North Surrey’s LRT landscape

January 18, 2016 By in Surrey Langley White Rock, Transit, Skytrain, LRT Tags: , , 1 Comment
The proposed light rail transit network in Surrey, British Columbia showing potential station locations (City of Surrey website, January 2016)

The proposed light rail transit network in Surrey, British Columbia showing potential station locations (City of Surrey website, January 2016)

In a November 2015 post we described a possible route for the Arbutus transit extension in the City of Vancouver. This line would feature both high residential density and major employment nodes along much of its length.

Surrey’s light rail transit proposal, by contrast, traverses long stretches where current density is very low. As an example, this post shows something of the current state of the Guildford leg of the proposed Newton-to-Guildford “L” line. Fraseropolis associate Robert J. Smarz and the editor visited hypothetical station locations along 104 Avenue from Surrey Central to Guildford on a recent Saturday morning. Continue reading →

Light rail for Surrey: “Eyes on the street”

January 13, 2016 By in Surrey Langley White Rock, Transit, Skytrain, LRT Tags: , 5 Comments
1-Surrey Central Station

The pedestrian arcade under the Skytrain line at Surrey Central station, 2011

The City of Surrey posted its animated vision for light rail in 2011, and set up a rapid transit office in the same year. A detailed route plan is finally on the way, we are told, but there is no clarity on who will pay for construction.

Surrey is British Columbia’s second largest municipality by population, and ranks twelfth in Canada as of this post. Under former mayor Dianne Watts, city government invested heavily in the Surrey Central precinct to create a focus for advanced education, culture and technology. Surrey wants to compete with  Vancouver in terms of national profile, employment quality and career opportunity. Rapid transit is part of that story. The hub of the proposed LRT system is to be located at Surrey Central, with connections to the Skytrain line that feeds into Burnaby and Vancouver. Continue reading →

A Fraseropolis report for 2015

January 3, 2016 By in Fraseropolis reports Tags: 2 Comments
Ambleside, District of West Vancouver

Ambleside, District of West Vancouver

The purpose of Fraseropolis.com is to describe livable, walkable communities in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, and provide status reports and information links related to public services in the region.

The site has operated since 2011, and had a modest record year in 2015, with just over 18,000 page views and 10,000 unique visitors. July 9, 2015 was a record day, with 338 views, mostly related to a post on possible outcomes from Metro Vancouver’s transit referendum. Continue reading →

Does British Columbia need elected school boards?

December 30, 2015 By in Around B.C., Urban Life and Local Government Tags: , Leave a comment
Hastings School, Penticton and Franklin streets

Hastings School, Vancouver

Last year, property owners in British Columbia paid close to $1.9 billion to support  elementary and secondary schools through property taxes. It works out to thousands of dollars per homeowner over time, but if you’re childless like me, you may never have asked where the money goes. I ignore the school board ballot at local election time because I don’t know the people or the issues.

In December 2015, the Government of Quebec introduced legislation to eliminate elections for local school trustees. Only five per cent of the electorate filled in their school board ballots in the most recent election. The government plans to operate the school system through local administrators, with input from voluntary local advisory committees made up of parents, school employees and community members, up to a maximum of 16 people per committee. Over time, it will look for ways to share services across school districts. Continue reading →