Three Houses Apart

Today, while door knocking in my own neighbourhood, I was reminded of something we don’t talk about enough.

I met Greg first. A kind, thoughtful man whose passion for trains fills his home. Not just a hobby — a lifetime of stories, memories, and meaning.

A few houses down, I met Brad. He’s lived on the same street for 35 years. We talked about the neighbourhood, the changes, the concerns people are feeling. Then he showed me something incredible — a wooden boat he built by hand, carved from a single piece of wood.

On top of it sat a train.

It had belonged to his grandfather — part of a long family history in the railway industry here in British Columbia.

So I asked him a simple question:“Do you know Greg?”

He didn’t.

Three houses apart. Nearly three decades as neighbours. And they had never met.

Yet they share the same passion. The same connection to rail. The same kind of story.

That moment stuck with me.

We often talk about community like it’s something abstract — something the city builds, or policy creates.

But community is much simpler than that.

It’s conversations on driveways it's stories shared between neighbours, it's realizing we have more in common than we think.

Today, three neighbours who had never met found a connection.

That’s why I’m doing this.

Because a stronger Burnaby doesn’t start at City Hall.

It starts right outside our front doors.