[Abbotsford] Emco City Centre Development - Page 2

koopatrooper · #21 Posted **Jul 2, 2020, 7:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klazu

I have very hard time saying where is the city centre in Abbotsford. Is there one and is this anywhere nearby?

The problem is Abbotsford is a recent almalgamation of several municipalities. The good news is Abbotsford has a detailed OCP which clearly identifies a planned city Centre centered around 7 oaks mall.
https://www.abbotsford.ca/Assets/201...Final+Plan.pdf

vanman · #22 Posted **Jul 3, 2020, 12:52 AM**

Vancouverism has really spread all over the lower mainland. Every small city or suburb wants its own dense, mixed use, walkable downtown core. If even Abbotsford is building dense infill, the future of this region, in terms of sprawl mitigation, is very bright.

Klazu · #23 Posted **Jul 3, 2020, 4:09 PM**

Very interesting plan and looks good on lots of fronts! Their planned density seems low but the overal concept makes sense. Interesting to see how they will be able to execute on that plan.

abbymk · #24 Posted **Jul 3, 2020, 4:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klazu

Very interesting plan and looks good on lots of fronts! Their planned density seems low but the overal concept makes sense. Interesting to see how they will be able to execute on that plan.

The city centre isnt the only planned dense area. The city has a plan for four urban centres along a transit corridor including this area. Others include making the historic downtown more pedestrian with pedestrian only streets and the Udistrict around UFV. Udistrict already has quite a bit construction going on and its supposed be like an entertainment district. Abbotsford actually seems to have a very bright urban future.

Udistrict https://www.abbotsford.ca/Assets/201...Appendix+B.pdf

Historic Downtown
https://www.abbotsford.ca/Assets/201...Final+Plan.pdf

Aroundtheworld · #25 Posted **Jul 3, 2020, 7:02 PM**

If there's going to be projects like this, they should consider extending the West Coast express from Mission to Abbotsford and making it all-day both directions (at least up to Coquitlam Centre Station...getting more trackage beyond that point is a bit tricky).

Klazu · #26 Posted **Jul 3, 2020, 7:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aroundtheworld

If there's going to be projects like this, they should consider extending the West Coast express from Mission to Abbotsford and making it all-day both directions (at least up to Coquitlam Centre Station...getting more trackage beyond that point is a bit tricky).

Agreed. It's surprising that already isn't a whole day service with 500,000+ people living in the corridor. I know that they don't control the rails it runs on so I guess that is the reason.

Sheba · #27 Posted **Jul 3, 2020, 9:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klazu

Agreed. It's surprising that already isn't a whole day service with 500,000+ people living in the corridor. I know that they don't control the rails it runs on so I guess that is the reason.

You got it in one. WCE rents time on freight tracks, and is still regularly late because freight trumps passenger rail. If we want all-day rail then new dedicated passenger tracks need to be laid down. That kind of money will need to come from the provincial gov, so send them messages about it (they like e-mail).

Cypherus · #28 Posted **Jul 4, 2020, 12:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klazu

Agreed. It's surprising that already isn't a whole day service with 500,000+ people living in the corridor. I know that they don't control the rails it runs on so I guess that is the reason.

Careful. Some guy on reddit had an issue with transit serving Abbotsford because of the Fraser Valley social proclivities that the person did not agree with. I've edited my original post to give privacy to the person on reddit. But transit to Abbotsford other than a rapid Bus has always been what I envisioned for the Valley, but the region tends to abhor serving suburban communities east of Surrey with rapid transit, until the population warrants it.

red-paladin · #29 Posted **Jul 4, 2020, 1:12 AM**

The conversation is getting off track here. The thread is not about rapid transit to Abbotsford.

koopatrooper · #30 Posted **Aug 17, 2020, 5:20 PM**

Some new images posted by the architect

source

Sheba · #31 Posted **Aug 17, 2020, 9:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by koopatrooper

Some new images posted by the architect

I wish we were building variations of this all over the region. That's a pretty fabulous way to add density outside of downtown Vancouver.

officedweller · #32 Posted **Aug 17, 2020, 9:57 PM**

Nice, thanks!

scryer · #33 Posted **Aug 17, 2020, 10:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by koopatrooper

Some new images posted by the architect

Thank you for sharing this! I am fully on-board with supporting this kind of a development in a major urban centre of the Lower Mainland. It is quite exciting to see.

Cypherus · #34 Posted **Aug 18, 2020, 6:03 AM**

Very exciting vision for Abbotsford. I didn't think Abbotsford would go this far before Langley, which is still concerned with high rises.

koopatrooper · #35 Posted **Aug 18, 2020, 3:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cypherus

Very exciting vision for Abbotsford. I didn't think Abbotsford would go this far before Langley, which is still concerned with high rises.

I would argue that Langley is very much a suburb while Abbotsford is not.

koopatrooper · #36 Posted **Oct 2, 2020, 11:09 PM**

Looks like the proposal for phase 1 is in. You can view it here starting around page 100. https://abbotsford.civicweb.net/file...?preview=56201

Looks like phase 1 will be two 18 story towers of seniors housing and phase two will have a 30 story and 22 story towers of mixed use development.