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| Ideal Non-Hirise Residential Development |
Protect Lynn Valley
Another Metrotown?
But is Burnaby, much less the Metrotown development a reasonable thing to compare? Let's put that to test - DNV vs Burnaby, in a development slapdown. A battle of the suburban titans!
- DNV has a population of about 84,000. Burnaby approaches 225,000, or about 2 1/2 times as big.
- DNV covers 160 sq/km; Burnaby 90. About half as much space.
- How crowded? DNV has 525 people per sq/km; Burnaby nearly five times as many at 2400.
- DNV population grew by a paltry .3% between 2001 and 2005; Burnaby's by 4.6%. (that's 15 times as much growth!)
Some other numbers:
- Median earnings - DNV $33,426; Burnaby $25,377
- Family Size - DNV 3.1; Burnaby 2.9
- Percent of population who are immigrants: DNV 31%; Burnaby 50%
At a glance I'm prepared to say that it's pointless to compare Burnaby and the District of North Vancouver. They're entirely different, and the likelihood of DNV ever looking, feeling, or being like Burnaby approaches zero.
Oh but those towers! Surely if we allow towers Lynn Valley will be EXACTLY like Metrotown!!
Again, let's step back and compare what's proposed:
Metrotown's Station Square development proposes five towers, as do the Safeway and Zellers proposals for Lynn Valley, but that's about where the similarity ends.
Metrotown is buildings towers ranging from 35 to 57 stories, with 1800 residential units.
The Lynn Valley proposals have asked for two 6 floor towers, one 14 floor, and two 22 floor buildings, with just over 600 units.
It's pointless to compare the two. They're simply so different that there's nothing useful to be learned from the designs. And of course, the middle of Burnaby is entirely different from Lynn Valley anyhow.
Oh! But the OCP, and City Council in the back pockets of developers! They're all lying to us!
There's no point in debating conspiracies or hypotheticals. I'd rather look at what's on the table and see how to make it best fit the future of this town.
Once you've thrown out the silly Metrotown comparisons, you're left with a reasonable set of questions, and probably with what District staff have been looking at.
- What can you build to replace the empty Library building and the empty Zellers building?
- What is going to happen to a very old, very small, and probably slated for closing or redevelopment Safeway?
(Of course, the unspoken question is what's so bad about Metrotown? An awful lot of people like to work, shop, and live there.)
One More Note: in order to get the DNV density to match Burnaby's 2,463/sq.km we would need another 310,000 people to move in - 3 1/2 times the current population. And we would need to build nearly 100,000 new residential units to house them.
One More Note: in order to get the DNV density to match Burnaby's 2,463/sq.km we would need another 310,000 people to move in - 3 1/2 times the current population. And we would need to build nearly 100,000 new residential units to house them.
http://www.city-data.com/canada/Burnaby-City.html
http://www.vancouversun.com/homes/five+tower+transformation+Metrotown/7427057/story.html
Pre-notification letter for the existing Safeway store
Pre-notification letter for Lynn Valley Centre
