Since Maple Ridge is supposed to be up and coming a lot right now, I'm wondering if anyone has any new opinions on it as a place to live? Has anyone noticed it improving with the new housing developments and new bridge? Looking into the Kanaka and Albion areas to live. I'm also looking for a good realtor, so send me a message with any recommendations or people to avoid

you should talk to Alan2005, he lives there.

Where are you working? That will help decide whether MR is a good choice or not.

My husband and I will be looking for jobs in the next couple months but they may come up in any part of Vancouver. My husband will likely work downtown and I will likely be able to work in Maple Ridge or nearby. The commute shouldn't be an issue hopefully. I like living away from the city, so I wouldn't want to be any closer to downtown (plus it gets really expensive).

Mission is also an option as it is more affordable but it is getting a little too far away. Haven't visited there though. Heard the schools aren't as good as compared to MR.

Walnut Grove in Langley is nice but is more expensive than MR and limits what we can buy.

You say it's not an issue now, it may be when you're actually living there. MR is pretty far from downtown and the roads aren't great, and traffic can be a real problem at rush hour. There is the West Coast Express, but it has limited hours and only one station option downtown. Being closer to the WCE station would give more options though.


Anyway, Alan can probably explain it better than I can. I'm a bit biased because I have friends who want to leave MR due to the commute to downtown (3 hours a day by car for them).

As Kiwilass says, it all depends on where you'll be working. If it's downtown, that commute would get tiring after a while for me. Outside of rush hour, it takes us around 40 minutes to get from Downtown to MR, tops. During rush hour it can be anything from 50 minutes to 1.5hrs, depending how bad it is. The West Coast Express has very limited service although they do have a bus that follows the stations through the day and evening but that takes a LONG time. One thing you need to take into consideration when budgeting is the cost of the commute (fuel, servicing more regularly, depreciation, train tickets, etc). Sometimes it's worth paying more accommodation costs and live closer to work if possible).

Kanaka / Albion are nice areas and have some nice subdivisions if that's your bag (and dependant on your budget of course). Plus you have Bruce's market close by at 240th which i like. Shame the ferry isn't used any more but the bridge is very convenient if you need to pop to the other side of the Fraser. Also check out Whonnock / Ruskin for great rural areas, and Websters Corners to be slightly closer downtown.

Downtown Maple Ridge has expanded/upgraded quite a lot over the past few years but still needs improvement in my opinion. If you have a family it has some good schools. My main problem with it is the crappy sprawl for miles between Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, to Coquitlam. Looks a bit crap to me. Some of the locals are a bit odd also but mainly very nice.

I guess it all depends on what you have right now, and what you expect to have from the area you choose to live.

Alan2005 bought recently so may be able to advise on realtors and expand on the crap i've written if he wants.

I live in MR - on an acreage east of the areas you are looking. I like living here, not least because of the silence at night which you don't get living downtown. The countryside is also lovely, things like golden ears provincial park and pitt lake are right on your door step. Not too mention easier access to the rest of the fraser valley.

Is it up and coming? I'm not sure about that. A few of the main roads in town have been refurbished which makes the place feel a bit nicer, but generally downtown MR is not an affluent place and it shows. The population will get denser though as people are priced out of Vancouver and are forced into the suburbs.

Kanaka and Albion are nice areas with a mix of housing stock straddling the line between urban and rural that exists between 240th and 256th. One downside to Albion is that it is near the Lougheed Hwy; this means you will probably get some road noise depending on where exactly you are.

The commute to Vancouver sucks by car and whilst there is some transit and the west coast express - whether you use these or not will depend on whether you live near a station. I don't - so I drive. If you have to do this every day your life will be hell.

The bridge is only useful if you work in Langley and live in MR (or vice-versa). Apart from going to Langley, I've only used it a couple of times to get anywhere - and that's when there has been some problem with the other routes into town.

I can give you the details of the realtor we used. I liked him on a personal level and he didn't rip us off which I guess makes him a good realtor. I can PM you the details if you like.

And the trains that run parallel to the highway. You can hear those bugger honking from Whonnock in between the silence of night and the bull frogs chattering away.

Yeah we can hear them too (only the horn, not the engine). Though it's quite faint up here - I only notice it because everything else is so quiet. I don't mind the train - it's idiots in harleys that will piss you off and I'm far enough away from main roads to not hear them.

Nutter (unless you mean west MR)

Yeah you're right. I usually see the Golden Ears bridge as a "nearly there" location.

To get to the other side of the Haney Bypass where the OP is looking it does take longer.

55 mins is the fastest I've got to downtown. I have managed to get to the Park Royale mall in North Van in 45 mins, but that's all hwy 1 and was at 6am on a Saturday.

I'm driving there this afternoon so will make a note of the time out of curiosity. Helps ward away the boredom and monotonous sprawl

Let me know if you see any bears - or want to go for a coffee or sommat.

Mission is even less affluent than Maple Ridge and feels very depressed to me. I occasionally do work out there from Vancouver (If I leave before rush hour starts, around 6am, I can drive to Mission from Vancouver in about one hour). If you love living away from sophistication, Mission may appeal, but I would not recommend living there unless you're very familiar with the area. The last time I visited Mission was in February and I felt like I had entered "small town BC"... or Twin Peaks. Not sure, really. Lots of bizarre individuals in the Tim Horton's downtown at 7:30am!

Maple Ridge as "up and coming" - no, not quite, as others have said. It's suburban sprawl in a beautiful natural location. The town isn't anything particularly memorable or noteworthy, although Bruce's Market is. Many live in Maple Ridge because it's cheaper, not because it's a destination.

The demographics are also different in Maple Ridge/Mission area compared to Vancouver. Also tends to be politically/culturally conversative, if that's important at all.

I would also say, if you do intend to live in Maple Ridge, I would try very hard to find jobs nearby, and not in Vancouver. Even the Langley to Vancouver commute isn't one I'd envy.