North Arm is a bleak, industrial area on the banks of the Fraser River with just over a dozen houses crammed between a toilet paper mill, a dredging company and a railway. Some of the houses have seen better days.
Neighbourhood amenities
It could be worse. You could be living under the Queensborough Bridge.
North Arm does have a wonderful view of the Fraser River, through a tangle of utility wires, past crane booms and between belches of steam and exhaust from the toilet paper mill and passing trains.
Even though you’ll be living next to a giant paper mill that manufactures toilet paper, you’ll still have to drive to the nearest store to buy the stuff. There’s no shopping or services in the immediate neighbourhood. The closest commercial district is Wal-Mart across the Queensborough Bridge. So if giant tubs of frozen desert are your thing, you’re set. As long as you have a car; there’s absolutely no transit service in North Arm.
Your other option would be to traipse up the steep hill of 20th Street, after risking your life to cross busy Stewardson Way. There, a small retail strip will be able to meet all your colostomy needs.
Schools in the nearby area
School of hard knocks.
Transit
None. Zip. Zilch. If you want to get anywhere, you’re going to have to walk up a dirt path, cross a busy highway, then walk up another hill to get to the 22nd Street SkyTrain station.
Or, you could get into your car and navigate the zig zag maze of one street that leads to the only way in or out of the neighbourhood.
Another option would be to hop a boxcar on a passing train and just get the heck out of Dodge.
North Arm real estate
Next to sleeping under bushes, the only properties in North Arm are a handful of single-family homes and a couple of duplexes that will allow you to get cozy with your neighbours. Houses are rarely offered for sale in the neighbourhood; why bother.