This short trip, between November 2 and 11th, was centred around my aunt’s 75 birthday, with a three-night visit to Tofino, tacked on. Unlike our Spring trip to the Gaspé, here we drove only 623 km.
The house we rented in Vancouver, was located just a few blocks from my aunt’s place, on the corner of Ontario and West 28th Avenue. One day, we walked west along West 28th from its beginning to Marguerite St., which is near where I lived between 1959 and 1967.
A trip to Vancouver brings with it some nostalgia. Some time ago I came across a book called The Past is a Foreign Country, which seems apt in this case. Looking at Vancouver today, I see the similarities, but also the many differences, not just in its physicality, but in its culture. On the one hand, many of the streets remain very similar to the way they were 60 years ago, certainly in the residential area where I used to live. Along Granville, going north towards downtown is also similar, although the stores themselves have changed. Excluding the street names, downtown is unrecognizable.
On our walk I saw that Vancouver, like Toronto, is also going through a gentrification and densification process; homes are being replaced by monster homes and condominiums.
On Monday, from Horseshoe Bay, we took the ferry to Nanaimo, and then drove to our hotel near Tofino. The following day, we walked along the coast at Ucluelet. Then we walked through the old growth forest in Pacific Rim National Park. We ended the day in Tofino with yet another walk along the beach. The next day was less aggressive; we walked along the beach from the hotel to Frank Island, and then returned for a quiet afternoon. We checked out of the hotel early Thursday so we could stop along the way back to Nanaimo at MacMillan Provincial Park, another old-growth forest.
Blog Posts
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The Start
While in Vancouver we stayed in a “Garage Apartment” on the corner of West 28th and Ontario. I chose this spot as it was within walking distance of my aunt’s place. But, coincidently, I had lived on West 28th as a child. Prior to this point, I had never been to the start of West…
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Densification and Gentrification
Like Toronto, Vancouver is going through a process change. Many of the old houses in the neighbourhood are either being replaced with larger homes or condominiums.
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Crossing Oak
Crossing Oak Street, from the east to west side, one enters Shaughnessy, and the character of the street changes dramatically. No more gentrification, no more densification.