Businesses in White Rock

It would be nice to see more affordable shopping options for clothes, tourism items as well. I love the events that happen at the beach but the local infrastructure can’t handle all the vehicles trying to park there and get out. I live only a few minutes drive from the beach but I avoid most events due to the hassle of trying to find parking especially with young children. I truly believe we need to have more shuttle services that run from the beach to upper white rock to allow for more people and less vehicle traffic.

Maybe also allow for scheduled buskers along the promenade to entertain people

Too many restaurants on the strip offer the exact same cuisine, very few restaurants offering good quality farm to table menus. There are no “destination” restaurants on the strip, other than Ulis. A really good Chinese restaurant would be awesome, authentic Mexican with good quality cocktails (Anejo would be good inspo), bakery similar to Crave Cupcakes would be a nice addition (and supports expansion of a Canadian-born business), authentic Italian, wine and spirits shop that focuses on premium BC wines and offers regular tasting events with catered food pairings…how is there not a boutique hotel with a rooftop infinity pool on the strip (good idea for the old Boathouse! Its a huge space and there is a parking lot nearby!) only 1 hotel in east beach, that is mind-blowing. A West beach hotel would bring more consistent business to the strip, and retail shops with a beachy boho vibe (a Free People or something similar on the strip would be very fitting), live music, splash pad or park

1- A beautiful “seaside tea house”
Afternoon/high tea with ocean views.
Tea, pastries, sandwiches and locally made treats.
A children’s “little tea party” menu.
Special events: Mother’s Day, Christmas tea, princess/fairytale tea, birthday teas.
This could appeal to tourists, families, seniors and visitors looking for something memorable.

2- Rotating food stalls/pop-ups could bring Filipino, Korean, Indian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Mediterranean, Caribbean and other cuisines to the waterfront.

3- A little waterfront village feeling
with more small independent shops: books, toys, art, crafts, children’s gifts, local products, beach goods.

4- Activities on and beside the water
- Kayaks, SUP boards, pedal boats and family-friendly rentals.
- Children’s nature programs and guided tide-pool walks.

5- Make it a year-round destination
Heated/covered patios.
Winter tea events.
Christmas market.
Proper Lights

Reasonably priced Taiwanese, Ramen (Danbo would be a dream come true) and Hotpot restaurants. Actual good quality ice cream / gelato shops, we find ourselves driving to Vancouver or Burnaby for quality gelato, such a shame since gelato / ice cream and beach fronts are a perfect summer combination. The fact that we're willing to drive 40 - 50mins just for good gelato / ice cream is quite telling.

Family friendly amenities, activities and parks. Better family friendly parking for events, we wanted to go to the the recent White Rock by the Sea festival but parking was too difficult / far. Sometimes toddlers refuse to be on a stroller, so carrying them from the designated event parking area would be quite a hike so we unfortunately had to skip the event.

More adult oriented activities like live music and date night events after 7:30pm

No more of the same cuisine.
No more vape shops
Playground somewhere or small play areas all along the promenade.
More affordable parking
Fine land owners that are not taking care of their vacant properties. It’s unacceptable.

If a restaurant is not allowed at the far end of the pier, would it be possible to open a restaurant adjacent to the pier at its north end ? As everyone else on this survey is saying, there are too many south Asian restaurants and, overall, Marine Drive is looking horribly shabby. There should be traffic calming along Marine Drive, similar to that found at the Peace Arch border crossing.

There used to be a guy in a kilt on the pier playing his bagpipe and piping the sun going down in the summer. Also in the summer there used to be a guy dressed like a pirate and acting the part near the pier. He posed for pictures with tourists and hammed it up with kids. Everyone seemed to enjoy both of these things a lot. Maybe these could be done as small businesses by students and get paid by donations? And/or they could hand out coupons to restaurants and get paid by the restaurant if anyone used those coupons?

Banking, medical, dental, pharmacy, library, optometrist, grocery. Personal services such as hair dressers, physiotherapy, etc. And coffee shops, music stores, recreational services.

I’d love to see Marine Drive looked at more as a whole, rather than just thinking about what individual businesses should go there. Right now it feels really heavily weighted toward restaurants and tourism, which makes it incredibly seasonal and I imagine makes it tough for businesses to be successful year-round.

I’d love to see more variety in the types of businesses down there, with more retail, services, recreation, wellness, arts and other things that would actually give locals a reason to go to Marine Drive regularly, not just when we’re going out for dinner or it’s a nice summer day.

I also think the environment itself is a big part of this. It should feel like somewhere you want to walk around, spend time and visit multiple businesses, but the amount of vehicle traffic and noise can work against that. I pretty much just look to eat.

It would be great to see the business mix, transportation and overall waterfront experience looked at together rather than as separate issues.

Think less Whalley, Newton, North Delta.
Think more Sidney, Fort Langley, Ladner, Cloverdale.
An anchor restaurant rather than another boarded-up store front.
True, active, local businesses rather than vacant shell businesses of convenience.
And maybe we have enough vape shops, ink parlours and other non-family-friendly fringe businesses adding nothing to our community but bylaw workload, itinerant traffic and uncollected litter.
White Rock has had dark days in the past. We climbed out of that hole only to stumble into another one. Determined leadership with fortitude—not glad-handing photo ops—will help us reverse the current, accelerating trend of decay and sharply declining public safety.

Sustainable businesses. I would like to see rent controls so that good businesses can thrive over the longer term. More cafes with outdoor space would be great. During the winter, make parking free so that people are incentivised to visit the businesses down there. It's so hard for them to survive on 4 good months of trade in a year. Government needs to subsidise to allow businesses to survive.

I am a 17 year resident of west beach neighbourhood and am ashamed at the dereliction of the marine drive. It’s not inviting to walk past boarded shops, vacant lot and restaurants that simulate one another in cuisine. Not sure what the history is with ownership of these premises but city needs to address the deterioration and offer empty space to entrepreneurial businesses who can spark new life. And to those businesses who have survived, eg charlies, Ulis, how about a free parking in truly off season Or if u choose to overcharge in parking, then put the funds into offsetting the lease costs to help bring new life to the retail and restaurant sector. It’s an eyesore. And is continuing to decline.

- Restaurants: Italian, Ramen, High Tea
- Pottery/Ceramics Studio
- Event Venue
- Mini Golf/Indoor Golf Lounge

Would love to see a small grocery store (like Choices or Nature’s Fare) on Marine Drive as well as a small hardware store like Home Hardware. It would be amazing for locals living close to Marine Drive to have the option to walk to pick up groceries and household items.

Bring the Beach and Seaside village vibe back to the strip. Make all decisions regarding investments and store fronts and types of stores align with this vibe. Use tax incentives to encourage alignment. No more duel purpose construction as there is already too many stores competing for a limited clientele. Limit buildings to 3 levels. Stores need to be more family oriented to bring the families back. Increase visible security at all times along the strip. Some things that have already been done such as murals and colourful planters and benches seen around the city have been a good addition.

You have the power to decide what business licences you hand out. Diversify the restaurants along Marine drive. You are losing patrons by the day. Come up with a plan and amendments.
It would be beneficial if you employed more bylaw officers, have police patrol Marine drive friday and saturday nights. Diversify!

Our family went down to Marine Drive for the Snowbirds.

I can't say that it was an enjoyable experience.
There was no parking and no traffic control.

This is a big deterrant for going down to Marine Drive in the summer.

I think that there is parking available up the hill, but there isn't any signage or direction for alternative parking.

The parking garage on Vidal is too difficult to access when the area is busy, and it is impossible to know if spots are availabel until you are there.

Perhaps a better traffic control plan would help.

No highrises on waterfront don’t tear down old appartment buildings stop allowing off shore buyers FINE OWNERS OF GIRAFFE!!!!! I can not believe that is allowed , he’s sheets and wrapping paper as curtains . It’s so sad . I owned a business on white rock east beach for 10 years . All the lawyers offices and non store front businesses to the left of me made our beach look and feel dead . I barely made my rent which was affordable praise god . The barriers put up during Covid and the one way traffic killed my business I had to shut down. Way too many of the same food choices . Needs a little grocery store for all us ppl that live there with fresh produce etc no more vape stores something wholesome maybe a little playground don’t allow buildings higher than 3 levels or you will kill the beach

-Dance studio for all ages and all levels(ballet, acro,ballroom, salsa,etc.)
-Hot Yoga studio
-A replacement for ShesFit since it is gone(women’s only gym)
-Roller Rink! For Rollerskating
-Workout park, calisthenics style park(like what centennial park used to have but it’s now gone!)
-Art studio specially for art classes(pottery, painting, drawing, etc ALL AGES!)
-Wellness business(sauna, cold plunge)

How about a sauna liked at Ambleside?