Port Moody plans transformation to greet Evergreen Line

March 24, 2013 By in Planning and Development, Tricities Tags: , Leave a comment
A concept view of the future approach to the Clarke Road/Barnet Highway intersection, arriving from Vancouver on the Barnet. From the City of Port Moody draft OCP, March 2013

A concept view of the future approach to the Clarke Road/Barnet Highway intersection, arriving from Vancouver on the Barnet. From the City of Port Moody draft OCP, March 2013

The City of Port Moody, a part of Metro Vancouver, has unveiled a draft Official Community Plan that would enable densification or superdensification along the new Evergreen rapid transit line, on track for completion in 2016.

The updated Community Plan, commissioned by City Council in early 2012, shows that Port Moody’s population grew from 18,000 in 1991 to 34,000 in 2011. Part of that growth anticipated the arrival of rapid transit with the creation of a pair of trendyish tower-dominated neighbourhoods, NewPort Village and its clone. The TriCity News reports  that the proposed planning changes could help push the local population to 60,000. The paper’s un-named reporter appears to support the plan. Continue reading →

Downtown New West goes for the big time

March 18, 2013 By in New Westminster, Urban Villages Project Tags: , 3 Comments

Columbia Street

The riverfront city of New Westminster enjoyed a long history as an industrial and commercial hub separate from Vancouver. But as suburban populations and shopping malls grew to the east, north and south, New West lost something of its distinctive position and much of its commercial market.

The City government responded with repeated beautification efforts and a failed attempt to launch a new Granville Island development at Westminster Quay; but through 1980s and 90s, Columbia Street, the downtown area’s high street, grew increasingly frazzled and transient. Continue reading →

The long-term weakness in apartment prices

March 10, 2013 By in Housing, Real Estate and Property Taxes Tags: , Leave a comment
Apartments under construction, Maple Ridge, March 2013

Apartments under construction, Maple Ridge, March 2013

As we mentioned last December, detached homes in the priciest parts of Greater Vancouver continue to hold their value despite predictions of a crash. Houses in  Vancouver West (west of Ontario Street), the most expensive real estate zone in B.C., are 28 per cent above the levels of five years ago, while adjacent areas such as East Vancouver and Richmond are almost as strong.

Apartment markets are weaker across the board, according to current figures from the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley real estate boards. In every market from  Abbotsford to West Vancouver, detached homes have outperformed apartments over the past five years. Continue reading →

The high street in White Rock: hold for development

February 18, 2013 By in Surrey Langley White Rock, Urban Villages Project Tags: 3 Comments

Johnson Road, White Rock

White Rock, a part of Metro Vancouver, is a small city on the U.S. border with a dry, warm climate (relative to areas north of the Fraser River ) and a splendid promenade and cafe district along Boundary Bay. People in fashionable new neighbourhoods in nearby Surrey sometimes claim to live in White Rock, but there’s at least one key difference. 2011 federal census figures show that close to 30 per cent of White Rock’s population is over the age of 65, compared with 12.1 per cent in Surrey and 13.7 per cent in the City of Vancouver. Continue reading →