i have heard that whalley is the armpit of canada, which seems hard to believe because ive been to sault st marie, and espanola ontario, but seriously, whats it like ive never been

I've never heard of Whalley. I have heard that about Sudbury and Windsor.

whalley is part of surrey bc, i believe at one point it was its own town before surrey existed

i have driven around whalley a few times and found it to be like anywhere else...some decent places, some horrid places. I wouldnt live there, but i dont think it is as bad as people make it out to be....mind you the stats do say a lot.

Hi! I grew up in Whalley. I live Downtown Vancouver now but I still have to commute through Whalley everyday on my way to work so I know the area very well.

For one, it is nothing like Sudbury or any shitty Ontario town for that matter. There are major differences when you cross the rockies as with everywhere, so even our poor areas differ a lot from back east. By the way, I thought Hamilton was the armpit of Canada.

Whalley has no big polluting industry like you see in Hamilton. The area is primarily low-density residential, with a mix of scrubby one-storey run-down stucco homes (typically grow ops), monster homes, and average sized homes. There are a lot of familes in the area, with dad's usually being bikers, mechanics or drug dealers, and the kids are generally thugged out.

Recently in the last 5 years there has been a big increase in ethiopians around Whalley. You see them everywhere you look now, and it's kind of funny because they are straight off the boat yet decked out in G-Unit 50 cent wear. Its as though immigration Canada is just handing the clothing out, as they don't seem to know what it is their wearing.

Whalley used to have a lot of hookers, but the numbers are going down.

Walking on the street in Whalley can be risky. You have a good chance of getting jumped for whatever you have on you, and drive by "throwing of things at you" is common. Even if your not a hooker.

The epicentre of Whalley is Surrey Central Skytrain Station, where you find a lot of drug dealing, ppl getting jumped, ghetto people in general hanging around, mixed with commuters on their way to and from work from Vancouver.

The car of choice in Whalley is usually something lowered with rims. It's been this way ever since I moved there in 1994. In a way, physically, it resembles a mini-compton without the risk of being shot, and much less black people but landscape and buildings, as well as mentality - yes. There are a lot of Drive-Byes in whalley. Read the local papers and you will see one in there every other week.

With all this bad mouthing you would think Whalley is a horrible place. But really it is quite well landscaped in places, their are gourgious views of the mountains to the north, and the area is turning around with Central City and a few other condo towers going in.

Lately a large number of the crack shacks have been leveled, leaving a huge portion of Whalleys central area nothing but streets and fields between them. Its like a tornado went through. Kind of a harsh measure to turn the area around but I suppose it had to be done.

Not sure what Whalley is like????
Its like the world's biggest trailor park of 100,000 and everyone is stoned, drunk, or just got out of prison.

The whole Surrey is pretty crappy.

it is nothing like Sudbury or any shitty Ontario town for that matter.


What’s wrong with Sudbury?

http://www.sudburyphotos.ca/data/503/1snorth1.jpg

http://www.sudburyphotos.ca/data/502/379canada135.jpg


http://www.sudburyphotos.ca/data/502/923dowtownsudbury.jpg

By your description of Whalley I can honestly say that no Ontario community is that bad.

Its like the world's biggest trailor park of 100,000 and everyone is stoned, drunk, or just got out of prison.

Funny you should mention. I was on the bus in Whalley last week and a guy sitting across from me in an all grey sweatsuit, and generic no label white shoes with a purple bracelet leans over and asks some young girls "Can I use your phone, I just got out of jail and need to phone my wife"

It's not a trailor park though.

The whole Surrey is pretty crappy.

Uhh hardly.

Fraser Heights, much of Guildford, Eastern parts of Newton, Fleetwood, Panorama Ridge are all very nice places. Makes the rest of Canada look like a dive.

The whole Surrey is pretty crappy.

Ever heard of South Surrey? The Morgan Creek area, Ocean Park and most other parts of south Surrey are very nice.

But it is true about Whalley. I got out of my car near central city station a few weeks ago and heard what was probably gun shots, I saw a some guys doing crack and drinking outside the Whalley library which is located directly under the tracks. I know of someone who has a house there and they cant sell it because drug dealers moved into the neighbour hood. Although I hear the problem is getting better and infinity should help.

Well horrible might be an unfair discription but the word lovely certainly doesn't apply to it. Its certainly not the posh bit of Surrey. I'd rather be in White Rock if forced into that city. ie Is White Rock still Surrey? Most people there would drop their rag if you mentioned the words South Surrey. They think they're Cheshire and Surrey is Manchester.

and isnt White Rock sort of apart of Surrey? and White Rock is up there with West Van.

^ If you live in South Surrey you tell people you live in White Rock, because the houses have the same value and the area is basicly the same just lower taxes in Surrey. White Rock is its own very small city, but its quite dense 25,000 people cramed in to a very small area.

Is there also an area called Panorama Ridge thats pretty posh too? I think thats South Surrey at least.

My first introduction to Surrey was when I was 15 in Toronto! I was in a international soccer tournment! Playing for a team from Nanaimo at the Robbies international tournament! I went to the washroom in a restaurant and read a Surrey girl joke! :cheers: Now beat that Surrey storey!

Panorama Ridge is still part of North Surrey, what seperates the two is low lying flood plain. I wouldnt call that area posh, it's pretty sububurban with large lots, with the exception of some new neighbourhoods pictured here:

http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/surrey/2005/syh2005_232.jpg

Their are some nice big homes in the area with good views, but it doesnt compare to South Surrey at all. If you take a drive around the Semiamoo Peninsula you see homes that look like the one on "Fresh Prince of Bel Air", on top of cliffs overlooking the ocean.

Fraser Heights is fairly upscale for Surrey, along with areas around 144th & 78th. Mansions everywhere with gourgious landscaping. Surrey is really diverse in class.

Ocean View from White Rock/South Surrey: SCROLL.......

http://www.cliffandgary.com/15478_Columbia_Avenue/Pictures/OceanView.jpg


http://www.cliffandgary.com/14608WestBeach/Panorama/View-High.jpghttp://www.cliffandgary.com/14608WestBeach/Panorama/View-High.jpghttp://www.cliffandgary.com/14608WestBeach/Panorama/View-High.jpg

Typical Condo Styles of Surrey: Haha notice the lowered Van with rims?

http://www.cliffandgary.com/105-15809-Marine/Pictures/BigView-Vista%20Del%20Mar.jpg

This is what you get in White Rock for 469,000....pretty crappy!!

http://www.cliffandgary.com/15777_Buena_Vista/Pictures/OutSide.jpg

Ocean View home.....not one of the nicer or larger ones. But still nice.

http://www.cliffandgary.com/15566BuenaVistaAve/Panorama/OutSide.jpg

The houses in Panorama ridge are absolutely huge, they seem bigger than the ones in West Van when your looking at them from a far distance, because the West Vancouver homes are built differently.

People in Surrey don't live in Surrey. They live in OceanPark or WhiteRock or CresentBeach or SouthSurrey..........never Surrey. They are too embarrassed that someone would think Whalley. Drug, prostitute, head-banger, crime ridden, dirty, unkept, where half the population is either right out of prison or on their way there.

WOW Thanks for posting those pics - very nice. Unfortunately there's plenty of Surrey I haven't seen. I was one of those Kits people that maybe made it as far as Guilford Centre or Surrey Central. Its a pretty big place - especially if you don't drive and depend on public transit.

eople in Surrey don't live in Surrey. They live in OceanPark or WhiteRock or CresentBeach or SouthSurrey..........never Surrey. They are too embarrassed that someone would think Whalley. Drug, prostitute, head-banger, crime ridden, dirty, unkept, where half the population is either right out of prison or on their way there.

Headbanger? What decade are you living in? lol

two fatal shootings in roughly two weeks

does anybody have pics of whalley, or is it the kind of place that you dont take pictures of for your own saftey. is it anywhere near scott road station?

Headbangers? I know it went out of style a long time ago but not in Surrey.
When I visit family in WhiteRock and have to get to SkyTrain I have to take the bus all the way up KingGeorge and it is nothing but a white trash express.
The Trailor Park Boys whould find it a bit too redneck for their tastes.

You can take pics in Whalley, its not that bad.

Your more likely to see a thug than a headbanger in Surrey. I am there everyday. There are lots of white trash people but I can't ever remember seeing a head banger in Surrey.

Yeah, since I moved to White Rock people who live in South Surrey commonly refer to themselves as living in White Rock. They ask where I live and then quietly state they live in S Surrey once they realize I'm almost on the beach and they're living along ~30th ave. :) It's kinda like someone saying they live in the British Properties in N Van (or W Van, whatever it is) but in actuality they live near the Quay.

But then again I refer to myself as living in "Vancouver." Should I be saying the lower mainland? Oi, too many question.

When talking to people in BC, you can probably just say White Rock, they will know what you mean...but when your out of province, then it's easier to say Vancouver. White Rock is a bit too far out of Vancouver to be considered a part of it I think, even though its in the GVRD. If all the land in between was urban, then i'd say otherwise.

There's gonna be a special section on the building boom in Whalley in tomorrow's Vancouver Sun.....Business Section.

Yeah I saw that =) Can't wait to read it...that rendering they had in there looked good, I hadnt seen one from that viewpoint.

Read it...didnt say much really

^ i thought it would've said a lot more since they put an ad out for the article. here it is:



Condo-mania transforms Whalley into 'urban village'
Attractive prices see entire 346-unit development sold out in seven hours

Gillian Shaw
Vancouver Sun


Wednesday, June 01, 2005

It was late at night when marketing manager Dan Thomson left a condominium development that was to go on the market the following morning, and he made a bet with a colleague that the first buyers would be lined up before he returned.

By 5 a.m. the lineup had already formed, and in seven hours the entire project -- 346 condominiums worth a total of $79 million -- was sold out.

That would come as no surprise if the address was at the gates of the University of B.C. or trendy Yaletown or waterfront Coal Harbour, but the project is in Surrey, where Infinity at Central City is helping to transform Whalley into what it calls "urban village living."

With Tower One sold out, Infinity at Central City is now gearing up for the launch this month of Tower Two, which promises to be a repeat of the buying frenzy that marked the project's first sale.

Already 1,150 people who arrived too late to get dibs on the first tower, expected to be completed in a little over two years, have pre-registered for the second sale. And another 700 signed up on the project's website after the first tower sold out.

It's a striking illustration of a trend sweeping out from downtown Vancouver, as condo-mania shifts to the suburbs.

The difference in bottom line between a city condo and one farther out can be as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"Vancouver, geographically, is limited by its land area, and the easiest way to not have to live in Chilliwack is to create vertical living," said Thomson, MAC Real Estate Solutions' project manager for Infinity, which is the creation of Jung Developments, a division of the South Korean-based Jung Group.

"Ten years ago, vertical living was not a positive for a lot of people," he continued. "Now, high-rise living is well received."

While suburban status used to be found in a humongous house and a lawn and garden that could fill up much of a homeowner's time, today's suburban chic is as likely to be a view condo with a Starbucks and a SkyTrain stop on the doorstep.

"People want an active lifestyle, and having a big home with big property that needs to be maintained doesn't fit with that," said Thomson. "This is carefree living -- you lock your door and go away. It's simple.

"You want to enjoy a yard, but don't have the time to take care of it, it's taken care of. You want a fitness area at your home, it's taken care of."

Bill Morrison, a partner in MAC with Jason Craik & Cameron McNeill, said he was surprised at the sales frenzy at Infinity, a response that once would have been reserved for city core developments.

"None of us would have believed there would be that dramatic a response," he said. "There is a pent-up demand in the suburbs, especially for concrete product that is affordable.

"Go four or five stops on a SkyTrain [toward downtown] and you will spend $50,000 to $60,000 more for the same product.

"It seems Vancouver is the core, and every time the price goes up a dollar per square foot in the core, it works its way right out to the suburbs."

The Lower Mainland is experiencing a trend long seen in other centres linked by rapid transit, where each stop outward from the city centre can carry a price reduction for the real estate around it.

On the same day that MAC launched Infinity, it also opened another project, Park 360 at Edmonds in Burnaby. Half of that project's 200 units sold, with the overall price points well over those in the Surrey project.

"It was four SkyTrain stops away, and the difference in price for a one bedroom was $70,000," said Craik.

One-bedroom condos in the Infinity towers start at $139,900, or about an average of $300 per square foot. Contrast that to downtown Vancouver, where the company is doing some smaller loft projects as high as $600 a square foot, and a development on Homer in the $530-per-square-foot range.

Buyers were split between investors taking advantage of the increased equity higher home prices have brought them to buy more real estate, and first time buyers.

"Our investors and our buyers came from everywhere," said Craik. "I didn't think people would come across the bridge to buy, but they did.

"There were a lot of people from Vancouver, from West Vancouver, White Rock, Langley.

"Some doctors came out and bought because Surrey Memorial hospital is just a stone's throw away and it would give them a place to stay if they didn't want to drive home."

TO INFINITY, AND BEYOND:

Buzz Lightyear's rallying cry from the 'Toy Story' movies could apply to Jung Developments' Infinity at Central City, the Surrey condo megaproject that can't seem to build units fast enough for its market.

7 hours: Time it took for Phase One of Infinity at Central City to sell out all 346 units.

$79 million: Value of sold Phase One units.

1,150: Number of potential buyers pre-registered for Phase Two, to go on sale this month.

$300: Per-square-foot cost of one-bedroom condos in the Infinity towers.

$600: Per-square-foot cost of some of Jung Developments' smaller downtown Vancouver lofts.

Source: Jung Developments

Ran with fact box "To Infinity, and Beyond", which has beenappended to the end of the story.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005