The Burnaby Mountain neighbourhood is one of the most desirable places to live in the city. Atop this green hillside, the sweeping views of water, mountain and cityscapes are stunning.
This is where the master-planned community of UniverCity calls home.
Located besides Canada's top comprehensive university, Simon Fraser University, UniverCity has been hailed as a model of sustainability.
Dale Mikkelsen, director of development at SFU Community Trust, says this ambitious master planned community was years in the making.
"The plan for housing at SFU dates back to 1963. It was put forth by (noted architects) Arthur Erickson and Geoff Massey, true visionaries," adds Mikkelsen. "Erickson and Massey knew that unless people lived near the university it wouldn't be a truly vibrant university."
In 2003, their vision for a community adjacent to the campus came to life.
"That's the year we started building homes in two UniverCity neighbourhoods and today, there are currently 3,400 residents," he says.
The community consist of five distinct, mixed use neighbourhoods spread over 320 hectares East Highlands, University High Street, West Highlands, Slopes and South Neighbourhood. (The latter will feature over 700 larger apartments and townhome units.)
When Phase 5 of UniverCity is completed, in 2022, there will be approximately 10,000 residents in 4,500 homes.
"We are building low rise homes in the Slopes right now that offer really incredible views," says Mikkelsen, adding because of its sustainability mandate, there are no single family homes in UniverCity. "When the Slopes neighbourhood is completed, there will be amenities, such as medical, dental, commercial and retail, that residents want that will all be within a five to ten minute walk from any neighbourhood."
Today, University High Street is home to a full range of shops and services, including coffee shops, a grocery store, a bank, two restaurants, an organic deli, a pharmacy and popular SFU Pocket Farmers' Market.
"As the community continues to grow, we will add more amenities," says Mikkelsen.
UniverCity is a dense, walkable community that minimizes its footprint on the environment, yet provides everything that suburbanites and residents need.
Because of its desirability, UniverCity is attracting everyone from the university student to the first-time buyer, to the professional couple and young couples with children and downsizers.
Because more than 40 per cent of UniverCity's population has young children, UniverCity built University Highlands Elementary School.
When the elementary school opened, enrollment far exceeded expectations.
"The first day the school opened its doors more than 150 students showed up," he says, "and today enrollment exceeds almost 200".
It wasn't long before the community realized there was also a great need for a childcare facility.
Last year, UniverCity Childcare Centre opened its doors.
"We realized we were missing a preschool care program for children between the ages of three and five we opened the centre for 50 children adjacent to the elementary school," says Mikkelsen.
Again, in keeping with UniverCity's directive to be as sustainable as possible, the centre will be the first Living Building in the country.
"It's a wonderful and healthy facility, built to the Living Building Challenge," he adds. (The international challenge means the space must generate as much energy as it consumes, it also must collect and recycle more water than it uses, as well as be built using locally-sourced, non-toxic materials.)
In addition, the elementary school is LEED Gold certified the highest designation for building green.
To celebrate the first anniversary of one of the world's most sustainable childcare facilities, noted local artist Brent Comber's cedar log installation, Nightswimming, will be unveiled. (Set to take place on April 10 th).
UniverCity's Public Art program has been incredibly successful.
Mikkelsen notes the community understood how valuable and beneficial a public art plan would be to its residents. Its art program is vibrant and has become integral to life on Burnaby Mountain.
Mikkelsen says its art program is funded by developers.
"Developers contribute to the program either when they build or they can provide funding for larger installations," he adds. "As the community grows, so will the public art program."
For those who are outdoor enthusiasts, there are more than 25 trails, including the Trans Canada Trail, surrounding the SFU campus and the UniverCity community. The wooded trails are perfect to hike, bike or meander through.
"There is also a new second community park slated to open in two to three years in the South Neighourhood," says Mikkelsen. "It will include an urban community garden and a children's play area."
Another key factor to UniverCity's growing desirability is that Burnaby still offers good housing value and its easy accessibility to downtown Vancouver.
"The beauty is you don't have to travel across congested bridges or through a tunnel," he adds.
Within walking distance from their homes, residents can catch a shuttle bus to the SkyTrain or hop on a direct bus and be in downtown Vancouver within 30 minutes.
In order to reduce its environmental footprint even further, UniverCity features a Co-op car program, as well as four electric vehicle charging stations at the Cornerstone Building.
"We have three fuel-efficient non-hybrids for residents to use through the car share program," he says.
In the end, Mikkelsen believes Erickson would approve of how UniverCity has become a model community other cities will want to emulate.
For more information, visit: www.UniverCity.ca.
