The Top 5 reasons I moved to White Rock and why you should too!

Today, i’ll be sharing the top five reasons why I decided to relocate my family from another area in the Lower Mainland, back to the neighbourhood of White Rock, BC.

I have a little bit of a confession. I’m about a block and a half from the border, but the point of telling you that is that I get to enjoy all of the great things White Rock has to offer and basically consider myself a resident of White Rock, even though I’m only a block and a half away.

After reading this, you can determine if relocating to White Rock is the right fit for you, or maybe you’re better to go spend your home searching energy in other areas of the Lower Mainland. You’re going to want to make sure you hang around to the end as well, because I’m going to give you some rapid fire reasons, a little bit outside of the main reasons, why we decided to move back to White Rock. I hope you get a really good overview about how excellent this community is.

My name is Darin, the team leader with the Germyn Group, with Macdonald Realty, a REALTOR in Surrey, British Columbia.

If this is your first time reading our blogs, we are here to educate you on everything there is to know about living in Surrey or White Rock, British Columbia. If you’re looking to make a move in the next 9 days, 90 days or 9 months, shoot us a text, give us a call, or book an in-person zoom meeting with us so we can learn a little bit more about your situation and let you know what we can do to help you. This way, we can make sure your move to Surrey or White Rock is a smooth one

Thanks for the introduction, where were we?

Okay, if you/re interested in real estate in White Rock, BC, you’re likely spending tons of time on the Internet, whether you’re googling all these different places and searching and scouring the Internet for just all of the information that you feel that you need to make a really good decision.

There’s a million websites out there, and there’s a million things to consider when you’re making a move. Let us help you get it right!

I was lucky enough to grow up in the South Surrey and White Rock neighbourhood. One of my favourite areas is a little pocket called Ocean Park.

Here is where I spent the majority in my childhood, up until I was about 19 years old when my parents finally moved. I never really quite understood how amazing the community was that we lived in, until I moved out of the area at the time. I thought every community was really like that.

Fast forward, after I did some traveling in my early 20s, I actually ended up buying my first home in an area called North Delta. No shade on North Delta. It’s a beautiful area, and we really enjoyed living there. But It’s not South Surrey.

It’s not White Rock.

About 3 years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic, my family and I decided to make our move back to South Surrey and with that, this is the place that I chose to raise my family.

The South Surrey and White Rock area was always number one on our list.

There was never anywhere else that we were even remotely considering because of some of the great things that this community offers. This is the place where I want to call home. I’m going to share the top 5 reasons I moved my family to South Surrey/White Rock area.

First Reason: The Schools in the neighbourhood.

We actually had a very young family at the time. My firstborn was only 3 years old. But schools, well, of course, they’re really important, especially if you’ve got a family. The schools in the South Surrey and White Rock catchments, well, they’re not going to disappoint you.

Since this post is directed directly towards White Rock, let’s talk a little bit about the schools that if you do choose to live in the city of White Rock proper, what places are your kids are going to go to?

There’s only actually two elementary schools in the city of White Rock proper:

Peace Arch Elementary

You’ve got Peace Arch Elementary, which It has an early French Immersion program that brings in people from all over that want their kids to learn how to speak French at an early age. On their website, one of their goals is to improve students’ attitudes and dispositions towards mathematics. This is something that they really find important and want to focus on for their K-7 audience.

White Rock Elementary:

White Rock Elementary is a great school. They’re known for a few things. As an example, for the 27th consecutive year as of 2024, students from White Rock Elementary have won 1st place in each of their divisions for both track and field.

Is that it? Only two schools in White Rock?

Well, there’s three other elementary schools that you could find your child residing at if you decide to make your move to White Rock.

H.T. Thrift is an older school that backs on to Semiahmoo Secondary School. It It’s a small school that has multiple playgrounds and a large gravel field. Some of the important things for H.T. Thrift are school-wide positive behaviour support plans, an art club at all grade levels, and an incredible array of extracurricular activities offered, like hockey, badminton, volleyball, basketball, track and field, chess club, art club, Lego club, and knitting club.

My favourite of the bunch is actually Bay Ridge Elementary, which is the highest rated elementary school in the area by comparison.

Bay Ridge Elementary is also a small school. It looks like it’s out of a storybook featuring a large grass field and an incredible playground that the kids absolutely love.

Lastly, you’ve got Ray Sheppard, which has large, large grounds with lots of room for the kids to get outside. This is a larger school as well that’s been around for quite some time in the South Surrey neighbourhood.

These are the five elementary schools in the White Rock catchment areas that your kids could possibly go to, and they’re all rated differently by the Fraser Institute.

What If I have kids that are a bit older?

Great news! there are 3 high schools in the White Rock catchment, while it’s only a very small area, these actually service the community, all located again in Surrey.

The 3 high schools include Elgin Park, Semiamhoo, and Earl Marriott.

Worth noting as well that these three high schools are all rated quite high in comparison to the remainder of British Columbia in terms of how their students actually perform their academics.

Since all three of these schools are located on the peninsula of South Surrey and White Rock, they’re relatively competitive, and they’re also pretty good at a few things. They’re all known for sports like rugby and volleyball, but their academics programs as well.

An important note on Semiahmoo; It’s an incredibly sought after by the international community because it offers an International Baccalaureate program. This makes getting into the catchment of Semiahmoo incredibly popular and sometimes a little difficult.

Second Reason: Quieter than other areas of the Lower Mainland.

You see, White Rock is not a pass-through city. It’s not a city you drive through on your way to another city, let’s say maybe Surrey, Burnaby or New Westminster.

This means you don’t have a lot of traffic from outside areas coming into White Rock unless they’re coming to visit the beach

As of 2021, Stats Canada reported a population of approximately 21,939 people, which was a growth of only 10% since 2016. White Rock is 5.13 square kilometers, and the average age of its residence is 53.3. Which is probably a little older than the majority of the province. So there’s not a huge population that lives in White Rock, which means it’s not overly busy

The important thing is there’s nowhere to go once you hit White Rock because it’s a beach community. You’ve got the ocean there. Your only choice really is to go into Surrey. And one of the great things about living in White Rock is there is easy highway access at multiple points in the area.

This means you can still get out of town if you want to, and you are siding onto the City of Surrey, which gives you all the amenities that can be offered quite close to home that might not be offered in the little town or city of White Rock.

Third Reason: White Rock is an Oceanside community

Enough said, right?

Who doesn’t want to live by the beach? Whether it’s a family walk with the kids or your spouse, walking down by the water or taking the dogs to let them go run wild on the beach, well there’s only certain areas you can do that with, or maybe you’re going down there to watch a beautiful sunset or enjoy the cool ocean breeze.

Who doesn’t want to live near the ocean?

Marine Drive features various shops, restaurants, and of course, treats like ice cream. It can get quite busy in the summer because it’s a popular spot for people to come visit from all over the Lower Mainland. Yet you get a nice trade-off in the winter months when the lure of visiting the beach isn’t quite as popular.

Not only is it an oceanside community, but it’s also home to Canada’s longest pier and the White Rock. Yeah, the city of White Rock has a big white rock sitting on the beach. Go figure.

Fourth Reason: Quality of life and accessibility compared to the rest of the Lower Mainland

Some of this is going to fall over onto the Surrey side of the border, but you’re so close to all this in White Rock that obviously you get to share some of these amenities.

You’ve got great shopping options through town, and there’s three main ones all in South Surrey:

Semiahmoo Town Centre

Grandview Shopping Centre & The Shops at Morgan Crossing

These are the three areas that are both newer and are full of big box stores, chain restaurants, and tons of shopping options so these are the go-to shopping centre for most amenities.

Moving into the smaller shopping centres, you have:

South Point Exchange Shopping Centre

Ocean Park Village

Peninsula Village off 24th Ave

Five Corners Shopping Area

Reason Five: South Surrey Athletic Park

I touched on this a little bit earlier on in the blog post, but it’s so amazing that it deserves its own honourable mention. If recreation is a big part of your life, or maybe you have kids that are highly involved in sports or otherwise, this is an area that you are going to love, love, love living near.

South Surrey Athletic Park features soccer fields, baseball diamonds, football and rugby, cricket, an outdoor water park, community and recreation centre, skate park, biking trails, pickleball courts, an ice rink, the BMO Coastal Soccer Center, tennis courts, a quarter mile track, picnic areas, playgrounds, and volleyball courts.

It also sides on the Sunnyside Urban Acres Park, which was mentioned earlier in this post. This is a 140 hectare park with natural second-growth forest. But the best part is the network of nature trails is about 4 kilometers long.

So there you have it.

Those are our top five reasons why we knew this was the area that we wanted to call home. But I promise you at the start of the post as well that I would give you some honorable and rapid fire mentions:

Rapid Fire #1: It is near the border, siding on to the city of Blaine, which means easy access for cheap gasoline, quick getaway to the United States, and great shopping.

Rapid Fire #2: A funny thing about White Rock as well, because it’s located on a quite substantial hillside, is it It seems to be sunny in White Rock, whereas the rest of the Lower Mainland is dealing with clouds and rain often.

Rapid Fire #3: Crescent Beach Marina is just a short 10 minute drive from White Rock if you’re into boating. And probably one of my favorite things about living in White Rock is everybody in the Lower Mainland wants to live here.

What if I have any questions about moving to White Rock, BC

Selecting an excellent real estate professional is key to a successful home purchase. The Germyn Group, with our deep understanding of White Rock and its real estate dynamics, is committed to guiding you every step of the way.

We invite you to book a consultation with us. During our meeting, we’ll discuss your needs, preferences, and any questions you might have about the Surrey real estate market.

As you embark on this exciting journey, remember that the right home in Surrey is more than just a property; it’s a foundation for your future. With the Germyn Group by your side, let’s make your dream of homeownership in Surrey a beautiful reality.