Vancouver's
Yaletown & False Creek North:
Urban Guppies
Courtesy Tourism Vancouver
Flowing
into Vancouver's West End,
Yaletown is the envy of city planners around the world who would
love to emulate the area's transformation from crumbling industrial
district to post-modern trendsetter.
But the Yaletown of today - widely regarded as Vancouver's 'little
Soho' - is a far cry from the area's gritty roots in the 1880s, when
the Canadian Pacific Railway housed its rail yards here and
manufacturers built warehouses to take advantage of easy access to the
network. Thriving as the city's industrial heart for decades, Yaletown
suffered badly in the 1940s, when highways replaced rail as the
preferred method for transporting goods. By the 1970s, the area's few
remaining businesses were outnumbered by rough bars and derelict
storage space.
When Expo 86 triggered a re-examination of the city's older
neighbourhoods, Yaletown was among the first to be "rediscovered" as a
blank canvas with almost unlimited potential. Designated a historic
district, the area's unique industrial look was retained as artists
seeking studio space moved in and old bars were replaced by Bohemian
coffee shops and galleries. But Yaletown's real rejuvenation was
linked to the rise of the new economy in the early 1990s, when the
architects of the information superhighway began moving in to swanky
scrubbed down brick offices and converting warehouses into minimalist,
high-ceilinged apartments.
Modern-day Yaletown, roughly bounded by Nelson, Homer, Drake and
Pacific Streets, is now teeming with cutting-edge stores and
amenities, all within easy walking distance. Unique stores include
Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks, combining a wide range of cookery
titles with demonstrations in a fully-stocked kitchen; Beauty Mark, a
unique full-service boutique specializing in top-of-the-line beauty
products from around the world; Skoah Spa, with its hip and inviting
atmosphere; and Urban Fare, a gourmet-lovers dream grocery store where
exotic products range from marbled Kobe beef to aromatic coffee grown
on the slopes of an Indonesian volcanic mountain.
Yaletown is also a Vancouver nightlife hotspot, with bars like Bar
None and the popular
Yaletown Brewing Company (recently voted microbrewery of the year
by Brew Pub Magazine) and superb restaurants including Cioppino's
Mediterranean Grill, Blue Water Cafe, Umberto Menghi's Circolo,
glowbal grill & satay bar and the quaint Amarcord. This kind of
colourful celebration of the area's tough history is central to the
Yaletown experience: railway tracks remain embedded in the streets
here and an old railway repair shed has been restored as the
Roundhouse Community Centre, complete with innovative theatre and
restored steam locomotive. With the trains long-gone, Yaletown's
modern-day transport options include rollerblading along the nearby
seawall and catching a mini
Aquabus ferry to Granville Island and beyond.
Perhaps the real coming-of-age of the new Yaletown, though, was the
opening of its first hotel in 2002. The Opus Hotel, a contemporary
boutique residence with 97 art-filled rooms, has already gained a
reputation as one of North America's finest hotel experiences. Next
door, the traditional French brasserie, Elixir, and the swanky lobby
bar have quickly become firm favourites with visiting movie stars and
hip locals.
