Category Archives: Whalley

City Hall launches arts centre offensive

Five days after we said the performing arts centre project is dead on arrival, City Hall has proclaimed it is “moving ahead” with the facility. The Mayor’s Office announced today that is has hired Bing Thom Architects as the consultant … Continue reading

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New performing arts centre? Don’t count on it.

One of the long standing pledges Mayor Watts has made to the community is her plan to build a 1,600 seat performing arts centre Downtown. It was first expressed in her 2008 re-election campaign and has remained on the books … Continue reading

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The streetcar suburb in Surrey

When people talk about the success of urbanity in Vancouver one of the things that stands out is how its neighbourhoods where built around the streetcar. In Vancouver’s case streetcars became trolleybuses, but service continued to be frequent making these … Continue reading

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54-storey tower joining City Hall soon

Hidden in the recently approved building permit for City Hall, as well as the most recent update of the master list of City Centre developments, is the next big step in the transformation of Downtown Surrey. The Surrey City Development … Continue reading

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Bing Thom wins Design Exchange Award for Surrey Library

With the completion of the Central City Tower in 2003, the tone for design and architecture in Whalley and Surrey was set. The design was so iconic that it became the new logo for the City of Surrey. If you … Continue reading

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Mixed-use development missing in Downtown Surrey

One of the concerns I have about the development of Surrey City Centre and Whalley is the lack of mixed-use buildings. If you believe the thousands of books on urban planning, they mostly agree that mixed-use is the key to … Continue reading

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A walk through Whalley

Every day that I’m on the SkyTrain, I look down at the part of Whalley between 104th Avenue and 108th Avenue. I’m always struck by the Detroit-like environment of empty lots and run down housing in the middle of the … Continue reading

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