Newton

Newton, centred on King George Boulevard and 72 Avenue in south-central Surrey, is the cultural and commercial heart of Metro Vancouver's South Asian community. Walking along 72 Avenue between King George and Scott Road you pass Punjabi grocers, South Indian dosa shops, halal butchers, sari stores, sweet shops with display windows full of jalebi and barfi, and banquet halls hosting three weddings a day during the season. For Punjabi-speaking newcomers arriving in Canada, Newton is often the single most important neighbourhood to know.

Housing in Newton is dominated by older single-family houses (most with secondary suites — Surrey's famously permissive approach to basement rentals has always been strongest here) and 1990s townhouse complexes. Rents are genuinely cheap by Metro Vancouver standards: a character-house basement suite with two bedrooms runs $1,500–1,800, and rental townhouses list at $2,200–2,600. The Newton Recreation Centre and the Newton Wave Pool are popular with families.

Transit is Newton's main weakness: there's no SkyTrain and the Surrey–Langley extension won't reach here. The 96 B-Line along King George provides frequent bus service north to Surrey Central, and the 337 connects south. Owning a car in Newton isn't mandatory but it's significantly easier than not owning one. The trade is that this is the single cheapest corner of Metro Vancouver with a strong sense of community and food that's hard to beat anywhere in North America.