I have lived in Surrey and White Rock for eleven years. Surrey has the worst, and the very best, neighborhoods in the Metro Vancouver area. Whalley, the district around the Surrey Skytrain Station is not too nice. Nearby you can see vagrants, drug abusers and prostitutes. The city is attempting to clean it up with new apartment buildings, a new university campus, and soon new municipal buildings but it still has some way to go. I try to stay clear of the station late at night but during the day or early evening it is fine - no worries. There are lots of stores and a recreation centre there. People would no use them if the area was dangerous.
Cloverdale, further east is another district of Surrey that is a good place to raise a family. South Surrey has many multi-million dollar ocean front estates as well as some really high-end neighborhoods and the best schools.