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TIMELAPSE: Aerial photos show Abbotsford growth over three decades

New Google tool shows dramatic changes in East Abbotsford and on Sumas Mountain since 1984
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Google images shows how Sumas Mountain has been transformed over the last two decades.


A new aerial imaging released by Google shows just how dramatically Abbotsford has grown over the past three decades.

Google Earth's new Timelapse tool (use it above, or by clicking here) allows users to compare aerial images taken annually since 1984.

The images – which can be zoomed in or out – show just how much has changed in Abbotsford over the last 32 years.

The Abbotsford captured in the 1984 photo was seeing construction along the southern portionHighway 11/Sumas Way bypass, along with the Rotary Stadium/Exhibition Field complex in the city's north.

By 1990, major construction projects in the city's east had begun, and neighbourhoods were starting to be built on Sumas Mountain, above the Whatcom Road interchange.

Over the ensuing 25 years, those new neighbourhoods would welcome tens of thousands of new residents. The industrial areas to the north of the highway can also be seen expanding dramatically in the images.

Sumas Mountain goes through dramatic changes over the course of the timelapse, with logging, mining activities and residential development all altering the face of the mountain.

Other areas to watch: development along the Huntingdon commercial/industrial corridor along Highway 11 north of the U.S. Canada border; shifting gravel extraction activities to the immediate west of Abbotsford International Airport; the creation of the Gloucester industrial park in Langley along Abbotsford's western border; the expansion of Aldergrove's residential areas; the creation of Willband Creek Park; and the creation of large greenhouse complexes in Matsqui Prairie.

To the west, the City and Township of Langley saw massive development of residential areas, as did Surrey and many other Lower Mainland municipalities.

Tell us what else you spotted in the comments below.