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Cradled between the ocean and snow-capped mountains,
Vancouver's dazzling downtown district fills a narrow peninsula
bounded by Burrard Inlet to the north, English Bay to the west
and False Creek to the south, with greater Vancouver sprawling
south to the Fraser River. Edged around its idyllic waterfront
are fine beaches, a dynamic port and a magnificent swath of parkland,
not to mention the mirror-fronted ranks of skyscrapers that look
across Burrard Inlet and its bustling harbour to the residential
districts of North and West Vancouver. Beyond these comfortable
suburbs, the Coast Mountains rise in steep, forested slopes to
form a dramatic counterpoint to the downtown skyline and the most
stunning of the city's many outdoor playgrounds. Small wonder,
given Vancouver's surroundings, that Greenpeace was founded in
the city.
Vancouver's 1.9 million residents exploit their
spectacular natural setting to the hilt, and when they tire of
the immediate region can travel a short distance to the unimaginably
vast wilderness of the BC interior. Whether it's sailing, swimming,
fishing, hiking, skiing, golf or tennis, locals barely have to
move to indulge in a plethora of recreational whims.
Summer and winter the city oozes hedonism and healthy living -
it comes as no surprise to find that you can lounge on beaches
downtown - typically West Coast obsessions that spill over into
its sophisticated arts and culture . Vancouver
claims a world-class museum and symphony orchestra, as well as
opera, theatre and dance companies at the cutting edge of contemporary
arts. Festivals proliferate throughout its mild, if occasionally
rain-soaked, summer and numerous music venues provide a hotbed
for up-and-coming rock bands and a burgeoning jazz scene.
Vancouver is not all pleasure, however. Business
growth continues apace in Canada's third-largest city, much of
its prosperity stemming from a port so laden
with the raw materials of the Canadian interior - lumber, wheat
and minerals - that it ranks as one of North America's largest
ports, handling more dry tonnage than the West Coast ports of
Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, San Francisco and San Diego put together.
The port in turn owes its prominence to Vancouver's much-trumpeted
position as a gateway to the Far East , and its
increasingly pivotal role in the new global market of the Pacific
Rim. This lucrative realignment is strengthened by a two-way flow
in traffic: in the past decade Vancouver has been inundated with
Hong Kong Chinese (the so-called "yacht people"), an
influx which has pushed up property prices and slightly strained
the city's reputation as an ethnically integrated metropolis.
Much of the city's earlier immigration focused on
Vancouver's extraordinary Chinatown , just one
of a number of ethnic enclaves - Italian, Greek, Indian and Japanese
in particular - which lend the city a refreshingly gritty quality
that belies its sleek, modern reputation. So too do the city's
semi-derelict eastern districts, whose worldly lowlife characters,
addicts and hustlers are shockingly at odds with the glitzy lifestyles
pursued in the lush residential neighbourhoods. Low rents and
Vancouver's cosmopolitan young have also nurtured an unexpected
counterculture , at least for the time being,
distinguished by varied restaurants, secondhand shops, avant-garde
galleries, clubs and bars - spots where you'll probably have more
fun than in many a Canadian city. And at the top of the scale
there are restaurants as good - and as varied - as any in North
America.
These days Vancouver is more dynamic
than ever, its growth and energy almost palpable as you walk the
streets. In just five years, between 1987 and 1992, the city's
population increased by an extraordinary seventeen percent. The
downtown population, currently just over half a million, is the
fastest-growing on the continent. In response the downtown area
is spreading - visibly - to the older and previously run-down
districts to the southeast of the old city core. Development over
the last decade is symbolized by a superb library and performing-arts
complex which constitutes the most expensive capital project ever
undertaken in the city. Real estate here is now more expensive
than Toronto, and in the 1990s the city became North America's
largest film and TV production centre after Los Angeles and New
York; The X Files is just the most famous of the many movies and
programmes that have been, or are being, made here . Yet, in the
peculiar way that seems second nature to Canadians, the changes
are being handled in a manner that's enhancing rather than compromising
the city's beguiling combination of pleasure, culture, business
and natural beauty.
