University of Calgary Urban Design Program Urban Design Program Metrotown October 12, 2004 Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre Before we head out on our walking tour I thought it would be useful to give you a quick overview of Metrotown. Metrotown is a powerful example of the how quickly an area can be transformed if the groundwork has been laid. At one point development applications were coming in a such a pace a temporary hold had to be placed on the area to allow the staging of public services to catch up. This presentation will show the emergence of Metrotown as a dominant regional town centre concurrent with the introduction of SkyTrain. While it is still a relatively youthful urban area, the transformation still underway will see Metrotown continue to add to its breadth and depth as Burnaby’s dominant town centre. 1
This presentation is intended to provide an overview of Metrotown and its development from a City perspective. 2
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre For comparison purposes, Greater Vancouver area is just over 2 million people with Burnaby being located in the centrally in the region (shown in the highlighted area). In terms of population we represent about 10% of the region’s population. The Greater Vancouver area is expected to experience rapid population growth with an additional one million residents projected to be added over the next 20 years. With the mountains to the north, the ocean to the west and the international boarder with the United States to the south, our growth options for the region are physically quite limited. The current overall growth strategy for the region, some five years in the making, is based on redirecting a high proportion of future growth back into the inner more established areas of the region. This area is called the Growth Concentration Area, which includes the City of Burnaby in its geographic centre. For Burnaby, the regional strategy meant a new and higher order of growth for the City which from the City’s perspective could only be met with the provision of necessary infrastructure which included a light Rail Transit system to help shape and promote redevelopment in the Growth Concentration Area. 3
The Greater Vancouver Regional District, the GVRD, pursued a policy program entitled The Livable Region 1976-1986 . One of the major strategies of this program was to create a number of Regional Town Centres (shown as the large black dots) within the Growth Concentration Area (shown as white), of which Metrotown was one, in part to provide strong alternative opportunities for major office development and other types of employment outside downtown Vancouver. The linking of these regional town centres by rapid transit (shown as the thick blue and black lines) was an important component of this policy. 4
The Liveable Region Strategic Plan has a number of components intended to provide for improved growth management and liveability in the region. Town centres are intended to provide focused growth in a more liveable setting supported by rapid transit. In this way development (land use) and SkyTrain reinforce and complement one another in support of the Liveable Region Strategic Plan. 5
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre Burnaby is located centrally in the region and is a semi-urban inner, central part of the region, with an area or 35 square miles and a current population estimated at just over 200,000. 6
Protection of our Environment Opportunities for Growth The direction for managing growth in Burnaby is contained within our Official Community Plan and based on providing opportunities for growth, while at the same time ensuring the protection and preservation of our most valued environmental resources. 7
Four Quadrants - Four Town Centres Burnaby has four quadrants and within each quadrant there is a town centre. Brentwood, Lougheed and Edmonds are all municipal town centres designed to meet the day-to-day needs of the residents in each quadrant of the city. However, Metrotown is a regional town centre is therefore the most prominent of the four. Each of our four town centres is now served by rapid transit. 8
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre Within Burnaby most (56% in 2006) of the new residential units within the City where forecast to be located within town centres. 9
• Town Centres will continue to have most of the jobs (37%) down f rom 40% in 1996 Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre Town Centres will also continue to have most of the jobs (projected to be 37% in 2006) down slightly from 40% in 1996. 10
• most new jobs in Metrotown Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre Of our town centres Metrotown (the only regional town centre) will dominate from an employment persepective. 11
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre Metrotown is located approximately mid-way between the Vancouver downtown and the historic City of New Westminster - situated on a high point of land, which is part of a linear escarpment known as the “Kingsway ridge”. 12
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre Metrotown covers an area of 735 acres with an east-west dimension of one and a half miles and a north-south dimension of three-quarters of a mile. 13
In the early 1970’s the core of this area was dominated by two large industrially-oriented underutilized landholdings and a Sears store. 14
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre The area surrounding the core was originally developed as a single-family dwelling community. 15
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre In the early 1970's, a policy program was pursued to obtain the public perception of the municipality, resulting in a Council-adopted policy report in 1974. At this time, the Kingsway-Sussex Town Centre was designated by Council as “Metrotown”, a higher level town centre. This dovetailed with the GVRD’s policy program, The Livable Region Strategic Plan (1976-1986). 16
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre The resulting major guiding policy document prepared for Metrotown was adopted by Council in 1978. Metrotown with its more intense urban character was intended to broaden the range of residential, commercial, employment and cultural opportunities available within Burnaby. From the outset of the policy review, the City was aware of the proposed development of a Light Rapid Transit system along an largely dormant existing rail right- of-way. At the time Burnaby staff used this picture of a plaza in New York City to convey the urban feel they were striving for in Metrotown. 17
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre In 1908 the BC Electric Railway was built along what is now the alignment used by the Expo SkyTrain line through Metrotown. At the turn of the century, the BC Electric Railway would have been what most people used to travel long distances to New Westminister or Vancouver. At the time you could buy 10 transfers and 10 fares for $0.80. That is less than $0.04/each! 18
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre The Metrotown concept was broadly based on a centrally-located mixed-use primary core with an overlapping strong, linear Kingsway commercial corridor. This central commercially-oriented concentration (in orange) is surrounded by supporting low to high density, multiple-family residential development (in yellow). Two SkyTrain stations were planned to serve the area. Patterson on the western edge and Metrotown in the centre. Royal Oak Station is just outside the eastern edge of Metrotown and has its own community plan. Forest Gump said “Life is like a box of chocolates.”, but Metrotown is like a donut – I will explain later. 19
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre Prior to the development of the main mixed use core of Metrotown the area experienced a steady rate of residential development within the town centre boundaries. 20
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre This new residential development added to a large area of two (2) and three (3) storey apartments mostly constructed in the 1950’s and 1960’s south of the core that constitutes the largest concentration of rental housing in Burnaby. 21
Metrotown: : Metrotown Regional Town Centre Regional Town Centre With the introduction of the Expo SkyTrain line in 1986, things within the designated core area began to happen very rapidly. SkyTrain, which diagonally bisects Metrotown ran immediately adjacent to the large underdeveloped properties and provided quick direct access to downtown in about 15 minutes every 4 minutes. A major bus loop serving 11 bus routes is also associated with the Metrotown Station. In Burnaby about half of all bus routes (11 of 23) lead to Metrotown. 22
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