New Westminster has a great riverside location on the Fraser River. Unfortunately the view takes in the industrial yards of north Surrey.
Where to find New Westminster
The compact urban city sits on a slope running down to the northern banks of the Fraser River. It lies to the south east of
Burnaby and is around 20km from
downtown Vancouver.
Map of New Westminster, BC
Despite being one of the smallest municipalities in Metro Vancouver it still has a sizable and ethnically diverse community which is nudging towards 60,000.
Established in 1859, New West is the oldest city in Western Canada. It was once the capital of British Columbia before being elbowed out by
Victoria.
The glory days of New West are long gone but it still has some grand heritage buildings along the main shopping drag - Columbia Street - and some lovely heritage homes.
However, much of the waterfront is a disaster area. It’s hard to reach on foot and a significant proportion of the dilapidated industrial land is waiting for a revamp. Westminster Quay which was supposed to regenerate the area just seems to scare off shoppers and sightseers.
Shopping
New West is very much a small town and while the centre is fine for everyday shopping, many residents head out to Burnaby,
Coquitlam and Vancouver for a better choice of shopping centres, big box stores and quirky
shopping neighbourhoods.
Housing
Reasonably-priced housing is New West’s biggest draw. Prices are on par with more distant towns such as Pitt Meadows and Coquitlam which have inferior transport links to downtown Vancouver.
A typical detached house here costs $676,400 almost $200,000 less than the price of a typical detached property in Metro Vancouver. Apartments in New West cost on average $274,500.
New Westminster is close enough to Vancouver to be convenient for shopping, work and entertainment but distant enough to make housing costs more bearable.