Change is a-comin’ for New West’s garbage pickup. Sadly, it’s not text-message reminders on garbage day (I always forget!). Starting next year, New Westminster will begin replacing our aging fleet of garbage trucks with automated trash pickup – and potentially also begin integrating a kitchen waste collection program.
Trash, and what to do with it, is of great concern right now in the Lower Mainland as a whole. It’s not just a question of whether to bury it, burn it, or truck it to the United States. It’s a question of how …

Coquitlam city councillor Fin Donnelly has been named the NDP candidate for the riding of New Westminster-Coquitlam, beating out New West councillor Lorrie Williams and fellow Coquitlam councillor Barry Lynch at a riding association meeting at Glenbrooke Middle School.  Donnelly, a Hyacks swim club record holder, and longtime environmentalist was supported by NDP party leader Jack Layton, who visited the riding to show support for the new candidate in the upcoming by-election (to be called before November, 2009).
Donnelly, a Coquitlam native, has ties to New Westminster through his time as …

This is a guest post by Marcy Koopmans, who recently moved to New Westminster. This is her take on our most recent Tweetup.
As Jocelyn mentioned in her post on Friday, a large part of what gives New West its sense of self is its sense of history.
Moving here, Wes and I were surprised and, I’ll be honest, a bit amused by what to us seems such an unusual preoccupation with the past. But perhaps this is only because we came from a city which one Twitter user called a …

Last night at the third New West tweetup (soon to be blogged by @punkvspunk, I hope!), the idea of celebrating New Westminster’s future resurfaced. It’s no wonder it came up, given that we were twelve under-35′s, 6 iPhones, and one twitter hashtag (#newwest), meeting at a locale quoted by one tweeter as “the closest thing New West has to hip.”
It was roundly agreed that New Westminster as a city government and as a citizenry does a marvellous job of celebrating the past – from ragtime festivals to classic car show-n-shines, …

Faced with a surplus of transportation issues and a dearth of public consultation, New Westminster folk are turning to digital channels to make our voices heard.
As Ruth Seeley wrote yesterday, TransLink has held public meetings to collect citizen  input that will shape the 10-year Lower Mainland transportation plan coming in 2010. Ten of these meetings have been held, including some in the surrounding communities of Surrey, Burnaby and Coquitlam, but New Westminster – the transportation network bull’s eye of the Lower Mainland – didn’t qualify as a “central” enough location …

This is a guest post by Ruth Seeley of No Spin PR.
It’s hard not to laugh at the line in the Wikipedia listing for New Westminster (no, not the part about its seven glory years as the capital of the Colony of British Columbia before Victoria snatched the honour away). The line about it being geographically small but most of it being positioned on the side of a hill.
They aren’t kidding about that. I’m lucky enough (or smart enough) to live in the area known as Brow of the Hill, …

I came across a fabulous collection of photos lovingly detailing many of New Westminster’s historical buildings on Flickr today. From Queens Park jewelboxes and historic churches to humble peaked-roof homes on the Brow of the Hill, it showcases  the variety of architecture and neighbourhoods in our beloved city.

These particular photos were taken by a Coquitlam photographer with a passion for heritage buildings who goes by Bob_2006. Thanks for capturing all this, Bob!
I love checking in to see what our local talent has shared on Flickr. Another great source for photos of …

Will’s post on Bill Chu and his organization Canadians For Reconciliation was picked up by the New Westminster Newsleader, and an edited version ran in the paper today as a guest column. Chu has been very successful using the power of the press release to get ink on historical mistreatment of Chinese Canadians in New Westminster, but as Will points out in his post, the other side of the story has been underrepresented in the media. If you’re here from the Newsleader, you may want to read the original, which …

Good news for Quayside and Queensborough: the Fraser River spring runoff has peaked and is now receding. In plain English: we are unlikely to see a repeat of the 2007 floodwatch that saw Quayside sandbagged and residents put on evacuation alert.
The City of New West Office of Emergency Management sent out a two-paragraph media release about it today based on information from the B.C. Ministry of Environment River Forecast Centre: given current snow conditions in the mountains, there is a very low probability for water levels to rise again this …

Admittedly, I’m a little biased. I was recently appointed as the market manager for the Royal City Farmers’ Market, but I am so excited about the market’s reopening coming up!
The second incarnation of the Royal City Farmers’ Market is about to kick off June 25th with a special “Welcome to Summer Vacation” market, featuring kids’ activities including toys and crafts, a magician, face painting, and a special appearance by Mayor Wayne Wright who will start the market season off with a bang! The market runs June 25 to October 8 …

Cross-posted on disadventure, Jocelyn’s blog about life, travel and more.
Last night I joined @gnb, Hollie, @duckbeaver and two of my co-editors from Tenthtothefraser, Jen Arbo and Will at a “Burger and a beer” fundraiser for the Royal City Farmer’s Market, at the Brooklyn Bar and Grill on Columbia Street in New Westminster.
Chuck Puchmayr’s band was playing, the weather was good, conversation was nice, and we met some great people – like Loren from the Apple Barn Pumpkin Farm, a market vendor who drove all the way out from Abbotsford to …

Some time ago, I was part of meetings in the library, at pubs and shops in town and in the Parks office on 8th street, all with the common purpose of establishing an operating Community Garden project and society for the “mainland” of New Westminster. While Queensborough has had a successful garden operating for a few years now, the many gardeners in New Westminster that would like to get that soil under the nails feeling and yet they have no space available for their work. With one of the highest rental rates …

I am having a real problem writing this post. I am a white guy and as my ancestors came to New Westminster in 1909. I am one of the very, veeery few New Westminsterites whose oldsters may have actually participated in active or passive discrimination of Chinese Pioneers in this city’s past.
I fully understand my position in this story but as a bleeding heart liberal and as a BC elementary and secondary student whose history education consisted of French Canadians, Aboriginal Canadians, Chinese Canadians and South Asian Canadians to the …

This is a guest post by Nancy Gephart from Clever Mink’s Gifts, ’the minksiest gift shop in the Lower Mainland,’ at 711 Carnarvon St.
Tourism New Westminster has a terrific new campaign this summer, the “Passport 150″. It is a part of the city’s 150th Anniversary celebration and it is an excellent chance to explore the city’s shops, restaurants, galleries, theatres, festivals and attractions. The way it works is simple:
1) Pick up a free Passport at any participating business (I have them here at Clever Mink’s Gifts) or at any of the …

The Garden Nerd series will look at gardening issues in New Westminster. Suggestions for topics, guest submissions, and questions are all welcome. We’ll try and address it all! You can find other posts, as they are added, by clicking here.
This past week I popped out to my favourite seed store, West Coast Seeds, and picked up 225,000 mixed seeds in a blend called “Pacific Northwest”. It contains a mix of 17 different annuals and perennials, and all of the plants are indigenious to BC and our zone. They are also …

 
This spring, Will ripped out the ivy covering the front slope of our yard, built a wooden retaining wall to contain the soil, trucked in some compost and rich soil, and together we seeded the whole thing with lettuce, beans, herbs, tomatoes, strawberries, artichokes, brussels sprouts and more. 
It looked terrible for the first month or so, while we waited for the weather to match our gardening ambitions. Impatient, we planted zucchini seedlings that withered in a frustratingly late frost and a border of bug-repelling marigolds that moped (but survived!) until …

One of the items in our datebook here at Tenth to the Fraser, is the Royal City Farmers’ Market Second Annual Fundraiser. This year the fundraiser is at the Brooklyn Tap and Grill and will feature the musical guest The Syndicate, featuring Chuck Puchmayr. There is a silent auction with the top prize a weekend getaway for two in Harrison courtesy BCAA Travel on 6th Street. There will be many other excellent items to bid on. 
Tickets are available at the Village Coffee Lounge at 705 12th Street, Vienna Treasures at …

Some time ago, I guest posted about our challenges in finding a good Chinese take-out place in New West. Some mentioned Hon’s while others recommended the Dragon. Having eaten at both, I found a new contender.
The Lucky King Seafood Restaurant on 832 12th St. in New West is great. They have only been managing the place for two months and I’m sure the work being done on 12th doesn’t help with attracting foot traffic.
I’ve already read one letter in our local paper regarding their most excellent (sorry …

Our family is not as green as we’d like to be, but little by little we’re trying to change our habits. We’ve dug up our front garden and filled it with herbs, lettuce, strawberries, brussels sprouts, tomatoes and beans. We try to turn off the lights in empty rooms and don’t run the tap when brushing. We compost and we recycle. And now, we have a clothesline.  
A few weeks ago, Will came home with a couple of metal poles salvaged from a discarded chain link fence on the …