A new website aimed at attracting younger people to move to the Sunshine Coast has been launched at www.thisisthecoast.ca with about $25,000 in backing from a handful of local business people who want to see the effort thrive.
The website features information about subjects such as housing and local amenities, and it also allows searchers to connect with local people to ask real questions and get real answers about life on the Coast.
Under the “find your tribe” tab on the website, searchers can link up with someone who works from home, someone who owns a business, a mom or a dad, an outdoor enthusiast, an artist, a writer, a musician or performer, or someone from the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender community.
The site also has a section under “thrive” that notes what people will need to bring with them to be successful on the Coast, including a job and a car, and what they will have to give up, including nightclubs and late night shopping.
“It really is just about giving an honest and genuine take on Coast life,” said Richard Hoath, project lead and technical director.
He explained that the idea for This is the Coast came up late last year when a group of business leaders met to talk about the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation’s Vital Signs report, which highlighted the aging demographic and need for more young families locally.
“They connected with me. I’m the founder/organizer of the Sunshine Coast tech network and we got together,” Hoath said, noting he soon assembled a small team and came up with the idea for a “purely digital campaign” targeted at the younger demographic.
“It had to be people-driven, have community first, be strictly non-commercial and it couldn’t be government led. It had to have the voice of the people and it had to be driven from the perspective of someone who’s coming to the Coast, what they want to learn, rather than what we want to tell them, so it’s kind of a different mindset.”
Because the website is not affiliated with any commercial venture, the business people who sponsored the effort kept their names off the final product, but you can see who they are in a video about the making of the website found under the “about” tab.
Shelley McDade, CEO of the Sunshine Coast Credit Union, Kenan MacKenzie, associate broker with Royal LePage, David Longman of Longman Developments, Bob Hoy, owner of IGAs in Gibsons and Wilson Creek, and Robert Flux of the Coast Group Chartered Accountants all pitched in to fund the website’s launch, Hoath said.
The site is now live and the next three months will be a trial to see how well it hits its mark.
The community can get involved in promoting and informing the site by using hashtags #freerangelivingSC and #thisisthecoast to tell their stories and share photos.
All of the information posted with the hashtags on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram will be compiled and shared on the website.
