Time to nerd out, people. For those of you not up at 6 a.m. to get the first wave of census news, here’s the link.

A few of my thoughts before I open the floor to all of you:

– Isn’t it odd how so many people are high-fiving each other over having MORE PEOPLE in their province/city/region at a time when the world is generally staggering under the weight of increased population

– I’d like to hear some explanation from the data nerds on why the city of Vancouver’s population is only 603,000 when all the provincial projections have been pegging it at around 630,000 for the last couple of years. Were the projections based on the numbers of units built and, in fact, those units are not occupied by people counted in the census?

– Finally, can we pleeeease stop with the ill-thought-out observations that Vancouver is not growing as fast as Surrey, Richmond and Burnaby. Of course it’s not. Because it’s starting with a much bigger base popuation for one, so 30,000 people here will show up as a smaller percentage increase than 30,000 people elsewhere.

And, secondly, it’s a mature city more limited development opportunities than Surrey or Langley. When those places have the density that Vancouver does and they’re still growing faster, that will be news. Right now, it’s not a surprise that emptier places get a higher percentage increase than already-dense places.

Go to it. I await your discoveries of unreported treasures in these numbers.