In case you haven’t noticed, anything with a whiff of Steveston tends to be, shall we say, highly expressed upon. Even during Peak Rain, you’re bound to find a tinderbox.
Today, we’re finally (I think) seeing the conclusion of one of those darn fires — the Onni saga at the Imperial Landing waterfront. Now, gear up for the next great sagas.
Leading the pack is a new Steveston Community Centre. It’s a conversation that may have more meaning than at first glance, as rumour isI the site could densify to include affordable housing, perhaps for seniors — a telling proposal.
Regardless of whether this becomes a reality, it reflects a trend. Just a stone’s throw away, a 107-unit seniors housing complex at the Steveston Buddhist Temple is coming. With The Maple Residences up and running and a new Lions Manor in the works, you may be seeing a pattern developing.
Statistics Canada tells us that, in Steveston, baby-generating millennials packed into condos are outnumbered by geriatric boomers in near empty homes, by about two to one.
And regardless of age, as population growth isn’t subsiding, the pressure to build up will increase.
So, decisions will need to be made on not just what kind of community centre people want, but also who it’s for. The same can generally be said about housing, where some new condos are being marketed to downsizing boomers.
And there’s a lot more food for thought: Save-On Foods is coming; the Phoenix Seine Net Loft is being restored for $11.5 million; Garry Point Park is getting a new $2 million pier; and No. 2 Road, south of Steveston Highway, is being widened and getting a bike path for $12.5 million.
In the long term, residents will surely be tasked to either defend farmland east of No. 2 or let development spread, perhaps under the guise of affordable housing. Along their new bike path, some may be mindful of past encrochments on farmland that has resulted in a row of mega mansions.
Awaiting more feedback are pliable plans to revamp Moncton and Chatham streets for better pedestrian use (planter benches, special lights etc.) and to further develop Bayview Street. Meanwhile Coun. Harold Steves is pushing to better inform the public about our Indigenous roots at Britannia. I’m curious to see if the Sakata home and garden on First Avenue is spared by the city.
Of course, parking and transit will be discussed beyond our deaths.
The Village is so hotly debated because, as the de facto capital of the palatial state of West Richmond, it remains the city’s political, historical and cultural hub — although it increasingly shares that distinction with the Chinese temples, malls and restaurants.
Here, for better or for worse, the cannery closures left a century’s worth of historic buildings — from a dark, industrious past — vulnerable to development. Such forces will continue to alter the Village’s sense of place held by all Richmondites, regardless of what neighbourhood they live in.
