Twelfth Avenue School was one of two schools built to relieve the overcrowding at Edmonds School resulting from the housing boom in Burnaby during the 1950s - Lakeview was the other. Built in 1958, the building was added to in 1962, 1964, 1967, 1969 and 1974.
Vancouver Heights remained an important residential and commercial centre in Burnaby throughout the 1925-1954 period. The area had its own Board of Trade and the North Burnaby Library was created to serve the residents. In 1949, the Hastings streetcars stopped running, but the area retained its reputation as one of the best shopping districts in the city.
The West Central Valley Neighbourhood is home to the Bridge Business Park and is a primarily industrial neighbourhood. Similar to the adjacent Dawson-Delta Neighbourhood, West Central Valley offers businesses convenient access to major roads and highways.
The Westridge Neighbourhood of Burnaby was created as a new subdivision during the post-World War Two housing boom in Burnaby. Developed by the C.B. Riley Company, it was laid out in a plan contoured to the shapes of the land and was situated to allow residents easy access to main transportation routes.
The Westridge Neighbourhood is effectively separated into two areas by Inlet Drive. To the west of the highway lies a typical 1950s subdivision of single-family homes, while to the east is a newer (1970s) subdivision featuring larger lots and some low-rise units. In the 1980 Residential Neighbourhood Environment Study, Westridge was characterised as a stable community with little need for direct Municipal involvement in growth and development.
The building boom in Burnaby during the first few years of the 1950s resulted in many new subdivisions being created in previously unoccupied areas of Burnaby. One such neighbourhood was the Westridge area. In 1951, the Inspector of Schools noted in a report that there were 475 new homes in Westridge with another 100 under development. As a result, enrolment pressures were particularly heavy in this area and the School Board opened the Westridge Elementary School in 1953.
Willingdon Heights was another new subdivision developed in Burnaby during the post-World War Two building boom. A brochure about the development published in 1948 proclaimed "the Willingdon Heights 500 home development project in Burnaby fulfills its promise to provide a self-contained community for former members of the armed services and their families...the largest single veteran housing project in Canada as far as homes for individual ownership is concerned, Willingdon Heights development was planned by the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation...At this date the earlier built rows of homes have passable roads and the owners are improving lawns and gardens in spare time...eventually additional stores and professional services will be installed and recreational projects will add to the amenities of a community of congenial residents..."
The convenient location of Willingdon Heights to the Trans Canada Highway, Lougheed Highway and Hastings Street has fostered its development as a primarily residential commuter neighbourhood. Characterised in the post-World War Two period by predominantly single-family developments, the neighbourhood has retained this identity despite some higher density apartment buildings now found there.
This church was built to serve a 500-home subdivision known as Willingdon Heights–Canada’s largest single veteran’s housing project created by the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation and constructed by the Whitsell Construction Company in 1948. The church building was designed as a simplified Gothic Revival church with a tall front tower and Gothic pointed-arch stained glass window and entrance. This church was designed by Vancouver architects Twizell & Twizell. Both Robert Twizell (1875-1964) and younger brother George Twizell (1885-1957) articled at Newcastle, England’s Hicks & Charlewood before arriving in Vancouver in late 1907 or early 1908, with George working for Robert until they established a partnership a few years later. Their firm lasted for nearly half a century and was well known for its numerous church designs.
The Windsor Neighbourhood comprises a number of different districts with different characteristics. To the north, stretching to the border of the Deer Lake Park, is the primarily residential area that was developed after the building boom of the 1950s and now consists of a mix of single-family and multi-family housing. To the south, from Kingsway to the Skytrain line, an industrial area was maintained along with a significant commercial corridor along Kingsway. In recent years, the growth and development of this area has been guided by the Royal Oak Community Plan adopted by Council in 1999.