Barbie And Friends

Vancouver's Mobile Bicycle Shop: Vancycle

I've seen this vehicle around the city many times. Vancycle offers a full range of repairs and sales on wheels.  They bring their mobile shop to your location and work from their truck. A great idea.

City Council Looks At Adding More Bike Lanes

In 2009 the city of Vancouver converted one of the southbound traffic lanes of the Burrard Bridge into a bike only lane. It was started as a six month trial but due to it's huge success city councillors voted to make the separated bike lane permanent. Council is now looking at expanding it's growing number of bike lanes to include heavily used areas along Point Grey Road/Cornwall Ave. and Commercial Drive.

Tranquility Amongst The Cars

This house looks like it comes right out of the countryside.  Tricycle in the front yard, flowers blooming and a tree adding to the picturesque scene.  Yet if you step back a few feet you get the real picture. This house sits at the end of a fenced parking lot. If you stroll through the older parts of Vancouver it is not uncommon to find residential homes next to commercial businesses. Usually though they are on separate lots.

Faded Ad: Hardwood Chair Co Ltd Vancouver

Faded away and barely visible from the back lane, the Hardwood Chair Co ad still stands north of Hastings Street.  Most of these signs sometimes referred to as ghost signs or faded ads have disappeared from urban landscapes.  Painted onto brick or wooden buildings, in some cases over 100 years ago most have been destroyed as buildings are either torn down or painted over.

Frank Jump has made it his goal to photograph as many of these fading ads as possible. He's been at it for twenty years and many of the ads he has taken pics of no longer exist.  Fortunately they are preserved in his book  Fading Ads Of New York City.
I have not seen a book or even a number on how many of these ads still exist in Vancouver.

That Sinking Feeling

Some of the oldest houses in Vancouver are located in the Strathcona area. You can still see many houses that were built over 100 years ago, some going back as far as the late 1800's.  This one appears to be tilting to one side. 
Many of these houses still have the original wood siding as opposed to being covered over with stucco or aluminum siding.

Back Lanes Of Vancouver

These workers appear to be enjoying the beautiful weather, even if it's only for a few minutes.

Vernon Drive Grocery Store

Situated across from Admiral Seymour school, Vernon Drive Grocery occupies the front part of a building that was built over 100 years ago.  Most of these older mom and pop type grocery stores have disappeared from the Vancouver landscape over the last 20 years. Of the ones remaining, this is the only one I can recall seeing with Pepsi advertising instead of the bright red Coca Cola button signs.

Admiral Seymour School On Vancouver Heritage Society's Top Ten List

Just up the lane from the pedestrian overpass stands the Admiral Seymour School. Consisting of two buildings the wooden structure was built in 1900, while the brick building was completed in 1907.  Considered to be one of the oldest schools in Vancouver, these buildings were placed on Vancouver Heritage Society's Top 10 Endangered Sites in 2007.  Nearly ninety of Vancouver's schools were built before 1967 and many of them are now on the Heritage Society's Top 10 Annual Lists. With low enrollment and not enough funding for seismic upgrades, the school board struggles with keeping them open. 

Strathcona From Hastings Street: One Of Vancouver's Oldest Neighborhoods

Taken from Hastings Street, CPR railway tracks divide part of the Strathcona neighborhood.

Located just a few kilometers east of downtown , Strathcona is considered to be one of Vancouver's oldest neighborhoods. Culturally diverse, it also offers a great blend of architectural styles that include row houses, pioneer cottages, Queen Anne and Victoria style homes, Edwardian houses and apartment buildings. It is home to two of Vancouver's oldest schools and  remains one of the few areas in the city where one can still visualize images in the style of renown  photographer Fred Herzog.
It is bordered by Hastings Street to the north, the Great Northern Way to the south, Clark Drive to the east and Main Street to the west.

 This pedestrian overpass was built over the railway tracks in the 1970's after parents complained that their children had to cross the tracks on their way to and from school.





Once over the foot bridge you end up on Keefer Street where this dilapidated house is situated to the left and this laneway winds it's way to the right. This neighborhood is sometimes referred to as Kiwassa.

Hastings Street

An old rundown building sits next to a newer condo development near Hastings Street. Long considered one of the poorest urban neighborhoods in Canada, the face of the Downtown Eastside is rapidly changing with an influx of trendy restaurants, new condo buildings and boutique stores opening in the area.

Monkeys Gone Wild

No one seems to know how these monkeys ended up swinging from the branches of this tree.  Located in front of the downtown International Hostel, even the staff  are perplexed by the appearance of these red monkeys and referred to them as guerilla art!