Suburban Updates - All Other Metro Vancouver Municipalities

[Vin]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

It is rather interesting to note the resilience of not planning (aside from the old industrial issues and other maladies) and town / master / suburb planning.

Interesting to note on early Vancouver suburban development pre-war are the formation of the Town and Country Planning Association and the Garden City movement in the U.K. and the training and work done by Thomas Adams (Halifax Explosion rebuild) and our very own Horace Llewellyn Seymour who in a way created Canadian planning and of course Bartholomew in the 20's and the advent of the car. All seeking to escape the chaotic pre-war planning system thus creating what we have now.

There were reasons why they started the movement. However, the folks after them took an extremist approach to what they started, and hence the problem we have today. Some flexibility would have gone a long way to make Canadian cities much denser and way more sustainable than what we have today.

Luckily Burnaby, Coquitlam and Richmond are some of the more forward-thinking municipalities in the Lower Mainland to allow taller denser buildings to be spread out of their city cores, albeit with the presence of SFH neighbourhoods still in existence. These need time to purge.

Toronto used to be like Vancouver, favouring only high density structures to be built in the core, but around the turn of the millennium, something changed and now it has become the model city in Canada.

[jollyburger]

That video is like trying to learn how to cook by teaching them the history of farming. Sure it has a lot to do with the outcome but if you want to ignore the nuance of each city and their history it's pointless. I mean they will try to brainwash you into believing their BS but then totally ignore all of the development along Cambie or Olympic Village. Their big stat of the "missing middle" in 2018 there were only 56 Row Houses built in Vancouver.

[GenWhy?]

Originally Posted by Vin

There were reasons why they started the movement. However, the folks after them took an extremist approach to what they started, and hence the problem we have today. Some flexibility would have gone a long way to make Canadian cities much denser and way more sustainable than what we have today.

Luckily Burnaby, Coquitlam and Richmond are some of the more forward-thinking municipalities in the Lower Mainland to allow taller denser buildings to be spread out of their city cores, albeit with the presence of SFH neighbourhoods still in existence. These need time to purge.

Toronto used to be like Vancouver, favouring only high density structures to be built in the core, but around the turn of the millennium, something changed and now it has become the model city in Canada.

Agreed, but also talking with Planners that did the original False Creek housing, at the time at was considered very bold and risky, so I understand going against the grain in the 70's would have been nice but the most interesting note was the tax scheme for most 50's & 60's rental housing - I think we see this with the older towers next to malls in suburbs, which is great housing.

I am still curious to see what these "forward thinking" policies in suburban markets are compared to Vancouver proper. What I fear, doing work in most cities in the Lower Mainland, is the concentration on select centres and impacting or displacing / evicting certain demographics (Metrotown issues and then the response later on with increased affordability, tenant relocation rules).

I fear the suburban market repeating the Vancouver model where they relied heavily on False Creek, Yaletown, and Coal Harbour, and then were steamrolled by affordability issues, not planning along Canada Line as it was planned instead of after. If Metrotown Plan's phase 2 with more affordability proves successful I think that could be a decent model. As we know one city's plan and methods affect the whole region.

I admit I'm not too familiar with Toronto's development aside from amalgamation in the late 90s (ish?), having multiple "downtowns" and extensive transit to those centres - which seems rather similar on the surface to Metro Van.

[GenWhy?]

Or another way, I fear the moment when, for example, Burnaby starts to run out of commercial / industrial areas and mall parking lots, as Vancouver did with Yaletown, and then the hard decisions will have to be made. I think they fixed that problem if they hold onto the new affordability components around Metrotown Plan and maintain / expand that, but if that isn't picked up and continued I wonder how long they can maintain concentrating on the areas that are low-hanging fruit.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

Or another way, I fear the moment when, for example, Burnaby starts to run out of commercial / industrial areas and mall parking lots, as Vancouver did with Yaletown, and then the hard decisions will have to be made. I think they fixed that problem if they hold onto the new affordability components around Metrotown Plan and maintain / expand that, but if that isn't picked up and continued I wonder how long they can maintain concentrating on the areas that are low-hanging fruit.

Very much this. The SFU Gondola "controversy" is proof enough that Burnaby's homeowners don't want development in their backyards any more than Vancouver's do.

[officedweller]

Coquitlam has been surprisingly successful in rezoning the lands east of North Road.

Burnaby is sticking with its 4 town centres and has a lot of space to build in each.
The only development creep in Burnaby I can think of are the Dairyland and MicroTel sites near Sperling. Also, the Edmond area is really quite sprawling. Maybe also the Willingdon/ BCIT area for business park development.

[SpongeG]

there is some new big development going in across from BCIT, the SW corner of Willingdon and Canada Way. I didn't fully catch what the sign said but looks like housing is included.

edit: it must be this the Willingdon lands
https://aquilinidevelopment.com/community/willingdon-lands/

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by POCO

Onni is having a hard time finding commercial tenants at it's Fremont development in Poco. Currently a third of it's commercial space there is unleased. They want to decrease the commercial space by 13000 sqft and add four more six story mixed use residential buildings. This would add 473 residential units in addition to the 294 apartments currently under construction. The city council is pushing for more two and three bedroom units that are better for families.


http://www.tricitynews.com/real-estate/o...-box-space-in-fremont-village-1.23360326

Over two years later and it sounds like those problems still persist:

A decade into construction, Port Coquitlam development still trying to attract businesses
Swath of retail spaces sitting empty since residential towers opened in 2019, as developer asks for rezoning
Jon Hernandez · CBC News · Posted: Mar 16, 2021

Nestled within a row of vacant storefronts, the Hive Climbing and Fitness club anchors a recently developed complex in Port Coquitlam.

It's meant to be a cornerstone store inside a growing retail and residential community, and owner Andrew Coffey says he's in it for the long haul.

He just hoped that there would have been more businesses settling in once he opened his doors.

"We sort of expected there might be a little more movement," he said, standing in front of one of the many towering walls inside the large commercial space. "I think the pandemic slowed a lot of that growth. No one is super excited to jump into things."

The Hive is one of the newest businesses inside Fremont Village, a large retail and residential development by Onni. But finding commercial tenants to support the southern portion of its complex has been a challenge, with many units still empty after a number of years...

....Further afield in the neighbourhood, rows of recently constructed warehouse and office space also sit vacant...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c...ment-trying-attract-businesses-1.5948690

[dleung]

^^

...yeah that whole stretch of "urbanity" shouldn't even have been approved in the first place. It's in the middle of nowhere next to a power centre. Can't think of anything more depressing built in the lower mainland in this day and age besides Tsawwassen Mills

[Metro-One]

Yeah, that was a bizarre choice of a development. I have similar worries for Coquitlam’s river front plans as well.

[officedweller]

The only think that might save it is a PoCo/Maple Ridge SkyTrain extension.

[Canucks223]

Originally Posted by dleung

^^
Can't think of anything more depressing built in the lower mainland in this day and age besides Tsawwassen Mills

What's depressing about Tswawwassen Mills? Sure its located quite a ways from any major urban centre but its not like its a ghost town. Its been packed everytime I've been there!

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by Canucks223

What's depressing about Tswawwassen Mills? Sure its located quite a ways from any major urban centre but its not like its a ghost town. Its been packed everytime I've been there!

It can be the busiest place on the planet. It’s still depressing af.

[zahav]

I don't think Fremont Village was ill conceived at all, it is a good mix of industrial, commercial, retail, and higher density residential. I think retail in general is in an adjustment period, resulting in higher vacancies, and same can be said to a certain degree for commercial as well, especially now with the pandemic. But in general I think the plan was fine. It is close to major routes, and central for the area. There is a massive CP yard there that would help support food options (they have quite a bit, anyone who thinks it is a ghost town has never been there before). And the industrial sites are definitely well absorbed (I don't think these are by Onni though, but they are in the surrounding development). Some empty storefronts is not enough to demonize the entire thing.

There is no winning on this site lol, if they built only housing people would complain there isn't a mix, but then a mixed development is done and somehow it is labelled as a failure because there's still some vacancies?

[seamusmcduff]

Its commercial development in the worse possible form though. Its literally a power center with apartments sprinkled between them. That's about the worst urban environment I can think of.

Who needs urban feeling streets or parks when you can have stucco boxes and parking lots right? It may be technically walkable, but that doesn't make it nice.

[SpongeG]

Art Knapp is supposed to be opening a store in there.

The area kinda creeps me out, considering so much has been built on the old Picton farm lands. Must be some ghosts in there.

[SpongeG]

the second tower at Austin Heights in Coquitlam is now getting ready to start sales

[officedweller]

I was wondering why they didn't name it together with the other tower, but I suppose they will be separate stratas.

[SpongeG]

Electronic Avenue is well underway now

2021-03-30_12-31-01 by snub_you, on Flickr

2021-03-30_12-31-06 by snub_you, on Flickr

[vanman]

Douglas College expansion in downtown New West.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/urbanized