Burnaby council has endorsed the idea of establishing Metrotown as the city’s downtown. According to councillor Colleen Jordan, it’s about “identity”.

“We’re not just a suburb city anymore,” Jordan told the Straight by phone on May 10.

The previous evening, council approved a staff proposal to begin the process of updating the development plan of Metrotown to create a “true downtown”. Before it was incorporated in 1892, Burnaby was an expanse of land that connected Vancouver and New Westminster.

As the city’s future downtown, Metrotown will have central downtown, core residential, and town-centre residential areas. For years, according to Jordan, Burnaby has always been a place “on the way to somewhere else”.

“We want to have everything within the city so that people can live, work, and play here, all within the city of Burnaby,” Jordan said. “And it’s not necessary to have to go somewhere else.”