New Westminster Environmental Almanac (2917 ... - Douglas College

Land Use Today
Housing
Downtown
(Including the neighbourhood of Downtown and small portions of
Brow of the Hill, Queen’s Park, and Uptown)
The downtown area, bounded on by Queen’s Ave to the north, the Fraser
River to the south and west and Mcbride Blvd to the east, has historically
been the commercial and industrial centre of the city. In the past 15
years, the focus of this community has shifted from industrial/
commercial to residential commercial, especially along the waterfront.
The Westminster Quay commercial and residential projects have had a
major role in this shift. The majority of the residential property in the
Downtown area is in the form of multiple-family housing, either
apartments or townhouses. In 2001, only 1% of the household units were
single-family dwellings, while 80% the household units were either
apartment suites or townhouses complexes.
Queensborough
Queensborough is located on the eastern tip of Lulu Island, adjacent to
Richmond. This area is the least developed of the major areas of New
Westminster and therefore has been the community where most low rise/
low-density housing has been added in the past 10 years. In 2001, 42%
of the household units were single-family dwellings and only 6% were
either apartments or townhouses. This community is focused on lowdensity
and medium density housing. The ideas of compact settlement
and the placement of transit stops, sidewalks, and bike paths to
encourage environmentally friendly transportation are still present in the
community’s planning policies (see Port Royal, page 17).
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New Westminster Planning Department