Sunshine Terrace: In the shadow of retail giants
#1
Posted 26 December 2006 - 11:24 AM
Residential block turned business hub offers residents headaches, convenience
SHANNON MONEO
Special to The Globe and Mail POSTED ON 26/12/06
LANGFORD -- In the Victoria suburb of Langford, 14 orphan houses on Sunshine Terrace sit in the thick of holiday shoppers rushing from Golf Town to Future Shop.
Eight years ago, the street was Langford's first foray into affordable housing. The 1,600-square-foot homes built on 4,000-square-foot lots sold for about $160,000. Surrounded by trees and rocky hills, Sunshine Terrace was to be the first street in a residential neighbourhood.
Today, the modest, two-storey houses are hemmed in by big-box stores, retail outlets and eateries, something that does not make Carol Brooks happy.
"It's this little street in the midst of all this nightmare," she said. "You're forever dodging traffic."
In March, 2005, Ms. Brooks moved in with her husband Larry, who died a few months later.
And despite a reasonable $1,100 monthly rent for a detached home, the 60-year-old grandmother will be moving within a few months.
Even though a few front yards sport holiday decorations, the street feels isolated. Of the 14 houses, five are rented, four are occupied by the owners and the remaining five are vacant and for sale -- unusual in the Victoria area's hot housing market.
Retired barber Bill Leslie was one of the first to buy a Sunshine Terrace home eight years ago.
"We bought thinking it would be residential," Mr. Leslie said. "Now we're in the middle of development."
But the 68-year-old isn't keen to move.
Mr. Leslie is a gardener and, among the remaining rocky outcrops, he has created a prize-winning backyard.
He said he is even saving gas.
"You don't have to get into a car to go shopping."
Sunshine Terrace began as a residential enclave in 1998. One year later, massive road upgrades were started to handle south Vancouver Island's growing population. A Trans-Canada Highway interchange was built near the street.
Suddenly, businesses were eager to set up nearby to capture commuters, and surrounding land was rezoned to commercial.
By 2001, Sunshine Terrace homeowners wanted their street to be rezoned to commercial, which would enable them to sell their homes for more than they paid.
But the rezoning raised property taxes and insurance costs. Some homeowners couldn't secure mortgages, Langford Mayor Stewart Young said.
The final blow was when the developer of Millstream Village couldn't strike a deal with the Sunshine Terrace homeowners to purchase all of the properties.
In 2004, the Sunshine Terrace houses reverted to residential status.
Mr. Young didn't anticipate Sunshine Terrace would become such an anomaly.
"It's out of the ordinary," he said. "It's this unique piece of property."
Mr. Young, 46, who has been mayor since 1992, has been both vilified and glorified for bringing millions of dollars of commercial development to Langford, an area once derisively labelled "Dogpatch."
Today, 22,000 people live in the community west of Victoria.
Known for moving quickly and decisively, the former entrepreneur has spent a disproportionate amount of time dealing with Sunshine Terrace. "I've spent so much time politically on these little houses," Mr. Young said.
In 2001, Mr. Young figured a commercially zoned Sunshine Terrace house could have fetched up to $400,000.
Sylvia Marcangeli, 32, moved across the street at the end of August.
When she tells her friends where she lives, they exclaim, "You live on that street?"
But the location has its upsides, she said.
"You can't find anything like this for half the rent," said Ms. Marcangeli, referring to the size and quality of the house. She and her partner pay about $1,400 a month.
Another bonus is being able to walk a few hundred metres to the upscale Market on Millstream to buy food.
"When you have the stores all around, it definitely makes you feel like shopping," said Ms. Marcangeli, who is on maternity leave from her job at a collection agency.
But she's not sure she will stick around once her first child is born in February.
Her cat Nemo was recently killed on the very busy Millstream Road, just steps away.
Non-residents encountered in the parking lot weren't sold on Sunshine Terrace.
"Wouldn't that be awful to live there," said Saanich resident Marilyn Trupp. She was going to the new Serious Coffee cafe, on the other side of Ms. Marcangeli's back yard. "There's no place for kids to play."
Even teenager Madison Allen wouldn't want to live within walking distance of Le Chateau.
"People park in your driveway. There's no privacy," the 13 year old said.
Mr. Young, meanwhile, still has hopes for Sunshine Terrace.
He envisions lawyers, dentists and accountants opening offices to service the shoppers buying pet supplies and furniture in the nearby stores.
"Maybe there's a new zone we should be looking at," he said. "We could change it into live/work.
"There's probably a way to do housing that's unique. Here's this funky little street in the middle of development with home-based businesses."
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#2
Posted 26 December 2006 - 12:16 PM
I'm sure residents will love living amongst Walmart and the others in Saanich's downtown though.
#3
Posted 26 December 2006 - 03:16 PM
"There's no place for kids to play."
Can't the kids play on their street? It's a dead end, isn't it?
#4
Posted 26 December 2006 - 03:19 PM
"Wouldn't that be awful to live there," said Saanich resident Marilyn Trupp.
There's no reason it must be awful. Mrs. Trupp chooses to make the haul out to Langford precisely because the shops, restaurants and services there are appealing to her. So why not make the built form of these businesses appealing to the people who live nearby as well? STOP CATERING TO THE CAR.
#5
Posted 26 December 2006 - 03:25 PM
That whole area is soooo weird. The stores are built around this huge quadrangle of parking acreage, fronting the parking lot. The backsides? Nothing to look at. But when you're up there and the parking lot is quiet, it puts the real meaning of agora into the agoraphobia.... Empty empty empty, vast open spaces...
#6
Posted 26 December 2006 - 11:09 PM
STOP CATERING TO THE CAR.
Could you explain what it means? Do not provide ample parking space, or do it in a different way, or something else?
#7
Posted 27 December 2006 - 12:49 AM
For example, designs that place stores far apart, with [url=http://www.photosfromonhigh.info/walmart.htm:3c2bd]acres of parking between the building and the sidewalk[/url:3c2bd] make walking inconvenient, if not impossible.
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#8
Posted 27 December 2006 - 05:56 AM
#9
Posted 27 December 2006 - 07:24 AM
#10
Posted 27 December 2006 - 07:43 AM
#11
Posted 27 December 2006 - 08:47 AM
Home depot has a location in downtown New York that I saw and they deliver.
Costco type stores only make themselves car-centric because the customers are not demanding better.
#12
Posted 27 December 2006 - 09:13 AM
#13
Posted 27 December 2006 - 09:28 AM
#14
Posted 27 December 2006 - 09:40 AM
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#15
Posted 27 December 2006 - 09:42 AM
I am not arguing one side or another, I am simply trying to understand what practical solution is there. I believe this is a legitimate question. When you say "this is bad" and do not add constructive positive message describing what constitutes "good", negative part of the message is going to be shrugged off. If your suggested solution is unrealistic, negative part of the message is going to be dismissed as lunacy.
#16
Posted 27 December 2006 - 09:43 AM
I think the whole big box concept in the boonies will be indicative of our wasteful society in the future.
our grandchildren - So you purposefully built your shopping centres on the extreme edges of the city so that the majority of people would have to go as far as possible? Weird!
#17
Posted 27 December 2006 - 09:46 AM
#18
Posted 27 December 2006 - 09:47 AM
#19
Posted 27 December 2006 - 09:49 AM
#20
Posted 27 December 2006 - 09:53 AM
Also when these places are located closer to the majority of residents those that do drive, don't have to drive as far therefore polluting less.
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