Sooke

Not to be confused with Sook or Sookie.
Sooke, BC
District municipality
District of Sooke[1]

Location of Sooke in British Columbia
Coordinates: 48°22′34″N 123°44′16″W / 48.37611°N 123.73778°W / 48.37611; -123.73778Coordinates: 48°22′34″N 123°44′16″W / 48.37611°N 123.73778°W / 48.37611; -123.73778
Country  Canada
Province  British Columbia
Region Vancouver Island
Regional district Capital Regional District
Incorporated December 7, 1999
Government
 • Mayor Maja Tait
 • Councillors Bev Berger, Rick Kasper, Ebony Logins, Brenda Parkinson, Kevin Pearson, Kerrie Reay
Area
 • Total 56.72 km2 (21.90 sq mi)
Elevation 50 m (160 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 11,435
 • Density 201.6/km2 (522/sq mi)
 • Demonym Sookite[2]
Time zone PST (UTC-8)
Highways 14
Waterways Strait of Juan de Fuca
Website District of Sooke

Sooke /suːk/ is a district municipality situated on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada. About a 30 minute drive from the city of Victoria (the capital of British Columbia), Sooke is considered the westernmost of the Greater Victoria region's "Western Communities." It is situated to the north and west of the Sooke Basin.

Education

Sooke is a part of the School District 62 Sooke. There is one high school, Edward Milne Community School, and one junior high school, Journey Middle School. Continuing adult education programs are offered by the Edward Milne Community School (EMCS) Society, which also operates with day, evening and weekend programs.

Tourism and recreation

Sooke's popularity as a scenic tourist destination has existed for generations. Well-known destinations in Sooke, such as Whiffin Spit Park, the Sooke Potholes Regional Park, and adjacent Sooke Potholes Provincial Park attract visitors both locally and from around the world. Sooke is also home to the Sooke Region Museum and Visitor Centre; where visitors and locals are able to get information on regional attractions and history. The area's popularity has increased as a base for visiting the wilderness parks of Vancouver Island's southwest coast — the West Coast Trail and the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park which includes the now highly popular Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. Sooke, BC is also famous for its beaches just on the outskirts of its neighboring communities such as Shirley and Jordan River. These beaches include Sandcut, French beach, Fishboat bay, China beach, Mystic beach, and more.

Back country recreation, or off-road recreation brings a constant stream of 4X4s, quads, ATVs, dirt bikes, and home built off-highway vehicles through Sooke as people search out back country access. Hundreds of kilometres of logging roads thread through the hills north of Sooke in the Rural Resource Lands of the Juan de Fuca electoral area, enabling access to several community lakes and small reservoirs. Two large reservoirs, Bear Creek and Diversion, are popular destinations north and west of Sooke.

Mountain biking is growing in popularity in British Columbia, and Sooke is establishing itself as a destination for the sport. Local advocacy groups such as the Sooke Bike Club are working to have areas such as Broom Hill set aside as parkland.

The Galloping Goose Regional Trail, part of the Trans-Canada Trail, runs through Sooke and is a popular cycling route to Victoria.

Arts community

The vibrant arts community of Sooke enjoys the annual Sooke Fine Arts Festival (in its 28th year in 2014) which brings hundreds of tourists to Sooke each summer by featuring the adjudicated art of local and regional artists. Sooke is known for its wealth of painters, writers, sculptors, potters, fabric artists, jewellery crafters, and more. The Sooke Community Arts Council plays a large role in fostering art in the region. The Sooke Harbour House art gallery is a main display opportunity for many local artisans.

Real estate

In Sooke, prices rose then fell in 2011—from January to March prices climbed from $428,383 to the $447,000 range, but reached a low of $368,480 in May and settled at $395,120 by December (though in December 2010 the price was similar at $380,020). As per "The Sooke News"“Last year, 199 single-family homes sold in Sooke, including East Sooke, Shirley, Jordan River and Port Renfrew. The average sale price was $423,642. This is lower than 2010, which saw 230 single-family homes sell, with an average price of $454,695.

Demographics

Canada 2006 Census Population % of Total Population
Visible minority group
Source:[3] 		Chinese 90 0.9%
South Asian 120 1.2%
Black 80 0.8%
Filipino 30 0.3%
Latin American 20 0.2%
Southeast Asian 20 0.2%
Arab 0 0%
West Asian 20 0.2%
Korean 15 0.2%
Japanese 15 0.2%
Other visible minority 20 0.2%
Mixed visible minority 25 0.3%
Total visible minority population 450 4.6%
Aboriginal group
Source:[4] 		First Nations 390 4%
Métis 0 0%
Inuit 0 0%
Total Aboriginal population 390 4%
White 8,850 91.3%
Total population 9,690 100%

Neighbourhoods

(in order from east to west)

Neighbouring communities

Publications

Notable residents

References

  1. ↑ "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address" (XLS). British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  2. ↑ http://issuu.com/blackpress/docs/i20140910100040293/21
  3. ↑ "Community Profiles from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada - Census Subdivision". 2.statcan.gc.ca. 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  4. ↑ "Aboriginal Peoples - Data table". 2.statcan.ca. 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  5. ↑ http://www.sookevoicenews.com/about.htm

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/11/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.