To get a feeling for the quintessential Vancouver neighborhood, explore Kitsilano, lying along the south shore of outer Burrard Inlet, and otherwise bounded by Burrard Street, West i6th Avenue, and Alma Street. Originally inhabited by native Indians (and named for Chief Khahtsahlano), the area began metamorphosing in the late i8oos with the addition of sawmills and canneries. Through the twentieth century, it evolved from a shoreline cluster of family estates. Carpenter houses and Arts-and-Crafts bungalows spread south and eastward. Then the neighborhood became a low-rent hippie haven. Today, it’s a mix of pretty costly yet (mostly) modest single-family houses and mid-range condominiums.
Walk along the shoreline from Vanier Park, through Kits Point and Kitsilano Park, then dip down to an odd extension of Point Grey Road (north of Cornwall) before resurfacing near Macdonald Street. Along the way, you’ll see the whole mix, from outwardly humble to seaside expensive. Then head south along Macdonald Street and past 4th Avenue as far as 7th Avenue for a remarkable row (on the west side of Macdonald) of typical West Coast workmen’s houses, some of which still function as boarding houses. Then turn east again — along, say, 7th Avenue, but 6th or 5th are good, too. Ifyou take your time, you’ll experience the leafy, garden-y, post-hippie, community-minded Vancouver that many people value greatly. Alternatively, walk west from Macdonald Street along any avenue between Cornwall Avenue and 4th Avenue, and you’ll enjoy much the same ambiance, though it’s a little more upscale here.
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