One's perception.

My neighbourhood in Burnaby.. two houses on my street are for sale for >$2,000,000. This should make it a 'nice' neighbourhood, and while it generally is, I know at least 3 houses in proximity that were grow-ops, and we had a guy case the neighbourhood with a visible firearm last summer - presumably an attempted grow rip.

Panicked call from the nanny saying police were at our door warning people to lock themselves inside.

Not cool, and you can't say that doesn't mirror many people's perception of what goes on in the average Surrey neighbourhood.

I earn a comfortable income, and thus could choose to reside in any Lower Mainland city. I enjoy life East of the Fraser, so I choose to live here. There's nothing positive or productive about arrogance.

Grew up in Fleetwood for most of my life. Had an amazing time as a kid and teenager, playing street hockey, tons of local parks, good library, community centre, lots of golf courses including one right behind my parents place. Someone mentioned Two Ee's Market which hands down offers you everything you need fruit and veggie wise. Wouldn't trade it for anything, loved my neighborhood. As I reached my 20's I wanted more of urban living though... it was tough being in my mid-20's and still living in Surrey as people have mentioned, it is pretty much all chain restaurants and everything is shut down by 9pm.

Moved to midtown Toronto 2 years ago, living in a super dense area, all condos and apartments. Haven't used a car in 2 years because I'm right near the subway and everything I need is within walking distance. 5 minutes walking are 2 grocery stores, lots of pubs, coffee shops, specialty shops, etc. Gave me what I was always wanting in my mid-20's.

Now I'm moving from Toronto back to Surrey at the end of May and I'm not sure how I am going to feel. Still love the neighborhood, so many positives, but driving for 10 minutes just to get some groceries is going to suck. I'm going to miss the vibrancy that an urban setting provides as you walk out your front door.

As a single male in his late 20's, not sure if Surrey is right for me at the moment, but if I was settling down with a family, I would definitely not hesitate to set up shop in Surrey. Always going to be home to me, good and the bad.

LOL so ignorant. Come over to my house and see how ghetto and shitty my Surrey neighbourhood is...Be sure to PM when you get here, I'll open the gates for my shitty Surrey home.

Do you live in a $10 million house (Is there such a thing in Surrey?)? And even if you did, what's it like a 10 minute drive away? Trailer parks on King George? Kilometre after kilometre of cheaply built McMansions and strip-malls? What good restaurants are there near your house? Where do you go shopping, Guildford Mall? How many years of life is wasted stuck behind the wheel for a typical Surrey resident commuting to/fro work? What makes Surrey memorable? Would Canadians be proud to present Surrey to the world?

People who live in Surrey clearly value quantity > quality. And hey, if that's your thing, then props to you. And assuming that you live in a multi-million dollar home, what would your house cost in Vancouver, North Vancouver, or Richmond? Would you still be able to afford your "gated" house? And if so, what made you choose Surrey over these others cities? I'm genuinely interested. :badpokerface:

LOL, you are SO dumb; you have NO idea what you are talking about...

Okay... so you made an assertion (that I'm dumb), but where's the argument? :badpokerface: This thread is about the livability of Surrey, so please enlighten those of us that don't view Surrey in a positive light. Note: Calling someone "dumb" is not an argument.

How do you argue with someone who is simply spitting stereotypical bullshit....Yes, there's shitty parts of Surrey, but there are also several awesome parts of Surrey; just like every other nice city out there...

1 + 2 = 3 so.. 2 +1 = 3 :suspicious:

Maybe I'm just "dumb" as you put it but there are hundreds of other members reading this thread. Why not make your argument why you think Surrey is a great place to live? You can start by countering my "stereotypical bullshit" that I posted in the post above and prove your point. Calling people who have a different perspective "dumb" doesn't exactly add weight to your argument. If I don't like the car you drive and I call you "dumb," does that make me more "right?" :ilied:

No, it doesn't, but if you try telling me that my car is slow because it only has 200 hp when it actually has 300 hp, then yes, you are dumb.

You don't have a "different perspective," you are just 'of the stupid'. It is difficult to communicate with such ignorant people such as yourself.

I agree that some families do value quantity > quality. Each home owner has their own reasons towards this approach ie. "getaway" from more urban areas, affordability, reasonably sized homes for larger families, NEW home owners...and the list goes on.
Personally, if I were to decide between an 40 year old house with 4 bedrooms in Vancouver going for 850,000 versus a new/recently built house in Surrey Fraser Heights with 6 bedrooms and plentiful of land going for 800,000...I'd go with Surrey. Why? Affordable, spacious "gated" house, and to be honest, in a family of 5's perspective, sharing a room does eventually get in the way as teenagers get older. Also, I don't really think an old house is worth the investment unless you're willing to fork out for home maintenance (considering older the house = more problems). Lastly, you may be aware of this but didn't express it; the price of an house does not necessarily correlate with the HOUSE itself, but more-so the LAND...
Now, my statement may seem to completely agree with your argument, but does this shed some light into your eyes among other families and their decisions? It's not simply just "you have a choice...why'd you choose Surrey?" or "I/my parents makes x amount of money; get ball like me and live in Vancouver peasants".
I believe each family tries their best to incorporate their lifestyle and budget (if money is an issue) towards the BEST outcome possible.

I always thought that if you want to debate someone you have to present an argument but I guess calling your opponent "dumb" and "just of the stupid" and "ignorant" is argument enough. :badpokerface:

This back and forth is not going anywhere so you guys win, I'm "just of the stupid." I either don't understand Surrey engrish or Surrey logic or a combination there-of.

You're perfectly correct. There's absolutely nothing within a ten minute drive of Coal Harbour or Yaletown that would detract from the desirability of living there.

Oh wait, the DTES is less than a ten minute drive from some of Canada's most expensive properties... So what was your point again?

BTW, Surrey =/= King George Blvd. That's like saying Kingsway is Burnaby, sketchy parts and all. Speaking of Burnaby (and pretty much every other city in BC), you do realize there are strip malls and shitty houses there as well, no? Hell, you were making fun of Guildford Mall, but Burnaby has freakin' Metrotown.

Have you ever been to White Rock or Crescent Beach? I guess all those people who own multi-million dollar homes along the ocean have been sorely misinformed and should sell their homes immediately in order to move to a shitty Vancouver Special shoebox downtown.

You do realize that some people don't like living in the city and actually prefer to own property and not be surrounded by god awful skyscrapers around them? I tried living in the city, but hated it. I prefer to be sitting in my 3/4 acre wooded property watching the squirrels and birds play around me. Or, if I'm feeling extra outdoorish, I could always drive up north and play around on 22 acres of hilltop property. No one gives a shit up there if you're mudding, blaring your music at 2 in the morning, or if you have a giant bonfire because you feel like it.

I don't need fancy overpriced restaurants for dinner or speciality shops to buy high priced groceries. All I have to do is shoot a deer wandering through the property, go to one of the local lakes or rivers to catch some fish, and go outside to my garden for some super fresh, pesticide free vegetables. Oh, an I can walk over to my neighbour's house, which happens to be a vineyard, and pick up some great wine to have alongside dinner.

Yeah, sound like I'm terribly missing out by not living in Vancouver.

Come on guys, enough with the Surrey bashing. Some of our country's finest, most upstanding citizens make Surrey their FIRST choice when choosing a place to live. It is considered the city of parks and has proven that with plenty in every neighbourhood. Perfect for children of all ages. :hi:


http://www.news1130.com/2013/03/28/c...ing-to-surrey/

Totes bro, but Surrey isn't the only great place to live those fine citizens call a lot of great locations their home.

Despite the fact that Surrey will never be my cup of tea, you make some compelling points Lomac and I in reality agree with many of them (ie. the desirability of having a large wooded lot, the plague of the DTES).

And thank you for having the decency of writing a proper response given that we clearly have divergent perspectives, giving credence that not all RS members (from Surrey? :grinno: ) have the mental equivalent of a peanut and that one can still have a proper conversation on this forum. :wiggle:

I think based on your life experiences and you lifestyle, you've never had reason to go anywhere but the crackhead alleys of Surrey. Someone who references King George and the trailer park homes on that street, obviously has been trolling around the late nights look for some crackheads and hookers. Maybe our crack is cheaper and are hookers are better, I don't know, but I do know that you have absolutely no reason to look for or travel to the nicer areas of Surrey because you would stick out like a sore thumb. And yes, I would be proud to show my out of town friends around Surrey as I have many times. My location is a 5 minute drive from the US Border, 15-20 minute drive from Richmond and about a 30-45 minute drive from Downtown Vancouver. I'm about 25 minutes away from Burnaby as well. I have plenty of options to travel to other cities and live in my own if I'm not satisfied with my dining and shopping options. LOL people usually don't move to a city because of their restaurants or their shopping malls. Also, my parents only commute about 15 minutes to get to work every day and not everyone needs to drive out to Vancouver for their jobs. But enough of this, you don't like Surrey, that's fine lol. You can bash it all you want, it won't affect my property value and it won't affect my outlook on the city that I live in. You can throw news articles and list out street names and areas where poverty and drugs and crime are abundant in ANY city in this province, you're just too ignorant to see that.

Enjoy the 2 links below...not because your city won't have them as well but because you failed to recognize that they exist in Surrey...

REALTOR.ca -Property Details F1300186

REALTOR.ca -Property Details F1301244

The problem is you set it off with a holier than thou attitude and look down your nose at everyone that lives in Surrey. I don't think most people are saying Surrey is perfect or without it's issues. That said many people choose to live here, like to live here and enjoy raising there family here. There are some real dirtbags here true, but there are also some really good people who like living here.

If I won the lottery tomorrow I wouldn't leave here, I'd buy a bigger property and build a bigger house. I have no desire to live in Richmond or Vancouver even if I could get the same house for the same price there, I loathe going downtown and the Vancouver core but that's just me my personal preference. I know there are plenty of people in Richmond, Burnaby, Vancouver ect. that feel the same way about where they live. It doesn't mean there wrong it's just different strokes for different folks.

Spend 10+ mill to go live in west van so you can spread your arms and touch your neighbors house and yours

Some people value privacy.
Posted via RS Mobile

I think that's your problem. You're not opening your eyes enough to see what Surrey DOES have to offer. It may not be YOUR cup of tea, but that does not necessarily mean it isn't for others also.
People are too interwinded with media to the point where they can't even differentiate it with common sense/reality.

99% of the people that I know that hated Surrey had only been here maybe 3 times at most. Most people hate on Surrey because of what they hear. None of them ever come here and see what it's all about because they're too lazy or ignorant to get out of their comfort zone. It's real easy to talk shit about anything when you have not experienced it or have had very little experience.

As Quasi had stated above, if I win the lotto, I wouldn't move from here either. I've lived here for nearly 25 years and have loved every bit of it. My family was the first one to buy a lot and put up a house in our area when it was still all woods. I've seen this city grow from barely anything to becoming the 2nd largest city. Within the next decade, it's going to overtake Vancouver as the largest city. Coincidence?

About Surrey, City of Surrey, Surrey Facilities & Communities | Tourism Surrey

People who are so judgemental of Surrey from what they've heard on the news or seen on the skytrain are stupid. Most of Surrey is actually nicer and quieter then living in Van or Burnaby. If your going to judge Surrey just from Whalley, which is a tiny part of Surrey, maybe we should start judging other cities from what we see in some parts of South Burnaby and East Van. Or am I just generalizing saying East Van and South Burnaby is bad?

and this trend doesn't stop... riiiiightttt

No matter how much you surrey people try and make surrey look nice, it still and always will be surrey.
Posted via RS Mobile