Priorities People.

To be honest if I were a concerned citizen (which I am I guess) I would be FAR, FAR more concerned about the Big Boxes going in down the street and the housing ghettos in Rosemary Heights than the infill development in Ocean Park and the building up in the Semi Mall-WR town center area.

The juxtaposition of these varied developments is ironic at best. White Rock is sticking to its guns ( to the chagrin of its more vocal residents) but Surrey seems a little bipolar these days. How does one simaltaneously approve a big box power center, a high rise mixed use district, densifying an established community node by subdividing large lots and a suburban sprawl wasteland of cookie cutter houses? Perhaps they hope the effects will cancel out- some people will be driving less so others can drive more. Some logic. Transit will conveniently serve the area that is being sucked dry by lower prices down the road.

A Walkable City

No matter the size of the city we've encountered on this trip we have never been too far away to walk to provide all of our necessities. Somehow they manage density without high-rises anywhere we've been in Italy and still manage to fit people in close enough to the city center to access goods and services. They have perfected mixed use here with apartments stacked upon stores and offices above stores everywhere. Space is a different concept here- people use so much less but it still works. The grocery store only has two aisles yet I can still buy everything I need. My friend's house sleeps six comfortably in the size of my upstairs.

Its difficult to find anything here that is purely residential. This results in increased usage of public space that would be ignored in North America because no one here has a yard. Overall we see a more sociable and connected community that minimizes its impact on the surrounding environs. We when embrace the suburban dream we lose a connection with others that is enviable to watch and sit amidst.

Resident Army

Resistance to development whether its good bad or ugly is an integral part of the process. Resistance results in interaction, discussion and discourse. When we come together to support a cause we find strength in our community and our relationships. When we can acknowledge the arguments of others and concede their points and their truths we learn and grow from the experience.


Anyone you talk to these days will comment on all the building thats going on, you can't miss the signs with ridiculous names dreamed up by some marketing student selling the life in sunny little White Rock.


Ocean Park Lane, Miramar Village ("some live for vacations, others live them everyday"), the Belaire, Rosemary Walk. It's no wonder that those who live here already want to protect what others find so desirable.



Sometimes those residents go a little too far in their crusade for the status quo. Instead of being "informed and enlightened" they are of the radical anti-development, self-taught environmentalist and directly, adversely affected camp. In White Rock we've seen the initially hostile WRRA (website link on the side) gradually tone down their approach while the optimistic lawsuit of the Friends of White Rock Society seems to have lost momentum even before it got going. Are we just resigned to our fate- or are we gradually seeing that the "political will is there to occasionally challenge the status quo" and end our marriage to the "utilitarian model of urban development." (Geo. 350 online readings Module 6). Just because its all we know doesn't mean its right.

North/South

At Central City today, defined by the GVRD's LRSP to be a Town Center and an area of desired high population density. It's served by skytrain and has a university campus in the only tower to be erected so far yet its still not taking off like the South end is. Blame it on location or reputation but Whalley is a pretty tough sell even though its looking prettier these days.

What struck me most was not the changes since I've last been up that way but the amount of vacant land that still exists. Yes, there are development signs and ads for condos on nearly every block but then there are empty fields and run-down residences on half acres right next door.

Surrey's trying, the rec centre got a facelift recently and there's a new park and plaza going in on King George but its going to take awhile to catch on. Compare this to South Surrey/White Rock where in the last two years every single piece of un/underdeveloped land has been snatched up and transformed into single family dwellings with a couple of apartment blocks and huge commercial centres thrown in for good measure.

Up and Out

We seem to have a meeting of extremes here on our little peninsula. On one hand we have White Rock Center which is building up- to 14, 17 and 19 stories from a low-rise, low density town centre with the Semiahmoo mall area soon to follow as Surrey completes its own consultation process. These passed and proposed developments are to be pedestrian oriented, mixed-use with integrated public spaces.

On the other we have the Rosemary and Grandview Heights developments on the other side of HWY 99 which are bursting at the seams-with rows upon rows of townhouses lining up on the hill. Morgan Elementary, which serves most of Rosemary is 200 students over capacity, projected to be 400 by 2010. What do you do with that many kids except stuff them in portables. A new " green school" has been announced by the Surrey School District just this month but shouldn't the facilities come before the crowds?

These new developments are not served by any amenities and are within walking distance only of each other. Gettting to the nearest grocery store requires crossing an overpass over a major highway.

There's more. In 2005 a hotly debated big box development was approved on former agricultural land just a few blocks out of town. The typical development sports miles of parking around the only completed store- the Home Depot which sits in an asphalt oasis surrounded by fields as the rest of the development is delayed.

Why the mixed messages? Why encourage car dependence with higher density which only serves to compound traffic problems in an already busy town centre. How can a (Surrey) council show progressive vision at one sight and then display an utter lack of foresight just miles down the road?

It seems that only time will tell if this growing community can absorb an influx of commercial options in a splintered arrangement that suggests that none of the multiple major commercial nodes will ever truly flourish.