Businesses in White Rock

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Inbound Tourism, Hospitality

I would like to share my thoughts and opinions. I came far away from across the desert and oceans to this magical paradise. Now my second home.
In question have you ever did someone for everlasting memories? First one is end pier have small jetty where you can give private exclusive dinners. Especially in summer people loved. It’s not an easy task but anything is possible.
Second one private gazebo.
Kind of dome. might be it brings modern look to your city. Highly economical revenue you could build with a gazebo. With the right 0rganrizied we can achieve this goal. Most people like calm and more privacy.
I know people's ideas might work or not. Honestly, I’m happy to share my thoughts and opinions.
I am proud to share about this idea.
Just imagine one day you are with your wife or husband having a candlelight dinner at celebration with champagne! Did you feel like ?
Thanks to city by the sea.

White Rock has to figure out a way to enforce owners to have viable businesses on the beach within a specified period of time after purchase. There are too many restaurants sitting empty, the buildings are looking run down, and there are to many restaurants of the same ethnicity. We need diversity and that should include italian and family friendly options.

I would like to see Marine Drive and Johnson Road (or some portion of them) be just pedestrian areas that promote foot traffic and areas to sit, including benches and outside patios. I have lived here for about 10 years and do notice the demographic changes. I am pleased to see more families and people from a variety of cultural backgrounds. One of things that I have not liked to see is that it appears that the city is getting a bit shabbier. It would be great to have streets and parks cared for more. I understand that this probably requires more resources and I hope that people understand that taxes are how we have common areas that are secure, well-maintained and beautiful.

More varied cuisine at the waterfront. I enjoy Indian cuisine but we're flooded with the number of restaurants serving it. Can we please encourage other restaurateurs eg. Italian, or a popular chain eg Milestones etc...we have too many vacant, unused locations along Marine Drive eg the old Boathouse etc...

In my opinion it’s very important that the existing businesses on Marine Drive clean up the appearance of their store fronts, the Drive looks very shabby!!

dim sum restaurant
night club
kareoke bar

Small independent stores, locally made products, more variety in restaurants

The awkward reality is that none of these (many excellent) ideas will have any bearing on where White Rock is taken over the next years and decades. When a single culture overwhelms and dominates a community, such as has happened here in White Rock, it brings its own values, its own preferences, its own sense of community, its own laws and its own rules. It can’t be stopped. The City of Surrey didn’t plan Newton to be the way it is — the local dominant culture shaped it around themselves and did so not with a sense of inclusive, multi-cultural sharing but driven by other socio-economic goals and ambitions. White Rock is a long way down the same path and without a change in sentiment amongst the prevailing cultural force, it will never resemble the safe, pretty, diverse, vibrant seaside village we miss and long for. Vale, White Rock

It would be great to see a family restaurant take over where the Boathouse used to be, like Old Spaghetti Restaurant. The problem is parking, no business will want to have to factor this in so it would be nice if the City would consider this.

White Rock has too much undifferentiated commercial floor space relative to the market's ability to support attractive, viable businesses. The City should be more concerned with the quality, mix, and urban-design contribution of commercial space. Marginal, repetitive, poorly maintained, and chronically empty businesses make for a less attractive commercial environment, and can have an outsized effect on how an entire area is perceived. This can lead to a vicious cycle. A strategy based on curation and differentiation makes more sense, but this is not to suggest a wildly upscale makeover. Bellingham’s Fairhaven district back in the 1970s might be the perfect template. Strategic conversion of chronically weak commercial land to residential could strengthen the remaining commercial areas.

I'd love to see Johnston rd, closed to vehicle traffic between Thrift and North Bluff . In that area it would be great to see a community store front policing station . It is important to bring back pedestrian foot traffic here to keeps shops and restaurants afloat . A butcher shop, a bakery and perhaps a bookstore with an adjoining coffee shop. A woman's clothing store , yarn and or craft store and a gift store would also be desirable. White Rock uptown and the beach area could also benefit from some more restaurants that are individual or family owned and operated . It would be nice to see a variety of styles of food and restaurant types as in casual , date night and / or family style. Breakfast spots, lunch and tapas and happy hour and fine dining. I'd also love to see another hotel or boutique hotel in the area. White Rock is limited in terms of places to stay overnight and we could attract more tourists as well as have places for out of towns family members to stay . Thank you

Yes, enough of the nail salons, vape shops, used clothing, thrift stores, Indian & Asian restaurants. There should be a restriction on how many of the same you can open in one block.
How about a butcher shop, seafood store, European style bakery with pastries, I use to travel to Sapperton to Italian bakery.
Shoe store, tools and equipment rental, pop up shops in the closed empty stores.
Bring back sandcastle competitions, more activities and food truck on the beach in the summer.
More benches or seating alongside of the white rock promenade from west beach to east beach, we have 8 kilometers of waterfront.
We can learn something from Halifax NS waterfront, it’s incredible what they created.
During the winter, make parking free or charge a flat fee of $1 or $2.
Enough with the high-rise developments!! We are not Vancouver or New York.

I’ve always thought WR would benefit from having some fresh fish markets, a seafood restaurant, maybe offer some boating tours, paddlboard/kayak rentals right from an area on the strip. It would make the strip in WR more appealing year around. Yes, kind of like Steveston. I mean, we’re on the ocean, why not have ocean type things?

My other thought… obviously the strip needs to be cleaned up. Doesn’t appear that WR has any proper covenants or restrictions for its store fronts. Adopting some sort of theme would be nice. I know these things take money and obviously compliance, but other communities manage to do this, why can’t we?

I'm not sure why so many East Indian restaurants are being approved (especially along the waterfront) it doesn't foster that eclectic vibe White Rock always had. "Variety is the spice of life" right? Nothing wrong with a couple (e.g. 1 East, 1 West). Also, bring back the trolley! I agree with all the comments re paddleboard and canoe rentals (=Feral Boardsports), that used to be ideal. I also agree with comments: no more vape stores, thrift stores and tatoo shops, and lets add no more pot/weed stores to that list as well. If the "locally run" funky vibe is no longer feasible due to taxes (and it's likely part of the problem) then consider chains that do well in other waterfront communities without killing the atmosphere (e.g. North Van Shipyards) Tap & Barrel, Browns, and Joey's.

I'd like to see more multicultural business. An Indigenous restaurant like "Salmon n' Bannock" and a Filipino restaurant like "Balai in the Borough". Also, more focus on the Indigenous heritage of White Rock, "P'Quals". Model it like Steveston where there are boats selling fresh seafood, bakery like "Fieldstone" have more places to picnic and to rest and sit down, more parking spaces. Fix the storefronts make them more charming and inviting, vintage looking, more historic, and use complementary colors.

Happy to see all business
But..no more vap stores

it doesn’t matter what kind of businesses are there, $5.50 an hour is going to deter many people from visiting the beach and any businesses. The only time that parking lots are jam packed is for a few months in the summer when it’s warm and sunny. Not many people want to add $11-$16 to their dinner or lunch bill when there are endless restaurants in South Surrey with FREE parking. The higher the parking cost goes the less people will come. The constant restaurant turnover for many years should be a hint. Clearly too many restrictions and too high Propery taxes are also an issue. Maybe WR is just no longer feasible as a stand alone city.

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