Burnaby North is a suburb that borders the city of Vancouver, BC, Canada.

The reason it’s one of the best places to live is because you really have access to everything you’re looking for in a good neighborhood.

Decent public schools, a university and technical college nearby, decent shopping, good public transportation, a decent library, and proximity to a major city center.

There are many parks and trails around Burnaby North and it is very diverse. There is a lot of multiculturalism and everyone gets along.

What do you look for when you buy a house? Good neighbors and amenities. And I must say that Burnaby North has both.

Most of the houses remain. There is still pride in homeownership with a large number of homeowners in North Burnaby. And it is a very diverse and multicultural neighborhood.

Shopping is very easy. Burnaby North has the following distinct business districts. Burnaby Heights, Kensington, Brentwood Town Center and Lougheed Mall. Lougheed Mall is the largest shopping center in North Burnaby, followed by Brentwood town center. For a street shopping experience, there is nothing better than walking the streets of Burnaby Heights or shopping at Kensington Plaza. They are all accessible by public transportation, but the best part is that many of these places still have free parking if you drive. Almost every chain store in Canada is located in the Lougheed or Brentwood mall and there is plenty of character in the mom-and-pop stores in the walkable shopping district of Burnaby Heights and Kensington Plaza. There are also some walkable stores near Capital Hill and a smaller mall called Madison Center, which is about two blocks from the Brentwood Mall.

As for schools, in North Burnaby there is Alpha Secondary, Burnaby North Secondary and Burnaby Mountain with the following primary and elementary schools. Gilmore, Kitchener, Rosser, Confederation Park, Capital Hill, Brentwood Park, Aubrey, Parkcrest, Westridge, Lochdale, Montecito, Forest Grove, University Highlands, and possibly Stoney Creek and Lyndhurst (they are a bit on the border of Central Burnaby and the same happens with Seaforth.)

The best known public institutions in North Burnaby are Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

There are many parks. In fact, the Trans Canada Trail runs through Burnaby North, through Burnaby Mountain, and leads to the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge in North Vancouver. There are some very beautiful parks in North Burnaby, including Confederation Park, Burnaby Heights Park, and Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area. But there are also smaller parks in Burnaby North. It almost looks like the city tore down 3 houses on a corner of a few blocks in a neighborhood to turn it into parks for residents. It is wonderful!

The McGill Library and the Cameron Public Library are in North Burnaby. McGill is a well-stocked library that has access to all the materials in the Burnaby library system. If a book is not there, you can request that it be transferred there for pick up. Cameron is much smaller, but you can also transfer books there for them to pick up.

If you work in downtown Vancouver, Burnaby North is the closest community outside of Vancouver proper. From Burnaby Heights and the 135 Burrard Station bus, it can take anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes to get downtown, depending on traffic and where you catch the bus. By car it’s much shorter, no traffic, maybe 15 minutes, but then you’ll waste another 15 looking for parking downtown and paying the ridiculous parking fees. From Brentwood you can do the same on the elevated train on the Millennium line, but you have to transfer at Broadway and that can slow you down.

Burnaby North, or as some people call it, North Burnaby has everything you’re looking for when shopping for a neighborhood.