Although the community has won a number of sustainability and design awards, UniverCity still lacks two crucial elements in any sustainable community: a (primary) school and a place to buy food. Well, the missing pieces are finally beginning to fall into place for UniverCity, the new residential community beside SFU on Burnaby Mountain. Plans for both amenities have been confirmed in the past few months. A supermarket is scheduled to open in 2009 and an elementary school in 2010.
With the introduction of a supermarket, it's a shame that SFU Community Trust's original vision of a small town butchershop and market won't be realized. I give them credit for trying though. An independent butchershop opened in the Cornerstone Building a couple years ago, but it didn't have much of a chance without enough residents and the support of complementary retailers, like a bakery and a full produce market.
Now Nesters Market will be moving to the Mountain. It's a compromise between having an independent village grocer and a big box chain supermarket. Nesters fits the Trust’s penchant for locally-grown retailers (Nesters started in Whistler). With only eight locations, Nesters is a relatively unknown name, adding to its neighborhood appeal. Nevertheless, while Nesters isn’t a goliath like Safeway or Superstore, its parent company Buy-Low Foods is part of the Pattison Group of companies. Needless to say, the Pattison Group is no small fish.
Assuming Nesters’ isolated Burnaby Mountain location and home-grown image can overshadow its conglomerate ownership, UniverCity will have the little neighborhood grocer it always wanted. Maybe then, just maybe, SFU and Burnaby Mountain will feel like a full-fledged community.
Image: "UniverCity town square" by *MandyJ*; Creative Commons license.
