OPINION: Cloverdale has an amazing future, but our future starts in the present<\/p>\n
Published 9:30 pm Thursday, April 30, 2026<\/p>\n
Can you imagine Cloverdale 24 years from now?<\/p>\n
Fast forward to Cloverdale in 2050. The Chamber has just celebrated its 101st anniversary. Surrey, now the heart of the Lower Mainland, and the region\u2019s biggest municipality by all metrics, has surpassed 1.5 million in population.<\/p>\n
Because of progressive decisions made by the city in 2026, Cloverdale is now the jewel in the city\u2019s crown. Surrounded by the Agricultural Land Reserve, Cloverdale has maintained its unique and separate identity from the rest of Surrey.<\/p>\n
With an affluent population centred between the Cloverdale General Hospital and Cancer Centre, and Delta Intelligent Building Technologies, the Town Centre flows down 177B Street through the fully redeveloped Fairgrounds to Clayton Heights in North Cloverdale.<\/p>\n
Cloverdale is an economic powerhouse. With quick transit connections within Surrey to Campbell Heights, SkyTrain takes workers to their well-paying jobs at the many high-tech, and agricultural businesses in the area.<\/p>\n
Cloverdale remains the historic town centre of Surrey.<\/p>\n
The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway society carries locals and tourists alike, through Surrey to its terminus station at the Vancouver waterfront and then brings cruise ship passengers back to Cloverdale for a day of enjoyment at our many museums, galleries, recreational facilities, and parks. The historic town centre will transition to protect its heritage feel, but new buildings will offer residential above, and commercial business at street level.<\/p>\n
Cloverdale remains a filming hub in Surrey. Movie studios in Campbell Heights will also utilize the historic town centre to create content for both small and large screens alike.<\/p>\n
The Cloverdale Trade and Convention Centre hosts\u2019 trade shows, markets, and serves as partner with the Cloverdale Rodeo\u2019s spring and fall country fairs and rodeo.<\/p>\n
Sports tourism has become an important revenue generator for the area. Cloverdale Athletic Park Hosts international soccer, cricket, and fastpitch tournaments. The Cloverdale Fairgrounds\u2019 hockey arenas, serve as major draws for both hockey and figure skating competitions. Our many local Surrey hotels generate millions of dollars for the local economy each year.<\/p>\n
Looking forward, I believe Cloverdale has an amazing future.<\/p>\n
Futures though, start in the present. We have many decisions to make to build a prosperous future.<\/p>\n
The Cloverdale Fairgrounds is a blank canvas.<\/p>\n
Campbell Heights is an important part of the Cloverdale Chamber, our community, and Surrey in general. It must be built out with transit and worker housing taken into account.<\/p>\n
Transit remains a critical element to connecting our community cohesively. Currently, we are a car-dominated city. This must change. Parking is important, but parks are healthier. The cure is rapid transit. For Cloverdale this means North\/South over East\/West transit routes.<\/p>\n
Smart investments in infrastructure, reducing red tape, and thoughtful planning of our communities are critical to our 2050 vision.<\/p>\n
The best way for you to participate in building this future is to join the Chamber in your area today. Chambers\/Boards of Trade are at the forefront of working with business and government leading the conversations taking place today in meeting rooms across the city.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m looking forward to being invited to the Chamber\u2019s 100th anniversary bash in 2049!<\/p>\n
Scott Wheatley is the executive director of the Cloverdale District Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OPINION: Cloverdale has an amazing future, but our future starts in the present Published 9:30 pm Thursday, April…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-640496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}