BURNABY
Burnaby, immediately east of Vancouver, is B.C.’s third-largest municipality. It’s home to the province’s biggest mall, Metropolis at Metrotown, which anchors the city’s newly proclaimed downtown core. The city’s rapid transit lines are defining the city’s future, however, opening the door to redevelopment of the Brentwood Town Centre and Lougheed Town Centre malls. The lines not only anchor development but also carry commuters across the city in as little as 25 minutes, as well as east to Coquitlam. The city’s two post-secondary institutions, SFU and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), offer programs in the arts, sciences and trades and graduate students with the skills employers in the business parks along Still Creek and in Lake City require. Metrotown is also a hub for new commercial development, drawing in workers and attracting a cosmopolitan range of options for lunch in the surrounding streets. Whether it’s Italian cuisine in Burnaby Heights or Chinese fare at eateries in Crystal Mall, the local restaurant scene is as varied and multicultural as the city’s residents. The banks of the Fraser River are home to walking trails that offer verdant retreats from adjacent offices and warehouses. Burnaby boasts one of the highest ratios of parkland to residents in North America, from the Fraser River in the south to the peak of Burnaby Mountain. The trails of Burnaby Mountain connect with routes leading west to Vancouver and east to Port Moody, ensuring room to roam. In between, Burnaby Lake and Deer Lake parks provide popular venues for festivals and arts events.