Burnaby Updates

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

They started to tear down the low rise behind Metrotown for Sun Towers.

The demolition has been going on for quite a while now.
They didn't just start.

The interior gutting seems to have taken a bit longer than most projects of this size, but I suspect it might be because they had to be careful with the asbestos/fireproofing removal and clearing.

I would estimate another couple of weeks to take down the final southern building before they start demolishing and removing the concrete underground parkade and excavating for the new building's foundation and parkade.

[VanK]

Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn

Metrotown is trash and will always be TRASH

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Trash or Gold. It continues to be an area with the highest apartment per square foot values outside of Vancouver/West Vancouver.

[Roller Coaster]

Originally Posted by VanK

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Trash or Gold. It continues to be an area with the highest apartment per square foot values outside of Vancouver/West Vancouver.

Any chance Brentwood passes Metrotown in price one day?

[ryanmaccdn]

Originally Posted by VanK

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Trash or Gold. It continues to be an area with the highest apartment per square foot values outside of Vancouver/West Vancouver.

That's fine and dandy but for us originals who grew up here we know the areas DNA and it's still TRASH. Hell walk 20 feet into Sushi Garden and out the back parking lot and you'll see some 60's crumbling 2 stories with a bunch of abandoned cars in a graveyard...

The only reason the prices are so high is that there is some fucked up Asian thing where living near a shopping mall like Metrotown is a status symbol.

Sovereign gets a free pass though... but that's it.

[VanK]

Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn

That's fine and dandy but for us originals who grew up here we know the areas DNA and it's still TRASH. Hell walk 20 feet into Sushi Garden and out the back parking lot and you'll see some 60's crumbling 2 stories with a bunch of abandoned cars in a graveyard...

The only reason the prices are so high is that there is some fucked up Asian thing where living near a shopping mall like Metrotown is a status symbol.

Sovereign gets a free pass though... but that's it.

Wow.Some f****d up Asian thing?.. "status symbol"? WOW. Perhaps its a convenience thing. Dont have to get into your car and drive to get to your grocery store. Perhaps you can go get to a coffee shop, stores, services within walking distance. Perhaps its the convenience of living by a skytrain line.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by VanK

Wow.Some f****d up Asian thing?.. "status symbol"? WOW. Perhaps its a convenience thing. Dont have to get into your car and drive to get to your grocery store. Perhaps you can go get to a coffee shop, stores, services within walking distance. Perhaps its the convenience of living by a skytrain line.

No. I totally get what he's saying

[Vin]

Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn

That's fine and dandy but for us originals who grew up here we know the areas DNA and it's still TRASH. Hell walk 20 feet into Sushi Garden and out the back parking lot and you'll see some 60's crumbling 2 stories with a bunch of abandoned cars in a graveyard...

The only reason the prices are so high is that there is some fucked up Asian thing where living near a shopping mall like Metrotown is a status symbol.

Sovereign gets a free pass though... but that's it.

Oh, you referring to this?
https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.23025.../data=!3m1!1e3

Do you see more of the same around Metrotown? You make it sound like the whole place is filled with it.

Stop with the Trump-style exaggerated rhetoric already.

[SpongeG]

its been getting better, but its always been trashy to longtime residents. the same way whalley is looked down upon; people have looked down on metrotown and kingsway in general.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Vin

Oh, you referring to this?
https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.23025.../data=!3m1!1e3

Do you see more of the same around Metrotown? You make it sound like the whole place is filled with it.

Stop with the Trump-style exaggerated rhetoric already.

Cactus Club is moving into Station Square. That combined with some of the housing there being bought up means there's a pretty decent chance of seeing that mid-block being redeveloped.

[s211]

Originally Posted by Vin

Stop with the Trump-style exaggerated rhetoric already.

I'm not trying to play sides, left or right, but since when did "exaggerated rhetoric" suddenly become the domain of the right?

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...S7oLCL2RY0ajCP

I love it when people throw out the word Trump as an insult. Hey, I don't like the guy AT ALL either, but it demeans the discourse when it's done indiscriminately.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by s211

I'm not trying to play sides, left or right, but since when did "exaggerated rhetoric" suddenly become the domain of the right?

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...S7oLCL2RY0ajCP

I love it when people throw out the word Trump as an insult. Hey, I don't like the guy AT ALL either, but it demeans the discourse when it's done indiscriminately.

It's not the "exaggerated rhetoric" that's the issue.

It's the lazy grouping of people and types of people, into easy lumps and categories based on spurious superficial perceptions and tenuous connections.
Also known as stereotyping.

Donald Trump may not have invented it, but he certainly popularised it and exploited it. All the way to the White House.
If the Right don't like the constant association with him all that much then perhaps they shouldn't have made him the face of their ideology.

But that's neither here nor there and certainly off-topic for this discussion.

Metrotown certainly has old, run-down parts of town just like any neighborhood or municipality does.
It's easy to take one aspect of it and use that as a basis to dismiss the rest of it.
As someone else (Vin) pointed out, in what way does that typify the rest of Metrotown?
Like I said, lazy thinking.

I don't get all the vitriol and bile against the area.
If you don't like it then move out.
And you certainly don't have to drive through it to get to where you want to get if looking at buildings in the area offends your delicate sensibilities so much.
A lot of people choose to live there probably because of the convenience of living there and not just because of the mall or some perceived notion of some "status" of living there.
Why is that such a bad thing?

To each their own, I guess.

[ryanmaccdn]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

No. I totally get what he's saying

Thank you. It's not about convenience at all, if anything Metro is the opposite of that. There are a tones of other areas that are more transit/livable and convenient then the negatives of living at Metro.

Plain and simple it's status thing, aka I live above or next to a Coach Store.

If someone presented me with the argument that the West Side is anywhere comparable living at Metrotown I would spit in that persons face.

[VivaPhysicality]

I can't help but laugh when anyone suggests that Brentwood is nicer than Metrotown today. Brentwood has a long way to go. There are some exciting developments there but it will be a while before it feels like an organic, urban neighbourhood. Metrotown is way ahead with great shopping, a huge forested park, a mature walk-up apartment neighbourhood, big office towers, the quirky Crystal Mall, etc...

Don't get me wrong, Metrotown has a lot of room for improvement as well, like Old Orchard, the 3 or 4 empty/dead department stores, and a severe lack of nightlife, but Brentwood will be playing catchup for a long time, as great as The Amazing Brentwood development is.

[rickvug]

Originally Posted by VivaPhysicality

I can't help but laugh when anyone suggests that Brentwood is nicer than Metrotown today. Brentwood has a long way to go. There are some exciting developments there but it will be a while before it feels like an organic, urban neighbourhood. Metrotown is way ahead with great shopping, a huge forested park, a mature walk-up apartment neighbourhood, big office towers, the quirky Crystal Mall, etc...

I agree with this statement. There is no question that Metrotown is ahead right now. However Brentwood is much easier to develop. From what I can tell the majority of the industrial lots now have some sort of development planned. This is possible because the industrial lots are large and the economics of redevelopment are extremely strong vs. keeping existing low intensity industrial use. In Metrotown most of the lots are smaller and have more intensive uses such as the mall, small scale commercial, or low rise apartments. The economics of redevelopment are not as easy as with Brentwood and you'll have more holdouts. For these reasons I could see a scenario where the core of Brentwood is substantially built out in about 15 years, all shiny and new, while Metrotown still has the mall and its massive parking lots at the core. Metrotown is likely to still have a higher population but a prestige and pricing gap could open up in Brentwood's favor.

I'd love for someone to bring actual numbers into this. Show a map of all lots under development right now as well as the number of units coming to market in Metrotown vs. Brentwood.

[GilmoreStation]

Brentwood is shinier

[VanK]

Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn

Thank you. It's not about convenience at all, if anything Metro is the opposite of that. There are a tones of other areas that are more transit/livable and convenient then the negatives of living at Metro.

Plain and simple it's status thing, aka I live above or next to a Coach Store.

If someone presented me with the argument that the West Side is anywhere comparable living at Metrotown I would spit in that persons face.

...... "It's not about convenience at all"? ..."Plain and simple it's a status thing"?. You claim that all these buyers buying at Metrotown has NOTHING to do with convenience? and 100% about a STATUS thing? ..

Good thing none of you work in marketing or sales.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by s211

I'm not trying to play sides, left or right, but since when did "exaggerated rhetoric" suddenly become the domain of the right?

I love it when people throw out the word Trump as an insult. Hey, I don't like the guy AT ALL either, but it demeans the discourse when it's done indiscriminately.

Did I refer to "the right" at all? That man is neither right nor left, nor up or down.

Originally Posted by Sheba

Cactus Club is moving into Station Square. That combined with some of the housing there being bought up means there's a pretty decent chance of seeing that mid-block being redeveloped.

Oh yeah! Some people are just blind to developments happening, and forever looking back at the past. Heck, East Hastings street was once "the high street" of Vancouver, but now it's the lowest of the low.

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

It's not the "exaggerated rhetoric" that's the issue.

It's the lazy grouping of people and types of people, into easy lumps and categories based on spurious superficial perceptions and tenuous connections.
Also known as stereotyping.

Donald Trump may not have invented it, but he certainly popularised it and exploited it. All the way to the White House.
If the Right don't like the constant association with him all that much then perhaps they shouldn't have made him the face of their ideology.

But that's neither here nor there and certainly off-topic for this discussion.

Metrotown certainly has old, run-down parts of town just like any neighborhood or municipality does.
It's easy to take one aspect of it and use that as a basis to dismiss the rest of it.
As someone else (Vin) pointed out, in what way does that typify the rest of Metrotown?
Like I said, lazy thinking.

I don't get all the vitriol and bile against the area.
If you don't like it then move out.
And you certainly don't have to drive through it to get to where you want to get if looking at buildings in the area offends your delicate sensibilities so much.
A lot of people choose to live there probably because of the convenience of living there and not just because of the mall or some perceived notion of some "status" of living there.
Why is that such a bad thing?

To each their own, I guess.

Amen to that!

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn

Thank you. It's not about convenience at all, if anything Metro is the opposite of that. There are a tones of other areas that are more transit/livable and convenient then the negatives of living at Metro.

......none of which you've actually named other than the run-down buildings in certain sections of it and older parts of the area - both of which exist in virtually every single neighborhood of the GVA.

Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn

and simple it's status thing, aka I live above or next to a Coach Store.

What's funny about this comment is the fact that most of the people who live in the Metrotown area don't actually go to the Coach Store...
...or the Club Monaco...
....or the Tommy Hilfiger store...
....etc.....etc....etc...

Those are novelties for out-of-towners (or out-of-area-ers.)
For people that live in the area the novelty wears off after the first few weeks or months of anyone moving to that area.

Most of the people in the area, however DO go to the Superstore.
Why? Convenience (and affordability.)
Most of the people in the area, DO go to the Shoppers Drug mart, or the T&T's or to SilverCity).
Why?
Again,....mostly convenience (along with proximity, time-saving, familiarity.......all ....convenience)

Are there people who move to the Metrotown area because they think there's a "status thing" to moving and living there? I'm sure they're probably are.
But to imagine or think that this describes the vast majority of people who actually live in the Metrotown area is unbelievably delusional.
Although if that's your logic for choosing a place to live in then why not move to Yaletown or Coal Harbour?

a "status thing?

Really????
That's what you think?

OK.
But then again they do say that opinions are like a$sholes in that everyone has one, and thinks that theirs doesn't stink.

Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn

If someone presented me with the argument that the West Side is anywhere comparable living at Metrotown I would spit in that persons face.

At least we can agree on something.
That any comparison between the West Side and Metrotown would be utterly ridiculous.
Just not for the same reasons you think.

[excel]

Ecole Alpha Secondary School upgrade today:


my pic

[officedweller]

What you've been waiting for...
from VancouverMarket.ca

Wrap around balconies prevail in Burnaby.
Why so few in Vancouver?

I also do not see a department store in there...unless it's in the Phase 4 podium (but there's a road between it and the mall)

Plan Emerges for Metrotown Sears Site

Preliminary details for the overall master plan include:
◾Seven towers
◾Four development phases
◾1,945,855 SF of residential space
◾660,734 SF of commercial space
◾a total density of 9.75 FSR

Phase 1 details include:
◾1,309 units in Phase 1
◾3 towers ranging from 33 to 65-storeys
◾1,485 parking spaces on 7 levels of underground parking
◾a 48,000 SF indoor amenity space
◾towers designed with a ceramic frit super graphic design element
◾addition of a new East-West road “Metro Way”

http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2017/1...wn-sears-site/


http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2017/1...wn-sears-site/


http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2017/1...wn-sears-site/

Main roads are consistent with the Metrotown Plan, but missing a road between Phases 3 and 4:

Originally Posted by officedweller

Map and legend from VancouverMarket.ca:


http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2016/1...raft-released/