East Side Information

Grandview-Woodland

Grandview-Woodland is an ethnically diverse area full of eclectic charm and character. One of Grandview-Woodland's most popular attractions is Commercial Drive, known as The Drive by locals, which is a mix of old-world charm meets modern hipness, and one of the city's organic-food hubs. Grandview-Woodland is in the northeastern section of the city, east of the historic neighbourhoods, Chinatown and Strathcona, and west of the Pacific National Exhibition fairgrounds, at Hastings Park. The Grandview-Woodland area extends south to Trout Lake, a beautiful urban lake and park.

Neighbourhood history and heritage

Grandview might have remained a wilderness of stumps (it was logged off in the 1880s) if not for the Vancouver-New Westminster interurban railway which opened in September 1891; the same year the area's first house was built. It had hourly runs from Carrall and Hastings Streets along Park Drive (Commercial Drive). Construction of 2nd and 3rd Avenues, between Clark and Woodland, by chain gangs from the Powell Street jail in the late 1890s opened the area for development. Arrival of the city water system along Commercial Drive in 1904 allowed for more expansion.

Hastings-Sunrise

Hastings-Sunrise is best known as the home of the Pacific National Exhibition, at Hastings Park. The area is mainly residential, with shops and services along Hastings Street's East Village and in pockets along other major streets. Hastings-Sunrise is an ethnically diverse and working-class area that also attracts young professionals. On its north slope, Hastings-Sunrise has impressive views across Burrard Inlet and the mountains, while to the east it borders the City of Burnaby, at Boundary Road.

The western edge of Hastings-Sunrise is included in the community plan underway for:

• Grandview-Woodland

Neighbourhood history and heritage

Hastings-Sunrise sits on the northern half of a block of land which the provincial government set aside in 1863 for a town they expected to develop along the shores of what was considered one of the finest harbours on the West Coast. Although it was Gastown farther west that eventually developed into the great port city, a small resort, New Brighton, did develop on the shoreline roughly where New Brighton Park is today.

Strathcona

Strathcona is one of this city's earliest neighbourhoods. It features beautifully restored row houses, overflowing flower gardens, and welcoming front porches. Strathcona grew out of the collection of shacks and small buildings that surrounded the Hastings Mill site, and has a unique mix of people, history, land use, and architecture. It is a neighbourhood of houses, apartment buildings, and rooming houses where neighbours walk to the corner store, do tai chi in the parks or stroll in the community garden. It is a community that has managed to survive, and thrive, despite constant pressure for change.

Strathcona includes the neighbourhoods of:

• Downtown Eastside
• False Creek Flats

Discover the historic districts of Strathcona and the Downtown Eastside

Neighbourhood history and heritage

Known as the "East End" - the original East End School which gave the area its name was at the corner of Powell and Jackson - well into the 1950s, Vancouver's first neighbourhood grew up around the Hastings Milland expanded southward from Burrard Inlet. It has always been a diverse neighbourhood where a succession of immigrants including the British, Irish, Russian, Croatian, Greeks, and Scandinavians, Japanese and Chinese have lived before moving on to other parts of the city.

Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant is a vibrant and eclectic area known for its unusual stores, heritage buildings, artistic residents, and arts-focused festivals. The area is popular with first-time homebuyers, urban professionals, and families. Mount Pleasant runs from False Creek southeast and up the slope toward the busy Mount Pleasant shopping district, where Broadway, Kingsway, and Main Street meet.

This area has a community plan that has been recently completed:

• Mount Pleasant community plan

And a nearby community plan underway:

• Grandview-Woodland community plan

Neighbourhood history and heritage

The proximity to the business district of Vancouver and the availability of a quality water supply (Brewery Creek) made the area an ideal place for early industry and settlement. Early expectations were that Mount Pleasant would develop as Vancouver's fashionable "uptown." The area high above False Creek was named "Mount Pleasant" in 1888, after the Irish birthplace of the wife of H.V. Edmonds. Edmonds, clerk of the municipal council in New Westminster, was the original owner of much of Mount Pleasant.

Riley Park

Riley Park is home to the Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre and to Nat Bailey Stadium—home of the Vancouver Canadians baseball team. The area has two thriving hubs of unique boutiques, grocers, and restaurants: along Main Street and along Cambie Street. Shops on Main are also known for locally-designed clothing and antique furniture. From Kingsway to City Hall, Riley Park runs south to include the Mountain View cemetery and beautiful Queen Elizabeth Park, atop Little Mountain.

Neighbourhood history and heritage

Riley Park's origins date back to 1893, when pioneers logged Little Mountain and cut trails around its base. By the early 1900s, a scattered community began to thrive on upper Main Street. Its residents were primarily Little Mountain quarry workers, who mined volcanic rock for use surfacing the area's first roads

Victoria-Fraserview

Victoria-Fraserview encompasses a large area of residential and commercial development. It is a multiculturally diverse area, with a large Indo-Canadian population, and a great destination for fresh produce, sarees, fabrics, imported goods, and international cuisine. Victoria-Fraserview is on Vancouver's south slope to the Fraser River, between the Knight Street Bridge and Killarney.

Neighbourhood history and heritage

Drawn to the vast virgin forests on the northern bank of the Fraser River, the first non-indigenous families settled in the Victoria-Fraserview area in the 1860s. A small population established a settlement near the southern ends of Main and Fraser Streets.