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Nicholson Road is an ongoing photo project aimed at sharing and celebrating the different communities in Metro Vancouver. Each week Vancouver Is Awesome will be featuring an image from the previous week, shot in one of the many ‘hoods around town in order to draw your attention a little bit outside of the hyper-focus that we usually have on the City of Vancouver. Metro Vancouver Is Awesome, and you should get out and explore it!

You know that Gastown Gamble show about Save On Meats airing on The Oprah Network, right? Did you know it wasn’t the only show from our fine metropolitan region created for the network? The community of Aldergrove way out at the eastern edge of the Township of Langley starred in OWN’s Million Dollar Neighbourhood. The show aimed to encourage the residents of Aldergrove to stop overspending, and provide them with challenges and rewards to overcome all sorts of financial issues – often of a very personal nature. (If you watch the show, just play along when they show Heritage Hall as the downtown bank for the community. It makes for good tv, ok?)

Besides all the attention received from that show, Aldergrove has a few other things working for it, like the Twilight Drive-in, Metro Vancouver’s only drive-in movie theatre (which is also home to a weekly swap-meet Sundays from 7am-4pm); the Greater Vancouver Zoo, the largest zoo in British Columbia; and of course a little history too, like the Alder Grove Telephone Museum & Community Archives.

Originally built as a pre-fab structure in 1917 to house the telephone equipment and switchboards, the building was relocated from it’s original site on Fraser Highway and continues to undergo restoration (since telephone exchanges work a little differently these days, the building was repurposed into a museum/archives). Today, the museum displays historical photos and artifacts along with some awesome old-school telephones, insulators, telegraph equipment, and even an operational switchboard. Now I’m just waiting for rotary phones and party lines to come back into vogue!

Archives of the Nicholson Road project can be found HERE.

Nicholson Road is an ongoing photo project aimed at sharing and celebrating the different communities in Metro Vancouver. Each week Vancouver Is Awesome will be featuring an image from the previous week, shot in one of the many ‘hoods around town in order to draw your attention a little bit outside of the hyper-focus that we usually have on the City of Vancouver. Metro Vancouver Is Awesome, and you should get out and explore it!

Citadel Landing sits at the base of Mary Hill, over the bypass, right next to the Fraser in Port Coquitlam. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but one of the things I love about Port Coquitlam is the super amazing Traboulay PoCo Trail: a multi-use path extending about 25km all the way around the city. Since Port Coquitlam is bordered by the Fraser River, the Coquitlam River, and the DeBoville Slough, a major percentage of the trail is right on the water – check the map (pdf). When it’s time for a break, the trail offers quite a few spots to sit and have a breather, and take in the beautiful sights.

With the incredible popularity of Stanley Park and the seawall all around downtown and False Creek, it’s sometimes easy to forget that many of the other communities in Metro Vancouver have pretty excellent trail networks for running, biking, roller blading, moon shoeing, or whatever else suits your fancy. Summer is nearly here so why not adventure out somewhere new?

Archives of the Nicholson Road project can be found HERE.

Nicholson Road is an ongoing photo project aimed at sharing and celebrating the different communities in Metro Vancouver. Each week Vancouver Is Awesome will be featuring an image from the previous week, shot in one of the many ‘hoods around town in order to draw your attention a little bit outside of the hyper-focus that we usually have on the City of Vancouver. Metro Vancouver Is Awesome, and you should get out and explore it!

White Rock was lucky. Like Vancouver, it was planned before the invention of the cul-de-sac, so the city is laid out in a full grid. One of the huge benefits of this, apart from easy navigation, is it makes the entire city super walkable. And what does it mean when you have a small (about the size of Kitsilano), walkable city with a huge beach? It means you can walk to the beach in less than 20 minutes from anywhere in the city… which is more than awesome.

To me, White Rock means 3 things: hills, the huge, sandy beach, and fish & chips! But there’s so much more to it than that. Take a wander up from the beach and you’ll find all kinds of interesting houses (including quite a few summer cottages built in the early part of the 20th century). One of the homes I came across this time was a 60s bungalow converted into a full-out fantasy castle, complete with iron-clad knight guarding the entry. White Rock is also ridiculously quiet when you get away from Marine Drive. There are public stairwells connecting the alleys and streets all throughout town, which give pretty amazing views. And the gardens and flowers are phenomenal in the summer months!

If you’re curious to learn more about White Rock, check out the Tourism White Rock site and get planning for the summer!

Archives of the Nicholson Road project can be found HERE.

Nicholson Road is an ongoing photo project aimed at sharing and celebrating the different communities in Metro Vancouver. Each week Vancouver Is Awesome will be featuring an image from the previous week, shot in one of the many ‘hoods around town in order to draw your attention a little bit outside of the hyper-focus that we usually have on the City of Vancouver. Metro Vancouver Is Awesome, and you should get out and explore it!

One of the goals for my Nicholson Road project was to show people you don’t need fancy cameras to capture interesting photos. I’ve never owned an SLR, and find their bulkiness more of a hassle than a benefit for most of my needs – the ability to whip a camera out of your pocket and snap a photo or two before hiding it away again let’s me spend more time looking around, and less time dealing with lenses/the added weight of a camera bag/the pressure to flawlessly capture something. Thus, my guidelines are as follows:

• There’s no rush: Compose the shot, and wait for the right moment.
• Without an array of lenses, make the most of what you have: Focus on the entire scene, not the small details.
• Process intelligently: A little contrast and colour adjustment in post can go a long way when you’re lacking camera features.
• Remember your goal: Try to convey the area as best as possible to those who may never visit, or even know of its existence.
• When in doubt, Instagram: Think of it like rapid prototyping for photographs.

This week the iphone snap and quick instagram edit won out, with a shot of Highway 99 from the new Pioneer Cycling and Pedestrian Overpass out in South Surrey. It’s one of two overpasses Surrey installed over the past couple years (you may have heard about it, or seen it thanks to its awesome animated LED light shows).

I just couldn’t help imagining myself in that motorhome (or maybe the bike behind it) headed off on some great adventure. Maybe they’re coming up from the border and it’s their first time in BC? The Pioneer Overpass is at the top of a hill, which is one of the first spots you really see the mountains when travelling north on the 99 before descending towards the Nicomekl River and Mud Bay. Or maybe they’re headed home after a whirlwind trip across the continent ready to enjoy the sunny days ahead back in Metro Vancouver.

#Icantwaitforsummer!

Archives of the Nicholson Road project can be found HERE.

Nicholson Road is an ongoing photo project aimed at sharing and celebrating the different communities in Metro Vancouver. Each week Vancouver Is Awesome will be featuring an image from the previous week, shot in one of the many ‘hoods around town in order to draw your attention a little bit outside of the hyper-focus that we usually have on the City of Vancouver. Metro Vancouver Is Awesome, and you should get out and explore it!

Sometimes you just need a bit of an escape from the city. Even out here in Delta (which many of you probably count as an escape already), we have a few great spots to visit and recharge. The Deas Island Regional Park, on Deas Island/Deas Slough near the George Massey Tunnel (in fact, the south entrance to the tunnel is on Deas Island), consists of around 300 acres of trails, wilderness, and peace and quiet!

I remember first visiting the park as a boy scout. We packed into some vans and headed down for a day of canoeing on the slough, stopping by the adjacent Delta Deas Rowing Club to learn a few tips and borrow some canoes and life jackets. Halfway across the slough we came across an awesome half-sunken fishing boat which, at the time, I was pretty sure must’ve been an old pirate ship. It seemed like the only reasonable explanation.

More recently, I rediscovered a few of the beautifully restored heritage buildings located in the park, like the majestic Burrvilla (built in 1906), or one of Delta’s few remaining one-room schoolhouses, Inverholme (built in 1909). The park certainly has much more to offer, like all kinds of picnic tables, river lookout platforms, a picnic shelter, the Muskrat Meadow group camping area, and more. It truly is a beautiful little retreat and you’re missing out if you’ve never set aside some time to get out and explore Deas Island!

Archives of the Nicholson Road project can be found HERE.

Nicholson Road is an ongoing photo project aimed at sharing and celebrating the different communities in Metro Vancouver. Each week Vancouver Is Awesome will be featuring an image from the previous week, shot in one of the many ‘hoods around town in order to draw your attention a little bit outside of the hyper-focus that we usually have on the City of Vancouver. Metro Vancouver Is Awesome, and you should get out and explore it!

Ah, the excavation pit and the associated wonder at what might soon take its place. If you’re anything like me, the limitless construction around Metro Vancouver provides a chance to explore all sorts of curiosities about the city. Not the city that is but the city that will soon be. This site on Columbia right in downtown New Westminster will soon be home to a huge new civic centre (and office tower, if a new developer steps up soon!).

When completed at the end of next year, the Multi Use Civic Facility will be home to a 350-seat theatre, the New Westminster Museum, conference space, art studios and an art gallery, a tourist info centre, and even the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame!

In the meantime we get to enjoy a neat perspective on the city, and use the open pit to imagine what the view might look like in a couple years.

While I’m on the topic, a few excavations are happening on the False Creek Flats in preparation for a couple other developments. What makes these ones stand out, however, is the land that’s been excavated – which was once a large tidal flat that was filled in during the earlier part of the previous century. If you swing by the sites near Main and Terminal, you’ll be able to see all sorts of log piles and other debris that was used to fill the area. It makes me wonder what sort of other treasures one could find if we had a little more time to dig around!

Archives of the Nicholson Road project can be found HERE.

Nicholson Road is an ongoing photo project aimed at sharing and celebrating the different communities in Metro Vancouver. Each week Vancouver Is Awesome will be featuring an image from the previous week, shot in one of the many ‘hoods around town in order to draw your attention a little bit outside of the hyper-focus that we usually have on the City of Vancouver. Metro Vancouver Is Awesome, and you should get out and explore it!

After the recent completion of the Tommy Douglas Branch of the Burnaby Public Library, Edmonds is set to welcome another new facility when the new Edmonds Pool & Community Centre opens in 2013.

Targeting LEED Silver, the new Edmonds Pool & Community Centre will include a 6-lane swimming pool, lazy river, hot tub, sauna, weight and cardio room, two full size gyms, and plenty more (including a coffee bar.. why not?). This effectively turns the block into a massive recreation hub, joining the expansive field, tennis and basketball courts, and outdoor rink located adjacent to the centre in Richmond Park. For the community, it’s a huge upgrade to what was originally available at the Eastburn Community Centre (check out the Street View shot of the old centre).

It’s awesome to see Edmonds finally receiving the attention it deserves, especially as the neighbourhood is quickly beginning to densify (Edmonds was recently marked as one of Burnaby’s local town centres). As one of the most diverse neighbourhoods I’ve visited in the metro, in terms of background, income, age, family size, and so on, Edmonds often feels like its starting to show the rest of the Metro Van communities how to guide a community into a more urban future – while accentuating the qualities that make Edmonds a special place to call home.

So get out there, Vancouver! And remember: Boundary is just the name of a road ;)

Archives of the Nicholson Road project can be found HERE.

Nicholson Road is an ongoing photo project aimed at sharing and celebrating the different communities in Metro Vancouver. Each week Vancouver Is Awesome will be featuring an image from the previous week, shot in one of the many ‘hoods around town in order to draw your attention a little bit outside of the hyper-focus that we usually have on the City of Vancouver. Metro Vancouver Is Awesome, and you should get out and explore it!

Launched in 2007 to celebrate British Columbia’s 150th anniversary, the B.C. Spirit Squares Program aimed to revitalize town centres and community gathering places throughout the province by helping local governments fund the construction of new public plazas, or improve existing spaces. Contributing 20 million dollars, the program was based on a 50/50 cost-sharing basis between the local and provincial governments. Throughout 2007 and 2008, over 60 cities across B.C. received funding to create spirit squares, including numerous cities in Metro Vancouver.

Out in the City of Langley, a new band shell and cenotaph were added to Douglas Park, giving the community its first formal gathering place. A number of celebrations and events have filled the space since its completion in 2009, including the annual Remembrance Day Ceremony, Bard in the Valley, and everyone’s favourite summer activity (or at least mine!) – movies in the park by FreshAirCinema.

Archives of the Nicholson Road project can be found HERE.