Major Developments proceeding in Sapperton and Uptown

The New West News Leader reports two significant developments are coming along

The old Labatt's Brewery site is going to be developed into a major comprehensive area.  Apparently there will be a major focus on medical office space, given the proximity to Royal Columbian Hospital.  While this will fill a short term need, what is the plan for this space 15-20 years down the road? 

The city has rightly recognized that Royal Columbian will gradually decrease in significance in the Fraser Health Authority as services migrate more towards the centre of mass for the region.  What will become of all these medical spaces as that happens?  Will Sapperton become a third office district, after Downtown and Uptown?  Does the city need a third area, and can it support it? 

On a much smaller, but still significant scale, Royal City Centre has finally found a tenant for the old Zellers spot.  I believe the fitness centre will fill a gap in uptown.  It was empty when I moved here a year ago, I wondered how the mall was managing with that major spot location vacant.  Also, two small storefronts look nearly done at 6th and 6th where there used to be a Japanese restaurant.  No signs of any tenants there yet though. 

The Deal

The other night I left my apartment to walk over to Dairy Queen for an evening blizzard run for my wife. I was walking down Ash Street, and at the end of the street behind the library, I saw a car stopped in the middle of the street, with the driver talking to a guy standing at his door. I didn’t hear anything, but I assume some pleasantries were exchanged, then the guy standing reached in his pocked, pulled out a little goody bag, and passed it over.

One of the things I love about this neighbourhood is how family friendly it is. There are always parents out and about with kids, gaggles of teens around, and the playground half a block away at Moody Park is packed whenever the sun is out. So seeing this going on in the area I am raising my children and so many others are too pisses me off.

Getting rid of the drug problem will take a lot of people doing a lot of things, but I think one of the main things we need to do as a community is stand up and say we will not allow this in our neighbourhood. By this I don’t mean marches and rallies, or groups claiming to ‘take back our streets,’ though those events do have their place. What needs to happen is all of us in the community need to stand up – alone, with a friend, with neighbours, building managers, and stop this from happening whenever we see it.

This means moms calling 911 on their cell the minute they see a deal going on. This means recording license plates, getting descriptions and passing them onto police. This means telling them to their face they are not welcome to ply their trade here, and we will take every legal recourse available to ensure they cannot.

So it is with a lot of embarrassment I admit that as I walked by the deal that night, I did not call 911. I did not get a good look at the dealer or the buyers. I did not remember a license plate, make or model of car. And I did not tell the dealer to stop what he is doing. That night, I was part of the problem. But from this point forward, I will not have to say that again.