Vancouver’s trifecta of suburbs to its northeast has born witness to the macro-trends that have affected the wider region in the past decade—the conversion of heavy industrial lands into multi-family village centres, the expansion of single-family subdivisions, and the renewal of historic cores thanks to transit-oriented multi-family development. Together, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, account for 12 per cent of the region’s population. Port Moody and its environs are wealthy, leafy suburbs with a shrinking industrial footprint on its waterfront; Port Coquitlam is bisected by the Canadian Pacific Railroad’s rail lines and retains a supply of light industrial land. Coquitlam is more suburban with a major retail area at its heart. But with the arrival in December 2016 of the SkyTrain Evergreen extension that runs through Coquitlam and Port Moody, the Tri-cities are undergoing a condo construction boom, with numerous transit-oriented developments built or underway.
