91原创 used to be talked about as a community with a rural side, and a suburban side.
Increasingly, we can say that it鈥檚 not that suburban. The developed parts of 91原创, City and Township, are pretty much urban, or will be within a generation.
New development in Willoughby and the future South Brookswood region will be denser than older land use models in areas like Walnut Grove or Murrayville. Highrises are here and more may be on the way, with several towers proposed around Willowbrook. SkyTrain and bus rapid transit will cement 91原创鈥檚 transformation from what was a relatively sleeply outer suburb in the 1970s and 1980s to a vibrant part of Vancouver鈥檚 metro area, with higher density in many areas than parts of Vancouver itself.
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What sets the outer suburbs apart from Vancouver and its immediate neighbours, however, is the presence of large swathes of active farmland on our doorstep.
From eastern Richmond through Delta, Surrey, 91原创, and across the river in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge, we have two communities rubbing shoulders.
We have the increasingly urbanized world where folks are as likely to live in townhouses and condos as in split-level homes on quarter-acre lots.
And then we have the Agricultural Land Reserve, preserving active farms that range from high-intensity greenhouses, hog farms, and poultry operations, all the way to low-key hobby farms of a couple of acres.
The main benefit of all this agricultural lands remain food secure and the preservation of agricultural jobs.
But the secondary benefit is that people inside the ALR and out of it can have the best of both worlds.
Dotted with municipal and regional parks, the ALR is a refuge for people who spend most of their days on asphalt or inside urban cores. For the hundreds of thousands of people living in our region, it鈥檚 a place to see birds, wildlife, and native plants, to go for a run, a bike ride, or even spend an afternoon on horseback.
There are few places where you can live in a condo, but be within a few minutes of wide-open farmland.
We are lucky to live in one of them.
鈥� M.C.
