Metrotown, Burnaby
Living & working in Metrotown, Burnaby
Metrotown, located in the southwest quadrant of Burnaby, functions as the city’s official downtown and regional city centre. The local skyline is defined by a high concentration of high-density residential towers, alongside low-rise walk-up apartments and townhouses. Kingsway serves as the primary commercial corridor and central east-west spine of the neighbourhood, complemented by Willingdon Avenue and Central Boulevard. Retail activity is anchored by Metropolis at Metrotown, British Columbia's largest enclosed shopping mall, and Crystal Mall, a major Asian-focused retail complex. For outdoor recreation, residents have immediate access to the 86-hectare Central Park on the western edge of the district, which features walking and cycling trails, tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, a pitch-and-putt golf course, and Swangard Stadium, while Maywood Park provides smaller-scale community green space.
The local business ecosystem is a major regional employment hub, hosting corporate offices for companies such as Telus, Interfor, Rogers Communications, Stantec Engineering, and Sun Life Financial. Remote workers can utilize professional workspaces like WeWork at Station Square on Silver Drive and a Regus coworking center, or work from local establishments such as the Bob Prittie Metrotown library branch, La Foret, or Coffee Loft. Commuting is supported by high-frequency rapid transit, with Patterson and Metrotown stations providing direct service on the Expo Line of the SkyTrain network, connecting residents to downtown Vancouver to the west and Surrey and New Westminster to the southeast. Additionally, a central bus exchange at Metrotown Station serves multiple municipal routes, while Kingsway offers direct arterial road access to the broader Lower Mainland highway network.
The numbers
Metrotown, Burnaby is a mixed-use urban pocket of Metro Vancouver, with 101 businesses mapped within walking distance. Its walkability rates 91/100 — above average for walkability in Metro Vancouver. Local businesses average 4.09★ on Google, and medium foot traffic peaking weekday daytime.
For getting around, transit access scores 93/100 (Exceptional) — above average for transit access in Metro Vancouver, with 12 stops within an 800 m walk. Reaching Downtown Vancouver (~10.0 km) takes about 23.9 min by transit versus 36.4 min driving. Typical drive times to key destinations average 27.0 min — on the lower end for drive times in Metro Vancouver.
Environmentally, current air quality is excellent (AQI 82), on the lower end for air quality in Metro Vancouver.