Fleetwood, Surrey

Fleetwood is a town centre of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada with a population of 62,735 as of 2016.[2]

Fleetwood
Town centre of Surrey
An East facing view of the core of Fleetwood along Fraser Highway & 160 Street
Fleetwood Location of Fleetwood within Metro Vancouver
Coordinates: 49°10′00″N 122°48′00″W
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Region	Lower Mainland
Regional District	Metro Vancouver
City	Surrey
Government
• Mayor	Doug McCallum
• MP (Fed.)	Ken Hardie (Liberal)
• MLA (Prov.)	Jagrup Brar (NDP)
Population  (2016)[1]
• Total	62,735
Time zone	UTC−8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)

Fleetwood is bounded by 76 Avenue in the south (above Cloverdale) to 96 Avenue in the north and from 144 Street in the west beside Newton Town Centre to 172 Street in the east.

Infrastructure

Fleetwood Town Centre mall along Fraser Highway near 160 Street

A branch of the Surrey Public Library, the Fleetwood Library, opened in 1995 as was the Fleetwood Community Center and the adjacent walking park, Francis Park (named after Edith Francis).[3] The Surrey Sports and Leisure Center is managed by the manager of the Fleetwood Community Center.

History

After the Yale Wagon Road (officially the Grand Trunk Road, now Old Yale Road) opened in the late 19th century, farming, logging and fishing became the primary industries of new settlers from New Westminster and Vancouver.

In 1907, Edith and James Francis settled near present-day 160 Street and Fraser Highway.[3] Over the next decade, several of Edith's family — whose family name was Fleetwood — joined them. In August 1915, Edith’s brother, Arthur Thomas Fleetwood (also known as Tom Fleetwood) joined the 46th Battalion[4] of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, and he was sent to France to fight in World War I. He died as a result of battle wounds on 8 September 1917.[3]

Edith applied to the provincial government for a charter to name her community after her brother. In 1923, local residents formed the Fleetwood Community Association, with Edith as one of the founding members. The Fleetwood Community Hall was built in the 1930s, and is located across from the Fleetwood Community Centre, which opened in 1995.

During the Great Depression period, population increased due to people seeking less-costly properties.[4]

The Fleetwood Community Association commissioned a life-sized bronze of Thomas Fleetwood which was unveiled on 6 September 2008 at the Fleetwood Community Centre.

Rapid population growth beginning in the 1970s brought with it retail, commercial and multi-family residential developments. Residents turned down attempts to develop light industrial properties.

In December 2018, an extension of the regional rapid transit network Skytrain Expo Line was approved. The extension would pass through Fleetwood and would continue onto Langley City by 2025.[5][6]

Demographics

Ethnic groups in Fleetwood (2016) Source:		%
Ethnic group	European	33%
	South Asian	32%
	Chinese	10%
	Filipino	9%
	Aboriginal	2%
	Other	14%
Total %		100%

Languages spoken in Fleetwood (2016) Source:		%
Language	English	62%
	Punjabi	16%
	Mandarin	5%
	Tagalog	3%
	Korean	2%
	Other	12%
Total %		100%

Surrounding neighbourhoods

References

1. "Fleetwood" (PDF). City of Surrey. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
2. "Fleetwood" (PDF). City of Surrey. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
3. Reid, Amy (2014-01-28). "Neighbourhoods: Fleetwood is a community defined by history". The Now. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
4. "Surrey History : Fleetwood". surreyhistory.ca. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
5. "Mayors' Council votes to proceed with planning for Surrey SkyTrain extension". Global News. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
6. "TransLink says SkyTrain along Fraser Highway could be ready by 2025". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-01-27.

• Penner, Wanda. "History of Fleetwood". Fleetwood Community Association. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
• "Fleetwood (urban community)". BC Geographical Names.

External links

• City of Surrey website