Colwood
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The city with a view of the future.
The City of Colwood is a ‘West Shore’ community a short drive west of the City of Victoria. It continues to morph from its agricultural origins to one of the fastest developing communities within the south of Vancouver Island. Its population today is about 16,000, but with the developments both underway and proposed, that figure will soon be left in the dust.
In the past, Colwood was frequently associated with the expression ‘the Colwood crawl’ - which succinctly described what happened to road traffic as commuters from the West Shore communities and beyond attempted to make their way to Victoria to and from work. Improvements to the Trans Canada Highway and the completion of the Veterans Memorial Parkway in adjacent Langfor eased the traffic overload. Commuter traffic originating beyond Colwood, from Sooke and Langford, no longer had to funnel through Colwood to make its way to Victoria.
But with growth in the West Shore and beyond forecast to absorb a large share of the growth in the Region estimated to occur over the next couple of decades, traffic congestion will once again worsen. That possibility, with all of the consequences that naturally flow therefrom, is a large part of the background against which future development in Colwood is being assessed and planned for.
Colwood’s newly minted Official Community Plan (still in the review stages at this time) addresses this issue straight on. The community’s vision of itself is one of a vibrant urban city sited within a natural network of hills, creeks, lakes and ocean, and defined by compact and complete centres connected by ’multimodal’ transportation corridors, with a vibrant local economy providing economic opportunity, employment and business growth.
And some exciting developments lie ahead which will transform vision to reality. Zoning approval was recently given to develop a new city core area at Colwood Corners. The zoning allows for high-density mixed use of commercial and multifamily residential which will include up to 11 highrise towers ranging from 12 to 29 storeys, as well as a number of two or three story structures. Residents will be able to live near work, shopping, transportation centres and public amenities. After extensive opportunity for public input, the proposal was generally well received, and input from the public is being encouraged throughout the build out time of from 10 to 20 years.
Development of a large gravel quarry is another exciting, and large, development that will, by the time of completion in 10 or 15 years, add about 2,800 homes, three schools, parks, greenways, community amenities, a waterfront village centre and park, and roughly one and a half kilometers of public sandy beach. But that’s not all.
A spectacular residential development is beginning to emerge from a 48 acre site stepped down the slope above the Esquimalt Lagoon. Watch for a feature article about it coming up soon.
More projects are underway and planned.
With its history, natural surroundings, abundant recreational opportunities, and temperate climate, Colwood will be an exciting place to live, work and retire in the years ahead
