Whistler, British Columbia

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:Whistler, British Columbia Location.png Image:Whistler fall.jpg Whistler, British Columbia is a Canadian resort town named for the hoary marmots that live in the area; it is incorporated as a district resort municipality, and has a permanent population of approximately 9,965. Over two million people visit Whistler annually, primarily for its world-famous snow skiing and mountain biking at Whistler-Blackcomb. Whistler is located on Highway 99 north of Squamish. Whistler has a large village which is pedestrian-only in the middle of what is called the village.

Whistler also enjoys astronomical real estate prices. As of December 2005 rooms in hotels with 1 bed, no kitchen and a washroom sell for over $100,000. Remax Sea to Sky as of December 14th 2005 had 254 Listings. Only 3 of these were under $100,000. Two of the three were parking stalls and one was a timeshare.

Whistler will be the site of a number of events of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, which will take place at Whistler-Blackcomb. A "hydrogen highway" is planned to link the two cities by 2010, allowing environmentally friendly hydrogen powered vehicles to travel freely between them.

Whistler was previously offered the 1976 Winter Olympics in 1972, after Denver, Colorado refused to host the games after winning the competition. However, Whistler turned down the offer, which it had bid on and lost in 1970, and the games were given to Innsbruck, Austria.

Today Whistler has earned the right to take part in the hosting of the 2010 Olympics. This has brought an influx of interest to the area. Whistler's present mayor is the only member of the previous town council who voted "no" to taking part in hosting of the 2010 Olympics -- for the reason that he felt Whistler was not yet prepared to deal with the forces that are to descend, on to Whistler.

Since deciding to take part in the 2010 Olympics members of the Whistler community have banded together to form what is known as Whistler 2020 - a vision of what Whistler is to be in the the year 2020. Principles behind Whistler 2020 are based on "The Natural Step" a scientific framework of development expounded by a Sweedish doctor.

Whistler is positioning itself to be a model of what is possible. Will Whistler be overrun and then sold out like so many other places that have come before or can Whistler seize the moment and incorporate and showcase the achievements that are being made around the world? Surely this question will prove to be a true competition. A competition worth watching. A competition worth cheering for.

[edit]