New Westminster is growing.
The city is increasingly attracting young, diverse professionals and their families, new businesses and an array of exciting new bars, restaurants, and social spaces. The city’s population, now nearly 80,000, is growing by more than 2% a year. But how do we keep housing prices in check while continuing to grow?
New West is a city on the rise and a community that needs to be encouraging and harnessing smart housing and community cohesion.
High-profile housing issues, such as the effects of international investors and the complicated web of money laundering, continue to grab headlines, and cause us all to point fingers at this being the root cause of an increase to housing prices over the past few years.
However, there is a less provocative cause which sits at the core of the issue of housing prices, and this is supply and demand of housing. If we are not focused on continuing to develop and build, while our population grows, we are trapping ourselves into forcing prices to increase.
We should be focused on putting plans in place to prioritize and expedite the development of high-quality, diverse housing options that make life better in our city.
The housing cycle is long. It takes time to design, permit and build the housing that we require to meet our population growth. Restrictions to the process will likely not be felt for several years, but decision-makers need to be acting now to secure smart growth for the future.
Smart growth means providing density through a diversity of housing options including townhomes, midrise buildings and properly located highrises in neighbourhoods that offer comfort, convenience and connectivity for New West families and newcomers.
So, who decides which communities experience this growth? Ultimately, the city’s council votes to approve each project, but below that, the city’s planners have spent their careers working to achieve these directives and they look at the big picture.
We should pause to reflect on why they recommend projects to move forward, and others to stall, and think about how delaying well-planned housing projects will ultimately cause housing prices to keep increasing.
Our steady growth rate, attractive urban lifestyle and central location means demand for housing will continue to be a pressure point for our city and our residents. But there are solutions to this complex challenge.
Aragon has two projects in the Port Royal neighbourhood that demonstrate diverse housing options for a variety of homeowners in an area that has ample green space, amenities, and access to the river, while also maintaining direct access to downtown New West and the Metro Vancouver region.
Residents of the entire Port Royal neighbourhood walk by each other on the riverfront walkway, and kids play together at the Port Royal Park.
With only a few two and three-bedroom homes remaining at The Peninsula, we are now seeing this vibrant community come to life. Additionally, our Light House project will be another example of a smart housing solution, with sales starting this Spring on 87 one, two and three-bedroom modern loft-style homes.
Port Royal has become better linked to the city’s and the region’s broader fabric. Once cut off by the river, the Q2Q Ferry now properly connects Port Royal residents to the New Westminster Quay in as little as five minutes.
Smart growth has to hinge on developing the community in addition to homes. The growth of an area doesn’t happen by accident and doesn’t happen overnight. Aragon has been building homes for more than 30 years and we feel the best is yet to come.
Living the New West lifestyle now means you can stroll the scenic boardwalk at the Quay in the morning, sample the local beer in Sapperton at lunch and then have a barbecue with your family at the park near your home in Port Royal in the evening. That, we believe, should be the outcome of smart development.
Luke Ramsay is Aragon Properties’ development manager.
