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Originally Posted by Changing City
That statistic sums up the difficulty in getting Surrey to a higher level of sustainability (although there are 'only' 2,195 spaces, and yet they expect 10,000 employees in the first and second phases, so there's something odd about the stats). If they achieve 40% on transit it would be impressive - Vancouver has 33%. But 5% walking and biking is absolutely pathetic - it's 23% in Vancouver (and higher Downtown).
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I think that the statistic of transit usage (specifically) is heavily influenced by the fact that the COV has greater access to reliable rapid transit (Skytrain) within its borders. The COV has access to 18 Skytrain Stations, the Seabus, 3 rapid bus routes, and many feeder routes that all carry commuters to popular destinations with many more Skytrain stations being built or planned as we speak. Whereas Surrey commuters only have access to 4 Skytrain stations in its core and 1 rapid bus route over a larger geographic civic border.
I am sure that when the SLS extends to Langley that transit usage in Surrey will increase as commuter patterns will change and likely increase in usage. I would suggest reserving your judgment on Surrey's lack of sustainable transit options until SLS starts operating since it will be the only reliable rapid transit investment that Surrey has obtained since the 90's
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Changing City
Apparently that's why Vancouver attracts tech business. To quote the Downtown Vancouver BIA from 2017: "Many employers, especially those in the tech sector, are interested in office spaces that accommodate different types of transportation, such as cycling or car sharing. They want those options available so it's easy for their employees to get to work by bike or transit or to be able to walk to work. Parking of private vehicles is less of a top priority and building owners want to attract those employers"
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I think that there are many factors that attract tech businesses to certain cities. Diverse transit options, I think are one of them. However another huge factor when it comes to attracting tech businesses is the city being able to offer larger office floor plates or more office sq.ft in the form of height.
The COV — at building anything higher than 40 floors, and it doesn't have the land available to offer
large office floorplates. This is where Surrey will shine specifically since it has more opportunities to redevelop larger parcels of land (or offer taller structures), with a population that generally welcomes it. Oh, and by the way, there are no view cones either; so there's more flexibility there.
The metro region is, IMO, creating a really healthy competitive landscape for offices because we'll eventually have two large employment centre anchors (COV and Surrey); tech companies will eventually have to choose between whether they want to secure land parcels where they can create those larger office floor-plates (either vertically or horizontally) in Surrey OR if they want overall better connectivity in the COV. This carries over into making the Metro Vancouver region more attractive to tech companies when they are looking to expand into Canada since they will now have two employment centres serviced well by transit (especially after the SLS is extended) in a metro region that has favourable climate all year long among many other influential factors that make Metro Vancouver a top consideration.
A lot of what makes cycling and car sharing programs successful in cities is that those cities have reliable transit connectivity already in operation. I don't think that we will see a push for vehicle share programs in Surrey until sometime after the SLS is in operation since it will connect the city of Surrey substantially tbh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bombaman
They need to add all the bums and make the street dirty to make the 3d renders more realistic.
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A 40+ story commercial tower with immediate access to transit will certainly liven up the area and add more boots on the ground. I doubt that the transitional populations will be displaced too much because (iirc) they mostly hang out just on the northeast corner of the parking lot, south of the bus loop; and on the eastern sidewalk on city Parkway.
Surrey Central will displace those populations more drastically when parcels of land on the
eastern side of the station start becoming construction holes.
Aside from that I think that the development is amazing. However I also think that there is a missed opportunity to build some Spanish solution platforms on the westbound side of the Surrey Central Skytrain station just for optimal passenger flow. I may be leaning into fantasy-land here but IMO, the region is underestimating how busy Surrey Central Skytrain station will become once the SLS is in operation, once future transit connections are made in Surrey Central, and when Surrey Central's downtown area's nearby proposals start coming online.
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