferries symbolize the communities they serve...

[Northern Exploration]

Sounds like beyond the physical definition of Island, there needs to be a scale of 1 to 10 to describe the "Islandness" of a given locale. ;D Personally I would argue this has nothing to do with an Island at all but rather a given lifestyle. I think Neil is being very specific in a certain lifestyle he has in mind that he finds in the Gulf Islands.

As far that Vancouver Island isn't an Island because it is too big isn't the best qualification. I don't think size is a very important factor. The Island of Manhattan is much much smaller than Vancouver Island but larger than Salt Spring. Montreal is located on an Island as well but is very different again - like an American city put in the blender with a city from France. Miami and South Beach are on an Island and have a totally different vibe. And to really screw things up, Cape Cod (not an Island) feels much like Martha's Vineyard that is nearby and an Island and actually fairly small.

Manatoulin Island in Lake Huron is very rural with patches of Native Canadian lands and housing. www.manitoulin-island.com/ You can only get to it from the south by the ferry the MS Chi-Cheemaun in the summer. www.ontarioferries.com/ You can drive from the North near Sudbury but that is pretty remote. However, it very much feels like Northern Ontario and not at all like Ganges or Saltspring. It would probably be the closest to what someone may feel has a rural, segregated feel that Neil is talking about. But to me it certainly doesn't feel like the coast.

My last trip to BC very much showed the cultural shift that happens when you travel. I was in NYC (Manhattan Island) until a Saturday afternoon. You can literally feel the buzzing and energy of the city the minute you land. I flew home to Toronto and enjoyed the comparitive sanity and cleanliness here over the weekend. On Monday morning I flew to two days of business in Vancouver. I immediately felt the change of pace on the drive up Granville to my hotel downtown. That trip is always a paradime shift for me. On Thursday morning I took the ferry to Victoria for a one day conference and slowed to Victoria pace. Then after visiting family mid Island went to Tofino with its two radio stations plus the tides/weather channel. No TV and sketchy cell phone at times. Next afternoon I was in Tofino itself going for the famous cinnamon buns and was greeted by name by one hotel employee and a bit later by one fellow guest. I have recongized lots of people in Manhattan (celebs) but never been greeted by name on the street, not to mention by people I had just met the day before. Downshifting busyness is always good and that week took me from the busiest to pretty quiet (albeit no way like it used to be).

I have two friends who pretty much live at their cottages much of the summer. One is on an Island and quite luxurious but you are isolated and a boat trip anywhere. You have to go a long way to get a latte or a decent restaurant. The Island is a fair size and there are five large cottages in total on the Island. They are moving to turn the whole Island green with solar, wind and thermal heat pumps that use deep lake water to cool in the summer and drilled holes in the granite for heat in the winter. I love to visit but not sure I could do it all summer with the drive, schlepping everything by boat and being sometimes held hostage by the weather. This is mostly for summer and then winter once the lake is sufficiently frozen to bear the weight of a skidoo.

The other's "cottage" is like city houses cheek to jowl, but with water where the backyard fence would be. The "house" is nice but very suburban feeling. This has no appeal to me whatsoever.

Personally I like variety. I have never been a "lay on the beach kind of vacationer" and prefer some kind of activity. Thank goodness we all like something different. I love isolation and peace and quiet but get ansy if it is for too long. I probably could live in Victoria if I traveled a fair bit for work, but it would be borderline for me otherwise. I could see having a place (ignoring the cost) in Tofino - or even on one of the Islands (google Nielsen Island for example ) for weekends and get aways. If money was no object I would have a Coal Harbour condo and a more remote place overlooking Johnstone Strait. Wildlife to watch, ships to see, quiet but not desolate, reachable but away.

If we all like the same thing then Mayne Island would be so popular it would be like Richmond. I love visiting the Gulf Islands, and understand why people like living there, but would never pick it for myself.

[Mill Bay]

Apr 17, 2009 19:23:57 GMT -8 Northern Exploration said:

Sounds like beyond the physical definition of Island, there needs to be a scale of 1 to 10 to describe the "Islandness" of a given locale. ;D Personally I would argue this has nothing to do with an Island at all but rather a given lifestyle. I think Neil is being very specific in a certain lifestyle he has in mind that he finds in the Gulf Islands.

You're right, maybe a scale is needed. VI is so big it would probably top out on that scale:
it's not an island, it's a continent! Ha-ha-ha!! ;D.

[Neil]

Apr 17, 2009 19:16:21 GMT -8 royalroadscaptain said:

- Vancouver Island-bound ferries are so large and so anonymous than they feel more like floating shopping malls or airports, in contrast to how intimate small island ferries feel. And ferries symbolize the communities they serve...

That is part of it for me. I don't find any of our large ferries particularly interesting, although I usually enjoy the ride. I much prefer the small boats, where you can stand at the side of the car deck, just a few feet above the water, and everything's open to the elements. The vessels sometimes feel like community meeting places.

You can't speak of the Vancouver Island 'community' in the way you can of the smaller islands. You can't generalize about Vancouver Island's arts community, or the spirit of volunteering, or a certain demographic makeup, because it has so many towns, cities, rural areas, each with their own characteristics. Cumberland's history is vastly different from Oak Bay's. The smaller islands each have a more identifiable story. They can be defined by a certain spirit, a cast of characters, different economic bases, degree of isolation, and other factors that make each island a bit distinct from the others.

It helps that many of the corporate symbols that are so ubiquitous everywhere, including all over Vancouver Island, are virtually non-existent on the small islands. The fact that Hornby's answer to Chapters is a bookstore about the size of your average garden shed helps make the island's pulse beat a bit differently, although I recognize that it's not always wise to romanticize something that might be a sign of a habitually miniaturized economy.

[Scott]

I want to sit down and have a nice long ramble and think about this ... but my sister is getting married tomorrow, so I'll have to put it off.

[Mike C]

Umm, I'm going to weigh in as a part-Islander part-Mainlander.

Most of you know, I do spend most of my summers in the Comox Valley, and live here in Greater Vancouver.

I think Neil has it right; Comox/Courtenay now has, over the past few years, developed a new Safeway, Wal-Mart, Staples, Home Depot... we still have a Zellers, London Drugs and an Overweightea that just closed it's doors.

Despite this, our place is a bit outside of town, and I do feel a sense of community and a sense of isolation; definitely an island-type feeling. There are parts of the Valley that are still island-type communities, including Downtown Courtenay, Little River, and even central Comox (save for the Extra Foods).

But the fact of the matter is, no place is immune to big-box stores. We see it all the time in Vancouver, communities develop into giant strip malls effectively killing off the small-town sense.

Building the Inland Island Highway didn't help. It seems to encourage that one day the entire island will be one giant Surrey or Richmond; big box stores and condos everywhere. You can't stop the urban sprawl of Vancouver Island.

As for the boats serving the island, I do prefer smaller vessels for a more "community feel," and whenever I bike to Little River terminal in the summer times, whenever the Burnaby arrives, you feel this happy sense of belonging and welcome. The community comes out to greet the ferry four times a day it seems, whether it be playing on the beach or watching her sail into a sunset. Families gather to greet loved ones from Powell River on a warm sunny afternoon. Now, to get over to our place in Comox we of course must travel via Route 30 and Nanaimo, so we usually end up on the Coastal Inspiration or the Alberni. They are two VERY different ships, but the same atmosphere is about them; the same tourists and fake coastal feel from Routes 1 and 2.

To summarize my thoughts, you really have to go in search of true communities on Vancouver Island these days. The further away from major cities you go, the easier they are to find; however urban sprawl is constantly consuming these areas for new big-box stores, condos, and parking lots.

[DENelson83]

Hey, NewFlyer. I just happen to live in the Comox Valley. Next time you're over here, we can go ogle (not Google, ya nut) the Queen of Burnaby together.

[rt1commuter]

Powell River feels much more like an island than Vancouver Island, that's for sure! The sunshine coast feels about the same though!

I find it interesting how separate from the rest of the island Victoria really is. The only ways to get to Victoria are over the Malahat and by the ferries. That's it, and Victoria maintains a very different feel than remaining portions of the Island. The same can be said for the Port Alberni - Tofino area. Very different than any of the other islands.

Then of course Vancouver Island has the most island like communities on the west coast. Places like Friendly Cove. There, you really feel like you're on an island!

All small islands aren't created equal either; Saltspring and Bowen feel more like gated communities than anything else. Only places like Galliano, Saturna or Texeda retain that true island feel.

[D'Elete BC in NJ]

Apr 17, 2009 15:58:29 GMT -8 Neil said:

Maybe, in retrospect, this 'sub-board' wasn't such a good idea. This thread has been up for three days, and I just noticed it this afternoon. Not a lot of traffic in this backwater, no matter how valid the topic.

Neil, a quick aside...if you go into your profile(Under modify - account preferences...near the bottom) there is an option to expand sub-boards. Select YES...this will put any threads in the sub-boards with new posts on the next level up.

Apr 17, 2009 21:49:28 GMT -8 Scott said:

I want to sit down and have a nice long ramble and think about this ... but my sister is getting married tomorrow, so I'll have to put it off.

Well, I think a pass can be given for this particular day ;D Congrats and best wishes to your sister.

[Low Light Mike]

Apr 18, 2009 1:48:49 GMT -8 rt1commuter said:

!Then of course Vancouver Island has the most island like communities on the west coast. Places like Friendly Cove. There, you really feel like you're on an island!

Small correction: Friendly Cove is on Nootka Island, in Nootka Sound off of Vancouver Island. That must be why it's so friendly. ;D

When I've taken a gulf islands vacation, I notice the small-island vibe start right at the ferry terminal, continuing on the ferry, and onto the various small shops that we like to visit. I enjoy reading the bulletin boards on the small ferries, and observing the various groups of local travelers chatting.

I do notice a big difference between that and the larger mainline ferries. But I also notice a difference between tourist-heavy small ferry sailings and regular local sailings.

It all depends on the time & place.

[Scott]

Does anyone else feel that even though there are big box stores on the Island, they're not the same as the big box stores in Vancouver? I've always found shopping at Superstore or Home Depot on the Island much more laid back than doing so in Vancouver where it's usually busy, stressful, messy, full of people in a rush... often rude.

The only place I feel like I'm in Vancouver is Woodgrove Mall.

[Ferryman]

I was born on Vancouver Island, spent the first 15 years of my life on the Island, but took a quick 5 year year break from the Island on the Mainland. Now I'm back on the Island, living in the same old town I grew up in, Ladysmith. Vancouver Island only feels like an Island to me for the slower pace of things which I never noticed until I moved to the Mainland. When I moved to the Mainland, Big box stores, tall appartment buildings, and massive highway expansions were happening all around my house. Nobody's messing around over there because they want to get the job done. Now that I'm back in my hometown, I see a little bit of growth, but in comparison to the growth I saw on the Mainland in 5 years, the growth here is a drop in the bucket.

I know I'm on an Island, when I look at the surrounding "mountains", and notice there's no alpine on them. I also know I'm on an Island because I see two Ferries from my bedroom window going back and forth on Stewart Channel, the Kuper and the Howe Sound Queen. I know I'm on the Island when I tell someone I'm driving over to Vancouver, and they warn me to be careful in the heavy traffic. However, I don't feel like I'm on an Island when I drive down the Highway, and someone flips me off because I'm not going 140 km/h in a 90 zone, which seems to happen almost daily. But I know I'm still on the Island when I see that BC Ferry come around the point at Departure Bay.

[Northern Exploration]

I am so over big box stores. Homogenous Depot for construction and Costho for bulk items, are about the only one I frequent. I also got ticked off when my local Loblaws was downgraded into a SuperCentre and many of my favourite specialty items were discontinued or downgraded to cheaper but lower quality items.

Recently a big box development in the up and coming downtown area called Leslieville was turned down. The statement was that there were enough of them already and they weren't appropriate for the character of the area. Here here!

I am now buying my bread from a local bakery and a Cobbs store, meat from a mix of three local market stores, and still making trips to the St. Lawrence Market and buying from specialty stops. I watch the prices and probably am paying a bit more but it isn't that significant.

Co-ops with farmers has become a huge thing here now. You buy shares for a season and become a part of a cooperative that helps smaller organic farmers weather the risks. If it is a bumper crop you get more. If it is a tough year you get less. Each week you get a large basket of veggies that you can pick up or have delivered. They are close by so often satisfy the 100 mile diet idea. You can order extra of something if you have company coming but you never know what comes in your basket. Recipes and instructions are included for unusual veggies. Everything you get in your basket was picked that morning. Seeing what a friend got in her basket and enjoying it over dinner at her house put me over the edge and I am trying it this year. My brother living in a different area is trying another farmer that has a drop off two blocks from his house, so we will be able to compare.

Niagara fruit growers are now doing the same thing. I don't know if that has hit the Okanagan yet. And I heard an organic farmer is trying it this year with his organic beef, lamb and pigs. They are all certified organic. You buy a shares in whatever meat you want (ie. a side of beef etc.) and then when the animal is mature you have the choice of getting it fresh or frozen delivered for your freezer. By paying up front you help the small farmer with cash flow and he knows what demand he has for the year ahead.

Now to me that brings a bit of the advantage of the "Island" to the big city. You know the farmer who you are buying from, can visit the farm, and know exactly what you are getting.

Just openning in the next month or two is a redevelopment of one of the first shopping plazas built in Canada. This mall has been razed and replaced with a market square concept. We have lots of neighbourhoods with streets lined with shops and all sorts of specialty markets. But this is like a new small town square surround by shops. Parking is moved to the extremes and there are stores reached by actually walking - outside even. Think Whistler Village in the big city. This will be very interesting to see how it works.

[D'Elete BC in NJ]

Apr 18, 2009 13:03:11 GMT -8 Northern Exploration said:

Now to me that brings a bit of the advantage of the "Island" to the big city. You know the farmer who you are buying from, can visit the farm, and know exactly what you are getting.

Yes, it is much better than when you buy it on the corner...and you usually get the bonus of a free sample, too!

[Northern Exploration]

Apr 18, 2009 13:10:04 GMT -8 D'Elete BC in NJ said:

Apr 18, 2009 13:03:11 GMT -8 Northern Exploration said:

Now to me that brings a bit of the advantage of the "Island" to the big city. You know the farmer who you are buying from, can visit the farm, and know exactly what you are getting.

Yes, it is much better than when you buy it on the corner...and you usually get the bonus of a free sample, too!

Ahhh we don't have that sort of thing here - maybe in NJ. I can hear it now. "Hey buddy got any organic yellow beets or striped carrots for sale?" "No dude...but got some wicked purple potatoes that will blow your mind."

[Kahloke]

Apr 18, 2009 13:03:11 GMT -8 Northern Exploration said:

Just openning in the next month or two is a redevelopment of one of the first shopping plazas built in Canada. This mall has been razed and replaced with a market square concept. We have lots of neighbourhoods with streets lined with shops and all sorts of specialty markets. But this is like a new small town square surround by shops. Parking is moved to the extremes and there are stores reached by actually walking - outside even. Think Whistler Village in the big city. This will be very interesting to see how it works.

Yes, the principles of New Urbanism have really taken root in our shopping centres over the past decade. The first "Market Square" type of mall in our area is Redmond Town Center, built around 12 years ago. More recently, we've seen additions at Alderwood Mall and Northgate which try to incorporate the outdoor, street front store experience, but they haven't really been able to capture that ambiance - their new additions just look like additions to the big enclosed mall, which is exactly what it is. Perhaps the first ever "market square" type of shopping venue in Seattle is University Village, at the northeast corner of the UW campus. It has been added on to over the years, and is pretty upscale these days, but it still retains its original outdoor atmosphere.

[Northern Exploration]

All our malls have built outward facing restaurants and stand alone stores in what used to be barren parking lots. And "creating streetscapes" has become a buzz word everyone drops - meaning lets try and improve the horrible suburbia mess we have created that is car dependant. As I mentioned Toronto is pretty lucky in that we have some historic areas such as Bloor West Village, numerous sections of Yonge Street, Port Credit in Mississauga, Oakville downtown, etc.

We also have had some restorations of historic areas into some very unique areas that make you feel like you have stepped back in time. The car-less area of the Distillery District that is the old Gooderham and Worts liquor distillery. Picture Gastown without cars and more Victorian/Dickens looking. www.thedistillerydistrict.com/ Liberty Village that is like Yaletown but a bit older in age with lofts and warehouses that have been turned into restaurants and artists studios. And most recently the Winchwood Barns (old transit works) that have been turned into more artistic and mixed use spaces.

Orcas did you design any of the stores there or one for the new Don Mills Centre? This new centre will be the first trying to replicate with new buildings, the ones here out of historic buildings already like the above mentioned.

Back to the topic at hand I never said what my connection to the Islands was. I grew up in Vancouver but spent my summers on the various Islands, with the greatest amount being on Vancouver Island in the Cowichan Valley and on Long Beach. My family has always had "itchy feet" as it were so we thought nothing of spending a day mostly driving and exploring. Driving to Harrison Hotsprings for lunch on a Sunday. Spending a weekend on the Island exploring, ferry riding, Sunshine Coast etc. So my exposure to all parts of the coast and BC was extensive.

Returning as often as I have as well has enabled me to cover areas I didn't see as a kid and do all the favourite repeats. My list of never dones is Tahsis/Gold River, Haida Gwaii, and some of the remote arms off the Inside Passage. One of my more long term dreams is to circumnavigate the whole of Vancouver Island.

[Kahloke]

Apr 18, 2009 15:33:35 GMT -8 Northern Exploration said:

Orcas did you design any of the stores there or one for the new Don Mills Centre?

No. I haven't done any Canadian stores in nearly 10 years. And those that I did work on were mostly renovations on existing stores in the Toronto area. Even at that, I didn't do too many of those, either. Most of my projects were East Coast US. These days I'm not even doing stores. I'm on the CAD Services team now.

[D'Elete BC in NJ]

Apr 18, 2009 15:33:35 GMT -8 Northern Exploration said:

All our malls have built outward facing restaurants and stand alone stores in what used to be barren parking lots. And "creating streetscapes" has become a buzz word everyone drops - meaning lets try and improve the horrible suburbia mess we have created that is car dependant.

The infamous Main Street plan, often touted, rarely accomplished. Unfortunately, once this theme is chosen, the developers then realize they have to meet certain parking requirements. So they have a couple of options, put parking under or over the new buildings which is expensive, or eliminate some of the tenant pad sites and put parking there...thus crippling the feel originally intended.

I think the aspect of population demographics that lends itself so readily to the development of Island Time is the limit on overall population size. Most of the Gulf Islands don't, and probably never could, support a population big enough to attract a box store retailer. Vancouver Island is different; even the smaller communities that still have the Island Time feel are still able to grow unchecked enough (with the "proper stimulus" i.e. tourism, industry...) to attract the attention of national retailers. I think population size limit is as important a factor as community isolation/insulation in the perseverance of Island Time. Otherwise you get something like what we see here in Jersey shore towns and barrier islands..."Shore Time"...where half the population lives in some pseudo Island Time world while the other half lives in the revved up "East Coast City" world...that's what bridge access will do to ya...

[Northern Exploration]

Believe it or not Canada's largest city has its own Island community. On a small enclave on Wards and Algonquin Islands are 262 homes. These are the leftovers of a community that was at one point up to 8,000 seasonal people. Surrounded by parkland with no year round services such as stores and doctors, these individuals get to the city by their own short ferry rides for everything they need including work. There is one tiny restaurant that runs all year and the others are tourist/city orientated seasonal operations for the over one million visitors a year. Edgefest, a big wakeboarding and music festival, Virgin music festival and the picnic for the Caribana festivities are responsible for a big chunk of those numbers.

There has over the years been a bunch of battles over whether the whole of the Islands should be parkland. The houses have leases for the land from the city. There are numerous restrictions on these people such as they have to live there for over 200 and some days a year. In return they have a sleepy and peaceful life. Many commute to work on bikes. The feel of the community is very much what you experience in the Gulf Islands. Smaller homes that are well cared for and somewhat artistic. Most at one point were small summer cottages. The people who live on the Island are very protective of their little community and as passionate as some gulf Islanders. There is one car ferry and the rest are the historic passenger/bike ferries that Toronto is known for.