Category: New Westminster

New Westminster’s First Parklet

Earlier today Jonathan Coté announced New Westminster’s first parklet. Strictly speaking he wasn’t the first to announce it, as it was in last night’s Committee of the Whole agenda, but who reads those things?

For those who don’t know, a parklet is a mini park set up as an extension of a sidewalk. They’re not very large, typically fifteen to twenty meters long, and about three meters wide. They’re places for people, set up to allow people to meet, sit, and relax. Vancouver has five parklets, and they’ve been big hits almost everywhere they’ve been put in.

Philadelphia’s University City District did a study looking at why some parklets work better than others and found that the most successful parklet in Philadelphia was located in a medium-density residential neighbourhood, outside a taco shop and a popsicle store. Ideally, you want a main adjacent business with modest interior seating capacity, coupled with high turnover of that seating. You also want large windows on the main adjacent business, which gives a sense of connection between the business interior and the exterior parklet.

That said, where is this new parklet going to be located? In Sapperton, on E Columbia Street between Braid and Cedar. Specifically, it will be right in front of Fratelli Bakery and The Bloom Bloom Room, right where this black SUV is parked:

Note that that picture is from June 2014, and The Bloom Bloom Room opened beside Fratelli’s three weeks ago.

Do those businesses meet the criteria? Fratelli’s probably meets the first one (I don’t know, I’ve never been). The windows on both businesses are large and inviting (and I hope The Bloom Bloom Room has removed the bars from their windows!). I suspect that if the BBR puts flower displays out front, it’ll make the whole area even more inviting.

To put things into more context, here’s the current sidewalk:

…and here’s the proposed sidewalk with the parklet:

Now, of course, this wouldn’t be a post about New Westminster without some discussion of parking. This parklet is going to remove two parking spots. Luckily, that end of Sapperton doesn’t get much business and, as such, there is almost always parking available. And if we go back to that University City District study, they found that business owners reported a 20 percent increase in sales in the two weeks following a parklet installation. This jives with stats from California that found a 9-20 percent average increase in local business revenue.

This is to be the first of five New Westminster parklets installed over the next five years. I look forward to visiting Sapperton’s once it’s installed!

Hidden Gem: Glenbrook Ravine Park

Glenbrook Ravine Park is a nice little park nestled between residential complexes in New Westminster. British Columbia’s oldest public park, it’s a combination of manicured and wild. You can access the park either at its lower end off Jamieson Court, or from its upper end off Glenbrook Drive, or from the middle off Blackberry Drive. The whole trail is about one kilometre long.

The lower section of the park holds the Glenbrook Park Amenities Centre, a small pond that has ducks, fish, and turtles, and a good collection of flower beds. You can even get a little bit of learning from the old bell from the old BC Penitentiary, if you’re so inclined.

Walk uphill from there, and the best part of the park awaits. Just past the manicured park, up on the left side of the hill, there are remnants of the BC Penitentiary cemetary. Unfortunatly you can’t get there from the ravine; the access looks to be blocked off by townhouse and condo complexes (I’ll try to figure this out soon!). At the first fork, take the right path and you’ll quickly come to a daisy-filled meadow — an ideal spot to have a picnic or play bocce with the kids!

This section is the most disappointing to me, as one bank of the hill is entirely covered with invasive Himalayan blackberry — good for picking but horrible for the native plants. I hope that cleanup and restoration of this section is on NWPCR’s radar.

Take the left path from the fork and you’ll continue up through more natural forest. Look for salmonberries and skunk cabbage! This is the quietest part of the park — you’ll hardly hear the native New Westminster fauna. This is one of the best places in New Westminster to get away from the noise. Yes, you’re not truly away from it all, but there aren’t many places in New West that are this peaceful (Lower Hume Park is probably the only other). You’re not going to spend days here reconnecting with nature, but it’s a short bus-ride from downtown, so you didn’t have to spend hours in a car getting here either.

When you’re nearly to the top, on the left side there’s a stone riverbed coming down the hillside. This is where some local history took place back in 1907. Billy Miner, train robber extraordinaire, robbed a train near Kamloops in 1906 and was captured shortly after that by the Royal North-West Mounted Police. He was sentenced to 25 years in the BC Penitentiary in New Westminster.

On August 8, 1907, two boys were swimming in the creek just upstream from the stone riverbed when a man came to them from downstream. He told the boys that they didn’t see anything, asked them what they’d say if anybody asked (they said “nothing”), wished them a fine day, and continued on upstream. Minutes later the escape bell at the Pen rang out — Billy Miner had escaped.

(I first heard that story from a Jane’s Walk given by Dale Darychuk two years ago. With luck he does the Jane’s Walk again in 2016!)

The trail exits through switchbacks onto Glenbrook Drive, or earlier on up stairs to Blackberry Drive. It’s much nicer to just double back and enjoy the park all over again!

Jonathan Cote can control the weather!

I ran into New Westminster mayor Jonathan Cote at the first Royal City Farmers Market Summer Market today. I commented about the turnout (large) and the weather (nice), and he dropped this bomb on me:

Yeah, Council was arguing about what sort of weather we were going to have today but I pushed the nice weather through.

I laughed, and wished him a fine rest of his day, but then I got to thinking… the weather has been pretty good recently. Blue skies for New West’s 145th May Day. Blue skies for The Ancient and Honourable Hyack Anvil Battery anvil salute. I mean seriously, check out this quote from Archie Miller:

“That was one of the first Victoria Days in a number of years that we haven’t been watching clouds or rain coming. It was beautiful,” said Archie Miller, the group’s historian. “The day was really, really nice. Everything went well.”

And as proof of his benevolence? The forecast for Sunday, May 24, when the “ousted” Royal Lancers are holding their community heritage picnic?

Sunny, with a high of 21.

New West Rumour Mill, May 2015

It’s time for another Rumour Mill! There has been a lot going on in New Westminster recently, so let’s find out what the rumours are!

Rumour has it that an occupant has been found for the empty restaurant space at the Anvil Centre. People have been understandably hush-hush about it, because it’s a flagship location and any hint of news could scuttle the plans. I don’t care! I’m going to break the news! You heard it here first, folks: the restaurant in the Anvil Centre will be the brand new Darrell’s Deal Deli! That’s right, Save-On-Foods is going upscale and busting into the restaurant market in a brave and bold new way, right here in our very own New Westminster! Overwaitea Foods started in New West, so it’s only fitting that Darrell’s Deal Deli start here too. Welcome!

The POPart exhibit at the Anvil Centre’s New Media Gallery is a huge hit. Watch out though, rumour has it that the balloons are filled with carbon tetrachloride for its fire suppression properties. Gotta stay safe, New West!

On a more serious note, Tenth To The Fraser is back. Yay!

And I’m going to finish off with some topical poetry. Watch out Candice James, I’m gunning for your job!

Spring has spring
The grass is riz
I wonder where
The Lancers is

On the Royal Lancers

New Westminster has a tradition where old men dance with twelve-year old girls.

Depending on where you live, you’ll either find that strange or delightful.

If you live in New Westminster, are white, and are over the age of 50, odds are you’ll find it delightful.

Otherwise, you’ll probably find this tradition a little strange and perhaps a little off-putting. I’m in this camp, and I am just fine with this tradition being cancelled.

To give a little background, the Royal Lancers, a fairly secret society of older men (I say this because I’ve been unable to find out who exactly is a Royal Lancer, or what it takes to become a Royal Lancer) have a dance each year with the May Queen Suite at the May Day banquet. The May Queen Suite is made up of Grade 5 girls from New Westminster school.

The City has said that the dance will no longer be part of the banquet, and this has rustled all kinds of jimmies around town.

(Aside: Take a look at this tweet as an example of what I mean by “white and over the age of 50” for who’s angriest about this whole thing. Fully one third of New Westminster residents have neither English nor French as a mother tongue, and they’re woefully under-represented in this “tradition”.)

The only argument I’ve seen towards keeping the dance the way it is is “it’s tradition”. Okay, I’ve also seen the “it strengthens bonds between generations” arguments, which is about the only one that I’ll accept as valid. “Tradition” is not a reason to keep it. There are an awful lot of things in our past that count as “tradition” that should be remembered but not celebrated, and I think this dance, in its current form, is one of them.

I read stories like this where the lancers say things like “I don’t believe council realizes the implications of their action” and I can’t help but think of a petulant child upset that his parents have taken his ball away from him. Their actions are taking away the whole spirit of the celebrations, which is to celebrate children. Instead, by stamping their feet they’re taking the attention away from the children that they profess to celebrate.

(Another aside: read that story again and note how the actual specifics of the dance aren’t mentioned. The only hint that old men might be dancing with young girls is in the “10 hours of cooperative participation” phrase — other than that it looks like the Lancers are just dancing by themselves. Why this subterfuge?)

In fact, that’s my biggest problem with the Royal Lancers: they say they’re respectable men but they act like petulant children.

Why aren’t the Royal Lancers saying anything about changing the dance? Why is the dance restricted to old men dancing with prepubescent girls? Why not include female business leaders? Why do the boys have to sit on the sidelines?

And why hasn’t anybody asked any of the kids currently in Grades 4 and 5 about it? Everything is from the viewpoint of the Lancers. Nothing is from the viewpoint of the children. There have been quotes from May Queens of past, but they’re a biased sample (and memories can change over time).

Here’s what the Royal Lancers should have done instead of throwing a tantrum: open it up. Make your little society a little less secret. Allow anybody to become a Royal Lancer. Change the dance to allow boys to dance. Allow anybody to dance with whoever they want (we don’t want “tradition” to push away anybody, right?). Get grandparents in there to dance with their grandchildren. Uncles, aunts, whoever, and name them Honourary Royal Lancers for the evening. Whatever you do, change it.

And remember the motto of New Westminster’s May Day: “For the Children, By the Children and of the Children.” Because that’s what’s most important, and that’s what the Royal Lancers have forgot.

Update: I found this article from September 2013 that talks about modernizing the Royal Lancers dance. I’d like to highlight two quotes:

[Councilor Chuck] Puchmayr said when the city introduced the Royal Knights—Grade 5 boys to accompany the May Queen Suite—he assumed they eventually would be the ones to dance with the girls. But that hasn’t happened. Instead they sit on the floor while the girls dance with the men. One father suggested to Puchmayr the Lancers could teach the boys how to dance with the girls.

And:

“When the Lancers come in with the May Queen suite I must admit it’s quite stirring, it looks like they’re the protectors of the young girls. But then I thought about it and I went, ‘wait a minute,’ ” said Coun. Lorrie Williams, who also didn’t like seeing the boys sitting on the floor during the dance.

“It bothered me. I took a picture of that, they just watched and they almost looked like they were pushed aside. That was the illusion.”

Williams suggested the Lancers become the guardians of both the girls and the boys.

“It would be a welcome change. In adding the Knights when we did, we made a change to our tradition,” said Williams. “That way nobody steps down and nobody is offended.”

New Westminster City Council has been talking about this since then. In the August 26, 2013 minutes (thank you Rick!), on page 18 there is a motion resolving that “the City of New Westminster enters into discussion with Stakeholders and the School District for the purpose of modernizing this event.”

So two councilors are on the record for saying the dance should be changed, and yet no changes came about. Why not?