Visitor's Guide

Strathcona

Two-storey homes in this transitional inner-city neighbourhood have risen from $400,000 to a million, with young buyers drawn to the artist’s studios, quaint corner stores, and closely packed homes

West End

Leaving the swanky uptown vibe to the rest of the downtown peninsula, the West End is known for its lively, inexpensive eateries, aging character buildings, and stunning vistas of English Bay.

North Shore

The affluent cities of North and West Van are famous for sweeping views, quaint shopping villages, and proximity to spectacular skiing, snowboarding, and mountain biking

Hastings Sunrise

Well-used parks and mom-and-pop shops give this light-industrial neighbourhood a small-town atmosphere, even though it’s only a 10-minute drive from downtown.

Lefty do-gooders, coffee bar habitués, and grunge loyalists remain the dominant force here, tempered by leftovers from the area’s Little Italy past and the young professionals snapping up now-pricey character homes

South Main

For years, South Main came with the qualifier “up-and-coming.” Now it’s a well-established destination for local design talent and their stylish patrons.

Kerrisdale

Stately Homes, streets lined with shag-bark maple trees, a shopping row that serves the locals — this area still has traces of its small-town roots.

Kitsilano

Kits was once a forested beach area where affluent West End residents came to camp in the balmy summers. Fully built-out — and among the city’s most exclusive neighbourhoods — it still has that same laid-back beach vibe

False Creek

In the '70s, this former industrial area become a dense, affordable community, with Granville Island’s lively public market and artist’s studios at its centre. Thirty years later, it faces its next phase with the build-out of Southeast False Creek and the 2010 Olympic Village

Yaletown

After EXPO 86, pavilions gave way to condo towers, and old brick warehouses were converted into lofts, with trendy restaurants and boutiques perched on former loading docks. Twenty years later, Yaletown remains one of the city’s chicest 'hoods

Downtown Vancouver

Power Lunchers, luxury retailers, Hollywood visitors — the city's laid-back, Gore-Tex-clad vibe has been driven out of these parts. Downtown has gone global, thanks to 2010 fever and glittering four-star condo/hotel hybrids marketed to the jet set.

Visual Arts — The Price of Fame

Vancouver’s best-known artists have global reputations and their work carries pricetags to match. And then there are the up-and-comers who offer exciting — and affordable — alternatives. Here are 10 artists from across the spectrum.