Sunday, April 6, 2014

Gastown: Birthplace of Vancouver, BC

Another Saturday and another walk in the city. Although it was raining I decided to walk to Gastown


It is not easy to find free parking in Vancouver but I managed to find a spot near Science World.  This meant that I had to walk past some grungy areas, through Chinatown and into Skid Row


Over the years Gastown (Water Street) has evolved into an upscale tourist shopping mecca where it parallels the railyard.   I am using a GPS tracking app on my iPhone.  I let it record where I have been and when I get home I load the CSV file into Google Earth to get the two views above.


I eventually make it to Maple Tree square.  In the old days there was a Maple Tree here, now there is only the statue of Gassy Jack


Here is the inscription on the plaque and where they chose the name Vancouver for this City.  In the old days they got their light from Gas lanterns, thus they originally named this place Gastown


On the left you see the statue of Gassy Jack (the site of the old maple tree)


That triangled building in the middle is Hotel Europa which has been restored with retail businesses on street level


During the summer this is a busy place, but not so much today on a cool rainy day


Not long ago this was not such a desirable area and you still have to be careful as we are only a couple of blocks from an area which tourists should avoid, especially at night


There are many specialty shops who cater to tourists


Our rainy season starts around March and goes until around June so make sure you bring your raingear, or umbrellas


If you should continue walking West you will come upon our Steam clock and at noon daily it sounds out "Oh Canada"


The taller building on the left is the Toronto Dominion Building which was once the tallest building in the British Commonwealth.  Lots of older buildings to admire


A Western specialty store being guarded by these dudes with guns


Here are a couple of convenience stores


and here we find the flagship John Fluevog designed custom shoe store  (info here)



12 comments:

  1. At one time I had a job doing mobility with a client who liked to walk in that area and who was very knowledgable about the history of individual buildings as well as the area as a whole. One of the places he liked to go was the Old Spaghetti Factory on Water St, close to the steam clock. Another fave was the old Hooters. It was an interesting experience to get paid to go to Hooters. I vividly recall a big commotion one time when we were there; Bill Clinton was passing by outside!!!! I thought that was somehow appropriate.

    Btw Bob with your keen eye for detail; you would have made a good Urban Geographer.

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    1. David:

      The street wasn't photogenic and I didn't want to take photos of all the stores individually. I like the Old Spaghetti Factory but I prefer the one in Richmond as there is more parking with less vandalism. I don't think I have ever been in a Hooters not my kind of place. But you get the same thing at Joey's and Samy J's (peppers). Did you know that the Old Spaghetti factory building is haunted ?

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  2. Great photos Bob. It has been a good 25-30 years since I've been to Gastown so it was a neat reminder.

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    1. Trobairitz:

      Even though it is called Maple Tree Square, it is more like a circle. I like the cobblestone street and the sheen on the road because of the rain. Just be careful when you are on a bike. The area is evolving into a more upscale shopping area with pricey eateries.

      Nearly time for you to visit again

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  3. Wow, Bob. That's quite a walk you've had. Good for you! I liked Gastown although I wasn't too fond of the quite aggressive panhandling in that area.

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    1. Sonja:

      That was my 2nd Saturday walk and we walked again in the evening and again a bit on Sunday. I am hoping that the rain will stop for next week when I head to a different area. There is not much panhandling in Gastown but you have to navigate your way past Pidgeon square and the lowlifes on Hastings between Carrall and Abbott. Also Granville street has a lot of people staring at your valuables so I had to put my camera away.

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  4. interesting old architecture. The glass shop looked interesting though wouldn't want to buy anything. I used to dabble in glass blowing.

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    1. Richard:

      Other than the places to eat, I would imagine it is not a place for locals to shop. There are mainly souveniers and other stuff with Vancouver or BC branding. That wasn't a glass shop, they were smoking dongs. The glass blowing shop is on Granville Island where they make vauses and other creative stuff. Water street is one of the older streets in the City

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  5. Great scenes from the city. The rain just adds sparkle and shine. I may have already mentioned that our one foray in Vancouver had us lost and driving through the wrong part of town. Couldn't say where we were, but it was a bit unsettling.

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    1. Kari:

      Gastown is only a couple of blocks from the unsavoury area(s). Parking is at your own risk, lots of broken glass on the street with signs warning you of thieves. Just go there during the day and stay away at night. The truly homeless will not bother you but there are others mixed in there . . .

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  6. I really MUST get to Vancouver one day...

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    1. Kathy:

      You were so close too. Not counting the border wait times, we are only 3 hours north of Seattle. Vancouver is surrounded by water on 3 sides and we are nearly at the foot of our North Shore Mountains.

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