West Coast, Best Coast

A morning stroll down Carnarvon Street took in the Salvation Army Thrift Store along the route.  It served as the anchor of my loop that eventually crossed the tracks and returned along the riverfront past the Pier West towers. I checked out the newly opened park facilities and plaza space installed at their base. 

This stretch of late summer reminds one precisely why living in British Columbia remains so agreeable. A persistent breeze finally swept up the Fraser today, evicting the grey haze of wildfire smoke that had settled over the river basin for less than two days and restoring proper visibility to the landscape.  Life in this corner of the province becomes effortlessly appealing when the weather behaves, and the upcoming forecast offers every reason to lean into it. With mostly sunny conditions stretching well into next week, daytime highs holding steady between 22°C and 26°C, and comfortable overnight lows around 11°C to 15°C, the calendar naturally fills itself. 

Whether mapping out extended afternoon walks, filling the days with outdoor errands, or simply lingering near the river, the immediate stretch ahead promises ideal conditions for an active agenda. Ultimately, turning a routine neighborhood walk into a smoke-free loop along the riverfront proves that when a favorable wind clears the air, life is perfectly fine. 

Our City Opens Up More Waterfront

After years of construction dust right outside our front door, the westward extension of Westminster Pier Park officially opened yesterday. The city and Bosa replaced that bleak old surface parking lot with two acres of proper green space, capping the underground parkade and seamlessly connecting Pier Park straight through to the Quayside Esplanade at last.

It is a well-designed stretch of riverfront. Beyond the open lawns and new trees, there is a central festival plaza with splash jets, a shaded stage, and a striking Coast Salish art installation titled Ebb and Flow. They even managed to squeeze in an outdoor gym, ping pong tables, and a dedicated dog relief area.

The community turned out this afternoon. Families milled around a food truck, kids invaded the water jets, and a few brave souls tested out a cold plunge setup by the boardwalk. The formal speeches and ribbon cutting wrapped up around 19:00, leaving live acoustic music to drift over the Fraser as the sun dipped. It is a genuine, long-overdue upgrade to our city's connection to the Fraser River.

Reclaiming the Waterfront

A Walk Through the Westward Expansion

With Jay over at the Bonsor Recreation Gym in Burnaby this morning, I headed down to the river around 10:30, phone in hand, to see how the city is doing with clawing back our waterfront from its old, creosote-soaked industrial past. The new westward expansion is finally hooking up the old pier park with the River Market; standing right under those massive Bosa towers, it is a funny contrast, seeing all that looming glass sitting right next to a fresh public greenway.

I wandered through Phase 1, which has been open to everyone since May. The city has crammed all sorts of things into these little "outdoor rooms," including a shiny new fitness circuit, ping-pong tables, and some nice, tiered wooden decks. 

Past the art, a chain-link still fences off Phase 2 and lets one know they are not quite finished. Peeking through the wire, I watched the crew working on the new concrete seating plinth and performance stage, which is a multi-tiered setup meant for casual river-watching or live acts once they finally open the central plaza. The rest of it, the spray park, the stage, and the dog zone, is all taking shape behind the barricades. Even the big play tower by the Sixth Street overpass is still locked tight while they hook up the plumbing for the new washrooms. Still, watching them work under the warm morning sun, you can tell the whole boardwalk is finally coming together.

Public Space Along the Riverfront

 

The Westminster Pier Park Extension will not be completed and officially opened until July.  There appears to be quite a bit more work to do.  However, a partial section opened this week. From our balcony, we could see people walking through the center area, but Jay and I didn't go to take a look until today.  

The land was 'donated' by the recently completed Pier West development.  It consists of two matching residential towers that stand 43 and 53 stories.  This land is adjacent to the existing riverfront park.  The two buildings block a chuck of my view down the Fraser River but the new amenities in our downtown neighbourhood definitely increase the livability of the whole area.  

As well as regular outside gym equipment I saw the outdoor table tennis installations.  When the landscaping is complete, the whole project will be quite nice and only around 500 meters from my living room sofa.

 

Saving the Ordinary

 

Ah, there is an ebb and flow in my eJournal narrative! Some entries are written while on an amazing journey while others, such as ths one, include just a few, ordinary photos. I do tend to snap photos a lot. It's become a habit and one I value. I appreciate the treasure of ordinary things I have captured during my life. 

The image above was taken as I walked through Pier Park on my way to the other end of downtown. I was passing the children's playground that sits under the pedestrian passage over rail tracks. 

The one below was snapped as I saw the newest sign along the busy construction of the Pier Park extention. Between and near the eastern side of the two, brand new 45 and 55 storey residental highrises, donated land will become a useful addition to my city's riverfront. It looks like the revised opening date will come this July.  I saw lots of workers cutting lumber, piles of landscaping dirt, and even saplings ready for their new home.

 

Lastly, I saved an image while in sittig in our condo's hot tub in our swimming pool area. The weather was cool outside but the inside water wasn't.

It's Been a Great Run of Good Weather

This photo was at taken from our balcony at 7:08 this morning.

 

The days have been extraordinarily clear and sunny lately.  I appreciate the nice weather as October can get pretty dreary some years.  

Last year, we didn't leave for the winter until the second week of November and I was more than ready to go somewhere I could see the sun!  This year, we will be in Sri Lanka on November 1st.  It takes a while to travel to the other side of the earth and we actually leave Vancouver two days before that!

So it is a pleasure having such a run of great weather.  This morning there was an interesting cloud but it continued on its way eastward.  The sky today has been predominantly sunny.  Yet, tonight's low may be 5°C so it definitely is time to start packing. 

$C\; so\; it\; is\; time\; to\; start\; packing.$

It's Progressing Even If Slowly ...

I took a short walk this morning.  The new 'Pier West' towers are finally occupied with a load of new residents.  The area between the buildings is getting ready but there's a great deal left to do on the Westminster Park expansion.  At least the boardwalk is partially opened now allowing access to the the Quay area.  For years, it was closed off from the eastern side of Westminster Pier Park and the riverfront.

It seems like it has taken forever, but actually the pier foundations for the historical canneries used to be along this area of the waterfront.  When we moved here in 1996, the whole site was just covered with asphalt and used as a parking area for the Quay.  

It took several years to remove all of that and shore up the area for development.  In June of 2019, the image below shows what the area looked like.  So although it's slow in coming, it will be a big benefit for all of downtown New Westminster, BC.

Reconnecting to the Fraser

Downtown New Westminster is finally getting back access to some of the Waterfront.  For years, the construction of the two high-rise buildings prevented access between Pier Park and the New Westminster Quay.

Even though the large towers block much of our view down the Fraser River, we always supported the construction.  When we arrived in the city in 1996, the area was a parking lot on the site of former canneries.  It was ugly and derelect.

The Pier West development will help make downtown a better place.  The hundreds of new residents will ensure better business environment and generate new opportunities.  The developer has even provided the city with additional park space.

Not all of the amenities are complete, but the path towards the front of the buildings was opened on June 30th.  For the first time today, I walked and saw where there will be future park benches and places to relax.  What a great new area to enjoy a view of the river!

I'm happy that over the remainder of the year, the city of New Westminster will continue to complete the park space.  It will make our summers even more enjoyable!

Changes in Construction Techniques

In my image taken this morning, brand-new condo towers stand 43 and 53 storeys in New Westminster, BC, Canada.  They are located at 660 and 750 Quayside Drive along the Fraser River waterfront.  COVID affected the construction timelines but now many owners have moved into these buildings.

In front of the megastructures, lies the Westminster Building in my photo.  It was was built for Westminster Trust in 1911 and 1912 and is considered the city's first skyscraper.  This image aligns with the rear of the building on Clarkson Street which rises seven storeys.  However, the front facade on Columbia Street is eight because of the sloping site along Begbie Street.  It was built after the city's 'Great Fire' of 1898.

The image demonstrates a juxtaposition between what was and is considered state-of-the-art in building construction over a period of 113 years.   One can also see a section of the SkyTrain rails between New Westminster Station but before they duck into the tunnel to the east at the Columbia Street Station.  We live just a few blocks to the east.

Pier West

I stepped onto the balcony.  It's 6°C at 9:31. The tiles were cold as I didn't have on slippers. We've noticed the towers are finally getting full of new residents.  The buildings block our view down the Fraser River but they are now a sight unto themselves.

A Closer Look at the Pier West Towers

 

From the balcony we have two huge new towers that block a bit of our view to the southwest and down the Fraser River. The development has been going on for a very long time. Of course, the land along the river had to be prepared for such large buildings.  The project is well over one year late most probably due to COVID-19 supply chain issues and delays.

 

During these years of ongoing construction, we have felt somewhat cut off from the New Westminster Quay.  However, earlier this week, we noticed cars and pedestrians walking along a formerly closed street next to Pier West.  We decided that a Sunday morning walk was required so we could see the area for ourselves.

The restaurants in the Quay were busy even though the main walkway over the train tracks to the Hyack Square was closed.  We could not walk all the way to Westminster Pier Park along the new boardwalk but we were able to get a better idea of the future.

Next summer is going to be more awesome as we will be able to reconnect with that end of the downtown riverfront.

In Our Neighbourhood

We've watched these towers grow along the river. I expect they'll soon be ready for occupancy as they were originally slated to be complete in 2022. They do cut off a quite a bit of the western view of the river from our balcony but at least they're thin and tall. There are much more unsightly views that could've been built.

 

The Progress on the Buildings

This has been an extraordinarily dry streak of weather. By the start of the school year, Metro Vancouver is often rainy and dark. One forecast for the area does mention that most of next week might be rainy. Nevertheless, I can't complain about September so far. In fact rather than June, July, and August. I'd like to suggest we can now count on the weather in July, August, and September.

   

These are the Pier West towers between Pier Pank and the New Westminster Quay. I had to snap another picture of the construction progress from our balcony. I'm pretty sure they are due for completion in 2024. The work doesn't seem like it's going fast. However, the cranes will eventually come down.  Upon our return from winter away, the exteriors should be pretty well complete.

'Farewell to Summer' Fireworks Festival 2023

 

My city had a fireworks display last night. They used to be part of our community's Hyack Festival event but now they take place at the end of August. A special barge is pulled into a location along the Fraser River. 

In past years we had an excellent view from our apartment balcony. As you see, the new Pier West towers blocked about half of the performance. Still, we can move to an alternate location in our strata complex by the swimming pool.  We would see the complete show from there.  Maybe it will move a little closer to Westminster Pier Park in future years.

The signature towers have also blocked most of the downriver views. Still, when they are completed and filled with new neighbours, I'm sure the improved downtown amenities will be worth more than our lost views.

 

A Day at Home Again

 

This is the first day in more than a month that doesn't have the French Riviera 2023 tag in the footer of the post.  However, we haven't completely returned to a normal schedule yet. Although we didn't go to sleep until after midnight and were exhausted from more than a dozen hours in the air, we woke up around 6:00 am. Oh my! It'll take a few days to get used to the nine-hour difference on the clocks.

We did miss some of the common views from the windows.  In our VRBO apartment, we could look down along the street and at buildings set back opposite us.  We miss the dog from one section.  We miss a black and white cat from another balcony.  We also can no longer see whether the clouds over the Alps or the breeze off the Mediterranean was winning a tug of war.

Yet early today, I did get reacquainted with the view off our balcony here!

 

Places for Lots of New Neighbours

These are the two residential towers taking shape along the New Westminster riverfront.  I look forward to the day we can continue walking from Westminster Pier Park along the Fraser River to our downtown New West Quay.  The site will be much improved from the tarred-over pier lots dating back to the days of old cannery buildings.

Along the New Westminster Riverfront

During the last month in New Westminster, we've had, what seems like, just four days of nice weather.  I surely hope the large amount of rain, especially over the last week, will ensure we don't have many forest fires later in the summer.

I did snap the top photo on a tiny walk this morning. We live in one of these buildings. Jay and I have owned an apartment at Carnarvon Place for 25 years this spring.   I've started taking more wide-angle shots with my cell phone lately.  I sort of like the perspective.  It shows that New Westminster is on quite a hill.  We are more than a few stories higher than our actual floor due to this situation. 

I walked to the bottom of Fourth Street and crossed Columbia Street.  From the parkade structure, there is an elevator with access to a waterfront park.  Pier Park is situated along the Fraser River.  From the elevator area, I looked up the river for this shot.  The transit-only SkyTrain bridge is closest.  The orange Patullo Bridge connects traffic to the city of Surrey, BC.  Since we arrived in this town in 1996, there'd been talk of replacing the aging span.  Finally, work is progressing on the new structure.  One can now see the large 'H' behind the bridges. 

Looking down the river, the largest change is the construction of the 53 and 43-storey, new residential towers at the river's edge.  Bosa's Pier West project was originally scheduled to be completed this year.  I think it's been pushed back, so perhaps 2024 will witness the completion of both projects on New Westminster's riverfront.

New Residential Towers

 

The weather seemed head and shoulders above that of recent days.  This was a photo taken from the balcony just now.

Unfortunately, I wasted a lot of the morning sleeping.  Last night, I had a fever from my COVID booster and didn't sleep well.  It was exactly zero Celsius this morning, so looking outside was better than being out anyway.

'Pier West' Development in New Westminster, BC

This building already blocks a substantial part of our downstream view of the Fraser River. Our balcony view will change, however, two residential towers should be a great addition to the New Westminster Riverfront.  

They do seem forever in coming.  Pier West by Bosa had to be constructed on the reclaimed riverfront, because former cannery foundations, dating from the 1880s, were simply built on piers.  Modern crews and equipment have had to create a basement and below-ground parking in what used to be water.  

The tower above will be 53 stories when completed and its companion below just 43.  

I have had a great chance to see our downtown grow.  When we moved to this city in 1996, there were just a few high-rise residencies (including where we live).  Now, there are dozens.

Construction of Pier West Towers

Today, the weather was a great deal better than yesterday.  I walked to the other end of Columbia Street but back through Westminster Pier Park. Today was definitely time to take another photo or two of the riverfront development between the park and the quay. 

I have to say this project, perhaps because of its nature, is taking a relatively long time. Granted, the site needed a vast amount of preparation as the old piers needed to be removed and the land reclaimed from the Fraser River.  Still, there are other downtown projects much further along in their progress, some of which started just a year ago. 

The first project photo in my special Flickr album was taken in the fall of 2018!  This one was from a few hours ago.