[New Westminster] The Brewery District | Mixed-Use | U/C

[DKaz]

My $10 says it's Extra Foods.

[Distill3d]

^IGA would be a better bet than that.

[hollywoodnorth]

ya Extra Foods does not add new locations any more.

IGA, Save-on, Safeway and Thrifties all are actively adding locations in Metro Vancouver.

[officedweller]

Thanks for posting.

Interesting that this plan reverses the previous proposal - where the towers were at the "back" of the site along Columbia St.

However, the large floorplate mid-rise blocks along Columbia in this proposal are better suited for commercial / retail than a condo tower podium would be.

Looks good, although it would have been nice to see one of the condo towers out of allignment with the others to break up the uniformity along Brunette.

[twoNeurons]

I don't know about this area. I've taken a look at the suites in Anvil because I was curious.

You're at the corner of a hospital, a major thoroughfare, a working trainyard, a skyTrain and a traffic mess.

You can't go out onto your balcony without hearing an Ambulance, a freight train or the constant din of traffic.

[Metro-One]

Well hopefully anyone with half a brain who moves in that development can see that for themselves before they buy and understand that as a trade off for living so close to a skytrain station and other facilities.

[cornholio]

Originally Posted by vanman

I'm guessing you've never actually lived near a brewery before. I used to live only a couple blocks up from the Labatts brewery when it still existed and let me tell you the smell that permeated the neighborhood was so potent you could never get used to it. Imagine a sweet yeast aroma so thick that you could almost taste it and that is what all of Sapperton smelled like 24/7

Oh I remember the smell But atleast I appreciated the smell so it never bothered me.

I lived on Simpson street not even a quarter way up the hill so super close to the brewery. This project has been around for a while but it seemed to have stalled until now.

[cornholio]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Well if we build the things we need closer to home at local factories then we do not need to ship wood all the way to Asia or elsewhere, have them build it into furniture (creating jobs) and then have it shipped back over here for us to buy.

That is the problem in BC, far to many resources leave this province with almost no value added to them.

With a population of 3 million possibly by 2021, not everyone can be employed by the knowledge and non existent business sectors around here. Some industrial areas are growing, but they are all out in the valley, so in the end we have done nothing to reduce the carbon footprint, because the jobs are still located far from where people live (with no good transit connections) and we are still shipping our raw materials around the world, just for them to be shipped back again to us as a finished product.

Of course I understand that we always need trade and strong shipping connections, but it would be nice to build at least a little bit more of what we use locally. And also, maybe add a little more value to our exports.

its called a global economy.
its cheaper to ship the wood to china, add "value" to it there, and then ship it back.

[Metro-One]

Actually if you do a little more research there are actually many ways we can bump up locally manufactured goods. Such as putting a lot more of our forests in the hands of local communities instead of 25 year long contracts awarding huge areas of land to international conglomerates. People like to so simply write off our manufacturing with "its global economy, done" instead of actually thinking of ways to increase work in our area.

But this is a debate for another thread.

[SpongeG]

nice idea - but Brunette is brutal - and Columbia can back up for miles - almost all the way under the Patullo Bridge some days and along front street - getting home would suck - they need an alternate route that maybe extends off front street into the industrial area and onto Coquitlam- that might alleciate some of the Brunnette traffic

[vanman]

Originally Posted by cornholio

Oh I remember the smell But atleast I appreciated the smell so it never bothered me.

I lived on Simpson street not even a quarter way up the hill so super close to the brewery. This project has been around for a while but it seemed to have stalled until now.

Craziness! I lived on Simpson st as well but only for a couple of years.

[vanman]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

I don't know about this area. I've taken a look at the suites in Anvil because I was curious.

You're at the corner of a hospital, a major thoroughfare, a working trainyard, a skyTrain and a traffic mess.

You can't go out onto your balcony without hearing an Ambulance, a freight train or the constant din of traffic.

There are quite a few other established neighborhoods in New West that are just as close to railways, skytrain and Columbia St traffic. I don't think it's that big of an issue. People will be willing to put up with all the negatives in exchange for incredible views and presumably low prices.

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

nice idea - but Brunette is brutal - and Columbia can back up for miles - almost all the way under the Patullo Bridge some days and along front street - getting home would suck - they need an alternate route that maybe extends off front street into the industrial area and onto Coquitlam- that might alleciate some of the Brunnette traffic

To be fair... I think most commuting patterns would make use of the far less congested SkyTrain station... Of course, if they put in a shuttle service, that option would be FAR less attractive.

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by cornholio

its called a global economy.
its cheaper to ship the wood to china, add "value" to it there, and then ship it back.

Cheaper, perhaps... but better?

In the end, I'll bet the goods cost about the same anyway. Let's be honest, the global economy hasn't done a lot in regards to making things cheaper... unless one is talking quality. Yes, it does add value... it adds to the net worth of the few that run the multinational companies. Globalism has succeeded in wealth concentration.

The global economy has taken advantage of cheaper labour in developing countries to make things cheaper to produce for large multinational companies. It has not make people in general more wealthy. It has also helped create a revolving consumer culture. Buy something built to break, then buy another.

Of course, it's not as simple as that, but the global economy isn't all roses, for sure... hasn't solved much in the way of problems and has created new ones.

I remain skeptical of the benefits of globalism... but perhaps I can be convinced otherwise.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

To be fair... I think most commuting patterns would make use of the far less congested SkyTrain station... Of course, if they put in a shuttle service, that option would be FAR less attractive.

yes but it doesn't change the 24/6 traffic that uses it now - all those trucksd and noise - ick

[Windex]

With regards to the traffic woes, I'm assuming that they're banking on a significant portion of residents/visitors will be using the Skytrain. That said, it'll make for a good connection between Sapperton Station and the rest of the neighbourhood. As it stands, other than the connection to the hospital, that station seems a bit useless.

[SpongeG]

i know a few people who live in sapperton - one as far away as the graveyard and they use it

[jlousa]

Cool video on the BC Hydro site about the Brewery district, the model looks really good.

http://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/ps..._district.html

[DKaz]

Originally Posted by Distill3d

^IGA would be a better bet than that.

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

ya Extra Foods does not add new locations any more.

IGA, Save-on, Safeway and Thrifties all are actively adding locations in Metro Vancouver.

Haters!!! Fine I put $10 on Buy Rite foods. Or Buy Low. Hahaha.

[twoNeurons]

I was in the Sapperton area the other day. It's REALLY hard to find free parking in that area... due to the hospital.

Would be a pain for friends to come by if they were driving... but then again, Columbia makes it unpleasant anyhow.

Another thing I noticed was the noise. Not only from Columbia, but from the hospital, the trainyard and SkyTrain.

I can imagine getting woke up by the shunting of trains at night. I hope those buildings have good insulation. I've heard horror stories from friends who rented up the hill ( outside walls with no insulation ).

Also, wasn't Anvil the place that the owner ran out of money and asked for more money from buyers?