Surrey is growing up, and while many elements of the awkward stage still remain, it is starting to take shape as a city in a way that it never has before.
Vancouver-based media and regional politicians have made fun of Surrey for years – certainly back as far as the 1960s. Much of this was due to the awkwardness of growing at a fast pace – much as happens with a teenager.
Surrey’s teen years have been lengthy. The community first started to move beyond its rural past in the 1940s when workers from New Westminster industries looked for accommodation nearby. As the Pattullo Bridge had opened in 1937, it wasn’t out of the picture to look to Surrey.
Growth really started to take off in Whalley in the late 1940s when it became Surrey’s third town, after Cloverdale and White Rock (which left Surrey to go down its own path in 1957).
During the 1950s and 1960s, suburban development took place in many corners of Surrey, mainly in the north end but also in several other areas of what was then a vast district municipality with many rural areas. Newton, Fleetwood, Ocean Park, Sunnyside, Fraser Heights and other areas went from mostly rural to suburban.
The first real large-scale urban development in Surrey came about in the mid-1960s, when Guildford Town Centre and adjacent apartments were developed and built by Grosvenor-Laing. This project was due to the opening of Highway 1 through North Surrey and the completion of the Port Mann Bridge, which brought Surrey within an easy drive of both Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
Surrey Place (now Central City) was developed in Whalley in the early 1970s and the two major urban areas were linked in a city plan known as the dumbbell plan, with urban nodes in Whalley and Guildford linked by 104 Avenue.
The 1970s also saw more development in many areas, particularly Newton, Whalley, Guildford and Fleetwood, as well as areas of South Surrey adjacent to White Rock.
In the 1980s, a severe recession and high interest rates hampered growth in Surrey. After Expo ’86, the Lower Mainland started to boom again and housing, retail, industrial and commercial construction has been on an almost non-stop pace since that time. In Surrey, areas like Campbell Heights, Grandview Heights, Morgan Creek, South Newton, Sullivan, West Cloverdale and Clayton have exploded.
Nowhere has this been more apparent than in Surrey City Centre (Whalley), where the opening of the SkyTrain line in 1994 and the construction of the Central City tower, both completed under an NDP provincial government, served as a catalyst for significant change.
Many new residential highrises have been built and others are under construction. A new city hall has been built. The transformation of the Technical University of B.C. into Simon Fraser University was a huge step forward and SFU has been one of the most important factors in urban revitalization.
There are still many social problems in that area of Surrey and others, and the city government has been challenged in how to respond. Most of these issues need significant federal and provincial resources.
Surrey is a big city in terms of population and its city centre has taken shape. Other areas of the city are urbanizing. The busiest and most important border crossings in Western Canada are in Surrey, and parks and recreational facilities are numerous.
Challenges remain in the areas of transit service, schools, health facilities and policing. Urban services are not always as available as they should be. However, in general, Surrey’s future is shaping up to be a bright one.
Frank Bucholtz writes weekly for The Leader.