Some Vancouverites are lonely, isolated and can’t make friends, according to a study, and the city is considering creating a task force to foster better relationships and community involvement.

City councillor Andrea Reimer is proposing a 16-person task force that would discuss ways to increase engagement between Vancouverites, and in turn get more people involved in community decisions.

"There's a lack of engaged citizens generally," Reimer said. "If you're not going to talk to your neighbours, you're not going to talk to city hall."

She said the underlying issue of loneliness needs to be addressed before people will consider engaging in public policy. She said the cost of the task force would be minimal.

Reimer said it is important that citizens weigh in on how the city spends their budget.

"With a billion dollar budget, you'd kind of like to know how people feel," Reimer said.

The Vancouver Foundation’s survey, released last year, found that one in three people find it hard to make new buddies in the Metro Vancouver. One in four said they spend more time alone then they would like to.

In a follow-up study, released in August, the foundation interviewed 3,841 people and addressed concerns raised in the first study.

“A common reaction was, “This means 75 per cent of us are not lonely, so what’s the problem?” the report said.

But the newest study showed that loneliness affects everyone because it creates a series of negative attitudes that impact the entire community.  

“When people feel lonely, they are also more likely to feel unwelcome in their neighbourhood and skeptical about community trust,” the report stated.

Loneliness also impacts the whole community because isolated individuals are not likely to participate in activities that improve neighbourhoods, the study showed.

Even more troubling, feeling alone also causes poor health, according to the study.

“Lonely people suffer more depression, heart disease, sleeping problems, high blood pressure and even an increased risk of dementia in older age,” the report said.

In the follow-up study, racial concerns in Vancouver were also addressed.

It found that 45 per cent of people surveyed felt that non-English speaking Vancouverites do not try hard enough to be part of the community.

"The perception of 'other,' which isn’t always accurate, is how people feel, but not an accurate perception," Reimer said.

Fifty two per cent of those surveyed felt there was too much foreign ownership of real estate and more than half of people also felt that Vancouver was becoming “a resort town for the wealthy.”

Reimer said the task force would address these concerns and the proposal goes to council Tuesday.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you think the city should create a task force to encourage community involvement in Vancouver? Are you lonely?