15 Minutes to Everything: Inside Chilliwack's Bold New Community

[00:00:00] Jennifer-Lee: Welcome to Behind the Design from Yaletown to Andmar. This new podcast is gonna follow the journey of the new development Andmar inspired by Vancouver's, Yaletown's history, Andmar blends sustainability, innovation, and luxury. We have so many conversations about how a development like Andmar gets built, what is lease land and what is it gonna be like to live in this thriving community? So let's get started.

[00:00:26] I am Jennifer-Lee and welcome to Behind the Design Yaletown to Andmar. Today we are talking the 15 minute city, somewhat a controversial topic, but we'll get into that in a second. I gotta introduce my great guests. Again, we have Chief Derek Epp of the Tzeachten First Nation, and Mark Perry joining us again, one of the creators of Andmar here in Sardis, BC.

[00:02:05] So that being said, I wanna start with you guys. What does 15 minutes mean to you?

[00:02:11] Mark Perry: Well, 15 minutes is all about, uh, being close to life needs really. I mean, the thought is, is that, uh, people of today are moving out of, uh, you know, out of the suburbia, kind of farms and, and acreages and, and moving somewhere close where they, where all the amenities, all the lifestyle needs are, are there.

[00:03:23] Chief Derek Epp: Yeah, I think Mark kind of summed it up really nicely and even, you know, it's something in Chilliwack that we see a lot and why I'm so excited about this development and having that work, life, play balance.

[00:04:15] Jennifer-Lee: Yeah, I'm just thinking that this is something that more people should think about because I like, I grew up in New Westminster and the idea again for the 15 minute city wasn't necessarily I have to do everything in 15 minutes.

[00:05:14] Mark Perry: Well, you know, I mean, it's, uh, purposely planned. I mean, we, we, we, along with the Tzeachten First Nation wanted to make sure that, uh it was all there. You know, there's a transit station at the foot of our, of the property.

[00:06:43] Chief Derek Epp: Yeah. And it really compliments, I think I mentioned a bit of it yesterday as it really compliments a lot of the, um, existing developments that we have going on in the density that's happening in and around this area.

[00:07:23] Jennifer-Lee: Yeah. And it's interesting to me that like just this idea of 15 minutes gets pushed back, or not even just the idea of 15 minutes.

[00:08:23] Mark Perry: Absolutely. There's, uh, we're gonna have a co-working in the, in the community area so that you'll be able to hire, you know, the rooms for business meetings and, and, and board meetings and things like that.

[00:10:36] Jennifer-Lee: But that being said, because some people are listening to this, so they're probably like, don't get rid of my car. It doesn't mean that you can't have a car to like do road trips or like go explore the rest of the Lower Mainland.

[00:11:01] Mark Perry: No, exactly. I think the thing is, is that it's all about choices and it's about expenses too.

[00:11:53] Jennifer-Lee: Are you trying to take people's cars away from them?

[00:11:56] Chief Derek Epp: Yeah. That's the goal. No, I, no, Mark's right. It's, it's really a choice, right? And if you have the choice to do, to do that, if, if that's your choice to own a car, then I mean, I, I, I'll probably never not own a car. I got 3 young kids.

[00:13:38] Jennifer-Lee: Well, that's the one thing that I wanted to touch upon is the infrastructure, because this is a great theory for everybody, but if you don't have things in place like EVO or different car shares or Modo or, you know, bike lanes.

[00:14:10] Chief Derek Epp: Yeah, there's a lot of, um, a lot going on. Like in transit actually, one of the main transit lines does in fact go right by and more in connects right into Andmar as, as Mark was saying.

[00:15:53] Mark Perry: Yeah, touching on that, I mean, really when you look at surrounding cities, you know, Chilliwack, um, Yarrow, Abbotsford, the planning was, you know, seventies planning.

[00:16:49] Jennifer-Lee: And sustainability. Like, I know, Mark, that is a big part of your passion for Andmar.

[00:17:04] Mark Perry: So every, every, uh, parking spot, um, below ground we'll have, uh, a, the ability to have a charger there. So, and we'll have fast chargers, um, in the, in the shopping area above ground.

[00:19:14] Jennifer-Lee: And what are some challenges of creating this kind of 15 minute style? Because obviously there's always gonna be challenges when you are developing no matter what.

[00:19:24] Mark Perry: You know, again, it's, uh, infrastructure. Is the power there? Um, is, does BC Hydro have the amount of power that's, that's needed for car charges for 6 or 7 hundred units?

[00:20:55] Chief Derek Epp: You know, we're just saying, and I, I kind of mentioned the, the, uh, previous podcast as well. We're just lucky that, um, you know, we, we were able to go to a, a, you know, very transparent RFP process.

[00:22:41] Jennifer-Lee: For people that are listening to this that, uh, live in Chilliwack or live in a similar community that are maybe scared of developments like this coming in and kind of changing what they love about their community. What would you say to them?

[00:22:58] Chief Derek Epp: You know what, I, I, I think it's, it's part of the reality of creating affordability and also creating a mix of, uh, of a development.

[00:24:26] Mark Perry: You know, Jen, just to, just to add on that, uh, you know, we've, we've thought and pre-planned and planned for, um, the, the people that want to be homeowners there and incredibly our median age of people that have, have already pre-purchased in our pre-sales is 28 years old.

[00:28:15] Jennifer-Lee: And I wish more people would adopt that. So that being said, um, if there's a city around the world that you love that kind of encompasses that 15 minute vibe, what is it?

[00:28:31] Mark Perry: Well, myself personally, because you know, uh, it's, I always think local. I mean, Vancouver is a, you know, you know, our, our, our theme, our motto, you know, um, Andmar, Chilliwack's new Yaletown.

[00:29:27] Chief Derek Epp: Yeah. I think Yaletown, Granville, that kind of nails it on the local scale. And I was gonna say, you know, I've spent quite a bit of time in London the last few years.

[00:30:09] Jennifer-Lee: Love it. I, I, I love London. I love the fact that you can walk everywhere.

[00:31:00] Mark Perry: Yeah, exactly.

[00:31:01] Chief Derek Epp: Thank you.

[00:31:03] Mark Perry: Thank you.

[00:31:05] Jennifer-Lee: Thank you for joining us on Behind the Design, from Yaletown to Andmar. We've explored the history, innovation, and sustainability that makes Andmar more than just a community. It's a place where life, business, and connection thrive. If you've been inspired by this podcast, we'd love your support. Follow the podcast, rate it, and leave a review to help others discover what makes Andmar so special. Till next time.