Vancouver – Canada’s most livable city


Vancouver is ranked as the most livable city in Canada, and is rated number 5 in the world! I’m sure that being exposed to beautiful scenery each day – mountains and water – certainly helps to make the city an easy place to live.

What a view!
With views like this…no wonder the locals are so calm and laid back!

We think that Toronto could learn some lessons from Vancouver to make our own city a bit more livable. There is a lot of green space in Vancouver, which may seem surprising given that there is limited land between the water and the mountains and that the majority of new development is upwards rather than outwards.  Vancouver has gotten creative with where its green space can be found…like on buildings…

Green space even on top of buildings.
A lovely community garden in the middle of the city.

Not only is there green space in the city, but more and more buildings are being built using “green” techniques. For instance, the Convention Centre includes a 6 acre roof that has plants growing on it which helps to keep the building cool in summer and warm in winter.  Rain water is collected for irrigation as well as for building services such as water to flush toilets.  Recycled wood is used throughout, and the building was awarded the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification, the first convention centre in the world to earn the highest level of certification in energy efficiency.

The “green” Vancouver Convention Centre

To further enhance Vancouver’s livability, the city has passed a bylaw requiring that any new construction in the downtown core includes public art. We found this policy to be very forward thinking and has led to some very unique art installations.

This art installation outside of a government building has boxes on posts which move up and down automatically…and are in sync with the elevators in the building!

Going up?  These cubes move in sync with the building elevators.

The art installation for this building was a bit more difficult to see at first…

Do you see the art?

It’s actually a line of poetry written right on the side of the building which says: “Lying on top of a building the clouds looked no nearer than when I was lying on the street.”  Yes…the “writing’s on the wall”!!!

“Lying on top of a building the clouds looked no nearer than when I was lying on the street.”

Vancouver also has a strong movie industry with this piece of art put in place to represent the intersection of nature and the film…

A digital Orca!
A digital Orca!

Do you see the tower in this picture of the Vancouver skyline…it looks like it’s on top of the 4th tall building from the left hand side of the photo.  You might think this is the equivalent of Toronto’s CN Tower or Seattle’s Space Needle with their distinctive circular observation decks.

air traffic towher

In Vancouver, this is actually an air traffic control tower for the Vancouver Harbour, home to the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre!  As you look out across the harbour it seems like the seaplanes are continuously taking off and landing in and amongst the other harbour traffic.

Olympic Tradition

Vancouver is proud of its Olympic tradition, of which we found evidence throughout the city.  To me one of the most interesting displays we found was within a walkway in the Convention Centre showing the different medals, as well as the Vancouver medal podium.

And the Gold medal goes to…

It was very important to Vancouver that First Nations traditions were honoured during the Olympic and Paralympic games.  One great example of this was the use of First Nations imagery on the medals.  The Olympic medals (Gold, Silver and Bronze on the left side in the picture below) were emblazoned with an image based upon the Orca whale which represents power, strength and teamwork; the Paralympic medals contained the image of the Raven which represents determination.

The medals for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic games.

We also made it to the Olympic Cauldron, where “The Great One”, Canadian Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky lit the flame at the opening ceremonies.

Following in the footsteps of “The Great One”

Vancouver continues to shine on the international stage presenting the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup of Soccer aka football!  🙂  Fox Sports built a dedicated broadcasting centre right at the water’s edge just for the event!

Not a bad view eh?
Not a bad view eh?

Granville Island

To the southwest of Vancouver’s downtown core can be found Granville Island.

The entrance to Granville Island

This gem used to be called Industrial Island because it was the area of the city where all of the industry was concentrated. The industry focused upon supporting the shipping industry in Vancouver’s busy port. There were plenty of toxic chemicals including a tailing pond for a lead-based paint factory.

Fortunately the island has been cleaned up and is now the centre for the arts and artists. Nobody lives on the island, it is all public space.

This giant, 2-floor toy store used to be a lead paint factory…

The only remnant of the former industrial era is a cement factory which continues to operate.  When you look at the Vancouver skyline with the numerous skyscrapers which exist or are being built, you can understand why access to a concrete factory might be useful.  In Vancouver they put a colourful spin on cement, too!

This is a cement factory?  In Vancouver?
This is a cement factory? In Vancouver?
Hand painted!
Hand painted!

Even though no one lives on the island, we found a fresh food market…

…though not as busy as some of the markets we’ve seen in other parts of the world with no chicken feet scratching at you as you walked by either!

Although no one “technically” lives on the island, there are some floating homes which are moored just off of the island.  When I say “just off”, I mean within a foot or so of shore!  There’s a small community of homes which float on the water and rise and fall with the tides.

We all really loved our time in Vancouver.  The city is one of the most beautiful we have visited with great transit infrastructure that’s completely integrated (bus, sky train, ferries), as well as being a forward-thinking city when it comes to arts and the environment.

Vancouver as Canada’s most livable city? I couldn’t agree more.


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Comments

17 responses to “Vancouver – Canada’s most livable city”

  1. iniyal Avatar

    I think it is a great livable city as well. There is something about the spirit of the city when it is sunny that is contagious 🙂

    1. Oliver Avatar

      Hi Iniyal, and it seems that this year Vancouver has gotten more than it’s usual share of sunshine! It really is pleasant when it’s not foggy and raining!

  2. Harriet Johnston Avatar
    Harriet Johnston

    Vancouver is a great place .. Always wish I lived there when I visit. Thanks for the tour. Harriet

    1. Oliver Avatar

      Hi Harriet, I know what you mean…Vancouver is definitely in our top 10!

  3. Thank you for the interesting tour and background. This makes it even easier to understand why it is when folks move out ‘for a while’, they never come back east.

    1. Oliver Avatar

      Hi Herta, Each time we visit the west coast there seems to be a draw such that we don’t want to go back to Toronto. It hasn’t stuck yet.

  4. How long are you in Vancouver for? If we haven’t missed you maybe we can meet for dinner tonight!
    🙂 Annie

    1. Oliver Avatar

      Hi Annie…we just missed you! 🙁

  5. Mary Papulkas Avatar
    Mary Papulkas

    Now that you have visited so many cities throughout your travels, you can truly appreciate what Vancouver has to offer. I think this blog should be posted in a Travel Magazine to promote tourism in Canada. Great photos Oliver!

    1. Oliver Avatar

      Hi Aunt Mary, we’ve learned that every where has something interesting to offer…you just have to look for it! It will be fun to do the same in our own city … see what it has to offer that we don’t usually look for.

  6. WOW! Beautiful photos of a forward thinking city! Thank you for this very interesting and beautiful blog. Love, Mom P.

    1. Oliver Avatar

      Hi Baba, Again, it’s easy to take beautiful photos when the subject is photogenic! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the post!

  7. Gail Lawlor Avatar
    Gail Lawlor

    Wow, I have been to Vancouver a few times and I didn’t see all of these amazing sights!! I will make more effort to “see” the details !! Toronto, has a green roof policy so we are slowly getting more green roofs – not as many as V though.

    Seems so strange to read blogs from Canada after so many exciting places from around the world. Didn’t realize you were visiting western Canada too!! An interesting comparison I am sure.

    1. Oliver Avatar

      Hi Gail, It would be great to see more green in Toronto! As for visiting western Canada, there was no direct route to get from Australia to South America – so we’d have to go through Vancouver, Toronto or LA. We thought it would be a great opportunity to explore the west coast as well…and so off we went!

  8. Terry Gelinas Avatar
    Terry Gelinas

    We are so blessed with great, liveable cities in our country. I think people sometimes take this for granted – each city offers unique things. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Oliver Avatar

      Hi Terry, agreed with all of your points. Every city has something unique and interesting to offer. I think that when you visit somewhere your eyes are open wider because you’re looking for new and interesting things – maybe comparing it to home. When we’re in our own city we don’t always see some of the awesome things that are right in front of us…we sort of take them for granted.

      Here’s to seeing your city with ‘eyes wide open’!

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