Port Moody, BC

The area: Port Moody is the smallest of the so-called Tri-Cities and though the term has never been clearly defined, it is generally taken to mean the cities of Port Moody, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam. It is located in the East End of the Burrard Inlet in Metro Vancouver and is bordered by Coquitlam to the east and the South and Burnaby on the west.Belcarra and Anmore villages lie to the north.

Surrounded by mountains, water, and plenty of greenery, Port Moody is rapidly being recognized as a major centre for high-quality housing. It's approximately 27,000 inhabitants whose income is above average to enjoy a relaxed smalltown lifestyle though the big city amenities offered by Vancouver are only 22 kilometres away.

The city received in 2004 a prestigious award from the UN International Awards for Liveable Communities in the category Planning for the Future. Also in 2004, the city adopted the official trademark "City of the Arts." It has long been a destination for the arts because of the beautiful surroundings and the affordable home prices and even today some eight percent of the population are employed in culture and the arts. Today it is a well developed creative community that is host to a number of festivals such as the Canadian Film Festival and facilities and The Port Moody Arts Centre offers local residents a wide variety of courses in photography and the fine arts.The city also offers exceptional outdoor facilities such as Rocky Point Park which offers a large number of facilities in 3.8 hectares of space and Bert Flinn Park which is 138 hectares of largely virgin parkland.Bert Flinn Park where there are a large number of old logging trails. is a paradise for mountain bikers and hikers

As befits a city which is virtually a suburb of Vancouver, it is extremely well-connected and the car ride to Vancouver takes about half an hour. The Barnett Highbury has been through a major widening and now provides an additional lane in each direction to handle rush-hour traffic. The West Coast Express commuter train provides quick transit excess to Vancouver and the proposed extension to the Sky Train will connect Port Moody to Vancouver, Coquitlam , New Westminster and Burnaby.

The local housing market: new houses are a feature of Port Moody and the table below shows the the Benchmark prices for typical property in the Tri-Cities. This comes from the Vancouver Real Estate Board's monthly statistics.

Benchmark Prices as at March 2010, Port Moody

Category Benchmark $ 1 Yr Change

Apartment $302,088 10.70%

Attached $401,747 13.60%

Detached $589,126 25.50%

Encompassing the south shore, Moody Centre is the focus of much of the future development activity in Port Moody due to the age of the existing housing stock, and is the City’s most diverse neighbourhood from a land use perspective.

Implementing transit-oriented development principles with respect to future transit stations to create a more compact, walkable community and reduce reliance on vehicles, is necessary to cope with the regional growth.

The primary residential area in Moody Centre is to the south of St. Johns Street, containing a mix of single-family homes, townhouses and apartments, and closely located to all urban amenities.

Moody Centre has a number of sub-areas, each of which has its own character:

• Moody Centre Heritage Conservation Area and Heritage Character Area are located in Moody Centre from where a number of buildings are listed on the City’s heritage register.
• Rocky Point Park acts as the major south shore access to the head of Inlet Park, which extends to Shoreline Park and Old Orchard Park on the City’s north shore.
• The remainder of St. Johns Street outside of the Heritage Conservation Area is primarily commercial, although there are some residential land uses at both the eastern and western ends of the St. Johns Street corridor.
• The light industrial area of Port Moody, which is largely made up of small manufacturers and distributors, is primarily located on Murray and Spring Streets. There are also areas currently zoned for light industrial use on St. Johns Street and on Clarke Street.
• The waterfront industrial area is bounded on the east by the Mill and Timber sawmill site and on the west by Pacific Coast Terminals.

Moody Centre is home to the old City Hall, built in 1914 and transformed into the Port Moody Arts Centre in 1996, as well as many other heritage buildings. In order to encourage the preservation of heritage character homes, adaptive commercial re-use of existing residential buildings shall be considered if the building is located within the heritage character area of the City or if the building has been identified on the City’s heritage register.

Stroll through the Heritage Conservation and Character Areas to the eclectic Queens Street Plaza. Bike, roller-blade, or walk the to Rocky Point Park, where you can exercise, play or relax. Fish, kayak or sail the Inlet itself. The “City of the Arts” has something for everyone.

If you would like to view one of the current attached or detached listings available in the Moody Centre neighbourhood of Port Moody, give me a call at 778-878-0778, or send me an email: john@realestateevolved.com

The neighbourhoods of COLLEGE PARK, HARBOUR HEIGHTS, GLENAYRE and SEAVIEW, are on the south shore of Port Moody, along the forested hillside east slope of Burnaby Mountain, and mainly offer residential homes with a mix of single-family detached, townhouses, and apartments with some commercial development on Clarke Road.

There are older pockets of development around Clarke Road and the Barnet Highway, which are beginning to redevelop for single, and multi-family residential uses. The existing land use and character of the Glenayre, College Park, Seaview and Harbour Heights neighbourhoods shall generally be retained.

Most of the housing in Glenayre, Seaview and College Park has been built within the last 45 years and is not yet at the point where redevelopment is likely to occur. Harbour Heights is one of the youngest neighbourhoods in the City, offers a variety of housing types and lies between the communities of Glenayre and Seaview.

There is a marina to the north, off the Barnet Highway, and these family oriented neighbourhoods have parks including Westhill Park with an outdoor pool, the Glenayre Community Centre, and 3 elementary schools, with Port Moody Secondary and Simon Fraser University very close by.

If you would like to view one of the current listings available in the Glenayre, College Park, Seaview and Harbour Heights neighbourhoods of Port Moody for attached, or detached homes, give me a call at 778-878-0778, or send me an email: john@realestateevolved.com

The Heritage Mountain, Twin Creeks, Noons Creek, Mountain Meadows and Heritage Woods neighbourhoods of the North Shore are relatively new, fundamentally residential and home predominantly to families with school age children.

The existing character of the Heritage Mountain, Noons Creek, Twin Creeks and Mountain Meadows and Heritage Woods neighbourhoods shall generally be retained with a mix of single family homes, townhouses, and a variety of multiple-family housing forms permitted. These include, duplexes, tri-plexes, four-plexes, stacked townhouses and apartments as specifically identified in the neighbourhood plans.

Undeveloped parcels remaining in Neighbourhood 2 shall be developed according to the housing mix, densities, land use and character requirements as specified in the City of Port Moody’s Neighbourhood 2 Plan.

Twin Creeks and the small neighbourhood playground, lies above Pleasantside by Bert Flynn Park. Bert Flynn Park is not only popular for its beauty, but also for its hiking and biking trails.

The Noons Creek Salmon Hatchery where chum and coho fingerlings are released each spring, is a part of an award-winning school science program in Port Moody, while Mountain Meadows Park is popular with its walking trails and sports fields.

You’ll find a variety of great amenities in Heritage Mountain, including the Aspenwood Park Community Centre completed in 2003 that features meeting space as well as a day care centre. This neighborhood is now reaching completion of development.

If you would like to view one of the current listings available on the North Shore of Port Moody for attached, or detached homes, give me a call at 778-878-0778, or send me an email: john@realestateevolved.com

The area to the west of April Road in Port Moody, on the gentle south facing slopes on the North Shore of Burrard Inlet, is owned primarily by the Imperial Oil Company, after which Ioco was named. Ioco is an enduring example of the early company towns in the Lower Mainland.

A huge oil refinery was opened in 1915 and a townsite of 83 homes, a grocery store, school, tennis court and other amenities were subsequently developed. Prior, all travel to the townsite was by boat or on horse back.

The Ioco area was incorporated into the municipality as part of a City boundary expansion in 1988, and although distribution activities continue, the refinery itself was officially shut down in 1995.

Working with local architect and urban planner, Michael Geller, Imperial Oil (Esso) Ltd. began feasibility planning studies for about 200 acres of the former IOCO refinery lands on the north side of Port Moody, overlooking the Port Moody harbour.

A revitalized Ioco Townsite could become the heart of a new community, but redevelopment will require significant infrastructure and transportation improvements and consider the protection and enhancement of the environmentally sensitive areas.

Ioco has a rich concentrated heritage conservation area and this character will be another of the considerations for future development in the neighbourhood.

At the present time there are no active listings available in Ioco, and only one new home was built last year. Prior to that the last sale was in 2007.