Surrey... the good, the bad, and the... beautiful! =)

Whenever I tell someone, for the first time, that I live in Surrey BC the response is generally something along the lines of a worried face or an, "oh I'm so sorry". Surrey is, unofficially, known as the headquarters for gang activity and drug dealing. While I do admit that on an almost nightly basis I see, what I suspect to be, drug dealing going on beneath my bedroom window, I think Surrey has a bad wrap.


By pure land area, Surrey is the largest city in the lower mainland, and the second largest in terms of population... so, doesn't it then make sense that it's risk for more "bad" stuff would be greater than other areas? That's my retort! lol It's funny how, after only living in a city for 9 months, I can already feel so attached to it. Attached enough to stick up for my neighborhood! =)

I feel blessed to have accidentally moved into this area, even it is the drug/gang/crime capital of the lower mainland... because this area also happens to be beautiful and full of wonderful outdoor opportunities for these few sunshine-y days that we've been having so far this spring. Officially, Surrey is known as the City of Parks. There are over 400 parks in this city which encompass more than 3,000 acres of land. Take a look at this map... this is my neighborhood. The section that you're looking at is only about 7.5 miles across... check out all the parks.




The two big ones you see, Green Timbers Urban Forest and Tynehead Regional Park, are both what this area calls "urban forests"... forests in the middle of the city... bordered on all sides by traffic and sirens and the bustle of the city, the moment you walk into the park you are suddenly in a forest with trees, lakes, creeks, wildlife and hiking trails. It's fantastic! I love it!

A few months back Jacob and I set out to explore Green Timbers, and last weekend we hit up Tynehead. It really is just a little bit of heaven to be out in the "woods" listening to the running creek, breathing in the fresh air, and watching squirrels running around "playing" with each other (Jacob insists they were doing something a little less PG, but I prefer not to think like that!) and then, after a nice hike, being home in less than 15 minutes.