While the City of Richmond has seen increased urbanization over the past decade, there is an expectation that the city — and especially the No. 3 Road corridor — will be transformed by the Canada Line.
No. 3 Road was chosen because of its existing commercial and residential density, which is still rising.
Terry Crowe, Richmond’s manager of policy planning, said the city wants to add another 80,000 residents, primarily in high-density neighbourhoods near the city’s four Canada Line stations. Richmond’s City Centre is currently home to roughly 40,000 residents.
With the No. 3 Road Restoration Project, $24 million has been spent to improve the corridor’s Canada Line streetscape, and to establish a foundation for urban development that is friendly to transit users, cyclists and pedestrians.
In addition, there is an expectation that the rapid transit link will bring in more visitors.
Gordon Price, director of the Simon Fraser University City Program, said recently that the Canada Line will afford more people the opportunity to explore not only the city’s vibrant culinary scene, but other urban developments such as public art.
“For those who think Richmond is one big strip mall in search of a city, they’ll be surprised,” he wrote recently on his blog, Price Tags. “Already the blocks between the Lansdowne Station and the Olympic Oval have a very urban feel, deliberately designed in the Vancouver style.”
Condo clusters
• Richmond is preparing for clusters of high-rise condos around Canada Line stations, similar to those found in Burnaby and New West.
