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Letter: Make Metrotown more than a soulless concrete jungle

It's the heart of Burnaby, so why doesn't it have any heart?
Metrotown streetscape
The streets of Burnaby's Metrotown neighbourhood need life and soul, says this letter writer. Can the neighbourhood become more than a concrete jungle?

Editor:

An open letter to Burnaby mayor and councillors:

I wish to bring to your attention the following.

I have noticed the contrast between street areas of the Lower Mainland and those of the Metrotown area. On recent visits to Lower Lonsdale in North Vancouver, Dundarave in West Vancouver, the Kitsilano area along West Fourth and even Hastings Street in the North Burnaby area, all these areas seemed to be very vibrant with outdoor cafés, hanging plants etc.

In contrast, the Metrotown area is very sterile and just a concrete jungle, apart from a small sliver of beautification on Silver Drive between Kingsway and Kingsborough, fronting the Earls/Cactus Club restaurants. 

Other than that, and a few scattered outdoor restaurant areas (few and far between), it's all very humdrum.

C'mon, let's make the Metrotown area pleasing to the eye and warming to the soul.

Can't something be done to create a nicer, scenic, more inviting area for the citizens of South Burnaby to live, other than catering to developers?

Mike Bird, Burnaby