About Port Coquitlam, BC

About Port Coquitlam

Real Estate in Port Coquitlam, or PoCo as its known, has become attractive to first time home buyers who want to live in a safe, comfortable and engaging community in a good location. Port Coquitlam’s progressively improving civic infrastructure is increasingly responsive to the needs of its growing population. Its nearness to pristine natural reserves and park lands provide opportunities for recreation and relaxation close at hand.

The city is in the heart of the Lower Mainland, and Downtown Vancouver is a short 35 minutes away on the West Coast Express, and less than an hour by car.

History
First People
The City is named for the area’s original inhabitants, the Kwikwetlem First Nation, a Coast Salish people who can trace their settlement here to 7000 BCE. Port Coquitlam was the site of an indigenous fishing village. The word means “red fish up the river” after the sockeye that traveled up the river. Explorer Simon Fraser passed through in 1808, paddling down the river that bears his name.

Industry and Development
Prior to Port Coquitlam’s incorporation in 1913, two Coquitlams existed, a greater rural municipality and its industrial area; it is the latter that became Port Coquitlam. The greater community was economically based in farming and timber, but when Canadian Pacific Railway built their western freight terminus here 1911, it became one of the city’s main employers. In 1913, the Essondale (later Riverview) “Hospital for the Mind,” a state of the art facility for the treatment of mental illness was built on the site of the renowned Colony Farm and arboretum.

The post-war period saw the city bustling with activity, with the construction of Lougheed Highway in 1952, and a comparatively affordable real estate market. Businesses came, and with the rise of Vancouver, this became a major bedroom community.

Port Coquitlam has produced a diverse list of notable citizens. The urban guerrilla group, Direct Action, named “The Squamish Five,” by the media, gained infamy in the 1980s by bombing a weapon system manufacturer and a pornographic video store chain. On the other end of the spectrum, one of the community’s favourite sons was the cancer fundraiser Terry Fox, who became a tragic yet inspirational Canadian hero when he attempted to run across Canada in his Marathon of Hope.


Geographic Information

Port Coquitlam is located at the confluence of three rivers, the Coquitlam, the Pitt and the Fraser. The Coquitlam River marks the municipality’s western limit opposite the City of Coquitlam, which curves around north and northeast to form its upper boundary. The Pitt River cuts a curving border from northeast to southwest, where it flows into the Fraser. The city faces Pitt Meadows to the east, opposite the Pitt River, and the City of Surrey to its south across the Fraser River.

Zoning and Architecture

Port Coquitlam is very much an old style town in its plan, with an industrial, commercial and cultural center, surrounded by residential lands and nature reserve outside that. Housing styles range from detached homes to condominiums. Over 260 hectares of parkland add to the quality of life by integrating green space throughout and nearby to the urban core.

The town site was built around the Canadian Pacific Railway’s major freight train station, which now bisects the city. The bulk of the residential area is located away from this heavy industry.

City Planning has approached the prospect of civic growth with a mandate of balancing development with environmental considerations. 5% of land for new subdivisions must be used for parks; developers are required to incorporate payment to a school site fund into its expenses; and development is configured so that parks, land reserve and agricultural reserve buffer waterways and distribute evenly throughout urban areas.
            
Shops and Services

The downtown commercial district is home to a variety of retail and entertainment venues, from big box shopping outlets to boutique retailers and specialty businesses.

In nearby Coquitlam, the Coquitlam Farmer’s Market, started in 1996 by SFU students as an economic improvement initiative, brings neighborhood folk into contact with their local agrarian providers. Located at Como Lake, it relocates to Port Coquitlam Recreation Centre in the winter, and features events like the Salmon BBQ, the Slow Food event and Bike to Market Day.

Parks and Recreation

Public Parkland & Trails
Traboulay Trail is a 25-kilometer multi-use trail built around the city’s circumference. It was begun as the PoCo trail in the late 1960s, and was incrementally improved upon by the”PoCo Trail Blazers.” In 1997, the City improved the trail’s overall safety, connected it contiguously and made sweeping improvements, renaming it after Mayor Len Traboulay. It has become a source of urban pride and is a forward-thinking innovation of urban design.

Nature Parks
Pinecone Burke Provincial Park is a 38,000 hectare nature reserve just north of Port Coquitlam which lies along the western edge of Pitt Lake. The park conserves old-growth forests, ice fields and alpine lakes. Visitors can camp, canoe, hunt or fish in designated areas of the park.

Recreation
Port Coquitlam’s recreation network has a number of facilities and programs to accommodate a range of interests and age groups. The Hyde Creek Recreational Centre is a multi-purpose facility with an indoor pool, gym, climbing wall, racquetball/squash courts and children’s programming. The “Grade 5 Get Active! Card,” is given to children in grades 5 & 6, and grants free access to recreation resources.

The newly renovated Port Coquitlam Recreational Complex provides ice rinks to accommodate skating and hockey activities.

The Gathering Place and The Outlet, elements of the Leigh Square facility, are essentially community rooms for presentations, socializing and creative artistic activities.

Culture and Events

Arts Facilities
In 2007, the Leigh Square Community Arts Village opened an outstanding facility to the public. The Centre is an innovative resource located in the heart of the city, and programs according to its role as a facilitator of community development through the arts. It is vast in its scope and ambition, providing the public with the agency to develop and express its culture. To this end, it provides art studios, rehearsal spaces workshops, after school programs, events and retail.

The Centre also contains community archives with a heritage art project, artistically representing the community’s history through paintings and photographs.

Events
Port Coquitlam keeps a staggeringly busy social calendar with year-round events, here are just a few of many:

The Terry Fox run every September commemorates one of Port Coquitlam’s proudest sons, and keeps his legacy alive by raising money for cancer research.
Sunday Coffee Concerts bring some activity to the dark months between January and March with diverse bimonthly music events.

The Hyde Creek Salmon Festival commemorates and observes the arrival of the salmon as they return home to spawn. Part celebration, part education, this is a truly incredible and powerful experience and a chance to witness the miraculous regenerative lifecycle of nature in all its unfiltered beauty and brutality.


Schools, Services and Sustainability Links

Port Coquitlam School District 43 offers a range of programs including a Gifted Students program, an International Baccalaureate, early and late French immersion programs and a free adult basic open online learning program.    

For a full list of schools, parks and recreational facilities, civic services and sustainability resources, please see our Community Links page.

Transportation
The Coast Meridian Overpass, scheduled for completion in 2010 will connect the north and south parts of the city by providing a high-volume artery over the CPR rail yards. Part of the Gateway Project to improve the Pitt River crossing, it will take pressure off the Lougheed Highway and Mary Hill Bypass with four traffic lanes, 2 bicycle lanes and pedestrian walkways.

Bikeways
With traffic-calmed streets and a relatively compact size Port Coquitlam is a good town for bicycles. A bike-friendly path encircles the entire town.

Transit
Translink provides buses and community shuttles to serve the city. The West Coast Express commuter train stops on Kingsway Street at Wilson Avenue where there is a park-and-ride, passenger offload area and a bus bay.

Roads
Lougheed Highway is the main road that connects Port Coquitlam to multiple routes leading into Greater Vancouver, while the Mary Hill Bypass leads to Highway #1 and the Port Mann Bridge.

The Pitt River Bridge and Mary Hill Interchange Project, presently in progress will replace the swing bridge with a 7-lane suspension bridge by 2010.