Moving to Vancouver from States

[runties]

Hello.
I have decided to take a leap of faith and move to Vancouver (was offered a job that i can't refuse). However, i know NOTHING of Vancouver or where would be a good place to live. I have searched apt's, and have came to the conclusion that no matter where i live i will pay an arm and a leg (don't mind to much). Does anyone have advice on where to live neighborhood wise? I am a single, 26 year old female with no children who LOVES art and great bistros/coffee houses. I am open to any suggestions, and any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Robyn]

Originally Posted by runties

Hello.
I have decided to take a leap of faith and move to Vancouver (was offered a job that i can't refuse). However, i know NOTHING of Vancouver or where would be a good place to live. I have searched apt's, and have came to the conclusion that no matter where i live i will pay an arm and a leg (don't mind to much). Does anyone have advice on where to live neighborhood wise? I am a single, 26 year old female with no children who LOVES art and great bistros/coffee houses. I am open to any suggestions, and any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Congrats on the job!

I'm a 28 year old female living in Vancouver. You'd probably enjoy Commercial Drive, Main Street (Mount Pleasant area) or even the West End. I recently wrote a description of these neighbourhoods recently... let's see if I can find them.

[Robyn]

Oh yes - Kitsilano's another area you might be interested in. Here are my descriptions (in no order at all):

The West End

The West End refers to the western end of the downtown Vancouver peninsula. If you look at a map of Vancouver, the West End would be considered south of Georgia Street and west of Burrard Street. Although it's essentially next to downtown, it's a very laid back residential part the city with a mixture of heritage houses from the first decade of the 1900's, charming art deco apartment blocks (often only 2-3 floors and often without elevators), and butt ugly concrete apartment towers from the 1960s. The streets are full of lush, leafy gardens and trees and often there are little family-run corner stores located in old heritage houses. There's Denman Street, Robson Street, and Davie Street for shopping, restaurants, cafes, and services (grocery stores, pharmacies, laundry, hardware stores, bakeries, etc) but the buildings along these streets tend to be low density, so you don't feel like you're in some big metropolis. The demographic is all over the place (young/old/families/singles/students/people of all races/etc), although Davie Street is known for its gay village, so if you're offended by seeing men holding hands as they walk down the sidewalk, maybe look elsewhere. Stanley Park (1000 acres of temperate rainforest, trails, beaches, gardens, an aquarium, monuments, etc) is to the north-west of the West End, and the seawall (public waterfront walkway/bikepath) as well as English Bay Beach and Sunset Beach border the West End to the south and west.There are little water taxis at the south end of the West End which can take you across False Creek to Granville Island (a public market), or to other neighbourhoods such as Kits or Yaletown. The downtown core of Vancouver is to the east of the West End and that's where you'll find movie theatres, dance studios, nightclubs, shopping malls, corporate office tower skyscrapers, etc. Needless to say, having a car is pointless in the West End - everyone walks! In general the West End's a good place if you want a diverse, vibrant place to live where you can walk everywhere: nightlife, restaurants, the beach, parks.

Kitsilano aka "Kits"

Kitsilano is not so cheap as it's right on a beautiful beach and the people that seem to live there these days tend to be fitness-obsessed yuppies. Although once upon a time this area was where Vancouver's hippies and artists lived. Kits is south-west of downtown Vancouver (at the southern end of the Burrard Street Bridge). There's W 4th Ave (5 blocks back from the beach) which has a lot of trendy home decor/clothing boutiques, the city's best record store, grocery stores, a wealth of snowboard/surf/skateboard shops, restaurants and cafes. Broadway (10 blocks back from the beach) is more laid back than West 4th, with some fantastic Greek/Mediterranian delis and some one of a kind shops. All along the side streets are beautiful, beautiful homes with lush gardens, and small (3-4 floor apartments). The houses are often split up so that you can rent the basement suite, the top suite, and so on. Lots of university students live here as UBC (the city's largest university) is located a 10 minute bus ride west of Kits. So the beauty of living in Kits is that you get peace and quiet, the beach, and you're close enough to downtown without being downtown.

Commercial Drive aka "The Drive"

Commercial Drive is the name of the street and the name of the neighbourhood. If you look at a map of Vancouver, it's technically about north of E 16th Avenue and south of Venables Street. Commercial Drive is one of the oldest residential communities in Vancouver and it actually once used to be Vancouver's Little Italy. Although there are very few Italians actually living there these days, a lot of the Italian espresso bars, delis, and restaurants still exist and give the area a lot of character. It's now somewhat of Vancouver's bohemian enclave, as well as the heart and soul of Vancouver's activists, whether it be for human rights, environmentalism, etc. It also is home to Vancouver's lesbian community. If you're looking for something more at peace with the Earth that oozes community spirit (there are always public festivals in the streets on the Drive), commercial Drive's the place. The neighbourhood (like Kits) has many beautifully restored heritage houses with lush gardens, but there are some small apartments too. Rent would be cheaper than Kits and likely cheaper than the West End, mostly because the Drive is located in East Van (the eastern half of Vancouver - not to be confused with the Downtown Eastside). East Van is typically cheaper than the western half of Vancouver and tends to be more working class. What I really like about Commercial Drive is that it feels like a true neighbourhood - people care about living there and contributing to their community. What's also nice is that at night all the restaurants and cafes stay open late, many of them have live music and poetry readings. If you're into a vibrant, artsy, bohemian grassroots community, this is it.

Mount Pleasant aka "South Main" aka "Main Street"

Main Street (not to be confused with Vancouver's famous drug-addict intersection, Main & Hastings) is the current "it" neighbourhood in Vancouver. It's sort of spread over a large area (from Main and E 7th Avenue to as far south as E 30th), however there are many little clusters of mini neighbourhoods within this area. Like Commercial Drive, it's also in East Van. It's sort of an old non-descript neighbourhood turned into hipster art school chic by the city's artists, independent fashion designers, art school students, musicians, and whatnot.What's interesting is a lot of locals here still have no clue about its existence and that it's now home to the city's best collection of quirky coffee shops, independent clothing studios (where the designer makes the clothes right there), vintage clothing stores, and up and coming restaurants. Usually the boutiques and coffee shops turns into one-time-only art galleries by night - the area is famous for its house parties. Rent is cheap, the neighbourhood has a certain gritty beauty, and the houses and gardens are equally as beautiful and as lush as the homes you find around Kits, except there's no beach nearby. There are also many small-but-old apartment buildings here. Many students live here, as do many young families, as well as many immigrant families. You're about a 10 minute bus ride from downtown here. If you're seeking a bit of an artsy hipster vibe and enjoy being a part of an arts movement, this is a cool area.

South Granville

South Granville is located immediately south of downtown Vancouver at the southern foot of the Granville Street Bridge. The area has a lot of old, small (but charming) apartment buildings. These are the places where you can rent for cheap and probably get a larger space than you would in the West End. The downside is that it tends to be a bit quiet, although Granville Street (between the bridge and W 16th) has a lot of upscale shopping, restaurants, and coffee shops. There are also bookstores and kitchen shops, and independent art galleries nearby. The intersection of Broadway and Granville is a hub of public transport (whether you want to zip yourself over to Commercial Drive or Main Street, or into downtown, or over to Kits) - you're kind of the heart of all the cool areas in Vancouver. While this area has less of a community atmosphere, it's a very nice area and is super convenient for exploring Vancouver as it's just very central. You're bound to find larger apartments too.

[runties]

Thank you so much for your recommendations. Its so much easier to move with a sense of where to go then going into it blind. It does seem as though the “areas” are diverse, that no matter where I choose, it will be a great place.

[Robyn]

Originally Posted by runties

Thank you so much for your recommendations. Its so much easier to move with a sense of where to go then going into it blind. It does seem as though the “areas” are diverse, that no matter where I choose, it will be a great place.

Yeah, they're definitely the more interesting neighbourhoods! Another way to get a feel for them is to search them up on Flickr.com. The scenery varies between them all. I know that the City of Vancouver's website has more in depth descriptions on each neighbourhood (such as history, amenities, etc) , in addition to where they are on a map.

One thing I should mention, if you're looking for apartments on Craigslist, is that you'll probably find listings for the West End, but you might also see West Vancouver/West Van or the West Side. These are all different places.

The West End is the area I wrote about - it's downtown.

West Vancouver is an entirely different city from Vancouver. It's located north-west of Vancouver and is known for its old money and its luxury mountainside mansions. Not really where you want to be (at least not yet, haha).

The West Side is just a generic term to refer to the western half of the City of Vancouver (as opposed to the eastern half, which we call East Van). The West Side includes many neighbourhoods, including Kitsilano and South Granville. Most people use Main Street to make the distinction between the West Side and East Van. The funny thing is, most people don't really use the term "West Side" - they just specify the exact neighbourhood, such as Kits, or whatnot. But I've noticed that the West Side is used in real estate and on apartment rental boards (like on Craigslist).... so if it says "West Side", you'll want to know exactly where they're referring to. I guess the same goes for "East Van" - there are so many neighbourhoods, you'll want to know exactly where in East Van the place is.

Outside of downtown Vancouver, the roads that go east-west are all numbered as avenues: 1st Ave all the way to 77th Ave. If it's located east of Main Street, it will be in East Van and it'll be E 1st Ave. If it's west of Main Street, it'll be in the West Side and it'll be W 1st Ave. The lower the number, the closer it is to downtown Vancouver. As a newcomer to Vancouver, you probably won't want to be too far from downtown Vancouver, so if you do find apartment listings on an avenue, make sure it's not W 41st, but somewhere like W 4th.