As I sit in the living room of Robert and Diana Schwab’s 1970s back-split home on No. 2 Road, south of Steveston Highway, the constant stream of traffic is more of a visual disturbance than an auditory one.
They have had exterior windows fitted over their original single panes, which have gone a long way toward reducing the traffic noise.
That may be the only adaptation they have made to keep up with the changing circumstances around them; from the white brick fireplace to the wooden closet doors in the hall, the stylish features have all been left in their original condition.
Geographically, much has changed since they moved in.
“There was a ditch down there that could swallow a Greyhound bus,” says Robert, pointing across the road. In addition, the dense Westwind subdivision behind their lot didn’t exist — it was all farmland stretching from Railway Avenue eastward to their back yard.
In the 1970s, the farmland was sold off for development and they watched through their back windows as an entire stylish subdivision quickly rose up in place of their mile-long view.
Now, almost 40 years later, that subdivision is getting a facelift. There were 28 demolition permits and 22 new build permits issued for houses in Westwind in 2016.
If the development of the Westwind subdivision in the ‘70’s was like planting a second-growth forest, then walking through the neighbourhood today feels like a stroll through an area in the process of being selectively logged and re-planted.
Tell-tale orange vinyl fencing is around the trees, rather than the homes they adorn, signaling that this house too, shall soon fall.
No. 2 Road, now a main thoroughfare for getting to and from Steveston Village, wasn’t always so busy.
“There wasn’t a light at the end of the road and there was very little traffic going along here,” says Robert.
Like many couples who have been together most of their lives, they are quick to elaborate on each other’s points.
“Before the traffic light, we had all the main traffic — like truckers and stuff — go up Railway to get into Steveston Village,” quips Diana. But the truckers had a tight turn onto Railway and a large ditch to avoid, so No. 2 Road became the new “in-road.”
No. 2 Road is built on the infamous soft, silty soil for which Richmond is known.
“It’s like building it up on top of a marshmallow,” says Robert, as he discusses the frequent re-paving of the road in front of their home. This soft soil means that the Schwabs have seen many sink holes appear on the east side of the road.
Several years ago, their neighbour almost lost a car in one. An extensive revision (widening of the road) is planned, utilizing the unpaved land which is prone to sink holes.
Robert is concerned.
“What happens when they move the road over there and then the trucks and everything [are] going over it?” he asks.
The Schwabs, though, are going with the flow of their neighbourhood’s metamorphosis, and won’t be leaving their well-loved home anytime soon. They are more concerned with practical matters — getting in and out of their driveway, which is difficult enough as it is, and the noise.
“That’s it — loud,” says Diana. “You can’t even talk to anybody on the street anymore.”
Judie Schneider is a local, freelance writer
