That’s the punch line to a very old joke: “What’s the advantage of living in White Rock?”
No more. For one thing, South Surrey has become the North Shore below the Fraser. For another, the City is determinedly rebranding – and rebuilding – itself. And they’ve launched a design competition, with some serious bucks, to shift “surburb into city.”
TownShift is the name of an open ideas competition, launched yesterday, and described by Sean Ruthen in this article in re:place magazine:
With some of the organizers from FormShift on board, including Trevor Boddy and Scott Kemp MAIBC, long-time Surrey residents Allen Aubert MAIBC and John Sprung have assembled an international jury to select the best submissions for a future vision of the city.
Situated around five of the six major town centres in Surrey – Semiahmoo, Cloverdale, Fleetwood, Guildford, and Newton – architects and citizens alike will be asked to choose from one or all of the five urban design challenges, each one unique in its own way. With a total cash purse of $75,000 in prize money, it is sure to attract both a local and international draw of schemes for the difficult urban situations affecting the city’s historic town centres.
More here.
The winning proposal should have a street named after them ontop of any money awarded.
Hope the contest is open to regular joes instead of only the pros, although the chances of a joe winning is slim, you never know we could be surprised.