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Originally Posted by Klazu
Those of you living in Metrotown - how do you like the area? I would like to know what is Metrotown like when you live there? I have been to Metrotown dozens of times, but it has always been just a brief visit and during daytime.
How safe is Metrotown (not the mall) in the evening or during the night? Do women dare to go jogging alone on the residential streets? How about Central Park? Is it completely safe during day or in the evening? What type of crime is typical in the area and how does it fare crime wise against rest of Burnaby?
What are your favorite things to do during weekends and in the evening? Excluding whatever Metropolis has, what else there is to do in the area? With all the new development in recent years, is the streetscape getting any busier or are all the people concentrated inside the mall?
How busy is Skytrain in the morning, when commuting to Downtown? Is it still convenient or is it so crowded with people that it is already uncomfortable?
Lastly, do you think that Metrotown is just a vertical bedroom community with a big mall, or does it have its own life and character?
I would really appreaciate comments from people living in the area to know it a bit better. Thanks!
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I've lived in Metrotown for roughly five of the last seven years and I think it's a perfectly fine neighbourhood. It lacks the excitement and vibrancy of downtown or certain other Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods but it has all the day-to-day amenities one could need and is very conveniently located in the region with an excellent transit hub. It's also reasonably close to downtown, 15-20 minutes by SkyTrain compared to 30 mins for New West and 40+ for Surrey. It's also very convenient that it's directly on the Expo Line, because you don't have to change trains at an overcrowded Commercial-Broadway, unlike commuters from Brentwood or Lougheed.
As far as safety goes I think it's a pretty safe neighbourhood. I did get robbed by two guys at Patterson and Mayberry (right across the street from Central Park) at 10:30 on a weeknight last month, but other than that I've had no issues whatsoever in the five years I've spent walking around by myself at all times of the day and night throughout the neighbourhood. That mugging was an isolated incident that could've happened anywhere and it hasn't deterred me from continuing to enjoy the neighbourhood, day and night.
There are a bunch of homeless people in the neighbourhood and while they can look sketchy sometimes they've been harmless in my personal experience. By far the biggest safety concern I encounter on a daily basis are the drivers pulling in and out of the parking lots and strip malls in the area. It's a big urban area but still has some work to do with regards to pedestrian friendliness in some areas.
Aside from doing stuff at the mall, it's honestly not a particularly exciting neighbourhood. Central Park is great but otherwise it's just restaurants and mall stuff. Though it is nice to be able to live on a quiet street and then be in the middle of the "action" a block or two away. I imagine it's a bit more difficult to do that downtown.
As far as the SkyTrain goes, I commuted in and out of downtown Vancouver at rush hour everyday for about two years. I got on at Patterson and it was pretty crowded but it usually wasn't until a little further down the line that it would start to get so full that people on the platform couldn't get in and had to wait for another train (I was always glad that I didn't have to use Joyce/29th/Nanaimo). I haven't tried commuting from Metrotown Station but there are usually lots of people getting off the train there to work in the area or catch buses, etc. so that helps a bit, and using the station will be way more convenient once the renovations are done.
I got tired of the rush hour commute after a while, and even now with travelling at off-peak times I'm still tired of going 20 minutes each way to get downtown on a daily basis, but it's really not bad as far as suburban commuting goes. And the bus station at the mall has a ton of bus routes that go many places, so getting around overall is quite convenient.
Personally I'm considering moving away at this point, not due to any particular negative reason, I've just spent a combined total of five years here and it's the only neighbourhood I've lived in in Metro Vancouver so a change of scenery is in order in the near future I think. But it's been a great place to live the past few years.
So those are my general thoughts on the neighbourhood - very convenient living as far as the suburbs go, not super exciting but decent enough and with easy access to other amenities in the region. Hope that helps.
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. There are some older non-rental buildings built in the 70s or 80s that feature a lot of retirees (the ones close to Central Park and the ones on Grange & Nelson). Some of those ban rentals and have anti-kid bylaws...
To be honest once you get to 100mbps I don't really notice much difference, you never think about it and everything feels near instantaneous.
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