RealTours - Maple Ridge

Sitting on the northern banks of the Fraser River, Maple Ridge has a more rural vibe than other Vancouver suburbs. Look north and you’re greeted by the incredible Golden Ears, a series of mountain peaks that are part of the wider Garibaldi Ranges of the Coast Mountains. Head west and you’ll hit Pitt Meadows; east and you’ll arrive in Mission. Langley is just across the Golden Ears Bridge to the south.

While Maple Ridge is well-connected to the rest of the Lower Mainland - the Lougheed Highway passes right through it - you don’t need to travel far to find great shopping, restaurants and activities. The downtown core, also called Haney, is a designated heritage district and includes historic buildings moved to the neighbourhood from other parts of Maple Ridge.

For residents, that family-friendly lifestyle is on offer in a number of tight-knit neighbourhoods, from the riverside enclave of Albion to the mountainside streets of Silver Valley. Single-family homes are the norm, although townhomes have become more common in recent years.

"That's really what Maple Ridge embraces,” Shymkiw explains. “It hasn't grown into a big city, where you have skyscrapers or 10-storey concrete buildings. People move in from Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, and they're coming to Maple Ridge because they want a bit more bang for their buck, they want a family home, they want a yard, they want somewhere their kids can go to school and play and be local."