Burnaby, B.C.

[Mitchell B]

Hello, fellow forum-goers;

 

I'm planning to study at the Burnaby campus of SFU, and am looking to start substitute teaching in the Burnaby area.  I have my B.Sc. and B. Ed. for teaching senior years science, particularly Biology and Chemistry, but I've had some experience teaching or substitute-teaching at all levels (from kindergarten to grade 9) and would work anywhere that would take me.

 

My dilemma is that I won't be able to have a car, so I'll need to bike or commute between SFU and whatever middle- and high-schools are in the area.  Anyone have some advice on a good central area to look for housing that would make that process less of a head-ache?  Any fellow teachers out there have some words of advice for getting into the school system in Burnaby?  I've only got about 4 years of teaching experience, so I'm almost wondering if it'd be better to move a little further outside of the city to be near a less competetive school division.

 

Thanks in advance!!

 

Mitchell Bergstersser

[bedmas]

hi! i just started at sfu burnaby a couple months ago though i do live in vancouver.

 

the campus is literally on a mountain and i know people who bike up there, but you have to be in pretty good shape and anticipate taking a shower once you're there. transit up to sfu is solely busses (that fit a ton of people and are ALWAYS packed). the most common ones coming from within burnaby are the 135 (comes from vancouver and goes through burnaby heights/north burnaby, pretty nice area) and the 145 (comes from production skytrain station).

 

If you look at the skytrain map:

 

gilmore, brentwood, sperling-burnaby lake, lake city way, and production way are all in burnaby. as are... i believe patterson, metrotown, and maybe royal oak.

 

the biggest part of the commute if you're taking a bus from production skytrain is the bus, between skytrain stations isn't too long. 

 

I would aim for somewhere close to the millennium line skytrain or the 135 bus route, which is as i said north burnaby/close to E hastings street.

 

i hope that's somewhat helpful! i don't really spend time in burnaby besides up on campus, but it's very commutable.

[Henry Hudson]

I used to live in New Westminster, near the Columbia Skytrain station (where the two lines separate on the map above), and it was about a half hour each way to Burnaby campus (half train, half 145 bus) (sometimes only 20ish minutes, sometimes 45). From New West, train and bus connections are pretty good to most parts of the metro area (western Van or the North Shore excepted, of course), and the neighbourhood is walkable, with business districts and parks nearby. There are affordable places.

 

The best times to commute to campus are very early mornings and early afternoons. Despite what the other person said, there are lulls. I would either head up 7-7:30 in the a.m. to beat the rush or wait until early afternoon, because the sardine-packed buses of peak hours really got to me. 

 

There are 4 buses that go up the mountain to campus: the 145 (from Production Way-University train stop on the map above. Yellow line, towards top right), the 143 (which goes eastward from campus to Port Coquitlam, not on the train map, but they are slowly building a line in that direction. Which might mean the end of the 143 bus. This part of the metro area is a bit distant from much of the metro area, but there are schools out that way), the 144 (which goes from Metrotown, the commercial centre of Burnaby. It also stops at Sperling-Burnaby Lake. Roughly an hour to campus from Metrotown, half that from Sperling), and 135 (downtown to SFU through north Burnaby, parallel but further north than the uppoer part of the yellow line above). 

 

At peak hours, expect buses to be packed, and the closer you live to campus, the more likely you will watch full bus after full bus pass you by without stopping. Getting on at the point of origin can be a much better idea, but even then there is no guarantee of getting a seat. As much as I hated the 145, it was the shortest bus ride from point of origin. Thus I recommend living closer to the Skytrain than living along Hastings in North Burnaby, for instance (which has some great neighbourhoods, but friends who live along there always seemed to have greater bus hassles than I did). 

[Fardad]

Is it possible to live in Burnaby with 1000$/month? Or do you need to be too frugal to make it?

 

I also have another question. I was looking at the housings in the Burnaby, specially near SFU. The majority of houses were non-smoking houses. Do you actually have to quit smoking if you want to live in Burnaby or what?

[José Neto]

Anyone who can share more information about Burnaby and the current housing options? Thanks!

[GoddessofMoons]

Hi all!

I will be attending SFU in the fall for my MPH and wanted to know if anyone had any pointers about the school, program, off campus housing/areas, and social life within the province  Also would love some recommendations of places to travel to or see within the province as well as other provinces.