[Surrey] King George Hub | U/C

[GMasterAres]

Originally Posted by Whalleyboy

I always think of how that canadian tire is out there on cambie and wish whalleys one was like that. I always forget about the costco by rogers since it so well done you don't even realize if you don't go to Vancouver often like me.

It always makes me sad to see price smart and canadian tires parking lot. I feel its one of the reasons the area feels so suburban still. Its right in the center of the whole area

Not just that. Safeway Parking + Price Smart/Canadian Tire parking + Rec Center Parking + Mall Parking + Toys R Us Parking = a lot of parking lots in a 4 by 4 block radius. If you take all the space you could get a lot of development and towers in that space.

I agree 100% would be nice to see them redevelop all those parking lots. You'd make the area suddenly go from suburb mall feel to urban quite quickly.

[SpongeG]

just like bellevue over the last few years

i have to wonder if there would be enough pedestrians to eliminate so much parking though, people driving will just patronize stores in newton or guildford that have easier parking options

[GMasterAres]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

just like bellevue over the last few years

i have to wonder if there would be enough pedestrians to eliminate so much parking though, people driving will just patronize stores in newton or guildford that have easier parking options

They'd have to combine removing surface parking with replacement with underground parking or parking garages. That's something Surrey center definitely lacks but something that has been a focus of council recently with the new central Surrey underground parking they have and are building, and the last renovations at the mall that build a parking garage in the rear.

Vancouver has loads of parking garages that are the replacement of surface parking lots and Surrey (like Metrotown) being 300 feet above sea level has the added option everywhere of building underground possibly removing the absolute need of only parking garages.

You'll never do away with parking lots, you'll never do away with cars. But the surface lots are grossly inefficient and stand in the way of a lot of prime development over the next few decades.

[officedweller]

A lot of shoppers in downtown Vancouver also aren't single purpose shoppers - they shop because they happen to be downtown - whether for work, a movie or another event.

I tend to think that it's harder to get someone to pay for parking on a single purpose shopping trip - i.e. especially if you don't buy anything.

[osirisboy]

Places like price smart on cambie validate your parking so it ends up costing nothing if you buy something. For a long time Home Depot didn't but they finally changed that. Since they started validating I go there instead of driving out to terminal.

So if they develop it with validated parking then it's just like having a surface parking lot

[GMasterAres]

Parking validation is the key. I would hope the majority of single purpose shoppers would be people living in the near area so could walk or go there through other means aka Transit. Those parking are either going to the area for some other purpose so more likely to pay for parking, or as has been pointed out work in the area so again are already most likely paying for parking.

I don't think it is a huge issue. Parking garages do need to make money though aka have people park in them so I think it will be time before you start seeing the surface parking lots replaced with parking garages or underground if there is "nothing else" for them to do. For example Movie Theaters, recreation, theaters for shows, offices towers, etc. You're right though if Canadian Tire just up and replaced their parking lot with underground pay parking or a parking garage, people would simply go to Newton where it is free and only 5 minutes away.

It will have to be a combination and will most likely be a result of new projects. For example Safeway relocating to say King George Station thus their parking is absorbed into the large underground lots being built and they simply validate your parking. That frees up their entire plot of land to be redeveloped into office or residential towers.

Central City Mall on the other hand could cut out parking by selling the land to developers and in return get parking as part of the deal. We still you the plot of land besides BestBuy for X + Y underground parking stalls. A bit more complex than that, but you get the idea. That way it is densified + they don't lose parking.

Either that or they just foot the bill and redevelop themselves like they did the west side near the Brick.

[Blease]

Save on a Foods on KGB and 72 ave have underground parking and they're in the heart of Newton, where land prices are cheaper than Central City!!

[GMasterAres]

Originally Posted by Blease

Save on a Foods on KGB and 72 ave have underground parking and they're in the heart of Newton, where land prices are cheaper than Central City!!

It's not actually underground parking. While it is better for space it is still surface parking like the Superstore on 104th Avenue. They simply constructed the building on top of the parking lot.

Only issue with that design is while you do remove the surface parking lot, you can still only build really 2 floors and end up with a giant block building compared to say Plaza 88 or other style buildings. You could do a parking core though given sufficient land size. For example 1 underground spot then 3 or 4 storeys in the center for parking with condos/townhouses around the perimeter then high rise above. I think they are building a few projects like that in Coquitlam.

[SFUVancouver]

My photo, taken March 20th, 2014.

[Anonymooser]

Poof!

[sryboy]

Cool pic SFUV

[GMasterAres]

Originally Posted by Anonymooser

Oh yes, I hear Newton is a "great" place to live.

http://www.vancouversun.com/Newton+r...069/story.html

Please dont fear monger. 1 murder in an area the size of Burnaby where 200,000 people live doesnt warrent painting it all with a single brush.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by jhausner

Please dont fear monger. 1 murder in an area the size of Burnaby where 200,000 people live doesnt warrent painting it all with a single brush.

You're right, but when you put Surrey in the perspective of the lower mainland, it clearly has some very bad crime areas.

http://www.cbc.ca/bc/features/homicide/map.html

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

You're right, but when you put Surrey in the perspective of the lower mainland, it clearly has some very bad crime areas.

http://www.cbc.ca/bc/features/homicide/map.html

Not everybody can afford to live in Yaletown.

[GMasterAres]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

You're right, but when you put Surrey in the perspective of the lower mainland, it clearly has some very bad crime areas.

http://www.cbc.ca/bc/features/homicide/map.html

1. A lot of thumb tacks in other areas around Metro Vancouver, Vancouver for example... also the chart isn't correct. For example, according to that chart, from 2009 to 2011 less than 30 murders were committed in the City of Vancouver. So you're basing your opinion on this chart that claims that.

But, according to the VPD themselves, 44 murders were committed in the City of Vancouver during that same period. So why would the VPD who actually deal with crime in the city, say there were 14+ more murders in that time frame? Because there were and the chart is not accurate.

Moral? Stop believing everything THE NEWS TELLS YOU! The news media in Metro Vancouver (and most of the world) doesn't fact check anymore unfortunately. Do your own fact checking please thanks.

2. Higher gang rate in Surrey and the nature of the youth in this part of the region. Statistically speaking the vast majority of murders in Surrey are gang related aka them bumping off each other. That means if you're not in a gang, the likelihood of being killed no different in Surrey than anywhere else in Metro Vancouver.

Moral? Context.

3.

Vancouver Murders 2008 to 2013: 78
Vancouver Attempted Murders 2008 to 2013: 96
Vancouver Sexual Offences 2008 to 2013: 2765

Surrey Murders 2008 to 2013: 91
Surrey Attempted Murders 2008 to 2013: 62
Surrey Sexual Offences 2008 to 2013: 1711

Conclusion?

a. Murder rate overall is higher in Surrey (even per capita) but attempted murders are quite a bit lower... so people are just less good at actually killing people when they "attempt" in Vancouver. Ultimately though you have to combine the two (as the Police do) and you get 153 (Surrey) vs 174 (Vancouver) so more or less on par though Surrey per capita does still edge a bit more than Vancouver though again context, more gangs, more drugs, more youth.

Ultimately if you aren't dealing in drugs and/or in a gang, you're more likely to be hit by a bus than being murdered even in Surrey. If you want to do just pure odds without ANY context, 25 murders / 450,000 people in Surrey = 1 in 18,000 odds of being murdered.

1 in 12,146 - Odds of being killed by electrical current, radiation, temperature, or pressure
1 in 3,842 - Odds of choking to death from inhalation of food
1 in 1,419 - Odds of dying due to exposure to fire, flames, or smoke
1 in 907 - Odds of dying while riding a motorcycle
1 in 749 - Odds of dying as a pedestrian
1 in 415 - Odds of dying while being an occupant in a car
1 in 158 - Odds of dying by fall
1 in 123 - Odds of dying by poisoning
1 in 28 - Odds of dying by lower respiratory disease
1 in 7 - Odds of dying by Cancer or Heart Disease

Those shift slightly from time to time (I believe in 2013 for example, Cancer is now 1 in 5), but the purpose is to give context to the reality of our world around us. We focus on the fear mongering all the time especially in Canada.

You have a higher likelihood of being killed the next time you go on a vacation to Mexico for a week than living in any part of Metro-Vancouver for 20 straight years, even Surrey. I've lived here my entire life and in those 33 years, don't know anyone that has been murdered and I have also not been murdered. Seems ok to me.

Yet many people here will hop on a plane next week to go enjoy the Sun and Cervezas in Mexico without any thought about odds.

Honestly I'm more worried about my car or place being broken into on a day to day basis than being murdered, raped, shot, stabbed, mugged, etc. because the odds are far higher that will happen.

b. 2700+ sexual assaults in Vancouver?? Really? Why aren't we talking about that? I mean a woman has 34 times the chance of being sexually assaulted or raped than being murdered in Vancouver. And 1000 more sexual assaults in Vancouver than Surrey?

So should I jump to the conclusion that because my wife isn't in a gang so she is most likely safe from murder in Surrey, she is safer in Surrey overall than Vancouver because the rape rate is far less?

This is what happens when you jump to conclusions. Truth is, crime happens, don't join gangs or get involved in the drug trade, and worry more about protecting against sexual assaults, rapes, being robbed, and break ins.



And with the above I am done with the crime clarification (yet again in a Surrey thread... never seems to pop up in any other City thread where crime also happens), and will go back to discussing this project.

They are pretty much at ground level now on the KGB side and look to have a lot of the rebar up to support the main floor. I'll take some pictures in the next few days and post them if someone doesn't beat me to it.

[Vin]

Ohh you have to also check where those murderers come from. I remember that quite a lot of the Vancouver-committed murder victims hail from Surrey, not sure about the dudes who kill them though.

[WarrenC12]

Obviously I've hit a nerve. Sure you can't trust all the news you read, but that was a link from CBC. I don't have time to personally research every news story I read...

You posted:

Please dont fear monger. 1 murder in an area the size of Burnaby where 200,000 people live doesnt warrent painting it all with a single brush.

Which was clearly misleading. The fact is that Surrey has more murders than Vancouver, which is the most populous, main city center, with both the DTES and the vast majority of the night clubs in the area, both of which are a magnet for this type of activity (gang related, etc).

So to sum up: Surrey deserves it's reputation as a suburb with a lot of crime problems. The end.

[jlousa]

Guys you've gone off on a tangent, this is no longer about King George Station... if you want to discuss crime rates do it in the right thread.

[SpongeG]

cool pic - those houses in the bottom right and left areas are needing to be replaced with highrises or townhouses, something at least

[GMasterAres]

Photos from my balcony, click for larger resolution photos: