# Where to Buy on Burke Mountain: West vs. East (2026) > West or east on Burke Mountain? It is not a commuting decision - the City describes the new school as within a 20-minute walk of Burke Mountain Village. What actually changes is elevation, slope, view potential, and how much of your neighbourhood is already built. A resident's read on both ends. **Source:** https://soldbycraig.ca/blog/where-to-buy-on-burke-mountain-west-vs-east-2026/ **Author:** Craig Johnston, REALTOR® (BC Licence V99960) · The MACNABS · Royal LePage Elite West **Site:** https://soldbycraig.ca --- August 20, 2026 · Burke Mountain Guide · Coquitlam ## Where You Buy on Burke Mountain Matters — But Not for the Reason Most Buyers Think Buyers treat Burke Mountain like one address, then assume the upper end is a long haul. It isn’t. What actually changes as you move east and uphill is how high you are, how steep your lot is, and how much of your neighbourhood has already been built. By **Craig Johnston, REALTOR® V99960** · The MACNABS Team Royal LePage Elite West · Burke Mountain resident Quick Answer Near **Coast Meridian Road and the David Avenue corner**, you are buying what is finished: the mountain’s only real cluster of shops and services, the new middle/secondary school and athletic park now under construction on David Avenue, gentler ground, and the shortest run to both exits off the hill. Further **east and uphill, into Partington Creek**, you are buying a different thing: more elevation, steeper lots, better sightlines, and a short walk to [Burke Mountain Village](https://soldbycraig.ca/burke-mountain-village/) — the City’s 39-acre village centre with roughly 120,000 sq ft of planned retail, a grocery store named as its first commercial priority, and a community centre and park that broke ground in May 2026 for a 2029 opening. Two honest caveats. First, **this is not a commuting decision** — the two ends are close enough that the City markets the new school as being within a 20-minute walk of the Village. Second, **the community centre and park are funded and under construction; the Village’s own retail and housing parcels are not**, and the City has not yet selected a developer for them. The west end pays you now. The east end asks you to wait. ## First, kill the distance myth Buyers hear “up by the Village” and picture a long haul. It is not one. The developed part of Burke Mountain is compact, and Princeton Avenue — the Village’s commercial spine — runs off David Avenue, not off some other mountain. The City’s own Burke Mountain Village material makes the point better than I can: the elementary and middle/secondary schools are described as “within a 20-minute walk of the Village.” That is the same school being built beside Coast Meridian Road, at the other end of the comparison. TransLink drew the shape well when it introduced the 191 bus — the route runs from Coquitlam Central Station via Johnson Street, Glen Drive and Pinetree Way to David Avenue, “completing a counter-clockwise one-way loop in Burke Mountain along David Avenue, Princeton Avenue and Coast Meridian Road.” Three roads. That is the whole mountain. So set the commute argument aside. Between the two ends of Burke Mountain the driving difference is small — a couple of minutes, repeated a lot. Three things do change materially as you move east and uphill, and they pull in opposite directions: - **Elevation and slope.** The east side is measurably higher and steeper, which is where the views live and where the construction gets expensive. - **What is already built.** The west end’s amenities exist or are under construction. The east end’s biggest ones open in 2029 — and its retail is still a plan. - **What you are underwriting.** One side is priced on delivery. The other is priced on a schedule. ## What both ends share: one road network Whichever end you buy, you share the same funnel. **David Avenue** is the east–west spine and **Coast Meridian Road** the north–south one; the Northeast Coquitlam Area Plan describes Coast Meridian as a north–south arterial carrying travel between Northeast Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam. Coast Meridian runs south into Port Coquitlam and across the Coast Meridian Overpass, which carries traffic over the rail yard toward Lougheed Highway and the Mary Hill Bypass. The City has been candid about the strain. The Northeast Coquitlam Area Plan states plainly that “existing roads in Northeast Coquitlam cannot accommodate planned growth levels.” Coquitlam expects Burke Mountain to grow “from its current population of more than 20,000 people, to about 50,000 in the next 25 years.” That is a Burke Mountain problem, not an east-side problem — every household on this hill uses the same roads. ## The west end: Coast Meridian, David Avenue, and everything that already exists ### The mountain’s only cluster of shops is here Burke Mountain’s commercial inventory is essentially two buildings, at **3380 and 3387 David Avenue**. When the *Tri-City News* covered the closure of the 7-Eleven at 105–3380 David Avenue in October 2024 — a store it described as “one of the first retailers on Burke Mountain as the northeastern area was being developed” — it listed the neighbours that remain: Shoppers Drug Mart, TD Canada Trust, Subway, Hiraku Sushi, a sedation dental group, Foothills Medical Centre and an insurance office. Tenants come and go; the footprint has not. One small node, on David Avenue. The grocery question — both ends are waiting As of publication, **no full-service grocery store operates on Burke Mountain**, at either end. The City’s Burke Mountain Village material is explicit that “the first priority for the commercial core will be to secure a grocery store along Princeton Avenue.” Until that tenant is signed and built, every household on this mountain does its main shop off the hill. If a listing or a site plan tells you otherwise, ask whether it is describing a store or a plan. ### The new school and athletic park are being built at this end The 23-acre joint school and park site sits at **3390/3400 David Avenue**, near Coast Meridian Road. School District 43 has told families it will open a new secondary school in the Burke Mountain area in **September 2027**. The Province funded the project with nearly $135 million, with roughly $25 million from the school district and a further contribution from the City of Coquitlam toward the joint site; provincial materials describe about 1,000 seats across Grades 6 to 12. One thing worth confirming before you make a five-year housing decision on it: reporting on the project describes the 1,000 Grade 6–12 seats as being spread across the new secondary school *and* a future middle school. Ask School District 43 directly whether Grade 6 students are admitted in 2027 or in a later phase. On the same site, **Burke Mountain Athletic Park** brings a 400-metre six-lane running track with lighting, a lit artificial-turf field for soccer, field hockey and field lacrosse, and four tennis courts. Construction started in summer 2025 and, as of the City’s most recent update, is on track for completion in 2026 — roughly a year ahead of the school it shares a fence with. ### You sit at the mouth of both exits From the David and Coast Meridian corner you have two ways down and you start at the top of both: west along David Avenue to Pinetree Way for Coquitlam Centre, Lafarge Lake–Douglas and Coquitlam Central Station, or south on Coast Meridian through Port Coquitlam toward Lougheed Highway. The City is currently widening Pipeline Road between Guildford Way and David Avenue to four lanes, which helps the western approach for the whole mountain. ## The east end: Partington Creek, Princeton Avenue, and what 2029 looks like Head east and uphill and the ground changes underfoot. The City’s **Partington Creek Neighbourhood Plan** — the bylaw governing this side — opens by saying the neighbourhood is “located on the southeastern slopes of Burke Mountain” and “contains steeper topography than the other Northeast Coquitlam neighbourhoods planned to date,” and that “this topography offers spectacular views of the Fraser Valley, Cascade Mountains and points beyond.” That sentence is the whole east-end case: higher ground, longer sightlines. ### What Burke Mountain Village actually is [Burke Mountain Village](https://soldbycraig.ca/burke-mountain-village/) is a 39-acre, City-owned village centre — formerly the Partington Creek Neighbourhood Centre, renamed in 2018. The City describes it as including a range of residential dwellings and approximately 120,000 sq ft of retail and commercial space, including a grocery store, a large public plaza and a village greenway. Project materials put the residential component at roughly 2,000 homes. Princeton Avenue is the commercial spine. Two pieces of it are real and under construction right now: - **Burke Mountain Community Centre** — ground broken Tuesday, May 12, 2026. About 80,000 sq ft, with a six-lane lap pool and drop slide, a warmer leisure pool with a lazy river and two lanes, a hot pool, sauna and steam room, a climbing wall, a double gymnasium, a fitness centre, and the first co-located Coquitlam Public Library branch in the city. Budgeted at $147.9 million and reported at roughly $152 million at groundbreaking. Target opening: **2029**. - **Burke Village Park** — adjacent to the centre, with a splash pad, an elevated accessible pathway, open gathering space and a streamside protection area. Estimated at about $14.2 million, opening alongside the centre in 2029. The part nobody says out loud The community centre, the park and the school are funded and under construction. **The Village’s own commercial and residential parcels are not.** The City’s FAQ states that the future businesses “will be determined by the developer of the Village, which has yet to be determined,” that a development phasing strategy is still being completed to decide how and when parcels are released for sale, and that “there are a number of steps before construction begins.” The City also notes the final unit count and amount of retail will be set by the eventual developer. If you are paying today for the grocery store, the plaza and the shops, understand what you are paying for: a plan with no signed tenant, no selected builder, and no published construction date. As of August 2026, the only business open in the Village area is IBEX Café + Kitchen at **3537 Princeton Avenue**, alongside the City’s Burke Mountain Discovery Centre. It is a café. It is not yet a village. ## The trade-off, side by side ## The view question: what actually makes a view here, and what takes it away “View” is the most expensive word in a Burke Mountain listing and the least examined. Two things create one: **elevation** and **an open aspect in front of you**. The east end has more of the first. The second is the part you have to check yourself. Burke Mountain Village’s own material describes the setting this way: “From the Golden Ears peak to Mount Baker to the Pitt River, the sweeping 180-degree views offer an inspired reminder of the West Coast’s intoxicating natural beauty.” The City’s bylaw language is drier and more useful — Fraser Valley, Cascade Mountains, and points beyond. Both describe the same thing: a southeast-facing slope looking out over the valley. Here is what I tell clients before they pay for it: - **A view is only yours if nothing can be built in front of it.** Most of the ground below an upper-Burke lot is designated to be developed. The Partington Creek plan’s only parcel-specific view policy is to “explore opportunities to secure southerly view corridors from Knoll Park at the time of development” — a public-park objective, not a covenant protecting your living-room window. - **Find out what sits between you and the valley.** Parks, streamside protection and enhancement areas, and steep-slope reserve lands are the pieces most likely to stay empty. A future development parcel is not. - **Trees grow.** Second-growth on the slope below you can close a valley view inside a decade, and it is nobody’s obligation to cut it. - **Sloped ground costs money.** The Partington Creek plan notes that “almost three-quarters of the Plan area has steep slopes over 10%,” and directs builders to “build with the slope” and use stepped retaining walls. A 10% grade is modest on its own — a one-metre rise over ten — but it is the threshold at which grading, retaining walls and drainage start showing up on a budget, and plenty of this ground is far steeper than the threshold. Coquitlam’s Interim Official Community Plan (Bylaw 5511, adopted April 27, 2026) maps an Unstable Slopes Development Permit Area, and Zoning Bylaw No. 3000 requires a slope hazard assessment prepared by a qualified professional for work inside a mapped slope zone. On a sloped lot, ask about retaining walls, drainage and any geotechnical report *before* subject removal, not after. None of that means don’t buy the view. It means buy it with your eyes open, and price it as a real asset rather than a photograph. ## The roads worth watching if you buy east Three things are moving, and none of them should be priced into an offer today: - **The David Avenue extension.** Two segments — David Avenue from Princeton Avenue to Burke Village Promenade, and from Burke Village Promenade to Victoria Drive — sit in the City’s development cost charge program for the Partington Creek area, costed at $7.4 million and $12.0 million in the City’s 2013 servicing assessment. Those are 2013 estimates in 2013 dollars. Neither segment appears as construction in the City’s 2026 capital projects list. - **The Fremont Connector.** A planned 3.5-kilometre arterial extension linking north Port Coquitlam with northeast Coquitlam, starting from the east end of Victoria Drive and eventually reaching the Mary Hill Bypass and Lougheed Highway. It would give the east end its own route down. The City’s current status line: “On-going negotiations between Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam regarding project funding… More details on project timeline will be provided after funding agreement is finalized.” - **Cedar Drive is closed.** As of August 2026 the $16.5 million Cedar Drive upgrade has the road fully closed between 4150 Cedar Drive and Gilleys Trail, from May 11, 2026, with detours via Victoria Drive expected through fall 2027. If you are shopping the lower eastern flank this year, that is a live condition, not a hypothetical. On transit, the **191 Coquitlam Central Station/Princeton** is the main Burke Mountain route, connecting the mountain to the Evergreen extension and West Coast Express. TransLink improved it in its fall 2025 service change, effective September 1, 2025 — buses now run every 20 minutes from 7 to 9 a.m., down from previous gaps of 29 to 34 minutes. The **174** runs up Victoria Drive as far as Rocklin Street, inside the Village area, so the east end has two routes rather than one. Neither is a SkyTrain station; there is none on Burke Mountain, and the nearest are Coquitlam Central and Lafarge Lake–Douglas. ## So where should you actually look? ### If your kids hit Grade 6 in the next five years Both ends are close to the new school, but the west end is closer — it is being built on David Avenue near Coast Meridian, with the athletic park on the same site. If a walkable school run matters more to you than anything else on this list, that is the simplest way to get one, and it arrives in 2027 rather than 2029. ### If your kids are little, or you want the pool and the library A family with a three-year-old today has a six-year-old when the community centre opens. Six-lane pool, lazy river, climbing wall, gym, library, splash-pad park — walkable from the upper end. That is a different childhood from driving to Poirier every Saturday, and it is the clearest reason to accept a 2029 timeline. ### If the view is the point Elevation and aspect favour the steeper southeastern slopes. Just make sure you know what is designated to be built below you, and get the slope questions answered before subjects come off. ### If your horizon is short Be honest with yourself about the timeline. The west end’s advantages are delivered or nearly so. The east end’s largest ones are on a construction schedule — and this one has already moved once, with the school shifting from an earlier 2026 target to 2027. Nobody can tell you what either end will be worth later; what you can control is whether you are relying on something built or something scheduled. ## What I’d check before writing the offer - **Pull the parcel below you.** What is it designated for, and who owns it? That answer is your view, five years out. - **Ask for the geotechnical report** on any sloped lot, plus retaining-wall and drainage documentation. On a newer home, ask the builder directly. - **Drive the commute at 7:45 a.m. on a Tuesday** — from the actual driveway, not from the neighbourhood. Then drive it from the other end and see whether the difference is worth what you are being charged for it. - **Confirm the school catchment in writing** with School District 43, including which grades the new school takes in its first year and how catchments change when it opens. A listing sheet is not an authority. - **Check current road closures** on the City’s project pages before you assume a route exists. - **Separate what is funded from what is planned.** Under construction is a fact. In a development cost charge program is a hope with a price tag attached. - **Ask what the same house would cost at the other end of the mountain.** If you cannot answer that, you are not comparing — you are guessing. ## The short version The west end of Burke Mountain gives you the shops that exist, the school being built now, gentler ground and the shortest run to the exits. The east end gives you more elevation, better sightlines, and a village centre that is real in two pieces and still a plan in the rest. The distance between them is small. The difference between them is not. What I would not do is buy either end by accident — which is exactly what happens when a buyer falls for a floor plan and works out afterward which part of the mountain it sits on. ## Common questions ### Is the west end or east end of Burke Mountain better? Neither is better in the abstract — they are different purchases. The west end, near Coast Meridian Road and David Avenue, has the mountain’s only cluster of shops, the new Grades 6 to 12 school and athletic park under construction, and gentler ground. The east end, in Partington Creek, is higher and steeper with stronger view potential, and will be walking distance to Burke Mountain Village and its community centre, pool and library when they open in 2029. It is not a commuting decision: the City describes the new school as within a 20-minute walk of the Village. Choose based on how old your children are and how much of your value you need delivered now rather than at the end of the decade. ### When will Burke Mountain Village actually be built? Partly under way, partly undecided. The Burke Mountain Community Centre and Burke Village Park broke ground on May 12, 2026 and are targeted to open in 2029. The Village’s own retail and residential parcels have no published construction date: the City states the developer “has yet to be determined” and that a development phasing strategy is still being completed to decide how and when parcels are released for sale. Treat the community centre and park as scheduled, and the shops and homes as planned but unscheduled. ### Is there a grocery store on Burke Mountain? As of August 2026, no full-service grocery store operates on Burke Mountain. The City has identified securing a grocery store along Princeton Avenue as the first priority for Burke Mountain Village’s commercial core, but no tenant has been announced. There is a pharmacy on David Avenue that carries some food, and everything else is a trip off the hill. ### Which Burke Mountain homes have the best views? Generally, the higher and steeper southeastern slopes in the Partington Creek area have the strongest view potential. The City’s Partington Creek Neighbourhood Plan notes the area’s topography “offers spectacular views of the Fraser Valley, Cascade Mountains and points beyond.” Elevation alone does not guarantee a lasting view, though — check what is designated for development on the parcels below the home, since most undeveloped land on Burke Mountain is planned to be built. ### When does the new Burke Mountain school open? September 2027. School District 43 has told families it will open a new secondary school in the Burke Mountain area near David Avenue and Coast Meridian Road that month. The Province funded the project with nearly $135 million, with roughly $25 million from the school district plus a City of Coquitlam contribution toward the 23-acre joint site at 3390/3400 David Avenue; about 1,000 Grades 6 to 12 seats are planned, reported as spread across the new secondary school and a future middle school. Confirm with the district which grades are admitted in year one. The adjacent Burke Mountain Athletic Park — track, turf field and tennis courts — is scheduled to finish in 2026. ### How do you get off Burke Mountain, and is traffic a problem? Almost everything routes through David Avenue, then either west toward Pinetree Way and Coquitlam Centre or south on Coast Meridian Road toward Port Coquitlam and Lougheed Highway. The City’s Northeast Coquitlam Area Plan states that “existing roads in Northeast Coquitlam cannot accommodate planned growth levels,” and Coquitlam projects the area growing to about 50,000 residents over 25 years. That pressure applies to the whole mountain, not one end of it. Two future connections — the David Avenue extension east through the Village, and the Fremont Connector to north Port Coquitlam — would relieve it, but neither has a confirmed construction schedule. ## Verify everything — the sources behind this page Key figures here are drawn from public documents. Municipal plans and timelines change; if you are making a decision, check the current version. 1. **City of Coquitlam — Burke Mountain Village and burkevillage.ca:** 39 acres, ~120,000 sq ft retail/commercial including a grocery store, plaza and village greenway, ~2,000 dwellings; formerly the Partington Creek Neighbourhood Centre; developer and final unit count still to be determined; schools described as within a 20-minute walk of the Village; the Burke Mountain Discovery Centre and IBEX Café + Kitchen at 3537 Princeton Avenue. 2. **City of Coquitlam — Burke Mountain Community Centre and Burke Village Park:** May 12, 2026 groundbreaking, ~80,000 sq ft, amenity list, 2029 target opening; Burke Mountain projected to grow from more than 20,000 residents to about 50,000 in 25 years. 3. **City of Coquitlam — Partington Creek Neighbourhood Plan (Bylaw No. 4391, adopted July 8, 2013):** southeastern slopes, steeper topography than other Northeast Coquitlam neighbourhoods planned to date, view language, “almost three-quarters of the Plan area has steep slopes over 10%,” hillside design policies and the Knoll Park view-corridor policy. 4. **City of Coquitlam — Partington Creek Servicing and Civic Facilities Assessment (2013):** the David Avenue extension segments and their 2013 cost estimates. 5. **City of Coquitlam — Northeast Coquitlam Area Plan:** “Existing roads in Northeast Coquitlam cannot accommodate planned growth levels”; Coast Meridian Road as a north–south arterial. 6. **City of Coquitlam — Fremont Connector, Cedar Drive Upgrade, Pipeline Road Upgrade and Burke Mountain Athletic Park project pages; the 2026 Capital Projects List; Interim Official Community Plan Bylaw 5511 (2026); and Living Near Steep Slopes (Zoning Bylaw No. 3000).** 7. **School District 43 and the Province of British Columbia:** September 2027 opening near David Avenue and Coast Meridian Road; nearly $135 million in provincial funding; about 1,000 Grades 6 to 12 seats. 8. **TransLink:** route 191 routing, the fall 2025 service change effective September 1, 2025, and the route 174 timetable. 9. **Tri-City News, Tri-Cities Dispatch, Freshet News and Daily Hive:** David Avenue commercial tenants, the October 2024 closure of the 7-Eleven at 105–3380 David Avenue, the school and athletic park funding split, and community centre cost reporting. Craig Johnston, REALTOR® V99960 · The MACNABS · Royal LePage Elite West · Burke Mountain resident ## Not sure which end of the mountain fits your family? Send me the two addresses you are torn between. I will come back in writing within 24 hours with what sits below each one, what is scheduled nearby, and the questions I would want answered on each before you decide. Direct: [604-202-6092](tel:+16042026092) · [Craig@SoldByCraig.ca](mailto:Craig@SoldByCraig.ca) ## Related reading - [Burke Mountain VillageThe full guide to the 39-acre village centre — what is planned, what is funded, and what is still undecided](https://soldbycraig.ca/burke-mountain-village/) - [Burke Mountain Community Centre breaks groundThe full amenity list, the renderings, and the 2029 timeline](https://soldbycraig.ca/blog/burke-mountain-community-centre-coquitlam-2026/) - [Burke Mountain map and area guideHow the mountain breaks into zones, and where families usually start](https://soldbycraig.ca/burke-mountain-map-guide/) - [Burke Mountain schools guideCatchments, feeder patterns and what changes when the new school opens](https://soldbycraig.ca/burke-mountain-schools-guide/) - [Burke Mountain homesThe main guide — price bands, product types and current inventory](https://soldbycraig.ca/burke-mountain-homes/) - [Tri-Cities SkyTrain and commute guideWhat the ride actually looks like from the top of the hill](https://soldbycraig.ca/blog/tri-cities-skytrain-commute-guide/) About the author ### [Craig Johnston, REALTOR®](/coquitlam-realtor-craig-johnston/) 9+ year Burke Mountain resident, 47+ year Tri-Cities native, Top 1% Team Member — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, Top 2% Team Member — Royal LePage nationwide, Medallion Club Team Member, and a Member of The MACNABS Team at Royal LePage Elite West. Personally writes every page on this site — no AI ghostwriters, no junior team. BC Real Estate License V99960, regulated by the BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA). Specializes in Coquitlam, Burke Mountain, Westwood Plateau, Heritage Mountain, Port Moody, Anmore acreage, and Belcarra Indian Arm waterfront. Move-up family representation, first-time buyer guidance, $2M+ luxury, off-market network access. [Full bio + credentials →](/coquitlam-realtor-craig-johnston/) [Book a free strategy call](/book-a-strategy-call-with-craig-johnston/) Tri-Cities monthly ## Get the honest Tri-Cities market read, monthly. July 2026 Coquitlam detached HPI is $1,627,600, -5.2% YoY. What that means for your buy or sell decision — without the salesy fluff. One email per month. Unsubscribe anytime. No spam, no listings flood, no marketing automation games. Genuine monthly update from a 47+ year Tri-Cities resident. ## A specialist for your specific Tri-Cities city or neighbourhood.