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Homes: White Rock Community

White Rock is a charming seaside community of on Semahmoo Bay, with 17,000 residents that are no longer part of Surrey. It is only 5 minutes from the Canada US border, and is 45 kilometres from Vancouver up Highway 99 (1 hour away during rush hour). White Rock offers natural beauty, with its wide beaches and tidal flats, its promenade, and its pier. Most importantly, White Rock gets more sunshine than anywhere else in the Lower Mainland, and gets only 104 cm of rain a year. The town has a wide array of services and good shopping facilities.

Housing in White Rock consists mainly of older bungalows, Vancouver Specials and seaside cottages mixed with large senior-executive homes, townhouse developments and low-rise condos. There are a number of retail/residential complexes in the area, along the waterfront as well as in the Town Centre.

Schools
White Rock shares its schools system with Surrey and has several elementary schools and has its own high school. French schooling can be had at Ecole Gabrielle-Roy (K-9) in nearby Surrey. At the post-secondary level, Surrey has two campuses of Kwantlen University College (with a new campus being planned for Cloverdale). Trinity Western University is in nearby Langley, and BC institute of Technology and Simon Fraser University are in nearby Burnaby.

Shopping
There is the mid-sized Semiahmoo Shopping Centre in WhiteRock, and there are lots of quaint—though touristy-- shops along the promenade.

Recreation
White Rock has several large parks, though in the summer recreational activities tend to be focused around the beaches and the town’s pier. It feels very "California." Golfers can find several courses nearby in Surrey. Centennial Park offers an ice arena and curling ring and there is an interesting ravine trail off North Bluff Road.

Homes
Homes in White Rock run $490,000–2 million; townhouses can set you back $560,000-501,000; while Condos cost $267,000-300,000.

• White Rock Photos