Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Aldergrove Mall

Last week, I had to attend a meeting in Aldergrove and took TransLink from my work in downtown Vancouver to 272nd Street. The total time on transit was 2 hours and 20 minutes which is ridiculous. You actually have to pay for two fares as tickets only last for 90 minutes! While transit is clearly an issue in Aldergrove, one of the first things I noticed about the community was the half-dead Aldergrove Centre Mall.

Aldergrove Centre Mall in Langley
To be honest I have never actually walked through Aldergrove, but after last week I’m convinced that this mall is holding back the potential of the community. I did some research and found that the redevelopment of this site has been in serious discussion since at least 1998. In 2010, the Township updated the official community plan of Aldergrove to make the mall site a medium to high density mixed-use zone.

Cloverdale Mall Development in Surrey
I can't help but notice the similarities between the Aldergrove Centre Mall and the dead Cloverdale Mall. The interesting thing about the Cloverdale Mall site is that the City of Surrey is developing the site into something much better. Is it time for the Township of Langley to take the lead and redevelop the Aldergrove Centre Mall site?

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