Vancouver

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

City of Vancouver
Downtown Vancouver as seen from the southern shore of False Creek
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "By Sea, Land, and Air We Prosper"
Location of Vancouver within the Metro Vancouver regional district in British Columbia, Canada
Coordinates: 49°15′N 123°6′W / 49.25°N 123.1°W / 49.25; -123.1
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Region	Lower Mainland
Regional District	Metro Vancouver
Incorporated	1886
Government
- Mayor	Gregor Robertson (Vision Vancouver)
- City Council	List of Councilors Suzanne Anton (NPA) David Cadman (COPE) George Chow (Vision) Heather Deal (Vision) Kerry Jang (Vision) Raymond Louie (Vision) Geoff Meggs (Vision) Andrea Reimer (Vision) Tim Stevenson (Vision) Ellen Woodsworth (COPE)
Area
- City	114.67 km2 (44.3 sq mi)
- Metro	2,878.52 km2 (1,111.4 sq mi)
Elevation	2 m (7 ft)
Population (2006 Census)[1][2]
- City	578,041(Ranked 8th)
- Density	5,335/km2 (13,817.6/sq mi)
- Metro	2,116,581 (Ranked 3rd)
- Demonym	Vancouverite
Time zone	PST (UTC−8)
- Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC−7)
Postal code span	V5K to V6Z
Area code(s)	604, 778
NTS Map	092G03
GNBC Code	JBRIK
Website	City of Vancouver

Vancouver (pronounced /vænˈkuːvər/) is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The city is bounded by the Strait of Georgia, Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby, and the University Endowment Lands. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a British explorer. The name Vancouver itself originates from the Dutch "van Coevorden", denoting somebody from (in Dutch: "van") Coevorden, an old city in The Netherlands.^[3]

According to the 2006 Census, the city of Vancouver had a population of 578,041^[1] and Metro Vancouver 2,116,581.^[2] As of July 2009, the city's estimated population was 615,473 and that of the metropolitan area, 2,318,200.^[4] Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area in Western Canada and the third largest in the country, although as a municipality it is ranked eighth nationally.^[5][6] Vancouver is ethnically diverse, with 52% of city residents having a first language other than English.^[7][8]

Vancouver was first settled by Europeans in the 1860s as a result of immigration to the Colony of British Columbia caused by the Fraser and Cariboo Gold Rushes, though only a very few settled in what would become the city of Vancouver. The city's roots are based in logging and the founding of a large lumber mill, which gave birth to Gastown. The settlement expanded rapidly in the 1880s into a metropolitan centre following the arrival of the transcontinental railway in 1887. The Port of Vancouver became internationally significant as a node in the global trade network of the British Empire with the combined steamship and railway of the Canadian Pacific Railway shortening shipping times from the Orient to London.^[9][10] The port is now the busiest in Canada, and the fourth largest port (by tonnage) in North America.^[11]

Prior to the 1980s, the economy of Vancouver had traditionally relied on British Columbia's resource sectors: forestry, mining, fishing and agriculture. It has diversified over the past 30 years, however. Today its second largest industry, after forestry, is tourism, and it has become the third-largest film production centre in North America after Los Angeles and New York City, earning it the nickname Hollywood North.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

Vancouver has been ranked as one of the most livable cities in the world^[17] and is a destination for many international conferences and events, including the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements in 1976 and the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication (Expo 86). The 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics will be held in Vancouver and nearby Whistler, a mountain town 125 km north of the city.^[18][19][20]

Contents 1 History 2 Geography and climate 3 Cityscape 3.1 Urban planning 3.2 Architecture 4 Demographics 4.1 Visible Minorities 4.2 Population growth 5 Economy 6 Government 6.1 Provincial representation 6.2 Federal representation 6.3 Policing 6.4 Military 7 Transportation 8 Education 8.1 Schools 8.2 Universities and colleges 8.3 International students 9 Arts and culture 9.1 Entertainment and performing arts 9.2 Visual art and the Vancouver School 9.3 Media 9.3.1 English-language media 9.3.2 Multicultural media 10 Quality of living 11 Sports and recreation 11.1 Professional sports teams 12 Affiliated cities and municipalities 13 See also 14 References 15 External links

[edit] History

Archaeological records indicate that the presence of Aboriginal people in the Vancouver area dates from 8,000–10,000 years ago.^[21][22] The city is located in the traditional territories of Skwxwú7mesh, Xwméthkwyiem, and Tseil-waututh peoples of the Coast Salish group.^[23] They had villages in various parts of present-day Vancouver, such as Stanley Park, False Creek, Kitsilano, Point Grey and near the mouth of the Fraser River.^[22]

The first European to explore the coastline of present-day Point Grey and part of Burrard Inlet was José María Narváez of Spain, in 1791, although Samuel Bawlf contends that Francis Drake may have visited the area in 1579.^[24] George Vancouver explored the inner harbour of Burrard Inlet in 1792 and gave various places British names.^[25]

The explorer and North West Company trader Simon Fraser and his crew were the first Europeans known to have set foot on the site of the present-day city. In 1808, they traveled from the east, down the Fraser River perhaps as far as Point Grey, near the University of British Columbia.^[26]

The Fraser Gold Rush of 1858 brought over 25,000 men, mainly from California, up the Fraser River, most bypassing what would become Vancouver.^[27][28][29] The first European settlement was in 1862 at McLeery's Farm on the Fraser River, just east of the ancient village of Musqueam in what is now Marpole. A sawmill established at Moodyville (now the City of North Vancouver) in 1863, began the city's long relationship with lumbering. It was quickly followed by mills owned by Captain Edward Stamp on the south shore of the inlet. Stamp, who had begun lumbering in the Port Alberni area, first attempted to run a mill at Brockton Point, but difficult currents and reefs forced the relocation of the operation to a point near the foot of Gore Street, known as Hastings Mill. This became the nucleus around which Vancouver formed. The mill's central role in the city waned after the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in the 1880s. It nevertheless remained important to the local economy until it closed in the 1920s.^[30]

Vancouver is among British Columbia's youngest cities.^[31] The settlement of Gastown grew up quickly around the original makeshift tavern established by “Gassy” Jack Deighton in 1867 on the edge of the Hastings Mill property.^[31][32] In 1870, the colonial government surveyed the settlement and laid out a townsite, renamed “Granville” in honour of the then-British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Granville. This site, with its natural harbour, was eventually selected as the terminus for the Canadian Pacific Railway to the disappointment of Port Moody, New Westminster and Victoria, all of which had vied to be the railhead. A railway was among the inducements for British Columbia to join Confederation in 1871, but the Pacific Scandal and arguments over the use of Chinese labour delayed construction until the 1880s.^[33]

The City of Vancouver was incorporated on 6 April 1886, the same year that the first transcontinental train arrived. The name, honouring George Vancouver, was chosen by CPR president William Van Horne, who arrived in Port Moody to establish the CPR terminus recommended by Henry John Cambie.^[31] The Great Vancouver Fire on 13 June 1886, razed the entire city. The Vancouver Fire Department was established that year and the city quickly rebuilt.^[30] Vancouver's population grew from a settlement of 1,000 people in 1881 to over 20,000 by the turn of the century and 100,000 by 1911.^[35]

Vancouver merchants outfitted prospectors bound for the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898.^[27] One of those merchants, Charles Woodward, had opened the first Woodward's store at what is now Georgia and Main Streets in 1892 and, along with Spencer's and the Hudson's Bay department stores, formed the core of the city's retail sector for decades.^[36]

The economy of early Vancouver was dominated by large companies such as the CPR, which provided capital for the rapid development of the new city. While some manufacturing did develop, natural resources became the basis for Vancouver's economy. The resource sector was initially based on logging and later on exports moving through the seaport, where commercial traffic constituted the largest economic sector in Vancouver by the 1930s.^[37]

The dominance of the economy by big business was accompanied by an often militant labour movement. The first major sympathy strike was in 1903 when railway employees struck against the CPR for union recognition. Labour leader Frank Rogers was killed while picketing at the docks by CPR police during that strike, becoming the British Columbia movement's first martyr.^[38] The rise of industrial tensions throughout the province led to Canada's first general strike in 1918, at the Cumberland coal mines on Vancouver Island.^[39] Following a lull in the 1920s, the strike wave peaked in 1935 when unemployed men flooded the city to protest conditions in the relief camps run by the military in remote areas throughout the province.^[40][41] After two tense months of daily and disruptive protesting, the relief camp strikers decided to take their grievances to the federal government and embarked on the On-to-Ottawa Trek,^[42] but their protest was put down by force. The workers were arrested near Mission and interned in work camps for the duration of the Depression.^[43]

Other social movements, such as the first-wave feminist, moral reform, and temperance movements were also influential in Vancouver's development. Mary Ellen Smith, a Vancouver suffragist and prohibitionist, became the first woman elected to a provincial legislature in Canada in 1918.^[44] Alcohol prohibition began in the First World War and lasted until 1921, when the provincial government established control over alcohol sales, a practice still in place today.^[45] Canada's first drug law came about following an inquiry conducted by the federal Minister of Labour and future Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King. King was sent to investigate damages claims resulting from a riot when the Asiatic Exclusion League led a rampage through Chinatown and Japantown. Two of the claimants were opium manufacturers, and after further investigation, King found that white women were reportedly frequenting opium dens as well as Chinese men. A federal law banning the manufacture, sale, and importation of opium for non-medicinal purposes was soon passed based on these revelations.^[46]

Amalgamation with Point Grey and South Vancouver gave the city its final contours not long before taking its place as the third largest metropolis in the country. As of 1 January 1929, the population of the enlarged Vancouver was 228,193 and it filled the entire peninsula between the Burrard Inlet and the Fraser River.^[47]

[edit] Geography and climate

The original vegetation of most of Vancouver and its suburbs was dense temperate rain forest, consisting of conifers with scattered pockets of maple and alder, as well as large areas of swampland (even in upland areas, due to poor drainage).^[48][49] The conifers were a typical coastal British Columbia mix of Douglas-fir, Western red cedar and Western Hemlock;^[50] thought to have been the greatest concentration of the largest of these trees on the entire British Columbia Coast. Only in Seattle's Elliott Bay did the size of trees rival those of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The largest trees in Vancouver's old-growth forest were in the Gastown area, where the first logging occurred, and on the south slopes of False Creek and English Bay, especially around Jericho Beach. The forest in Stanley Park was logged between the 1860s and 1880s, and evidence of old-fashioned logging techniques such as springboard notches can still be seen there.^[51]

A diverse collection of plants and trees were imported from other parts of the continent and from points across the Pacific, and can be found growing throughout Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Various species of palm trees have proven hardy in the climate and are an occasional sight, as are large numbers of other exotic trees such as the monkey puzzle tree, the Japanese Maple, and various flowering exotics such as magnolias, azaleas, and rhododendrons. Many rhododendrons have grown to immense sizes, as have other species imported from harsher climates in Eastern Canada or Europe. The native Douglas Maple can also attain a tremendous size. Many streets in the city, covering whole areas, are lined with flowering varieties of Japanese cherry trees that were donated by Japan, starting in the 1930s, and flowering for weeks at the opening of spring each year. Other areas have streets lined in flowering chestnut, horse chestnut. and other decorative shade trees.^[52]

Vancouver has an area of 114 square kilometres (44 sq mi), including both flat and hilly ground. Vancouver is adjacent to the Strait of Georgia, a body of water that is shielded from the Pacific Ocean by Vancouver Island. It is in the Pacific Time Zone (UTC−8) and the Pacific Maritime Ecozone.^[53] The city itself forms part of the Burrard Peninsula, lying between Burrard Inlet to the north and the Fraser River to the south. Contrary to a common external misconception, Vancouver is not on nearby Vancouver Island, which was until the city's naming in 1885 was what was meant by "Vancouver". While the island and the city are named after Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver, the city of Vancouver, Washington, on the north bank of the Columbia River opposite Portland, Oregon is only indirectly named for Captain Vancouver, being an adaptation of the name of Fort Vancouver, which had been the headquarters of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company and the largest settlement in the Pacific Northwest until the Oregon Treaty of 1846.

Vancouver is renowned for its scenery and has one of the largest urban parks in North America, Stanley Park.^[54] The North Shore Mountains dominate the cityscape, and on a clear day scenic vistas include the snow-capped volcano Mount Baker in the State of Washington to the southeast, Vancouver Island across the Strait of Georgia to the west and southwest, and the Sunshine Coast to the northwest.^[55]

Vancouver's climate is unusually temperate by Canadian standards; its winters are the fourth warmest of Canadian cities monitored by Environment Canada after nearby Victoria, Nanaimo, and Duncan, all of which are on Vancouver Island.^[56] Vancouver has daily minimum temperatures falling below 0 °C (32 °F) on an average of 46 days per year and below −10 °C (14.0 °F) on only two days per year. The average annual precipitation is about 1,219 millimetres (48.0 in), though this varies dramatically throughout the city due to the topography.^[55] Summer months are quite sunny with moderate temperatures, tempered by sea breezes. The daily maximum averages 22 °C (72 °F) in July and August, with highs occasionally reaching 30 °C (86 °F). ^[57] The highest temperature ever recorded was 34.4 °C on July 30, 2009, breaking the previous record of 33.8 °C on July 29, 2009.^[58][59] The summer months are often very dry, resulting in moderate drought conditions a few months of the year. In contrast, winter is a rainy season with more than half of all winter days receiving measurable precipitation. On average, snow falls on only eleven days per year, with only three days receiving 6 centimetres (2.4 in) or more.^[60]

Weather averages for Vancouver, BC
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	6 (43)	8 (46)	10 (50)	13 (55)	17 (63)	19 (66)	22 (72)	22 (72)	19 (66)	14 (57)	9 (48)	6 (43)	14 (57)
Average low °C (°F)	0 (32)	2 (36)	3 (37)	5 (41)	8 (46)	11 (52)	13 (55)	13 (55)	11 (52)	7 (45)	3 (37)	1 (34)	7 (45)
Precipitation mm (inches)	154 (6.06)	123 (4.84)	114 (4.49)	84 (3.31)	68 (2.68)	55 (2.17)	40 (1.57)	39 (1.54)	54 (2.13)	113 (4.45)	181 (7.13)	176 (6.93)	1,199 (47.2)
Source: Environment Canada [60] May 2009

[edit] Cityscape

[edit] Urban planning

City planners in the late 1950s and 1960s deliberately encouraged the development of high-rise residential towers in Vancouver's West End,^[61] though with strict requirements requiring setbacks and open space around all towers, so as to protect sightlines and preserve green space. This early success in creating dense but livable neighbourhoods led to the redevelopment of urban industrial sites, such as North False Creek and Coal Harbour, beginning in the mid-1980s. The result has been a compact urban core which has gained international recognition for its "high amenity and 'livable' development."^[62] Vancouver's population density on the downtown peninsula is 121 people per hectare (or 49 people per acre), according to the 2001 census.^[63] The city continues to pursue policies intended to increase density as an alternative to sprawl, such as then-Mayor Sam Sullivan's EcoDensity — an initiative to create quality and high density areas in the city, while making property ownership more economical. The plan also calls for the increased construction of community centres, parks, and cultural facilities.^[64]

A notable aspect of Vancouver's cityscape is its density. Through active planning, Vancouver has become somewhat unique among North American cities, and is continually ranked highly in livability. Consequently, the city's success initiated an urban planning movement known as Vancouverism, characterized by high-rise residential and mixed-use development in urban centres.^[65]

One principle of Vancouverism involves protecting "View Corridors". Vancouver's "View Protection Guidelines" were approved in 1989 and amended in 1990, establishing view corridors in the downtown with height limits to protect views of the North Shore Mountains. These guidelines have succeeded in preserving mountain views, although some find Vancouver's skyline flat and lacking in visual interest and failing to represent the city's contemporary image. In response, Council commissioned a "Skyline Study" in 1997 which concluded that Vancouver's skyline would benefit from the addition of a handful of buildings exceeding current height limits, to add visual interest to Vancouver's skyline.^[66]

The study noted that the opportunities for such buildings were restricted due to a limited number of large development sites in the downtown.^[67] Eight years later, five of the seven identified sites for higher buildings have been developed or are in the development application process. The tallest of these new buildings is the Living Shangri-La hotel/residential tower, which, completed in 2008, stands 201 metres (659 ft)^[68] tall (62 storeys).^[69]

[edit] Architecture

Notable buildings within the city include Christ Church Cathedral, the Hotel Vancouver, and the Vancouver Art Gallery. There are several modern buildings in the downtown area, including the Harbour Centre, Vancouver Law Courts and surrounding plaza known as Robson Square (designed by Arthur Erickson) and the Vancouver Library Square (designed by architect Moshe Safdie), reminiscent of the Colosseum in Rome.

The original BC Hydro headquarters building at Nelson and Burrard Streets is a modernist high-rise, now converted into the Electra condominiums. Also notable is the "concrete waffle" of the MacMillan-Bloedel building on the north-east corner of the Georgia and Thurlow intersection. A prominent addition to the city's landscape is the giant tent-frame Canada Place, the former Canada Pavilion from Expo '86, which includes part of the Convention Centre as well as a Cruise Ship Terminal and the Pan-Pacific Hotel. Two modern skyscrapers that define the skyline looking south are the city hall and the Centennial Pavilion of Vancouver Hospital, both by Townley and Matheson (1936 and 1958 respectively).^[70][71]

A collection of Edwardian buildings in the city's old downtown core were, in their day, the tallest buildings in the British Empire. These were, in succession, the Carter-Cotton Building (former home to the Vancouver Province newspaper), the Dominion Building (1907, both at Cambie and Hastings Streets), and the Sun Tower (1911) at Beatty and Pender Streets. The Sun Tower's cupola was finally exceeded as the Empire's tallest by the elaborate Art Deco Marine Building in the 1920s.^[72] Inspired by New York's Chrysler Building, the Marine Building is known for its elaborate ceramic tile facings and brass-gilt doors and elevators, which make it a favourite location for movie shoots.^[73]

Another notable Edwardian building in the city is the Vancouver Art Gallery building, designed by Francis Mawson Rattenbury, who also designed the provincial Legislature and the original and highly decorative Hotel Vancouver (torn down after WWII as a condition of the completion of the new Hotel Vancouver a block away.)^[74]

Topping the list of tallest buildings in Vancouver is Living Shangri-La at 201 metres (659 ft)^[75] and 62 storeys. The second tallest building in Vancouver is One Wall Centre at 150 metres (491 ft)^[76] and 48 storeys, followed closely by the Shaw Tower at 149 metres (489 ft)^[75] and 41 storeys.^[77]

[edit] Demographics

Vancouver has been called a "city of neighbourhoods", each with a distinct character and ethnic mix.^[78] People of English, Scottish, and Irish origins were historically the largest ethnic groups in the city,^[79] and elements of British society and culture are still highly visible in some areas, particularly South Granville and Kerrisdale. The next-largest European ethnic group in the city is German, beginning with German immigrants being a leading force in the city's high society and economy up until the rise of anti-German feeling with the outbreak of World War I in 1914.^[80] The Chinese are by far the largest visible ethnic group in the city, and Vancouver has one of the most diverse Chinese-speaking communities, with several Chinese dialects being represented, including Cantonese and Mandarin.^[30][81] There are also some neighbourhoods with high concentrations of single ethnic groups, such as the Punjabi Market, Little Italy, Greektown, and (formerly) Japantown.

In the 1980s, an influx of immigrants from Hong Kong in anticipation of its transfer from the United Kingdom to China, combined with an increase in immigrants from mainland China and previous immigrants from Taiwan, created one of the highest concentrations of ethnic Chinese residents in North America.^[82] This arrival of Asian immigrants continued a tradition of immigration from around the world that had already established Vancouver as the second most popular destination for immigrants in Canada (after Toronto).^[83] Other significant Asian ethnic groups than the Chinese in Vancouver are South Asian (mostly Punjabi, usually referred to as Indo-Canadian), Vietnamese, Filipino, Indonesian, Korean, Cambodian, and Japanese. Despite increases in numbers of Latin Americans coming to Vancouver in the 1980s and 90s, immigration from Latin America and Africa has been comparatively low (3.6% and 3.3% of total immigrant population, respectively), and constant over time.^[84]

Prior to the Hong Kong diaspora of the 1990s, the largest non-British ethnic groups in the city were Irish and German, followed by Scandinavian, Italian, Ukrainian and the historical Chinese population, most of whom were descended from immigrants from Taishan (Toi Shan) in Kwantung. From the mid 1950s until the 1980s, many Portuguese immigrants came to Vancouver and the city now has the third largest Portuguese population in Canada after Toronto and Montreal. Less numerous minorities, such as newly arrived Eastern Europeans (in addition to the aforementioned Ukrainians), are also a feature of the city's ethnic landscape, with the first waves of Yugoslavs, like most of the early Italians, having arrived as labourers during World War I, with Czechs, Poles and Hungarians immigrating mostly after the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe after World War II.^[80] The first major wave of Greek immigration was pronounced in the late 1960s and early 1970s during the Dictatorship of the Colonels in Greece, with most settling in the Kitsilano area.

There is a sizeable aboriginal community in Vancouver as well as in the surrounding metropolitan region, with the result that Vancouver constitutes the largest native community in the province.^[85] Vancouver has a substantial gay community, and British Columbia was the second Canadian jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage as a constitutional right, shortly after Ontario.^[86] The downtown area around Davie Street is home to most of the city's gay clubs and bars and is known as Davie Village. Every year Vancouver holds one of the country's largest gay pride parades.^[87]

[edit] Visible Minorities

Group[88]	Population	Percent
Chinese	168,215	29.4%
South Asian	32,515	5.7%
Filipino	28,605	5.0%
Southeast Asian	14,850	2.6%
Japanese	9,730	1.7%
Korean	8,780	1.5%
Latin American	8,225	1.4%
Multiple Visible Minority	7,320	1.3%
West Asian	5,355	0.9%
Black	5,290	0.9%
Arab	1,875	0.3%
Visible minority n.i.e.	990	0.2%

[edit] Population growth

The following table and graph show the population growth of the City of Vancouver (not including Point Grey and South Vancouver before 1929) and the metropolitan area using census data of Statistics Canada.^[89]

Year	Vancouver	Greater Vancouver
1891	13,709	21,887
1901	26,133	42,926
1911	100,401	164,020
1921	117,217	232,597
1931	246,593	347,709
1941	275,353	393,898
1951	344,833	562,462
1956	365,844	665,564
1961	384,522	790,741
1966	410,375	892,853
1971	426,256	1,028,334
1976	410,188	1,085,242
1981	414,281	1,169,831
1986	431,147	1,266,152
1991	471,644	1,602,590
1996	514,008	1,831,665
2001	545,671	1,986,965
2006	578,041	2,116,581

[edit] Economy

With its location on the Pacific Rim and at the western terminus of Canada's transcontinental highway and rail routes, Vancouver is one of the nation's largest industrial centres.^[55] The Port of Vancouver, Canada's largest and most diversified, does more than C$75 billion in trade with over 130 different economies annually. Port activities generate $10.5 billion in gross domestic product and $22 billion in economic output.^[90] Vancouver is also the headquarters of forest product and mining companies. In recent years, Vancouver has become an increasingly important centre for software development, biotechnology and a vibrant film industry.^[91]

The city's scenic location makes it a major tourist destination. Visitors come for the city's gardens, Stanley Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, VanDusen and the mountains, ocean, forest and parklands surrounding the city. Each year over a million people pass through Vancouver on cruise ship vacations, often bound for Alaska.^[91]

Vancouver can be an expensive city to live in, with the highest housing prices in Canada. Several 2006 studies rank Vancouver as having the least affordable housing in Canada, ranking 13th least affordable in the world, up from 15th in 2005.^[92][93][94] The city has adopted various strategies to reduce housing costs, including cooperative housing, legalized secondary suites, increased density and smart growth. A significant number of the city's residents are affluent, a perception reinforced by the number of luxury vehicles on city streets and cost of real estate. As of mid-2007, the average two-storey home in Vancouver sells for $757,750, compared with $467,742 in Toronto and $322,853 in Calgary, the second and third most expensive cities in Canada.^[95] Housing prices have dropped from a peak in 2008, with the average residential sales price for 2009 forecast to be down 9%. The decline in prices has attracted new buyers to the market, however, and prices are expected to stabilize in 2009.^[96]

Since the 1990s development of high-rise condominiums in the downtown peninsula has been financed, in part, by an inflow of capital from Hong Kong immigrants due to the former colony's 1997 handover to the PRC. Such development has clustered in the Yaletown and Coal Harbour districts and around many of the SkyTrain stations to the east of the downtown.^[91] The city's selection to co-host the 2010 Winter Olympics has also been a major influence on economic development. Concern has been expressed that Vancouver's increasing homelessness problem may be exacerbated by the Olympics because owners of single room occupancy hotels, which house many of the city's lowest income residents, have begun converting their properties in order to attract higher income residents and tourists.^[97] Another significant international event, the 1986 World Exposition, was held in Vancouver. It was the last World's Fair held in North America and was considered a success, receiving over 20 million visits. Several Vancouver landmarks date from that period, including the SkyTrain public transit system, the Plaza of Nations, and Canada Place.^[98]

[edit] Government

Vancouver, unlike other British Columbia municipalities, is incorporated under the Vancouver Charter.^[99] The legislation, passed in 1953, supersedes the Vancouver Incorporation Act, 1921 and grants the city more and different powers than other communities possess under BC's Municipalities Act.

The civic government has been dominated by the centre-right Non-Partisan Association (NPA) since the Second World War, albeit with some significant centre-left interludes until 2008.^[30] The NPA fractured over the issue of drug policy in 2002, facilitating a landslide victory for the Coalition of Progressive Electors on a harm reduction platform. Subsequently, North America's first safe injection site was opened for the significant number of intravenous heroin users in the city.

Vancouver is governed by the ten-member Vancouver City Council, a nine-member School Board, and a seven-member Parks Board, all elected for three-year terms through an at-large system. Historically, in all levels of government, the more affluent west side of Vancouver has voted along conservative or liberal lines while the eastern side of the city has voted along left-wing lines.^[100] This was reaffirmed with the results of the 2005 provincial election and the 2006 federal election.

Though polarized, a political consensus has emerged in Vancouver around a number of issues. Protection of urban parks, a focus on the development of rapid transit as opposed to a freeway system, a harm reduction approach to illegal drug use, and a general concern about community-based development are examples of policies that have come to have broad support across the political spectrum in Vancouver.

Larry Campbell's election as mayor in 2002 was in part due to his willingness to champion alternative interventions for drug issues, such as supervised injection sites. The city has adopted a Four Pillars Drug Strategy, which combines harm reduction (e.g. needle exchanges, supervised injection sites) with treatment, enforcement, and prevention.^[101] The strategy is largely a response to the endemic HIV and hepatitis C among injection drug users in the city's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood. The area is characterized by entrenched poverty, and consequently is home to the "low track" street sex trade and a bustling "open air" street drug market, which gave rise to a significant AIDS epidemic in the 1990s. Some community and professional groups — such as From Grief to Action and Keeping the Door Open — are fostering public dialogue in the city about further alternatives to current drug policies.^[102][103]

Campbell chose not to run for re-election, and was subsequently appointed to the Senate of Canada. In the 2005 Municipal Election, the City Council swung back to the right after a term dominated by the leftist Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE). NPA mayoral candidate Sam Sullivan narrowly defeated Jim Green for the position of mayor in 2005 and was joined by five of his party's members on Council. The centrist Vision Vancouver (VVN) brought four members to Council, with the final seat going to COPE. The NPA also won six of nine School Board seats and five of seven Parks Board seats, while the remaining Board seats were won by COPE.^[104]

In 2008 municipal election campaign, NPA incumbent mayor Sam Sullivan was ousted as mayoral candidate by the party in a close vote, which instated Peter Ladner as the new mayoral candidate for the NPA. Gregor Robertson, a former MLA for Vancouver-Fairview and head of Happy Planet, was the mayoral candidate for Vision Vancouver, the other main contender. Vision Vancouver candidate Gregor Robertson defeated Ladner by a considerable margin, nearing 20,000 votes. The balance of power was significantly shifted to Vision Vancouver, which held 7 of the 10 spots for councillor. Of the remaining three, COPE received 2 and the NPA 1. For park commissioner, 4 spots went to Vision Vancouver, 1 to the Green Party, 1 to COPE, and 1 to NPA. For school trustee, there were 4 Vision Vancouver seats, 3 COPE seats, and 2 NPA seats.^[105]

[edit] Provincial representation

In the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Vancouver is represented by 11 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), which includes Gordon Campbell, the current Premier. In the 2009 provincial election, the BC Liberal Party won six seats and the BC New Democratic Party won five seats.^[106]

[edit] Federal representation

In the Canadian House of Commons, Vancouver is represented by five Members of Parliament. In the 2004 federal elections, the Liberal Party of Canada won four seats and the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) one. In the 2006 federal elections, all the same Members of Parliament were re-elected. However, on 6 February 2006, David Emerson of Vancouver Kingsway defected to the Conservative Party, giving the Conservatives one seat in Vancouver. In the 2008 federal election, the NDP took the Vancouver Kingsway seat vacated by Emerson, giving the NDP two seats to the Liberals' three.^[107][108]

[edit] Policing

While most of the Lower Mainland is policed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's "E" Division, Vancouver has its own city police force, with a strength of 1,174 sworn members and an operating budget of almost $150 million (in 2005 figures).^{[109][110][111]} Over 16% of the city's budget was spent on police protection in 2005.^[112]

The Vancouver Police Department's operational divisions include a bicycle squad, a marine squad, and a dog squad. It also has a mounted squad, used primarily to patrol Stanley Park and occasionally the Downtown Eastside and West End, as well as for crowd control.^[113] The police work in conjunction with civilian and volunteer run Community Police Centres.^[114] In 2006, the police department established its own Counter Terrorism Unit. In 2005, a new transit police force, the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service (now South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service), was established with full police powers.

Although it is illegal, Vancouver police generally do not arrest people for possessing small amounts of marijuana.^[115] In 2000 the Vancouver Police Department established a specialized drug squad, "Growbusters," to carry out an aggressive campaign against the city's estimated 4,000 hydroponic marijuana growing operations (or grow-ops) in residential areas.^[116] As with other law enforcement campaigns targeting marijuana this initiative has been sharply criticized.^[117]

As of 2005, Vancouver had the fourth highest crime rate among Canada's 27 census metropolitan areas.^[118] However, as with other Canadian cities, the over-all crime rate has been falling "dramatically."^[118][119] Vancouver's property crime rate is particularly high, ranking among the highest for major North American cities.^[120] But even property crime dropped 10.5% between 2004 and 2005, according to the Vancouver Police.^[121] Metro Vancouver has the highest rate of gun-related violent crime of any major metropolitan region in Canada, according to a 2006 Statistics Canada study. There were 45.3 violent offences involving guns for every 100,000 people in Metro Vancouver, slightly higher than the Toronto CMA at 40.4 but far above the national average of 27.5.^[122] A series of gang-related incidents in early 2009 escalated into what police have dubbed a gang war. Vancouver plays host to special events such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, the Clinton-Yeltsin Summit or the Symphony of Fire fireworks show that require significant policing. The 1994 Stanley Cup riot overwhelmed police and injured up to 200 people.^[123]

[edit] Military

Vancouver is the location of the Canadian Forces Land Forces Western Area headquarters of the 39 Canadian Brigade Group, located at Jericho.^[124] Local primary reserve units include The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), based at the Seaforth Armoury and the Beatty Street Drill Hall, respectively, and the 15th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery.^[125] The Naval Reserve Unit HMCS Discovery is based on Deadman's Island in Stanley Park.^[126] RCAF Station Jericho Beach, the first air base in Canada, was taken over by the Canadian Army in 1947 when sea planes were replaced by long-range aircraft. Most of the base facilities were transferred to the City of Vancouver in 1969 and the area renamed "Jericho Park."^[127]

[edit] Transportation

Vancouver's streetcar system began on 28 June 1890 and ran from the (first) Granville Street Bridge to Westminster Avenue (now Main Street and Kingsway). Less than a year later, the Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company began operating Canada's first interurban line between the two cities and beyond to Chilliwack, with another line, the Lulu Island Railroad, from the Granville Street Bridge to Steveston via Kerrisdale, which encouraged residential neighbourhoods outside the central core to develop.^[128] The British Columbia Electric Railway became the company that operated the urban and interurban rail system, until 1958 when its last vestiges were dismantled in favour of "trackless" trolley and gasoline/diesel buses.^[129] Vancouver currently has the second largest trolley bus fleet in North America after San Francisco.

Successive city councils in the 1970s and 1980s prohibited the construction of freeways as part of a long term plan.^[130] As a result, the only major freeway within city limits is Highway 1, which passes through the north-eastern corner of the city. While the number of cars in Vancouver proper has been steadily rising with population growth, the rate of car ownership and the average distance driven by daily commuters have fallen since the early 1990s.^[131][132] Vancouver is the only major Canadian city with these trends. Despite the fact that the journey time per vehicle has increased by one third and growing traffic mass, there are 7% fewer cars making trips into the downtown core.^[131] Residents have been more inclined to live in areas closer to their interests, or use more energy-efficient means of travel, such as mass transit and cycling. This is, in part, the result of a push by city planners for a solution to traffic problems and pro-environment campaigns. Transportation demand management policies have imposed restrictions on drivers making it more difficult and expensive to commute while introducing more benefits for non-drivers.^[131]

TransLink is responsible for roads and public transportation within Metro Vancouver. It provides a bus service, including the B-Line rapid bus service, a foot passenger and bicycle ferry service (known as SeaBus), an automated rapid transit service called SkyTrain, and West Coast Express commuter rail. Vancouver's SkyTrain system is currently running on two lines, the Millennium Line and the Expo Line.^[133]

Changes are being made to the regional transportation network as part of Translink's 10-Year Transportation Plan. Current projects include the Canada Line, a rapid-transit line scheduled for completion by Labour Day, 2009 that will connect Vancouver International Airport and the neighbouring city of Richmond with the existing SkyTrain system. The Evergreen Line is planned to link the cities of Coquitlam and Port Moody with the SkyTrain system by 2014. There are also plans to extend the SkyTrain Millennium Line west to UBC as a subway under Broadway and capacity upgrades and an extension to the Expo Line. Several road projects will be completed within the next few years, including the Golden Ears Bridge, as part of the Provincial Government's Gateway Program.^[133]

Other modes of transport add to the diversity of options available in Vancouver. Inter-city passenger rail service is operated from Pacific Central Station by VIA Rail to points east; Amtrak Cascades to Seattle; and Rocky Mountaineer rail tour routes. Small passenger ferries operating in False Creek provide commuter service to Granville Island, Downtown Vancouver and Kitsilano. Vancouver has a city-wide network of bicycle lanes and routes, which supports an active population of cyclists year-round. Cycling has become Vancouver's fastest growing mode of transportation.^[134]

Vancouver is served by Vancouver International Airport (YVR), located on Sea Island in the City of Richmond, immediately south of Vancouver. Vancouver's airport is Canada's second busiest airport,^[135] and the second largest gateway on the west coast of North America for international passengers.^[136] HeliJet and float plane companies operate scheduled air service from Vancouver harbour and YVR south terminal. The city is also served by two BC Ferry terminals. One is to the northwest at Horseshoe Bay (in West Vancouver), and the other is to the south, at Tsawwassen (in Delta).^[137]

[edit] Education

[edit] Schools

Vancouver is served by School District 39 Vancouver, the second largest school district in British Columbia.^[138] As in other parts of the province, numerous independent schools are also eligible for partial provincial funding — this includes religious schools, non-denominational schools, and special-needs schools, most of which also charge tuition.^[139] Vancouver also includes three schools that are part of the province-wide Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (CSF), the Francophone public school district.^[140]

[edit] Universities and colleges

The two major public universities in the Lower Mainland, the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Simon Fraser University (SFU), have campuses within the city, as does the British Columbia Institute of Technology, which provides polytechnic education and grants degrees in several fields.^[141] Vancouver Community College, Langara College, and Columbia College, and colleges in surrounding communities, provide career, trade, and university-transfer programs for Vancouver residents.^[142] Emily Carr University of Art and Design grants certificates, diplomas, and degrees in art and design. Vancouver Film School provides a one-year curriculum in film production.^[143]

[edit] International students

Foreign students, particularly from the Pacific Rim, have grown in importance for Vancouver's public and private post-secondary educational facilities.^[144] There were over 5400 international undergraduate and graduate students at UBC in 2009, representing 12 per cent of total enrollment.^[145] Some private schools have been closed or sanctioned for improperly advertising to international students.^[146]

[edit] Arts and culture

[edit] Entertainment and performing arts

Prominent theatre companies in Vancouver include the Arts Club Theatre Company on Granville Island, the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company, and Bard on the Beach. Smaller companies include Touchstone Theatre, Studio 58, Carousel Theatre, and the United Players of Vancouver. Theatre Under the Stars produces shows in the summer at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. In addition, Vancouver holds an annual Fringe Festival and International Film Festival.

The Vancouver Art Gallery has a permanent collection of over 7,900 items valued at over $100 million and is the home of a significant number of works by Emily Carr.^[147] In the Kitsilano district are the Vancouver Maritime Museum, and the H. R. MacMillan Space Centre . The Museum of Anthropology at UBC is a leading museum of Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations culture, and the Vancouver Museum is the largest civic museum in Canada. A more interactive museum is Science World. The city also features a diverse collection of Public Art.

In 1986, Greater Vancouver's cultural community created the Alliance for Arts and Culture to provide a strong voice for the sector and an avenue to work together. This coalition now numbers more than 350 arts groups. The Alliance advocates for the arts sector; monitoring and responding to public policy issues affecting the interests of artists and providing services for artists to publicize events, network and access professional development opportunities.^[148]

Vancouver is a major regional centre for the development of Canadian music. The city's musical contributions include performers of classical, folk and popular music. The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is the professional orchestra based in the city. It is also home to a major opera company, the Vancouver Opera, and numerous regional opera companies throughout the metropolitan area.

The city produced a number of notable punk rock bands, the most famous example being pioneering hardcore band D.O.A., whose enduring prominence in the city was such that Mayor Larry Campbell declared 21 December 2003 "D.O.A. Day" in honour of the band's 25th anniversary.^[149] Other notable early punk bands from Vancouver included the Subhumans, the Young Canadians, the Pointed Sticks, Active Dog, The Modernettes, UJ3RK5, I, Braineater, and Nomeansno (originally from Victoria). The punk film Terminal City Ricochet was filmed in Vancouver; its title comes from an ice hockey team called the Terminal City Ricochets.^[150]

When alternative rock hit the mainstream in the 1990s, several Vancouver groups rose to prominence, including 54-40, Odds, Moist, the Matthew Good Band and Econoline Crush, while recent successes include Gob and Stabilo. Today, Vancouver is home to a lively independent music scene, including bands such as The New Pornographers, Destroyer, Frog Eyes, The Organ, Veda Hille and Black Mountain; notable independent labels based in the city include Nettwerk and Mint. Vancouver also produced influential metal band Strapping Young Lad and pioneering electro-industrial bands Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly; the latter's Bill Leeb is better known for founding ambient pop super-group Delerium. Other popular musical artists who made their mark from Vancouver include Bryan Adams, Sarah McLachlan, Michael Buble, Nickelback, Heart, Diana Krall, Prism, Trooper, Chilliwack, Loverboy, Payola$, Images in Vogue, The Grapes of Wrath, Marianas Trench, Hedley and Spirit of the West.^[151] Notable hip hop artists from Vancouver include the Rascalz, Swollen Members, and Sweatshop Union.

Larger performances are usually held at venues such as GM Place, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, BC Place Stadium or the Pacific Coliseum, while smaller acts are held at places such as the Plaza of Nations, the Commodore Ballroom, the Orpheum Theatre and the Vogue Theatre (currently closed). The Vancouver Folk Music Festival and the Vancouver International Jazz Festival showcase music in their respective genres from around the world.

Vancouver's large Chinese population has a significant music scene, which has produced several Cantopop stars. Similarly, various Indo-Canadian artists and actors have a profile in Bollywood or other aspects of India's entertainment industry.

Nightlife in Vancouver had, for years, been seen as restricted in comparison to other cities, with early closing times for bars and night clubs, and a reluctance by authorities to allow for further development. However, since 2003 Vancouver has experimented with later closing hours and relaxed regulations, and an effort has been made to develop the Downtown core further as an entertainment district, especially on and around Granville Street.^[152]

[edit] Visual art and the Vancouver School

The Vancouver School of conceptual^[153] photography (often referred to as photoconceptualism^[154]) is a term applied to a grouping of artists from Vancouver who achieved international recognition starting in the 1980s.^[153] No formal "school" exists and the grouping remains both informal and often controversial^[155] even among the artists themselves, who often resist the term.^[155] Artists associated with the term include Jeff Wall, Ian Wallace, Ken Lum, Roy Arden,^[154] Stan Douglas and Rodney Graham.^[156]

[edit] Media

Vancouver is the centre of the province's news media, with most national media chains having an office in the city.

[edit] English-language media

Both of the city's major daily newspapers, The Vancouver Sun and The Province, are published by the CanWest. In recent years, The Globe and Mail, a national newspaper based in Toronto, has added a section for local content in an effort to improve its circulation in Vancouver. Other newspapers include 24 Hours (a local free daily), the Vancouver franchise of the national free daily Metro, the twice-a-week Vancouver Courier, and the Westender. Independent newspapers include The Georgia Straight (a weekly), Xtra West, The Republic and Only. Television stations include CBC, Citytv, CTV and Global BC. Radio stations with news departments include CBC Radio One, CKNW and News 1130. Media dominance is a frequently discussed issue in Vancouver, since both of the major daily newspapers, Global TV, and the Vancouver Courier are all owned by CanWest. The concentration of corporate media has spurred alternatives, making Vancouver a centre for independent online media including The Tyee, The Vancouver Observer, and NowPublic.^[157][158]

[edit] Multicultural media

The diverse ethnic make-up of Vancouver's population supports a rich range of multicultural media. There are three Chinese-language dailies: Ming Pao, Sing Tao Daily and World Journal. Television station OMNI British Columbia produces daily newscasts in Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi and Korean, and weekly newscasts in Tagalog, as well as programs aimed at other cultural groups, although programming in European languages has waned in favour of Asian content since change to the current ownership. Fairchild Group also has two television stations: Fairchild TV and Talentvision, serving Cantonese and Mandarin speaking audiences respectively.

The Franco-Columbian community is served by Radio-Canada outlets CBUFT channel 26 (Télévision de Radio-Canada), CBUF-FM 97.7 (Première Chaîne) and CBUX-FM 90.9 (Espace musique). Vancouver also has British Columbia's longest running Ukrainian radio program, Nash Holos.

[edit] Quality of living

Vancouver is known for having clean air, water, and a panoramic view of beautiful mountains. It is considered to be one of the most livable cities in the world.^{[159][160][161][162]} In 2009, The Economist ranked Vancouver first in quality of living and Mercer Human Resource Consulting, ranked it fourth, after Zürich, Vienna and Geneva.^{[163][164][165]} On the other hand, in 2007, according to Forbes, Vancouver had the 6th most overpriced real estate market in the world and was second highest in North America after Los Angeles.^[166][167] Vancouver has also been ranked Canada's second most expensive city to live in after Toronto and the 89th most expensive globally.^[168] In 2007, Vancouver was ranked as the 10th cleanest city in the world by Forbes.^[169]

Vancouver has a low adult obesity rate of 12% compared to the Canadian average, 23%; however, while 51% of Vancouverites are considered overweight, it is the fourth thinnest city in Canada after Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax.^[170][171]

[edit] Sports and recreation

The mild climate of the city and close proximity to ocean, mountains, rivers and lakes make the area a popular destination for outdoor recreation. Vancouver has over 1,298 hectares (3,200 acres) of parks, of which, Stanley Park, at 404 hectares (1,000 acres), is the largest.^[172] The city has several large beaches, many adjacent to one another, extending from the coast of Stanley Park to False Creek and on the south side of English Bay, from Kitsilano to the University Endowment Lands, (which also has beaches that are not part of the city proper). The 18 kilometres (11 miles) of beaches include Second and Third Beaches in Stanley Park, English Bay (First Beach), Sunset, Kitsilano Beach, Jericho, Locarno, Spanish Bank, Spanish Bank Extension and Spanish Bank West. There is also a freshwater beach at Trout Lake.^[173] The coastline provides for many types of water sport, and the city is a popular destination for boating enthusiasts.

Within a 20-to-30-minute drive from downtown Vancouver are the North Shore Mountains, with three ski areas: Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Mount Seymour. Mountain bikers have created world-renowned trails across the North Shore. The Capilano River, Lynn Creek and Seymour River, also on the North Shore, provide opportunities to whitewater enthusiasts during periods of rain and spring melt.

Running races include the Vancouver Sun Run (a 10 km race) every April; the Vancouver Marathon, held every May and Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon held every June. The Grouse Grind is a gruelling 2.9 kilometre climb up Grouse Mountain open throughout the summer and fall months, including the annual Grouse Grind Mountain Run. Hiking trails include the Baden-Powell Trail, an arduous 42 kilometre long hike from West Vancouver's Horseshoe Bay to Deep Cove in the District of North Vancouver.

Vancouver will be the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and the 2009 World Police and Fire Games. Swangard Stadium, in nearby Burnaby, hosted some games for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Vancouver is exploring a joint bid to co-host the 2028 Summer Olympics with Seattle.^{[174][175][176]} A multinational bid would be a first for the Olympics, as an International Olympic Committee rule currently requires that the Olympics be awarded to a single city. Vancouver and Seattle both believe that the logistics can be overcome, and have cited that the travel time between the two cities is similar to the travel time between Whistler and Vancouver.

In 2011, Vancouver will be hosting the Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship game which is awarded every year to a different city which has a CFL team.

Vancouver is a centre for the fast-growing sport of Ultimate. During the summer of 2008 Vancouver hosted the World Ultimate Championships.^[177] The Vancouver Titans of the International Basketball League played their inaugural season in 2009, with home games at the Langley Event Centre.^[178]

[edit] Professional sports teams

Club	League	Sport	Venue	Established	Championships
Vancouver Canucks	NHL	Ice hockey	General Motors Place	1970	0
BC Lions	CFL	Football	BC Place Stadium	1954	5
Vancouver Canadians	NWL	Baseball (Single A Short Season)	Nat Bailey Stadium	2000	0
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	USL-1 (men's) W-League (women's)	Soccer	Swangard Stadium	1986 2003	6 2
Vancouver Giants	WHL	Ice hockey	Pacific Coliseum	2001	1
Vancouver Titans	IBL	Basketball	Langley Event Centre	2009	0
Vancouver (beginning play in 2011)	MLS	Soccer	BC Place Stadium	2009 (begins play in 2011)	0

[edit] Affiliated cities and municipalities

The City of Vancouver was one of the first cities in Canada to enter into an international sister cities arrangement.^[179] Special arrangements for cultural, social and economic benefits have been created with these sister cities.^[55][180] These sister cities are:

Country	City	Subdivision	Date
Ukraine	Odessa	Odessa	1944
Japan	Yokohama	Kanagawa	1965[181]
United Kingdom	Edinburgh	Scotland	1978
People's Republic of China	Guangzhou	Guangdong	1985
USA	Los Angeles	California	1986

There are 21 municipalities in Metro Vancouver. While each of these has a separate municipal government, the Metro government oversees common services within the metropolitan area such as water, sewage, transportation, and regional parks.

[edit] See also

• List of people from Vancouver
• List of Vancouver court cases

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website - City of Vancouver
• Official Travel and Tourism Information - Tourism Vancouver
• Vancouver 2010 - Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Official Web Site & Info
• Vancouver in the BC Geographical Names Information System
• Arts and Culture - Alliance for Arts and Culture
• Vancouver History Site - Chuck Davis
• Vancouver travel guide from Wikitravel
• Vancouver's Mountain Playground — Illustrated Historical Essay and movie clip (McCord Museum, Montreal)

Coordinates: 49°15′N 123°06′W / 49.25°N 123.1°W / 49.25; -123.1

	West Vancouver	District of North Vancouver City of North Vancouver	District of North Vancouver	v • d • e
	University Endowment Lands		Burnaby New Westminster
		Vancouver
	Strait of Georgia	Richmond Delta	Surrey

v • d • e Landmarks in Metro Vancouver Buildings BC Place Stadium | Beatty Street Drill Hall | Bentall Centre | BowMac Sign | Canada Place | CBC Regional Broadcast Centre Vancouver | Central City Tower | Central Heat Distribution | The Coaster | Dominion Building | Empire Landmark Hotel | Former Vancouver Public Library | General Motors Place | Gulf of Georgia Cannery | H. R. MacMillan Space Centre | Harbour Centre | Hotel Europe | Hotel Georgia | Hotel Vancouver | International Buddhist Temple | Living Shangri-La | Marine Building | One Wall Centre | Orpheum | Pacific Central Station | Pacific Coliseum | Park Royal | Royal Centre | Science World | Seaforth Armoury | Sinclair Centre | Stanley Theatre | Sun Tower | Sylvia Hotel | Vancouver City Hall | Vancouver Public Library | Waterfront Station Bridges Alex Fraser Bridge | Arthur Laing Bridge | Burrard Bridge | Cambie Street Bridge | Capilano Suspension Bridge | Georgia Viaduct | Granville Street Bridge | Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing | Knight Street Bridge | Lions Gate Bridge | Oak Street Bridge | Pattullo Bridge | Pitt River Bridge | Port Mann Bridge | Queensborough Bridge | Skybridge Locations Chinatown | "The Drive" | Gastown | Golden Village | Granville Island | Kitsilano Beach | Metrotown | Punjabi Market | Robson Square | Stanley Park / Vancouver Aquarium Geographical Burnaby Mountain | Burrard Inlet | Burrard Peninsula | Cypress Mountain | English Bay | Fraser River | Golden Ears | Grouse Mountain | Indian Arm | The Lions | Mount Seymour | Point Grey | Little Mountain

v • d • e Municipalities of Metro Vancouver Population over 100,000 Burnaby • Coquitlam • Delta • Langley Township • Richmond • Surrey • Vancouver Population over 50,000 Maple Ridge • New Westminster • North Vancouver District • Port Coquitlam Population over 10,000 Langley City • North Vancouver City • Pitt Meadows • Port Moody • West Vancouver • White Rock Population under 10,000 Anmore • Belcarra • Bowen Island • Lions Bay Unincorporated areas Barnston Island • Passage Island • Bowyer Island • University Endowment Lands

v • d • e Neighbourhoods in Vancouver, British Columbia Downtown neighborhoods Coal Harbour • Chinatown • Davie Village • Downtown Eastside • English Bay • Financial District • Gastown • Granville Entertainment District • Granville Mall • International Village • Japantown • Robsonstrasse • Stanley Park • Victory Square • West End • Yaletown West Side neighborhoods Arbutus Ridge • Dunbar-Southlands • Fairview • False Creek • Kerrisdale • Kitsilano • Marpole • Oakridge • Shaughnessy • South Cambie • West Point Grey East Side neighborhoods Grandview-Woodland • Hastings-Sunrise • Kensington-Cedar Cottage • Killarney • Mount Pleasant • Renfrew-Collingwood • Riley Park-Little Mountain • Strathcona • Sunset • Victoria-Fraserview Other locations Champlain Heights • Commercial Drive • Granville Island • Greektown • Little Italy • Punjabi Market/Little India • Uptown/South Granville • South Main • University Endowment Lands • Hogan's Alley • Stanley Park

v • d • e Subdivisions of British Columbia Subdivisions Regional districts · Regional district electoral areas · School districts · Regions · Land Districts Communities Municipalities · Cities · First Nations · Ghost towns Urban centres Vancouver · Victoria · Kelowna · Abbotsford · Kamloops · Nanaimo · Prince George Cities Abbotsford · Armstrong · Burnaby · Campbell River · Castlegar · Chilliwack · Colwood · Coquitlam · Courtenay · Cranbrook · Dawson Creek · Duncan · Fernie · Fort St. John · Grand Forks · Greenwood · Kamloops · Kelowna · Kimberley · Kitimat · Langford · Langley · Merritt · Nanaimo · Nelson · New Westminster · North Vancouver · Parksville · Penticton · Pitt Meadows · Port Alberni · Port Coquitlam · Port Moody · Powell River · Prince George · Prince Rupert · Quesnel · Revelstoke · Richmond · Rossland · Salmon Arm · Surrey · Terrace · Trail · Vancouver · Vernon · Victoria · White Rock · Williams Lake

v • d • e Winter Olympic Games host cities 1924: Chamonix • 1928: St. Moritz • 1932: Lake Placid • 1936: Garmisch-Partenkirchen • 1940 & 1944: No games due to World War II • 1948: St. Moritz • 1952: Oslo • 1956: Cortina d'Ampezzo • 1960: Squaw Valley • 1964: Innsbruck • 1968: Grenoble • 1972: Sapporo • 1976: Innsbruck • 1980: Lake Placid • 1984: Sarajevo • 1988: Calgary • 1992: Albertville • 1994: Lillehammer • 1998: Nagano • 2002: Salt Lake City • 2006: Turin • 2010: Vancouver • 2014: Sochi

v • d • e Commonwealth Games host cities 1930: Hamilton • 1934: London • 1938: Sydney • 1950: Auckland • 1954: Vancouver • 1958: Cardiff • 1962: Perth • 1966: Kingston • 1970: Edinburgh • 1974: Christchurch • 1978: Edmonton • 1982: Brisbane • 1986: Edinburgh • 1990: Auckland • 1994: Victoria • 1998: Kuala Lumpur • 2002: Manchester • 2006: Melbourne • 2010: Delhi • 2014: Glasgow • 2018: TBA

v • d • e Census metropolitan areas (CMAs) by size Toronto, ON · Montreal, QC · Vancouver, BC · Ottawa, ON · Calgary, AB · Edmonton, AB · Quebec City, QC · Winnipeg, MB · Hamilton, ON · London, ON · Waterloo Region-Kitchener, ON · St. Catharines-Niagara, ON · Halifax, NS · Oshawa, ON · Victoria, BC · Windsor, ON · Saskatoon, SK · Regina, SK · Sherbrooke, QC · St. John's, NL · Barrie, ON · Kelowna, BC · Abbotsford, BC · Greater Sudbury, ON · Kingston, ON · Saguenay, QC · Trois-Rivières, QC · Guelph, ON · Moncton, NB · Brantford, ON · Thunder Bay, ON · Saint John, NB · Peterborough, ON