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They couldn't have integrated it. The property the Skytrain sits on isn't part of the property PCI is constructing on. They don't own it. It's like you wanting to build an addition to your house that hooks up to your neighbor's house. Without your neighbor working with you, you can want to do as much as you want it just isn't going to happen.
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Well, there are now three places in the region (two of them stations) where new developments have been built directly over SkyTrain infrastructure. I'm sad that neither PCI nor the City of Surrey had enough energy to make integration certain.
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I disagree. There are advantages to not wrapping a station in retail like Plaza 88. Keeping it open can promote street life or, as noted above, the possibility of LRT at street level.
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Well, as jhausner noted above, that's not really a problem of the fact that Plaza 88 is so integrated with SkyTrain - but also has to do with the exterior design, which on a different design for this area could of course be remedied.
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And let's face it, New Westminster has had a walkable community for decades really and is the oldest city in Metro Vancouver by a long shot and only JUST got an integrated development around a Sky Train station 20+ years after Sky Train first rumbled by New Westminster station.
Children don't go from baby to adult over night. There's the good ol' toddler, child, and teenager in between.
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I must note the irony.
Of course the market won't respond right away and so we can expect to sometimes have to wait 20 years for things to happen... but Plaza 88 was both an overnight change in spite of you saying that those don't happen, AND the right kind of change for the area. While Plaza 88 is one development, it has certainly had a big impact on the attitude of the area to visitors and developers. The lot next to Plaza 88 is now slated for a residential high-rise development, and that office/rec centre across the street is getting closer to complete.
Plaza 88 has attracted visitors for its ridiculous on-SkyTrain convenience, I think we can all agree. Whether that's good for the on-street activity in the area or not for now, the matter of the fact is that it has caused the popularity of the area to grow sharply - that is triggering more developments, residential growth, etc. in this area. That essentially creates the guarantee that on-street activity will eventually increase sharply. As Plaza 88's popularity grows, so will its businesses and the amount of - and I think that we can anticipate that at some point, spaces in Plaza 88 itself will run out. Where next then? On-street retail spots, whether at existing or future developments.
The question is,
could it have been done any other way - and based on the history surrounding the New West Station area, I personally don't think so. I think that's the question we also need to be asking for this King George Station area - is this proposal going to
actually get it done?
By get it done, I mean that I'm seeing people here (@Blease, @CoryHolmes) posting that they expect this to encourage a revolution in the area (just before I did) in terms of creating that walkable-community attitude and development, but I think that there's no reason we should actually expect it to have that sort of big impact. Park Place has certainly brought more residents to the area to bring local support; but, apart from that, until we get more developments for any other reason, like today most people will just be passing through. There's no actual, distinct reason for them to go out of their way and stop - less so, actually come here on purpose (esp. with Surrey Central Mall already being established and large). There's no single unique business that drives popularity to the area, and there's no incentive for such a business to really succeed (thus want to come) like what Plaza 88 has: extreme convenience. It'd be worse if Surrey/TransLink does go with a slower BRT/LRT service for the South of Fraser, as businesses would have to accept and contend with lower transit demand than SkyTrain, and the fact that people might not actually have the time to stop, as doing so would come with a large time penalty on top of an already large time penalty over the popular alternative. Moreover, for any commuters still crossing the river, I can see many of them holding out on this particular area and choosing New West Station for a stop instead.
I'm just saying - I think you guys are expecting too much by thinking that CC HQ will revolutionize the area. I think it was a seriously missed opportunity to bring that revolution.
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