This week we wanted to highlight local businesses and walking around your neighbourhood.
The route takes you through one of the commercial yet beautiful streets in New Westminster. It starts at the Edmonds station, from where we took the 112 bus route. We covered another area near Edmonds station in our last week’s walk.
Starting at the outer edge, where Kingsway culminates into Twelfth st., you have a sign post welcoming you to the City of New Westminster. Did you miss the sign? Never mind, take a look at the crosswalk. Every city has a unique style to it. Could you tell?
The Upper Twelfth Street is defined in the New Westminster Community Plan as one of New West’s Great Streets. It’s an important local corridor that connects the West End and Moody Park neighbourhoods to Brow of the Hill and Downtown, as well as connecting the city to Burnaby. This corridor has also played an important role in New Westminster’s history and remains home to several buildings designed in the Art Deco style. Twelfth Street supports small-scale neighbourhood retail and commercial businesses along the corridor, providing services to the surrounding neighbourhoods.
We were very fortunate to have Mary Wilson guide and show us the hidden gems of this part of New Westminster. There is some nostalgia about the street from its best days around the ‘40s.
Mary’s concern is that no one walks around the 12th and the area might be forgotten. Nevertheless, she stops at the corner store's facade “Isn’t this beautiful?” she asks pointing at the beautiful stores: the tiles and the flowers growing whimsically on the facades. Every store is different, some even feature murals. “I like it. I like the colours” she says.
She also showed us the first mosaics in the City, a community project that she initiated in cooperation with the Parks & Recreation team and the city’s Engineering department. The mosaics were made to commemorate 150 years of the 12th. Each of them tells a story about the block they are in. They are only visible if you walk along the street.
You will be able to learn more by signing up to Jane's Walk. The artful mosaics reflect the character and culture of the street.
The street is a favorite among film production teams for its unique and picturesque look. The area is well served with salons, barbershops, a laundry place, fitness centers. There are also a couple of churches for the residents in the area.
The City added a public parklet last year as part of the COVID-19 recovery strategy.
We visited our partners i.e. small businesses that serve the neighbourhood nurturing people’s minds and palates. Visit Kamini’s Corner Café for homestyle food, Paradise Donair with a patio dining area, and Renaissance Books with shelves fully stacked with interesting titles. By registering on Walk30 you could win one of the $50 gift cards to spend on one of these establishments.
While we were walking down the street, we met Con. Chuck Puchmayr. What says more local than running into your city officials!
Chuck Puchmayr possing for Walk30.
We then turned on the 4th into the Historic Brow of the Hill. “It is now an eclectic mix of rental apartments, corner stores, places of worship, heritage homes, and light industrial buildings. While much has changed, the neighbourhood still prides itself on its diversity and inclusiveness heritage.”
Shortly we followed down along the 9th and walked part of what was the Cool Streets pilot project last year. What a pretty sight with all flowers blooming!
We passed the Fraser River Middle School and had some rest at Simcoe Park, a city-center access-to-nature point.
Keep heading along the same road and you’ll find yourself at the New Westminster SkyTrain station.
Happy Walking!
This blog post is written by BEST’s Isabel Garcia. #walkability
