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A community in transition Guildford Town Centre has everything residents need – they just worry that growth and expansion means more traffic
Guildford Town Centre VIEW OUR INTERACTIVE MAP WITH Amy Reid
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V
era LeFranc has lived a block away from the Guildford recreation centre and mall for nearly 10 years, and says she wouldn’t live anywhere else. “For me, Guildford is just a great place to live. There’s such a mix of people,” she said. “We have this wonderful sort of melting pot of cultures, which I love.” LeFranc is with the Surrey Homelessness and Housing Society, and as such is part of the committee behind Surrey’s Poverty Reduction Plan. She said Guildford Town Centre has a high number of low-income residents. Surrey’s poverty reduction coalition did a neighbourhood mapping based on 2011 Statistics Canada data and found that around 152nd Street and 104th Avenue, there are several pockets that have more than 1,500 low-income residents. “This is one of the neighbourhoods that kind of falls below the radar,” LeFranc said.
Vera LeFranc stands in front of a community garden in Guildford’s Holly Park, where she grows vegetables. LeFranc says the garden brings together people of different ethnicities “It’s interesting to me, because in some ways it doesn’t really get the attention that, say, Whalley does. But kids here are often living in low-income.” In her own building, there are many low-wage earners who own their home, she said. “That’s a wonderful part of Guildford’s story – that there are some affordable home ownership options. But along
and ages. She has lived in Guildford Town Centre for nearly 10 years and says one of the reasons she loves the area is because it is a “melting pot” of cultures. (Photo: AMY REID)
with that comes people who are living paycheque to paycheque trying to make a go of it.” LeFranc says one of the things she loves most about the area is that she can do everything she needs to do within her community. Whether it’s exercising at the rec centre, running or cycling through Green Timbers, shopping or eating out, she has everything she needs nearby.
“Where I live, I have an 87 walking score. Everything I would want to have, I could walk and get, which I love.” Also within walking distance from her home is Holly Park, located at roughly 107th Avenue and 148th Street. The park has a community garden, in which LeFranc has a plot. see GUILDFORD › page 3