For an area that doesn't have much retail or commercial - or anything other than single-family detached homes - the West End of New Westminster has a character built from the history of its longtime residents.
It's known as one of the Royal City's most stable neighbourhoods, as it's not uncommon for your neighbours to have lived there for more than 50 years.
Elmer Rudolph, president of the West End Residents' Association, has lived in various locations in the West End since he was 12 years old. If anybody knows about the West End of New Westminster, it's Rudolph.
In the early '50s, he lived in the area then known as the DL (District Lot 172), but now currently known as Connaught Heights. He then moved closer to 12th Street before moving in 1962 to his current location on Eighth Avenue, not far from Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary, just before marrying wife Margo.
The couple have lived in their cosy home for more than 52 years, but it was only last year that Margo became an official owner of the home they've lived in.
"Back then, if you were a single female under 20, you couldn't own property," said Margo. "We bought the house with $2,500 down toward the $13,400 total cost, and it was in Elmer's name."
Margo said her friends worried about her and if things went south, she could be left without a home.
"I wasn't ever worried," said Margo.
"Who would cook for me?" joked Elmer.
The couple forgot about this until late 2012, when it was time to look at their wills.
"We just asked if we could do one more thing, and that's how she finally became an owner of this place," said Elmer.
Simply put, if you live between Sixth Avenue/Marine Way and 10th Avenue, from 12th Street to 20th Street and River Drive south of Marine Way, you live in the West End.
The story of the River Drive residents is particularly interesting, as in 2009, the West End Residents' Association was asked by the Brow of the Hill Residents' Association to change the boundaries to allow Brow of the Hill to represent residents between Sixth and Stewardson, west of 12th Street. The affected River Drive residents asked to stay with the West End association and hence, the residences located below Stewardson Way and accessed by River Drive remained part of the West End of New Westminster.
According to 2001 census data, the area has a population of just more than 4,300 people, an average household income of $71,653, 71 per cent of the properties are owner-occupied dwellings, 65 per cent are detached homes, only 10 per cent are apartments and the other 25 per cent are other, ground-oriented buildings.
What drew Elmer and Margo to the area 50 years ago is what still draws people to the highly-sought-after area.
"It's such a stable area," said Elmer. "What I've always like about this neighbourhood is you can walk down the street and see people working on their yards and taking pride in their home. ... That's really nice to see, and it's what makes this neighbourhood so stable."
It's not all paradise in the West End, as the biggest problem is traffic that runs through the area, either people trying to access the Queensborough Bridge and the Fraser Valley, or people going the other way, either to the east side of New Westminster or Coquitlam and beyond.
"It's been that way for some time," said Rudolph. "We've actually noticed with how they've changed the traffic, it's not so bad along Eighth Avenue, but you can't say the same about 20th Street. ... You'll see the lineup up 20th start at around 2 p.m. as they go down the hill to the bridge.
"One other thing is you do get used to the sirens," said Rudolph, referencing the fire station at 13th Street and Edinburgh. "It's the main route for fire and ambulances to go through the city."
The Rudolphs have seen so many young and old families come and go, and now, they have the second-most seniority in the area, just behind neighbour Stan Campbell, who's lived in the area since the late 1930s.
"I'm never leaving here," said Campbell during an impromptu talk with Elmer in the alley they share. "My dad built this house, and it's home for me."
Former school trustee Brent Atkinson has lived in the West End for most of his life and is proud to be a Lord Tweedsmuir graduate.
"About 100 years ago, I went to Tweedsmuir," joked Atkinson. "All of my kids went there, and it really is one thing that hasn't really changed in the area."
Atkinson lived there as a child, moving away for school, but once he got married and was looking for a place to settle, there wasn't any other choice but the West End.
"It's probably the most convenient place to live to get in and around Vancouver and the Lower Mainland," said Atkinson, whose business dealings often take him to Surrey and Vancouver. "As long as I've lived in a house, I've lived in the West End."
Atkinson remembers how many retail choices used to be in the area, referencing the seven grocery stores that used to dot the area and the Hi-View Market on 20th Street, which was a busy full-service grocery store that even the large stores were scared of.
"Retail's changed so dramatically," said Atkinson. "Now, you have two cars in every family and they drive to retail centres instead of shopping closer to home. ... That wasn't what it was like back when I was going to school here."
"I remember Safeway used to send their people to check out the pricing at the Hi-View," said Rudolph. "The Hi-View was very successful until Woodward's opened its food floor in the mid-'50s."
On its eastern boundary, 12th Street also became less of a retail destination, and that's meant the enduring legacy of the West End of New Westminster has been its stable, longtime population base.
"One of my favourite things is to walk down the alley, see my neighbours and talk to them," said Rudolph. "Some have been there a long time, others have just moved into the area... Some of us are probably never leaving."
