Coquitlam Town Centre

Coquitlam Town Centre

Coquitlam City Centre
Coquitlam Town Centre Coquitlam City Centre
Town centre of Coquitlam
	Skyscrapers in the Town Centre area of the city of Coquitlam, with the North Shore Mountains in the background.
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Region	Lower Mainland
Regional District	Metro Vancouver
City	Coquitlam
Government
• Mayor	Richard Stewart
• MP (Fed.)	Ron McKinnon (Liberal)
• MLA (Prov.)	Joan Isaacs (BC Liberal)
Area
• Total	7.2 km2 (2.8 sq mi)
Population (2016)
• Total	31,380
Time zone	UTC−8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)

Coquitlam Town Centre is the main commercial and retail neighbourhood for the city of Coquitlam, British Columbia. Coquitlam Town Centre covers 723 hectares (1,787 acres). The Town Centre also contains the highest concentration of high-rise condominiums in the Tri-Cities and northeastern Metro Vancouver.^[2]^[3]

History

Picture of Coquitlam taken from Coquitlam Centre

The concept of a town centre for the area dates back to 1975. In 1979, Coquitlam Centre Mall was built and became the main catalyst for the creation of a Town Centre. Over the following years, rapid population growth took place as new housing and low rise apartment developments were built over previously forested areas.

In the early 2000s, the City of Coquitlam updated the Town Centre Plan. Shortly thereafter during the mid 2000s, City Centre began to densify as various high-rise condominium developments took place. This is reflected in the rapid population growth of the recent decade, as City Centre grew by over 15% from 2011 to 2016.

The intent is to have a concentration of high-density housing, offices, cultural, entertainment and education facilities to serve major growth areas of the region, served by rapid transit service.

Coquitlam Town Centre is currently undergoing an update of the Town Centre plan.^[4]

Geography

Geographically, Coquitlam has two large parcels of land (one in the south-west, the other in the north-east), with a smaller central area between them. This central area, Coquitlam Town Centre, was designated as a "Regional Town Centre" under the Metro Vancouver's Livable Region Strategic Plan.

Demographics

Population history
Year	Pop.	±%
1981	5,061	—
1986	10,890	+115.2%
1991	17,023	+56.3%
1996	21,898	+28.6%
2001	23,895	+9.1%
2006	24,270	+1.6%
2011	27,215	+12.1%
2016	31,380	+15.3%
Source: City of Coquitlam^[5]

Population

Upon completion of the Coquitlam Centre Mall in 1979, the population of Coquitlam's City Centre was estimated to be 5,000.

Today, City Centre has grown to a population of 31,380.^[6]

Ethnicity

Ethnic groups in City Centre (2016) Source: [1] [2][3][4][5][6]		Population	%
Ethnic group	European	14,070	43%
	East Asian	10,845	33.1%
	Middle Eastern	3,405	10.4%
	Southeast Asian	1,520	4.6%
	Aboriginal	905	2.8%
	South Asian	830	2.5%
	Latin American	580	1.8%
	Black	465	1.4%
	Other	600	1.8%
Total population		33,038	100%

Language

Languages spoken in City Centre (2016) Source: [7]		%
Language	English	69%
	Chinese	14%
	Korean	6%
	Persian	4%
	Other	7%
Total %		100%

Rapid Transit

Lincoln Station is situated in the heart of Coquitlam Town Centre

Evergreen Extension

Three stations for the Evergreen Extension are in operation in the town centre - Coquitlam Central, Lincoln, and Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station, which is the terminus of the SkyTrain line.

Facilities

Public facilities presently at the Town Centre Park area include:

Coquitlam City Hall	Coquitlam Public Library	Police Station	Fire Hall
Innovation Centre	Douglas College	Pinetree Secondary School	Evergreen Cultural Centre
City Centre Aquatic Complex	Percy Perry Stadium	Lafarge Lake