For a long time, there was little political traction for the idea. It was in the 5- to 10-year plan, but there was no budget to support it. Finally, the city youth committee presented a formal motion to council with city staff with help from Councillor Jonathan Cote, and the plan started to move forward. In 2008 there was an actual budget allocated to the project, and then in blessed timing, new grant funding options became available for federal and provincial funds. With $2.5 million committed from all three levels of government, the new Youth Centre @ Moody Park was a go.

In two weeks, the facility will host a grand opening celebration for youth, donors, city stakeholders and the public. The September 15 shindig is from 3:30-5:30pm, but here’s a quick virtual tour:

The new youth centre is an airy, casual space designed with input from the teens it is to serve, from amenities to paint colours. The main attraction is the lounge area, with lots of movable seating, floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of Moody Park and a vaulted ceiling.

Vaulted ceilings in the lounge at the new Youth Centre in Moody Park. Photo: Briana Tomkinson

My son Wesley explores the lounge. Photo: Briana Tomkinson.

The youth involved in the design of the space really wanted to have a kitchen, but it almost didn’t make it into the final plans due to budget concerns. Thankfully, sponsors came through and donated much of the equipment.

Youth Centre kitchen. Photo: Briana Tomkinson.

An item on the initial wish list that did get cut back was the gym. Instead, a flexible rec room space can be used for sports, dance, or other activities. This room is where the old washrooms for Moody Park used to be. There is also a small adjacent weight room.

Multipurpose recreation space. Photo: Briana Tomkinson.

Because Century House closes at 4pm most days, and school doesn’t let out until 3, the plan is to allow Century House and the Youth Centre to share some amenities, including the computer lab,

The computer lab. Photo: Briana Tomkinson.

But the most important goal of the space is just to provide a safe place for the kids to hang out.

Table hockey near the windows in the lounge. Photo: Briana Tomkinson.

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Uptown New Westminster. Photo: Dennis Sylvester Hurd

New Westminster writer Sheila Keenan is committing to do all her shopping locally for the next year – and will blog about it to boot. In her first blog post explaining her motivation to take on the project, she writes:

I’ve always been the kind of person who wants to shop locally. My desire stems from vague notions that shopping locally is good for the community, the local economy and the environment, though I really don’t know that much about exactly how local economies work. I want to find out whether and how my actions as a consumer effect the local economy. You see, despite my desire, the reality is, I don’t really shop locally all that much.

Most of the shopping I do in New Westminster is usually at chain stores and it’s mostly for groceries or food. I go to Safeway, Walmart, Starbucks, Boston Pizza and White Spot. For most other items, including clothing, furniture, hardware, and shoes, I leave New Westminster and drive to another community to do my shopping.

The reason I leave town to shop is the same reason I think New Westminster is uniquely suited for this experiment. It’s in the middle of a large urban area, but it’s really just a small town (population 60,000) in many ways. But, unlike towns with similar populations NOT in the middle of a urban area, New Westminster seems to be missing certain kinds of stores and services that drives me, and has me driving, to other communities to shop. One reason I want to do this experiment is to see just what retailers and services are missing from New Westminster, as well as to find out what is here. (I’ve heard there are interesting stores in New West, even interesting clothing stores, but I’ve never set foot in one.)

…..

If I’m typical of New Westminster residents, leaving town to buy most goods and services, that diverse and ambitious mix of retailers will never be attracted here. If the retailers aren’t here, residents will keep leaving town to shop. It’s a vicious, but predictable, cycle.

[Click to read the full post]

My husband and I make an effort to shop and eat locally, especially since launching our blog, but since having our second child, I’ve started doing a lot more shopping online. It’s just too stressful for me to bring two small children into local boutiques. I wish there were more options to shop online from local stores. It’s hard to find stores that will even ship to Canada. Still, I remain interested in keeping a healthy segment of my discretionary spending in the local economy, and I look forward to reading Sheila’s posts (and maybe getting some tips on new stores to visit!).

If you’ve got any favourite local shopping suggestions, please share them in the comments!

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Yarn by LollyKnit via Flickr

This is from the local #NewWest knitting group, Knit 1, Take 2, that we’ve written about before. They’re takin’ it outside! There sure is lots going on in this city on the 29th!

Needles will be flying this Sunday in Queen’s Park as New Westminster’s community knitting group, Knit 1, Take 2, celebrates national Knit in the Park Day. Knitters of all levels will gather near the covered picnic area from 12-4 pm on Sunday, August 29th, for knitting, laughs and some yarn-inspired fun. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun and bring a picnic lunch and a blanket or chair.

National Knit in the Park Day was inspired by the West Coast Knitters Guild in Vancouver. They coordinated with knitting groups across Canada to raise the visibility of this artisan craft.

Knit 1, Take 2 hopes to begin a new tradition in New Westminster and coax out knitters in the community. Their weekly group meets Sundays at Waves Coffee House on Columbia Street. The group has a weekly topic, Show and Tell to showoff new projects and then open knitting time. Long time member Sylvia Stephanson says that there is a lot of information and “friendlier than Google!”

“Our group is founded on the principles that each person is important and has something to contribute, regardless of their knitting experience or personal background,” says Anne Whitmore, co-creator of the group. “What has amazed us is the depth of community amongst our members and their inspiration to make a difference.” Each member is expected to contribute to community projects which support local organizations with blankets for the homeless, winter gear for young self-supporting students and baby items for moms in high school.

Organizers hope that Knit in the Park Day in New Westminster will encourage knitters to contribute to the charity work.

For more information, visit visit http://www.knit1take2.com or email knit1take2@gmail.com.

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Beating out 73 competing submissions, The City of New Westminster has won the 2010 Downtown Merit Award from the Washington-based International Downtown Association on the strength of our Official Downtown Community Plan.

Columbia Street, then and now (1932 and 2008). Photo: Dennis Sylvester Hurd, via Flickr.

The ODCP is described by the City as, “a comprehensive strategy that outlines sustainable, high density growth in the city’s downtown core while respecting heritage assets, and provides for new amenities such as parks, cultural and recreational services, improved access to the Fraser River and promotes transit oriented employment.” The lead architect of the plan is Director of Development Services Lisa Spitale.

I reached Lisa via email to get her thoughts on the award:

TF: What is the significance of this award for New Westminster?

Lisa: This is an important award for the City as it is the first time that we have received a Merit Award from the International Downtown Association (IDA). The IDA is an organization specializing in Downtown issues – revitalization strategies, crime prevention, housing affordability, urban design, heritage conservation, parking, etc. As you know, New Westminster has been dealing with revitalization issues in the Downtown for well over two decades. The award confirms that, as a community, we’re on the right track.

TF: What do you think was the “winning factor” in the city’s submission?

Lisa: If I had to speculate I would say our plan probably challenged the industry’s preconception of what an OCP typically looks like, reads like, etc.

TF: What is special/unique about New Westminster’s Downtown Community Plan?

Lisa: I think it is unique in two areas:

1. Many OCPs do not detail historical stories in the way we did in this plan. Why? We believe that you can not understand the community values of the Downtown without understanding its incredible history. And we wanted to make the Downtown stories as accessible as possible.
2. Big Vision. This plan makes no apology for thinking big – we talk about encapsulation of Front street and connectivity of the waterfront recognizing they are long term goals. The Plan tries to get all of us (the community, the development industry, businesses, etc) on the same page, so that we can collectively envision the Downtown in the next 10, 30, 50 and even 70 years.

TF: Ten years from now, what do you think will be different about our downtown?

Lisa: Great question! I truly believe the Downtown will be quite different than it is today. More residents will be living all throughout the Downtown in townhouses and apartments; the elementary school will be well established and acting as a community hub; the arts will be thriving along Columbia street with our civic facility in full operation; people will be going to the movie theatres, watching a play or going to restaurants in the evening; and more people will be experiencing the waterfront with the new park at Westminster Pier and the return of “the people place” at the River Market.

TF: Will you be attending the October conference to accept the award?
Lisa: I can not attend; however, I hope my staff can attend and accept our award.

–

You can read New Westminster’s award-winning submission online as either a written summary or PowerPoint (the PowerPoint is easier to scan if you’re just looking for a quick overview of the ODCP).

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Weave Poles, Photo Courtesy Nina Hobbis

Hey fellow #NewWest dog people! Did you know there is a whole day dedicated to dogs having fun and playing silly games in our fair city? That’s right! the 11th Annual Doggy Fun Day is coming up on Sunday August 29th at the playing field just above the dog off-leash area in Queens Park. The action happens from noon to 3PM.

Photo Courtesy Nina Hobbis

Events include the Royal City Rockets Dog Agility Team putting on a show at 12:30pm and 2:30pm, displays and prize draws, and long time favourite doggy games: egg and spoon race, 3 legged race, the Howl-A-Long, Best Doggy Tricks, the Look-a-Like contest and the 4 paws up famous BOBBING FOR WIENERS.  No kidding. I don’t make this stuff up.

Photo Courtesy Nina Hobbis

Doggy Fun Day is sponsored by The Pacific Volunteer Education and Assistance Team for Animals and you can get a hold of the organizers at doggyfunday.nw@gmail.com

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A Twitter search for #NewWest

A little less than two years ago, I went looking for an online community of New Westminsterites online. The virtual version of New West was a pretty lonely place back then. I found a few bloggers. A few more on Twitter. A handful of Facebook groups.

I was thinking of launching a blog about life in New West, but when I saw how little local activity there was, I wondered whether anyone would even read it. Then I found an active local photography group on Flickr, which was encouraging. Will and I decided to go ahead with the blog, just for the fun of it.

We created the first incarnation of Tenth to the Fraser on Blogger, where it’s easy (and free) to start a blog – and even easier to abandon it if you lose interest. But the more we wrote, the more fun we had and the better connected we felt to our community. We started making new friends, shopping at more local businesses, and taking more time to learn about local issues. We started to see New West in a different way. As we slowly started to meet more people online and we got involved in more civic events, we became not just residents but active agents in a changing community. We became empowered.

I created alerts for Twitter and Google for New West, and I reached out to bloggers and Twitter folk who wrote about our city. A few of them ignored me. But a lot of them became readers and some even became contributors to our blog. I learned that I had been mistaken. It wasn’t that New Westminster didn’t have many people online. It was that the people who were online didn’t identify themselves as being part of our community. The more that people Tweeted and blogged about New West, the more people started owning up to living here.

We wrote a lot about New West, and gradually we saw other people do the same. We started using the #NewWest hashtag on Twitter, and then our friends did too. Then their friends did, and their friends. Now the local newspapers do too.

There is a perception that blogging is passive. But through the last couple of years I’ve seen how it can be used to inspire change. Cheekily, we said the goal of Tenth to the Fraser was to “Hyack the Web.” By that, we meant to chivvy New West to hurry up and become a more digital city. What we didn’t foresee was the offline change.

Today, there is not only a parallel digital community in New Westminster that lives on Twitter, Facebook and blogs, but also new offline friendships and activities that would likely never have existed were it not for #NewWest.

A few examples:
- @duckbeaver and @weskoop were inspired to become part of their resident’s association, and have live-tweeted council meetings. Both have also volunteered their skills to benefit local organizations.
- @jenarbo changed her mind about moving to Vancouver Island and instead bought a house in New West. She also became the market manager for the Royal City Farmers Market – a job she likely wouldn’t have even known to apply for if she didn’t write a blog (and through it become a TF contributor, then friend).
- If I had never started Tenth to the Fraser, I would never have called together the committee that organized Summerfest in Grimston Park.

#NewWest is bigger than one blog, of course. We got the ball rolling, inspiring more people to represent themselves as New Westminster aficionados online. In the chain of events that followed, there were a bunch of cool things that happened because of what we did. But it’s even cooler that people no longer have to find Tenth to the Fraser to find #NewWest.

Today #NewWest is a vastly different place than two years ago. One big change is that there is now an institutional presence in social media.
- City Hall and both local newspapers are active on Facebook (The Record) and Twitter (The Record & The Newsleader). Two councillors are tweeting (Jon Cote & Betty McIntosh), several comment on local blogs and Facebook pages, and many more at City Hall keep tabs on what #NewWest voices have to say about New Westminster.
- A number of local reporters are starting to use #NewWest for story leads.
- Local businesses and organizations like the BIA are also experimenting with using social media to connect with their customers.

Best of all, if the last two years are any indication, #NewWest’s online community-building chatter will inspire more people to get involved offline.

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The 4th Annual Quayside Boardwalk Festival & Sale is this Saturday, August 21 from 10am - 3pm. Photo: eych-you-bee-ee-ahr-tee (via Flickr)

New West gets its thrift on this weekend at the 4th Annual Quayside Boardwalk Festival & Sale. On Saturday, August 21 from 10am to 3pm, the boardwalk at the Quay will bustle with bargain-hunters seeking their treasures.

And boy, is there ever treasure to be found. At last year’s event I bought a sock monkey from a crafter who became my son’s most-beloved stuffed “friend,” artwork that still hangs in my living room, five pre-loved “action men” for Wesley (Spider-Man, GI Joe, Superman, Batman and Bob from Reboot), some orphaned china pieces that started a new collection for me and an awesome $2 lamp. In my experience, the Quayside Sale has better booty than the Queen’s Park sale, and it’s easier to shop because the tables are right next to each other along the kilometre-long sale.

Organizers expect 5,000 people to come down and shop over 150 tables of “deluxe junque.” There will also be fundraisers such as raffles and hot dog sales for various charities, food for sale from Royal City Farmers Market vendors, the Lion’s Club BBQ and others, live music, a kids’ zone with bouncy castle and slide, and more. There will also be a sidewalk sale along Columbia Street in partnership with the Downtown Business Improvement Association.

The event is rain or shine, so don’t let the chance of showers on Saturday dissuade you from dropping by.

Jen and I will be there too, as vendors, so if you come by please say hello!

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Barkley and Koshi, Photo by Eric Jung, used with permission

Your pets are your fur babies, an important part of your family. Are you going to trust their care to any old hack that posts an ad for cheap pet care on Craigslist? Here are seven crucial things to look for when hiring a professional pet sitter.

1. Is the pet sitter insured and bonded? A professional pet sitter carries a minimum of $1 million general liability insurance, including an additional rider for care, custody and control of your pets. The insurance may also cover lost key coverage - in the event your pet sitter misplaces your house key, this coverage pays for your locks to be re-keyed. For bonding, a minimum $10,000 dishonesty bond is standard.
2. Can the pet sitter provide references? You should ask for both written testimonials, if they are not already posted on the pet sitter’s web site, and references from current or past clients that you can call and speak to directly.
3. Does the pet sitter provide a free, no-obligation initial consultation? You are trusting this individual with a key to your home and your pets. You need to have a chance to meet with him or her to decide for yourself if this person is the right fit for you and your family. An initial consultation should last around 45 to 60 minutes.
4. Does the pet sitter provide you with a written contract, including details of services to be provided, rates and terms and conditions? If not, run far, far away! Your relationship with a pet sitter is legally binding and you should ensure that you and your pets are protected.
5. Does the pet sitter know pet first aid? While not strictly necessary, it certainly provides an additional level of comfort to know that your pet sitter is knowledgeable enough to provide emergent care to your pet if something unexpected were to happen.
6. Does the pet sitter check in to ensure that you’ve made it home at the end of your trip? A conscientious professional will want to know if your travel plans have been delayed for any reason, so that (s)he can continue to care for your pets until you return home safely.
7. Does your pet sitter give you the warm fuzzies? Remember, as much as pet sitters have to enjoy working with animals, you are the one doing the hiring. If the pet sitter doesn’t make you feel safe, comfortable and happy with their services and level of experience, then find one that will!

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Kids ride their bikes at the 2009 Twelfth Street Festival in New Westminster. Photo: Will Tomkinson.

The West End’s annual 12th Street Music Festival  is coming up on Sunday, August 1, and will feature free live music from local bands on two stages, children’s entertainment, displays by local businesses & community groups and events for kids and adults.

Bands will include:

• Rainshadow
• Mike Van Eyes
• Mojo Stars
• Maffie & Crew
• Real Canadian Rock Band
• Syndicate
• Really Rod

According to festival organizers, highlights will include:

“It’s going to be fun for everyone,” said festival coordinator John Ashdown in a media release. “We have a great line-up of entertainment, exhibits, events and a wide variety of foods.”

During the festival, 12th St. will be closed between 6th and 8th Ave., and there will be booths stretching all the way up from Stewardson to 10th Ave.

After the festival, there will be a wind-up party at the Terminal Pub at the foot of 12th St., from 4-8pm.

IN BRIEF

• WHAT: 12th St. Festival
• WHEN: Sunday, August 1, 2010, from 11am – 4pm
• WHERE: 12th St. in New Westminster, between Stewardson and 10th Ave.

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But one thing that  I didn’t have was insight into just what kind of crime we were talking about. Fare evasion was lumped in with more serious crimes like assault and drug possession in the data I had access to. But I just saw that the Vancouver Sun has produced a series of infographics on SkyTrain crime (violent crime and drug crime) as part of a bigger series on public transit issues in Vancouver.

The Sun’s graphics show:

• New Westminster SkyTrain Station is the most violent station in New Westminster, and the fourth most violent in the whole line, with 26 incidents of violent crime reported in 2009. Eleven were related to weapons possession and 12 for assault. (The top three most violent stations in Metro Van are Broadway, Surrey Central and Metrotown.)
• 22nd St. is the next most violent station in New West, but it is in the middle of the pack in Metro Van. Nine of the crimes are assaults, with four robberies and two sexual assaults.

In terms of drug-related crime:

• New Westminster Station tops our local list again in terms of number of offences, but it’s almost all pot possession
• Other stations in New West were fairly low on the list compared to other parts of Metro Van. Almost all the problems related to marijuana possession, though there was also some cocaine possession. Braid Station had one incident of drug trafficking.

Again, to put it all into perspective, TransLink moves around 700,000 riders daily. In all of 2009, there were just 26 incidents of violent crime and 27 of drug-related crime recorded at New Westminster’s eponymous “worst’ SkyTrain station. And, as I mentioned last time, the risk of death related to driving is six times higher than the risk of being a victim of any sort of crime in or around the least safe station on the line.

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Fortified by Kraft Dinner, New Westminster Councillors Jaimie McEvoy & Jonathan Cote pulled an all-nighter voting for the Youth Centre in Moody Park in the Kraft Celebration Tour online contest. Thanks to them and others in the community who voted, New Westminster youth won the $25,000 prize! Photo: Angie Torres (via Flickr)

We often hear that New Westminster is a small town, not just in size but in style. And that can be both good and bad. This week, in the Moody Park Youth Centre’s campaign to win a $25,000 grant in an online contest, there was a whole lot of good going around.

It seemed that the whole town pulled together for the youth centre. To win the big prize, New Westminster went head to head with the city of Nelson, both trying to muster the most votes in one day. With no restriction on the number or frequency of votes, the Kraft Celebration Tour contest was as much about passion for the community as population numbers.

Said The Royal City Record about New West’s win:

New Westminster clobbered Nelson – who were hoping to use the cash for an upgrade to their curling club – by a score of 220,531 to 154,709 in the 24 hour contest that ran from 9 a.m. Friday to Saturday. Not bad for a city with an estimated population of around 60,000.

New Westminster rallied for our youth, urging each other on through many emails, tweets, Facebook posts and blogs to cast a vote (or more) for our town. Meanwhile, a group of teens gathered in the library to stay up all night watching movies and vote, vote, vote! City councillors and staff also took time out during the day to vote during coffee breaks and lunch hour. Then, two City councillors, Jonathan Cote and Jaimie McEvoy, saw each other on Facebook that night and upped the ante, challenging each other to pull an all-nighter voting for the youth centre.

Jonathan Cote on Twitter at 3:46 a.m.: "I am going to pay for this tomorrow..."

“We were both getting tired and getting ready to call it quits, so I put out the challange on twitter,” said Jonathan via email. “I thought with two kids under the age of three I would have the edge in staying up through the night.”

The wager? A dinner out with both spouses. The winner would pick the restaurant – and the loser would pick up the tab.

“Jaimie and I would occasionally check on each other on Facebook to make sure we were still up.”

All that time staring at the Kraft logo on the contest screen made both councillors crave Kraft Dinner. Jonathan said he made his around 2 a.m. and Jaimie around 3:30.

“Around 4:30, I thought I would rest my eyes a bit to get my second [wind]. Next thing I knew it, it was 7:30. As per the posts on Facebook, it looks like Jaimie made it to about 6:30. No word on which restuarant Alix and I will be taking Jaimie and Stacy to.”

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We all know someone who knows someone whose house has been broken into several times, or who has witnessed flagrant drug dealing, or seen a new ‘girl’ working 12th St. And then there’s the newspaper crime beat. A New Westminster man was recently arrested (and released on bail) for allegedly sexually assaulting a young woman near a Vancouver SkyTrain Station (and some people misheard it as a rape at 22nd St. Station). Cats were doused in paint thinner. Children were followed by a suspicious man in a truck near a school.

People remember stories, not statistics.

But when people believe their neighbourhoods to be unsafe, things get worse. When people are afraid, they don’t go out on the streets at night. They talk less to strangers (and neighbours). The change in behaviour leads to fewer eyes on the street and weaker neighbourhood ties. We get more crime, not less.

Unfortunately, we humans are just not very good at assessing the relative risk of certain behaviours. We overestimate some (the risk of being assaulted by a stranger when walking at night, for example) and underestimate others (the risk of being injured or killed in a car crash, which is one of the leading causes of non-disease related death).

In an essay on the psychology of security, security technologist and author Bruce Schnier identifies five common reasons why people are so bad at assessing risk:

In other words, ordinary dangers (car crashes, accidents at home) lack the powerful elements of story that make the extraordinary dangers (stranger attack or child abduction by a stranger) so compelling and scary.

Instead of focusing on the (now fewer) accounts of prostitution, drug dealing, and other bad behaviours, let’s focus our energy on things we can control. Clean up graffiti and litter. Be neighbourly. Spend time out on the street. Take care of each other and get involved in our community, and our city will continue to become a better place to live.

Note: this post was inspired by a comment I wrote on the Voice New Westminster blog, on the post by Jan Fialkowski, “Crime Stats Down in the City.” The post was also published as a letter in the Newsleader.

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The new Youth Centre at Moody Park is *thisclose* to winning $25,000 in the Kraft Celebration Tour contest. Up against only one other project in B.C. the youth centre campaign needs your votes to win. In addition to the money, the winning project will also get a live TSN SportsCentre broadcast in the community.

Take a moment please, and vote online during the 24-hour period the contest is open (from Friday, July 23 at 9am to Saturday, July 24 at 8:59am). New Westminster’s Youth Centre @ Moody Park will compete against a curling club project in Nelson, BC.

“While I’m happy to say it is an honour to be chosen as a finalist, I’d be over the moon if our Youth Centre @ Moody Park won this contest,” said Mayor Wayne Wright in a City media release. “Nelson will be tough competition but the community spirit we have in New Westminster gives us the edge.”

The Kraft Celebration Tour allows for multiple voting during the 24 hour voting period.

“I’ll be asking everyone I know to vote for New Westminster on July 23rd,” said Mayor Wright. “It’s something I’ve never said before but I’m happy to say it now: vote early and vote often!”

Information on when and how to vote online will be posted on the city website at www.newwestcity.ca. Voting rules for choosing the Top 10 Communities can be found at kraftcelebrationtour.tsn.ca/promote.

The $25,000 will go towards furnishing and equipping New Westminster’s first civic facility dedicated to youth. The Youth Centre @ Moody Park project was nominated by local resident and Century House member Vance McFadyen.

The winner in the New Westminster – Nelson contest will be announced on TSN’s Sportscentre on July 26. Go Youth Centre, go!

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What do you think of it? We’ll pass on any questions to the City & School Board and let you know what they say.

New secondary school proposal features new performing arts centre

New Westminster, BC — School District #40 and the City of New Westminster have announced a proposed plan that will see a new regional community performing arts centre to replace the existing Massey Theatre included as part of the New Westminster Secondary School replacement project. The announcement came following a thorough discussion process between the School District and the City.

“It’s been a lengthy process and the issues have been complex,” said Mayor Wayne Wright. “The proposed plan will see all major components of the secondary school site maintained with a new high school and state-of-the-art regional community performing arts centre, in addition to new elementary and middle schools delivered for the citizens of New Westminster. We look forward to sharing this exciting concept with the community and getting feedback in the coming weeks.”

As part of the proposed plan, Mercer Stadium would be maintained at the secondary school site and a new field added at the St. Mary’s site.

The proposed plan has been presented to the BC Ministry of Education for initial review. The Ministry feels that the proposal has merit and has encouraged the School District and the City to continue their collaborative efforts to achieve a solution that balances the education needs of students and the broader needs of the community.

The School District and City are planning public information sessions in early September, followed by focused consultation and public workshops. The consultation will take place as part of public consultation regarding inclusion of community programs in schools under the Neighbourhoods of Learning (NOL) program introduced by the Ministry of Education in 2009. Under this program, the School District can receive additional funding to accommodate programs that serve the needs of students and the broader community in new schools.

After these consultations have been completed, the Board of Education and City Council will each consider the findings of the public consultation process and determine whether the proposed plan should move forward.

“We’ve been working hard with the community and the City for a long time, it’s great to see it pay off with this agreement,” said Board Chair James Janzen.”We have 3,000 kids waiting for new schools, and a community that’s been living with uncertainty.”

Once a plan for New Westminster Secondary School is finalized, the school district will be able to proceed with the construction of a new elementary on the St. Mary’s site, a new middle school on the John Robson site and a new high school on the existing NWSS site.

More information on the proposed plan and community consultation process will be forthcoming. Updates will be posted on the School District’s website at www.sd40.bc.ca and on the City website at www.newwestcity.ca.

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Crowds gather to watch E.T. on an outdoor movie screen at Summerfest in Grimston Park. Photo: Harry Pehkonen.

Well, Summerfest in Grimston Park was a great success! Thanks to everyone who came. The turnout surpassed our expectations. We estimated that we had about 500 people at the movie alone, and maybe 1000 over the course of the afternoon. Our sleepy little West End park was packed with happy families!

The organizing committee for the 2010 event (MaryAnn Mortensen, Gavin McLeod, Renee Chadwick from NWPCR & me) are planning to do it again next year. We’d like to hear feedback from those who attended. If you were there, or even if you weren’t, we’d appreciate you letting us know what you liked about this year’s event, and share any suggestions on things we could add or change next year. You can comment on this post, or email us at info@tenthtothefraser.ca.

Here are some photos from the day:

Kids frolicking in the new playground at Grimston. Photo: Briana Tomkinson

Ron Ulrich, performing at Summerfest. Photo: Will Tomkinson.

My family was among many who gathered for a picnic & some playtime in the park before the movie. Photo: Richard Tomkinson.

A happy customer (my husband's second cousin) shows off facepainter Allyson Grant's handiwork. Photo: Will Tomkinson.

Settling in to watch E.T. Photo: Will Tomkinson.

Another view of the movie crowd. Photo: Will Tomkinson.

And here is a slideshow of photos shared on Flickr. If you want to share yours with us, please tag them “Summerfest” and “New Westminster” and they will appear in the slideshow below.

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A bus waits near New Westminster SkyTrain Station. Photo: Dennis Sylvester Hurd (via Flickr)

This week is I Love Transit Week, a celebration of public transportation hosted by TransLink’s The Buzzer blog. Join Buzzer blogger Jhenifer Pabillano and other transit-lovers Thursday, July 15 at The Heritage Grill in New Westminster for an evening meetup with food, games and fun! You can also enter to win a Summer Commuter Prize Pack from TransLink & Tenth to the Fraser.

Odysseus stopped up his ears with beeswax because he knew alone, he would not have the strength to withstand the lure of the sirens’ call. I did the modern green equivalent.

I never intended not to get my driver’s license. When I was eight years old, my mother bought a new Honda, and I remember asking her to hold on to our old car for me, so that I would have my own car to drive when I turned 16. I remember counting down to the magic day when I’d be allowed to get my driver’s license. But a funny thing happened when I finally did turn 16. Life got busy, and I put off writing my learner’s test. Then, at some point after that, my environmental conscience became activated. Suddenly not driving became a point of pride.

Thirteen years later, as I come up on my 29th birthday, it looks like I will finally submit to the pressures of my husband, mother, friends and countless busybodies who have nagged me over the years to get my license. It irks me that people count it as a deficiency not to drive. While there are times when it certainly would have been more convenient, in my mind the karmic debt of adding to the plague of single occupant vehicles in the Lower Mainland outweighed the occasional frustrations. Now, with two kids and an increasingly complicated schedule of to-ing and fro-ing, I am forced to admit that the convenience of driving is sometimes a necessity, and that it is unfair for my husband to always play chauffeur.

Guiltily, I am looking forward to having the freedom to go alone to places not well served by transit. I imagine gaily whisking my children off at the spur of the moment to do wild and wonderful things, singing happy road songs and stopping at a drive-through for cheeky treats along the way. But at the same time, I am fearful of giving in to this perception of ease, forgetting that there is a cost beyond the total at the pump and taking the car for granted.

I’m afraid that freed of my self-imposed limits, I will turn into the kind of lumpen lazybones that drives to the corner store. I get little exercise as it is. I don’t see the sense in driving to the gym so I can spend time on a treadmill when I could be walking my children to Moody Park Pool or muscling the stroller up and down hills to the SkyTrain station. As satisfying as those walks can be, I know if I had the choice to take the car, I would. It’s just too easy to indulge.

Taking transit encourages frugal trip planning. If I can’t bus there, I don’t go. I live only in walkable neighbourhoods. I apply for jobs only on major transit routes. I  plan to complete multiple errands per trip, and challeng myself to use only one bus ticket per trip whenever possible. In a car, the incremental cost of gas isn’t enough of a disincentive to really change transportation behaviour. But even an extra 15 minutes by bus can seem too much to bother. To some people, this might sound a bit masochistic, but it’s no different than a shopaholic freezing credit cards in ice. Sometimes it hurts, but I am convinced that taking the bus is good for me.

And this is (partially) what brought me to New Westminster. When the cost of an extra bedroom priced my husband and I out of the rental market in downtown Vancouver, our relocation choices were constrained by my reliance on public transportation. New Westminster, nexus of the Lower Mainland, was the next best thing to downtown for easy access to the places I needed to go. I miss walking to work, but in a city of just six square miles, I can walk almost anywhere I want to go (though here it really can be uphill both ways!). And yet there are five SkyTrain stations and buses every 15 minutes or less to all the main commercial districts. The commuting time to Vancouver is the same or faster by SkyTrain than by car at rush hour – and I can relax by reading or playing Bejeweled at the same time.

I really do love transit. What can I say? I like to cheer for the underdog. I don’t think people give public transportation the credit (and funding) it’s due. I consider doing without a private vehicle a public good. I am hoping that the 13 years I spent doing without will help fortify me against the lure of easy driving. I may have to swallow my pride and drive the damn car, but I hope to continue my transportation diet of buses, SkyTrains and my own two feet.

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