Past Projects | Burnaby Heights

Past Projects

Hallowe'en on the Heights (Oct. 31, 2007)

Hallowe'en belongs in the neighbourhood, and nowhere is this more true than on the Heights. In the Heights, Hallowe'en is a true folkloric event as it's meant to be - safe, fun and a celebration of a good spooking! The Heights merchants are proud to be part of this tradition and making local childrens memories special. The Heights gets "haunted" with activities for all ages this Hallowe'en. Click here for more information.

East of Willingdon Revitalization (ongoing - updated Oct. 2007)

Business and pedestrian vitality has been on the decline between Willingdon and Gamma (4500-4800 Hastings) Street for a number of years. Since the area is zoned almost entirely for service-commercial (such as appliance repairs, car sales, home renovation), these limitations mean that buildings are becoming increasingly difficult to rent. Almost no shops or retail are currently permitted east of Willingdon. The high property values, coupled with a two-storey maximum restriction in building leads to a disincentive for developers to invest money in the area... leading to buildings that are in a poor state of repair.

The HMA envisions east of Willingdon as it does the rest of the Heights: an urban village, with the attributes and advantages that the area west of Willingdon enjoys. This safer, friendlier and aesthetically more pleasing environment for pedestrians will make east of Willingdon - and all of the Heights - a more inviting place to live, work, and shop.

NEWS! Following two-year long efforts to educate the City Council on our struggles, and to hear from both merchants and residents about what they long for in their area, and also what their concerns are regarding possible changes, the Heights Merchants Association was pleased to see forward movement when Burnaby City Council approved a staff report on Oct. 1 to go to public hearing with proposed zoning changes. While these changes are not perfect and do offer some challenges, they would nevertheless allow for more flexibility in both retail offerings (such as cafes, bakeries, shops) and building height and style... neither of which were possible before. A public hearing by the City will occur in November sometime. The recommendation would not become official until some time after it has gone through this process. We will update this web page when we have more information to report. Please call our office for details.

For more info on other Heights Physical Improvement initiatives, please click here.

The City of Burnaby has assembled a Business Crime Prevention Strategy Working Group to analyse Burnaby's business crime and security issues. One of the HMA's Board members is serving on this committee. If you are a property or business owner of the Heights business district and want to pass on your concerns to the City's committee, please call our office and let us know.

On behalf of the HMA, and for the benefit of the Heights area, the HMA sent its executive director to the International Downtown Association conference in New York City this year. There, professionals who work in business improvement areas (or districts, as they are called in the

), gathered to share ideas, best practices, and spend an intensive 5 days in workshops and informative district tours. The executive director was able to gather ideas and inspiration from other areas in

Canada

, the

USA

and Europe, which she has brought back to the Heights with her. If you would like to hear more about this, please call the HMA office.

The second annual Giro di Burnaby bicycle race rode through the Heights and brought 9,000 cheering spectators to the streets! Local residents Gina Grain and Zach Bell took third and nineteenth place respectively and were definitely crowd favourites. Thank you to Tourism Burnabyfor the Street banners featuring a passionate cyclist painted by Luigia Zilli, the official Giro di Burnaby artist. The banners will continue to be displayed along Hastings Street. Find more at Special Events page or www.girodiburnaby.com

This year's AGM was held at Confederation Community Centre and featured guest speaker Ian Tait of Artiss Aminco and 2010 Legacies Now. The meeting was punctuated by some terrific raffle draws and door prizes featuring contributions from various Heights merchants. The AGM is a great place to learn about the HMA's recent achievements and future projects. All merchants and property owners are welcome to attend. Our next AGM will be in late June 2008. Stay tuned for details. Find more at Merchant Events or Contact the HMA.

Since the 1996 implementation of the HOV Lane, rush hour effectively transforms Hastings Street from a neighbourhood retail district into a freeway, and encourages a freeway commuter mentality in those driving through the Heights. In February 2007 the HMA made a presentation to the City of Burnaby Transportation Committee. City Council subsequently suggested that the problem be further examined with the intention of arriving at some eventual solutions.

Efforts continue to educate Council members on our struggles. City staff have made us aware of the fact that Hastings Street may be under the authority of the City of Burnaby, but changes to its capacity must be approved by Translink. This does not preclude the opportunity and challenge to be creative and think of new ways to move people on feet and in cars in a way that truly reflects a growing and vibrant community... and not resort to transportation tools that are best used on a designated freeway.

In February and March of 2007, the HMA collaborated with the Hastings Community Policing Office to host two workshops addressing crime, safety and security in the Heights. The workshops facilitated open dialogue between merchants and the RCMP. Moreover, they clarified RCMP procedures and internal structure as well as types, causes and prevention of crime. For more details, please visit Merchant Events or contact the Hastings CPO at 604-656-3250.

The "Name the Bee" contest was organized to give a name to the newly revealed bee adorning the Spring/Summer Heights street banners. The bee name had to be succinct, easy to pronounce and, above all, a marketable reflection of Burnaby Heights. Hundreds of suggestions were considered and BIZZY THE BEE was chosen. Bizzy is hardworking, energetic and unique, just like the Heights. The winner of the contest, Debra Vinning, was rewarded with a Heights shopping spree, a cake form Valley Bakery and, of course, a pot of honey!

Customers Survey (Summer 2006)

In the Summer 2006, the HMA hired Bengtson Market Research Ltd (a professional market research firm) to interview 225 localized customers to find out what they like and don't like about shopping in the Heights, where our competition is, opportunities for growth, and much more. If you are an HMA member and would like to learn more about the findings, please contact our office. The survey results are going to be used for internal marketing decision-making and business recruitment strategies.

In August and September 2005, the HMA hired Bengtson Market Research Ltd. to survey our members. All ~500 members were contacted, and 93 members were able to complete the whole survey (representing approximately 14% of our membership). They told us what we were doing well, what challenges they were experiencing, what they would like us to focus our work on for the next few years, and much more.

If you are a property owner or merchant and would like more details about our survey, or have any comments or concerns, please Contact Us. We'd be happy to provide you more details.