What would it take to get Point Roberts to join Metro Vancouver?

randito · #1 Posted **Aug 17, 2008, 11:56 PM**

northwest2k · #2 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 12:37 AM**

It'll never happen. The US is very strict about it's border. We're lucky they didn't keep going and take the bottom 1/4 of vancouver island

AlexYVR · #3 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 12:38 AM**

The redrawing of the 49th parallel and the first time the US has given up continental land in. . .well. . .

randito · #4 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 12:47 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by northwest2k

It'll never happen. The US is very strict about it's border. We're lucky they didn't keep going and take the bottom 1/4 of vancouver island

no no not annex form the state. they stay american, the rest of metro vanouver stay canadian, but metro vancouver spans both countries.

bugsy · #5 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 12:48 AM**

Here's a better question. Why the hell would Point Roberts WANT to join the mess that is Mtero Vancouver?

jlousa · #6 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 12:52 AM**

Pretty sure they sell it to us if we offered them an obscene amount of money, it doesn't pose any significance to the US, unlike the Alaskan panhandle.

An interesting fact is a chuck of Point Roberts is actually on Canadian soil, due to improper mapping at the time the border there is about 200m too far north.

While we're at it we should buy the Northwest Angle and Elm Point, Or at least have someone buy up all the land kick everyone off the land then have a referendum to seperate and a couple of years later align with Canada.

SpongeG · #7 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 4:14 AM**

most of the home owners down there are Canadian - well a large amount of owners are Canadian

my friends grandparents way back in the day 60's or so had a choice to buy a place in Point Roberts or Whistler when whistler was nothing but cheap - they chose point roberts - had they chosen whistler well they would be living fine by now

Distill3d · #8 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 4:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugsy

Here's a better question. Why the hell would Point Roberts WANT to join the mess that is Mtero Vancouver?

i was watching an expose on Point Roberts a few months back (february or March i believe) on CBCs The National. they were talking about towns that crossed the Canada/USA boarder.

two key points:

there is a school in Tswassen that the kids have to pass on the way to school in Belingham or Blaine everyday. parents complain because the kids have to cross the boarder 4 times a day. the childern are required to get their education from the State of Washington because that is where they reside. yet, there is no school in Point Roberts for the childern to goto because there isn't a high enough population to support one. imagine driving a school bus full of childern for 3 hours round trip, or being stopped at the boarder with that bus load for an extended period?

there's no grocery store in Point Roberts either, so residents must do shopping either here in Canada or in Blaine or Bellingham. residents are limited to what the can and cannot bring in from Canada as far as food items go, because of importing classifications. also, getting fresh meat and produce involves trucking it in from the states as well. and while this process seems simple, it can some times take weeks on end just to get fresh tomatoes.

based on those two points, i wouldn't see why Point Roberts would not want to join Vancouver

cornholio · #9 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 9:48 AM**

dig a canal along the border, close the crossing and pretend it doest exist. this way it doesnt look so irritating every time you look at a map and see that little bit of America connected to the Canadian mainland yet separated from America by water and no ferry crossing.

^By the way apparently the school bus was allowed to cross the border in to America with out proper checks to speed it up, and well they busted some of the teens smuggling bud in to the states. This was a few years ago.

AlexYVR · #10 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 2:19 PM**

It's not their choice - if cities/towns/areas could simply 'decide' to join other areas, California would have been its own country LONG before this, and I'm guessing Oregon and all of Washington probably would have hopped on for the ride.

If you wonder why they haven't joined Canada. . .just ask Quebec.

vanlaw · #11 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 3:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Distill3d

i was watching an expose on Point Roberts a few months back (february or March i believe) on CBCs The National. they were talking about towns that crossed the Canada/USA boarder.

there's no grocery store in Point Roberts either, so residents must do shopping either here in Canada or in Blaine or Bellingham. residents are limited to what the can and cannot bring in from Canada as far as food items go, because of importing classifications. also, getting fresh meat and produce involves trucking it in from the states as well. and while this process seems simple, it can some times take weeks on end just to get fresh tomatoes.

The actually is a decent sized grocery store down there, with produce, meat etc, and of course, $8 24 packs of beer

bils · #12 Posted **Aug 19, 2008, 12:48 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Distill3d

based on those two points, i wouldn't see why Point Roberts would not want to join Vancouver

one word: taxes

Distill3d · #13 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 5:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bils

one word: taxes

i'd pay more for the convenience of a better education system...

deasine · #14 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 6:44 AM**

I want Point Roberts to be AMERICAN still... gas prices there are still cheaper =)

worldwide · #15 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 8:30 AM**

deasine, it seems as though you've been drawn to the dark side....... driving!

better not cut me off in traffic on my bike or there will be hell to pay. I average four telling off's a day, double that when i go downtown

UnknownAce · #16 Posted **Sep 9, 2008, 9:26 PM**

I'm glad they'll stay. Let's me buy my online items with cheaper shipping since point roberts is part of the continental US.

The UnknownAce

SpongeG · #17 Posted **Sep 9, 2008, 10:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanlaw

The actually is a decent sized grocery store down there, with produce, meat etc, and of course, $8 24 packs of beer

YEAH I was gonan say - i have driven there just to go to the grocery store

its a great store - not as cheap as bellingham but great selection of everything we cannot get in canada

Rusty Gull · #18 Posted **Jun 12, 2010, 5:41 PM**

Does anybody know if there will ever be a ferry service between Point Roberts and the US mainland (ie, Bellingham or Blaine?) This would be extremely useful not only for the residents there, but also for tourists from both sides of the border.

red-paladin · #19 Posted **Jun 12, 2010, 6:02 PM**

The problem is the mud and shallow tidal area. They would have to build a big causeway like in Tsawassen to get deep enough.

trofirhen · #20 Posted **Jun 12, 2010, 6:25 PM**

As for Point Roberts joining Canada, given that the border was ludicrously designed at that point, it was a political treaty that decided it way way back, and it will never happen.

For more information on it, here's an entry on the topic from Wikipedia:

(For history buffs, check out the Oregon Boundary Dispute. Now that's interesting.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-A...ention_of_1818