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Old Posted Oct 16, 2009, 3:10 AM
paradigm4 paradigm4 is offline
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Surrey, BC
Posts: 688
There's pros and cons to either Newton or Guildford/Fleetwood.

Newton has a huge ethnic population and is slowly becoming the new Whalley with a ton of social housing and general sketchiness in the area. In that sense, if done properly, the SkyTrain could be a stimulus to the area's redevelopment, which would increase density even more than its already high level. The 321 to Surrey Central is one of Surrey's most popular routes, and I believe has service at least every 10 minutes during rush hour.

Guildford is a major commercial centre, but with a lot of development shifting back to the City Centre, Guildford has been languishing. Its development as a core emerged due to the first Port Mann in the 60's. Fleetwood also has a growing core, with a ton of new townhomes going in, which has dramatically spiked ridership on the 502 on Fraser Hwy.

Personally, I'd say to go with Newton, if it has to be one or the either. If we put SkyTrain, along with an expanded Hwy 1, at Guildford, it will again shift growth out of the City Centre. Whalley needs to remain the primary focal point of development in Surrey, otherwise it will never succeed.

Keeping King George as the terminus (with perhaps at most an extension to Green Timbers to service the new Outpatient Hospital, RCMP E-Division, and School District HQ), and building a much more extensive LRT network across the burbs makes a lot more sense to me. In this way, pedestrian traffic must transfer and funnel around the City Centre to get around, making and retaining it's place as the focal point of Surrey. Plus, then it's no longer a question of Guildford versus Newton, because we could afford both.
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