Urban Surrey Civic Surrey

The latest census results were released this morning and they showed that in Metro Vancouver, the largest population growth was found in Surrey and Port Moody. From the Surrey Leader: “Surrey’s population grew 18.6 per cent to 468,251, an increase of more than 73,000 since the previous count in 2006. The City of Vancouver gained about 25,000 residents, or 4.4 per cent over the five-year period, to 603,502. Port Moody climbed 19.9 per cent to 32,975.” It would seem Surrey is living up to its slogan, The Future Lives Here.

Statistics Canada map via Surrey Leader

There’s one blog I turn to when it comes to finding out about Surrey’s urban planning, development, and transit strategies. Paul Hillsdon’s Civic Surrey. I first found Paul’s personal blog in November of 2007 and in February of 2008, he launched Civic Surrey.

I wrote this about the promising 18 year-old at the time: “Our local green-powered, transit, political, and Metro Vancouver whiz kid Paul Hillsdon has just launched a new fully Surrey-centric website. Paul’s entries are entertaining, factual, occasionally hard-hitting, and valid in their opinions as a true Surreyite. I’m always pleased to promote anything form my hometown and it’s great to see such a nicely executed source for Surrey talk and content now online.”

Paul has also independently run for City Council and local office a few times since. As the blog’s fourth anniversary rolls by, I encourage you to explore its archives in order to learn more about this ever-changing urban – and still agricultural – centre. Here’s a small sampling of the topics he and contributing author Nathan Pachal have covered:

• Bing Thom wins Design Exchange Award for Surrey Library
• Time to Revive the B-Line in Surrey
• First Phase of Cloverdale’s West Village Revealed
• 54-Storey Tower Joinging City Hall Soon
• Just How Walkable Are Surrey’s Town Centres?
• The Beginning of Surrey’s Financial District?
• … and many more

Photo credit: rbrtwhite on Flickr – Submitted to the Miss604 Flickr Pool.

For a unique photo project, check out Robert White’s Nicholson Road column on Vancouver is Awesome. He provides a small blurb an a photo about a community, park, or area in the region outside of downtown Vancouver.