New Westminster's 'Golden Mile' gets gold star for balancing history and development, residents say

Preserving local history while encouraging development isn't an easy balance for a city to strike. But, for one with a storied past like New Westminster, it's particularly important to get that balance right.  

To see how B.C.'s first capital city manages to balance its past and present, CBC's Polly Leger headed to the corner of Sixth Street and Columbia, an intersection that's been part of the downtown core since the city was built in 1858.

As part of its Intersections radio series, CBC's The Early Edition is looking at intersections as microcosms of broader community change.

Rob McCullough, manager of the city's museum and archives, said the area used to be called The Golden Mile and still has the original brick buildings that characterized the city at the turn of the century. Today the area is home to new apartments, stores and restaurants.

"I would say this intersection has been witness to all aspects of New Westminster life. The earliest time to the present day. It's seen the ups, it's seen the downs. It's seen a lot of resurgence in bits and starts throughout the years."

According to Wes Everaars, the director of development with the Lookout Emergency Aid Society, development in the area has found a way to bring new people into the downtown area without displacing people.

He pointed out the inclusion of supportive housing in the area, run by the Lookout Society.

"New West has been very progressive in maintaining its housing stock for folks who are living either in poverty or having affordability issues," he said.

"The number of social supports for seniors to youth, it's substantial. New Westminster is a real leader in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley to providing input to ways of dealing with social inequity."

It also involved some conscious decisions on the part of the city.

Jackie Teed, the city's manager of urban planning, said the city made the area more livable by making it less car-centric. In 2006, it changed the main road running through the intersection from a four-lane highway to a two-lane road, with more street parking and wider sidewalks. It also got rid of the Front Street Parkade from the base of Sixth Street.

"Until we did that, there was no [visual] connection to the sky or the distant Surrey Hills or the Fraser River," she said.

"The city is here because of the river, creating that connection at this intersection really makes it about what New Westminster is about."

The old heritage buildings have evolved as more people moved in. Some have became condos, like the lofts above the old police station, and some are offices and restaurants.

There's even a non-denominational church, The Five Stones, which opened up in a renovated Victorian warehouse a few years. Pastor Rich Kao said it was a strategic choice to come to New Westminster.

"We see a vitality coming here. We're excited to be part of that."

Keep listening! Catch the rest of the Intersections series on CBC's The Early Edition this week, Feb. 20 - 24, 2017.

To listen to the segment, click on the link labelled Intersections: Balancing old and new on New Westminster's 'Golden Mile'