Teddy Felton who was MC at the Kit-Kat Club in Vancouver and also known as the Harlem Flash. He has signed this 8x10 inch photo with an inscription in blue/black ink.
He is featured in
Burlesque West: Showgirls, Sex, and Sin in Postwar Vancouver
By Becki Ross
Next to long-time Smilin' Buddha hosts like Ronnie
Small, Marty Gillian, and Teddy Felton, the most frequent performer at the club in the
1960s was likely Zsa Zsa, a female impersonator commonly billed simply as “the
notorious.”22 Zsa Zsa performed on numerous bills at the Buddha between 1963 and
1966, including a stint as the club's “host and emcee.”23 Other female impersonators
listed in the club's advertisements include Lily St. Clair, who performed in 1966, and
Daiquiri St. John, billed as “the million dollar hoax,” who like Zsa Zsa, was a Smilin'
Buddha regular between 1965 and 1969.24 Notably, female impersonators do not appear
in advertisements after 1970 when topless dancing and nudity became more common at
the Smilin' Buddha.
at the State Burlesque‘ Theatre, Cave Supper Club, lsy’s Supper Club,
and Palomar Slipper Club were considerably larger. Members of the
musicians' union Local 145, players worked the clubs six nighls a week,
and when hotel bars opened up, many did two shifts a night 7 noon to
8:00 p.m. at one club, and 8:00 pm. ttt 2:00 d.m. at anether.
in spite of the benefits, musieians like Mike Kalanj acknowledged
the stigma: ’My parents frowned on it. But i was working six nights a
week, i belonged to the musicians’ union, getting paid, it was legit. it
was where l was working that was the problem. I was from a classical
background] Vancouverrbem jazz musician Deng, Cuthbert worked
for many years in the house band at the New Delhi cabaret, though
he recalls laughing, that his parents didn’t know he was ‘playing at a
stripc lub on weekendsHeoined the gelhbiandin 1963: ’It was most
1y singers and dancers at the Delhi. Teddy Feltm: was the MC he was
a holdover from the 19405 e a lot like Sammy Davis Iunior. Hed sing
a t'ew stmgs, then introduce the dancers, who couldn’t go bottomless at
that lime. They all had costumes. Better ones had really elaborate Cor
tumes. And the UNCS that had the better costumes and the really good
acts would get really good money. They'd do their little number with
three or four changes, and we’d baek them up.’ Sean Cunn, who was
born in Vernon, British Columbia, played electric bass in a small band
at the Kuhlai Khan in the 19705, though his Chinese Canadian parents
did not approve, He said he could not imagine inviting his mother to a
gig. At the club, Gunn’s band played four sets, one alone, and three for
the daneers. He laughed: 'We faked our way through. No one was really
listening anyway,’ He remembered sharing the (has mg room with
dancers and playing Santana’s ’Black Magic Wornan’ a lot,
There was abundant wurk for musieldns in the 19705 after the hon
tel pubs opened up and before the transitinn to tape-recorded music
made live music obsolete. l’lanlsl and bass player Cord Walkinshaw
commented on the lunchrtime specials at the Zanzibar: ’Ytlu’d work
noon until two p.111. nonstop. There would be one of the older strips
pers, some gogo girls. We’d play a couple of songs, two strippers each
did three songs. And the gn-go girls would close at two. It was pretty
easy money for us a a hundred and twentvrtive a week These weren’t
lsy's, the Penthouse, and Zanzibar that i played for were white, but
down at the Hastings and Main Street strip, it was more a concentra
tien of black girls.’ Pressured by cluh owners, booking agents, Promote
ers, and patrons, sometimes subtly, sometimes blatantly, black dancers
tended to incorporate props, costumes, music, and make-up that fitted
racializcd and sexualized colonial tropes of African primiliyism and
hypersexuality.”2 The racist imagery and expectations- mutinely cast
black women as tragic mulattas, Comic maids, er jungle bunnies, and
these narrowly defined roles constricted black stripteasers’ power to
perform unencumbered by white racist fantasies.“ And yet Miss Lovie
argues that being an Atrican Canadian in Vancouver in the 19605 acV
corded her, and other black entertainers such as singer Ron Small and
MC Teddy Felted, special status as a niwelty. She reminisees; 'We were
spoiled. Everybody wanted to be around you.’ Far from making her
feel tokenized, Miss Lovie says |he attention made her feel ‘wonderfuls'
Through her dancing she may well have mined an otherwise rare 0pc
portunity to celebrate AfreCuban traditions of dance and music.”4
None of the striptease dancers ofcolour who worked Vancouver vans
ues achieved the stardom enioycd by some of their white peers, though
as Choi) Chuo Williams commented, lightrskmned or 'high yelluw'
dancers were more likely to reach higher heights than darkerrskinned
women. Wtirkingrcldss‘ black dancers had difficulty purchasing superr
expensive costumes, dance lessons, props, and promotional photographs,
Even if they pos ~ssed the resources necessary to attain a career
as a headliner, the colour line persisted, sutured into place by stubborn,
racist beliefs about the 'nature’ of black dancers and where they did er
did not belong. Shalimnr, a white dancer, was surprisingly frank about
her racist yicw: “Black dancers were mouthy, they were arrogant, they
had that very aggressive female attitude and it did not go oyer well, A
lot of men like black pussy as a ntivelty and that’s it.’ Unlike Lili St Cyr
and her white competitors, black dancers could never fully escape the
imperative to act black, be black, and stay black in a white-dominated
YA GOTTA WONDER WHO WAS IN THE HOUSE BAND "THE KINGSMEN"?
WAS IT DOUG CUTHBERT on DRUMS? HENRY YOUNG on GEETAR? LARRY VOLEN on TENOR SAX? And I KNOW THAT Mr. MACKIE FEELS IT'S THE SEATTLE BAND BUT I HAVE A GUT FEELING THESE "KINGSMEN" were LOCAL VANCITY MUSICIANS. . . and MOSTLY EAST ENDERS. TRUTH TO FOLLOW?
AND LOOKAHERE ! ! THE WONDERFUL TEDDY FELTON - THE M.C. THAT DEFINED JIVE TALKIN' AND GOOD-LOOKIN'. TEDDY WOULD SAY STUFF LIKE, "We gonna take a break and lissin' to J.B. That's not James Brown, that's the jukebox" and "It's time for a coke and a smoke and then we'll be back". IT WAS Mr. T. FELTON WHO INTRODUCED THE MIC-CHECK PHRASE, "Tastin'. Tastin'" INSTEAD OF, "Testing, testing" to the musicians of VanCity.
DJZigZag CLAIMS THAT EVEN THOUGH HIS PALS WERE IN THE HOUSE BAND . . . HE WAS AFFEARED OF GOIN' TO THE GIT-DOWN WHALIN' SMILIN' BUDDHA.
ANYBODY KNOW HOW THE PLACE GOT IT'S NAME?
THANK YOU JOHN MACKIE FOR SUCH A GREAT GIFT.
Vancouver (/vænˈkuːvər/ (About this soundlisten)) is a coastal seaport city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2016 census recorded 631,486 people in the city, up from 603,502 in 2011. The Greater Vancouver area had a population of 2,463,431 in 2016, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada. Vancouver has the highest population density in Canada with over 5,400 people per square kilometre,[5][6] which makes it the fifth-most densely populated city with over 250,000 residents in North America behind New York City, Guadalajara, San Francisco,[7] and Mexico City according to the 2011 census. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada according to that census; 52% of its residents have a first language other than English.[8][9] Roughly 30% of the city's inhabitants are of Chinese heritage.[10] Vancouver is classed as a Beta global city.
Vancouver is consistently named as one of the top five worldwide cities for livability and quality of life,[11][12] and the Economist Intelligence Unit acknowledged it as the first city ranked among the top-ten of the world's most well-living cities[13] for five consecutive years.[14] Vancouver has hosted many international conferences and events, including the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, UN Habitat I, Expo 86, the World Police and Fire Games in 1989 and 2009; and the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics which were held in Vancouver and Whistler, a resort community 125 km (78 mi) north of the city.[15] In 2014, following thirty years in California, the TED conference made Vancouver its indefinite home. Several matches of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup were played in Vancouver, including the final at BC Place.[16]
The original settlement, named Gastown, grew up on clearcuts on the west edge of the Hastings Mill logging sawmill's property, where a makeshift tavern had been set up on a plank between two stumps and the proprietor, Gassy Jack, persuaded the curious millworkers to build him a tavern, on July 1, 1867. From that first enterprise, other stores and some hotels quickly appeared along the waterfront to the west. Gastown became formally laid out as a registered townsite dubbed Granville, B.I. ("B.I" standing for "Burrard Inlet"). As part of the land and political deal whereby the area of the townsite was made the railhead of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), it was renamed "Vancouver" and incorporated shortly thereafter as a city, in 1886. By 1887, the Canadian Pacific transcontinental railway was extended westward to the city to take advantage of its large natural seaport to the Pacific Ocean, which soon became a vital link in a trade route between the Orient / East Asia, Eastern Canada, and Europe.[17][18] As of 2014, Port Metro Vancouver is the third-largest port by tonnage in the Americas (recently displacing New York City), 27th in the world,[19] the busiest and largest in Canada, and the most diversified port in North America.[20] While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making tourism its second-largest industry.[21]
Major film production studios in Vancouver and nearby Burnaby have turned Greater Vancouver and nearby areas into one of the largest film production centres in North America,[22][23] earning it the nickname "Hollywood North".[24][25][26]
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Before 1850
2.2 Early growth
2.3 Incorporation
2.4 Twentieth century
3 Geography
3.1 Ecology
3.2 Climate
4 Cityscape
4.1 Urban planning
4.2 Architecture
5 Demographics
6 Economy
7 Government
7.1 Regional government
7.2 Provincial and federal representation
7.3 Policing and crime
7.4 Military
8 Education
9 Arts and culture
9.1 Theatre, dance, film and television
9.1.1 Theatre
9.1.2 Dance
9.1.3 Film
9.1.3.1 Films set in Vancouver
9.1.4 Television shows produced in Vancouver
9.2 Libraries and museums
9.3 Visual art
9.4 Music and nightlife
10 Media
11 Transportation
12 Sports and recreation
12.1 Current professional teams
13 Twin towns – sister cities
14 Sustainability
14.1 Greenest City Initiative
14.2 Zero Waste 2040 Strategy
15 Notable people
16 See also
17 Notes
18 References
19 Further reading
20 External links
Etymology
The city takes its name from George Vancouver, who explored the inner harbour of Burrard Inlet in 1792 and gave various places British names.[27] The family name Vancouver itself originates from the Dutch "Van Coevorden", denoting somebody from the city of Coevorden or Koevern in Dutch Low Saxon, Netherlands. The explorer's ancestors came to England "from Coevorden", which is the origin of the name that eventually became "Vancouver".[28][29]
History
Main article: History of Vancouver
See also: Timeline of Vancouver history
Before 1850
Archaeological records indicate the presence of Aboriginal people in the Vancouver area from 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.[30][31] The city is located in the traditional and presently unceded territories of the Squamish, Musqueam, and Tseil-Waututh (Burrard) peoples of the Coast Salish group.[32] They had villages in various parts of present-day Vancouver, such as Stanley Park, False Creek, Kitsilano, Point Grey and near the mouth of the Fraser River.[31]
Europeans became acquainted with the area of the future Vancouver when José María Narváez of Spain explored the coast of present-day Point Grey and parts of Burrard Inlet in 1791—although one author contends that Francis Drake may have visited the area in 1579.[33]
The explorer and North West Company trader Simon Fraser and his crew became the first-known Europeans to set foot on the site of the present-day city. In 1808, they travelled from the east down the Fraser River, perhaps as far as Point Grey.[34]
Early growth
The Fraser Gold Rush of 1858 brought over 25,000 men, mainly from California, to nearby New Westminster (founded February 14, 1859) on the Fraser River, on their way to the Fraser Canyon, bypassing what would become Vancouver.[35][36][37] Vancouver is among British Columbia's youngest cities;[38] the first European settlement in what is now Vancouver was not until 1862 at McCleery's Farm on the Fraser River, just east of the ancient village of Musqueam in what is now Marpole. A sawmill established at Moodyville (now the City of North Vancouver) in 1863, began the city's long relationship with logging. It was quickly followed by mills owned by Captain Edward Stamp on the south shore of the inlet. Stamp, who had begun logging in the Port Alberni area, first attempted to run a mill at Brockton Point, but difficult currents and reefs forced the relocation of the operation in 1867 to a point near the foot of Dunlevy Street. This mill, known as the Hastings Mill, became the nucleus around which Vancouver formed. The mill's central role in the city waned after the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in the 1880s. It nevertheless remained important to the local economy until it closed in the 1920s.[39]
View of Gastown from Carrall and Water Street in 1886. Gastown was a settlement that quickly became a centre for trade and commerce on Burrard Inlet.
The settlement which came to be called Gastown grew quickly around the original makeshift tavern established by "Gassy" Jack Deighton in 1867 on the edge of the Hastings Mill property.[38][40] In 1870, the colonial government surveyed the settlement and laid out a townsite, renamed "Granville" in honour of the then-British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Granville. This site, with its natural harbour, was selected in 1884[41] as the terminus for the Canadian Pacific Railway, to the disappointment of Port Moody, New Westminster and Victoria, all of which had vied to be the railhead. A railway was among the inducements for British Columbia to join the Confederation in 1871, but the Pacific Scandal and arguments over the use of Chinese labour delayed construction until the 1880s.[42]
Incorporation
The City of Vancouver was incorporated on April 6, 1886, the same year that the first transcontinental train arrived. CPR president William Van Horne arrived in Port Moody to establish the CPR terminus recommended by Henry John Cambie, and gave the city its name in honour of George Vancouver.[38] The Great Vancouver Fire on June 13, 1886, razed the entire city. The Vancouver Fire Department was established that year and the city quickly rebuilt.[39] Vancouver's population grew from a settlement of 1,000 people in 1881 to over 20,000 by the turn of the century and 100,000 by 1911.[43]
The first Vancouver City Council meeting following the Great Vancouver Fire in 1886.
Vancouver merchants outfitted prospectors bound for the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898.[35] One of those merchants, Charles Woodward, had opened the first Woodward's store at Abbott and Cordova Streets in 1892 and, along with Spencer's and the Hudson's Bay department stores, formed the core of the city's retail sector for decades.[44]
The economy of early Vancouver was dominated by large companies such as the CPR, which fuelled economic activity and led to the rapid development of the new city;[45] in fact, the CPR was the main real estate owner and housing developer in the city. While some manufacturing did develop, including the establishment of the British Columbia Sugar Refinery by Benjamin Tingley Rogers in 1890,[46] natural resources became the basis for Vancouver's economy. The resource sector was initially based on logging and later on exports moving through the seaport, where commercial traffic constituted the largest economic sector in Vancouver by the 1930s.[47]
Twentieth century
Plainclothes RCMP officers attack Relief Camp Workers' Union protesters in 1938. Several protests over unemployment occurred in the city during the Great Depression.
The dominance of the economy by big business was accompanied by an often militant labour movement. The first major sympathy strike was in 1903 when railway employees struck against the CPR for union recognition. Labour leader Frank Rogers was killed by CPR police while picketing at the docks, becoming the movement's first martyr in British Columbia.[48] The rise of industrial tensions throughout the province led to Canada's first general strike in 1918, at the Cumberland coal mines on Vancouver Island.[49] Following a lull in the 1920s, the strike wave peaked in 1935 when unemployed men flooded the city to protest conditions in the relief camps run by the military in remote areas throughout the province.[50][51] After two tense months of daily and disruptive protesting, the relief camp strikers decided to take their grievances to the federal government and embarked on the On-to-Ottawa Trek,[51] but their protest was put down by force. The workers were arrested near Mission and interned in work camps for the duration of the Depression.[52]
Downtown celebrations at the end of World War II.
Other social movements, such as the first-wave feminist, moral reform, and temperance movements were also instrumental in Vancouver's development. Mary Ellen Smith, a Vancouver suffragist and prohibitionist, became the first woman elected to a provincial legislature in Canada in 1918.[53] Alcohol prohibition began in the First World War and lasted until 1921, when the provincial government established control over alcohol sales, a practice still in place today.[54] Canada's first drug law came about following an inquiry conducted by the federal Minister of Labour and future Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King. King was sent to investigate damages claims resulting from a riot when the Asiatic Exclusion League led a rampage through Chinatown and Japantown. Two of the claimants were opium manufacturers, and after further investigation, King found that white women were reportedly frequenting opium dens as well as Chinese men. A federal law banning the manufacture, sale, and importation of opium for non-medicinal purposes was soon passed based on these revelations.[55] These riots, and the formation of the Asiatic Exclusion League, also act as signs of a growing fear and mistrust towards the Japanese living in Vancouver and throughout B.C. These fears were exacerbated by the attack on Pearl Harbor leading to the eventual internment or deportation of all Japanese-Canadians living in the city and the province.[56] After the war, these Japanese-Canadian men and women were not allowed to return to cities like Vancouver causing areas, like the aforementioned Japantown, to cease to be ethnically Japanese areas as the communities never revived.[57]
Amalgamation with Point Grey and South Vancouver gave the city its final boundaries not long before it became the third-largest metropolis in the country. As of January 1, 1929, the population of the enlarged Vancouver was 228,193.[58]
Geography
23 official neighbourhoods of Vancouver (local usage varies)
Further information: List of bodies of water in Vancouver and Lower Mainland Ecoregion
Located on the Burrard Peninsula, Vancouver lies between Burrard Inlet to the north and the Fraser River to the south. The Strait of Georgia, to the west, is shielded from the Pacific Ocean by Vancouver Island. The city has an area of 114 km2 (44 sq mi), including both flat and hilly ground, and is in the Pacific Time Zone (UTC−8) and the Pacific Maritime Ecozone.[59] Until the city's naming in 1885, "Vancouver" referred to Vancouver Island, and it remains a common misconception that the city is located on the island.[60][61] The island and the city are both named after Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver (as is the city of Vancouver, Washington in the United States).
Vancouver has one of the largest urban parks in North America, Stanley Park, which covers 404.9 hectares (1,001 acres).[62] The North Shore Mountains dominate the cityscape, and on a clear day, scenic vistas include the snow-capped volcano Mount Baker in the state of Washington to the southeast, Vancouver Island across the Strait of Georgia to the west and southwest, and Bowen Island to the northwest.[63]
Ecology
The vegetation in the Vancouver area was originally temperate rain forest, consisting of conifers with scattered pockets of maple and alder, and large areas of swampland (even in upland areas, due to poor drainage).[64] The conifers were a typical coastal British Columbia mix of Douglas fir, Western red cedar, and Western Hemlock.[65] The area is thought to have had the largest trees of these species on the British Columbia Coast. Only in Elliott Bay, Seattle did the size of trees rival those of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The largest trees in Vancouver's old-growth forest were in the Gastown area, where the first logging occurred, and on the southern slopes of False Creek and English Bay, especially around Jericho Beach. The forest in Stanley Park was logged between the 1860s and 1880s, and evidence of old-fashioned logging techniques such as springboard notches can still be seen there.[66]
Many plants and trees growing throughout Vancouver and the Lower Mainland were imported from other parts of the continent and from points across the Pacific. Examples include the monkey puzzle tree, the Japanese Maple, and various flowering exotics, such as magnolias, azaleas, and rhododendrons. Some species imported from harsher climates in Eastern Canada or Europe have grown to immense sizes. The native Douglas Maple can also attain a tremendous size. Many of the city's streets are lined with flowering varieties of Japanese cherry trees donated from the 1930s onward by the government of Japan. These flower for several weeks in early spring each year, an occasion celebrated by the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. Other streets are lined with flowering chestnut, horse chestnut, and other decorative shade trees.[67]
Climate
Main article: Climate of Vancouver
Vancouver
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
168 71
105 82
114 103
89 136
65 179
54 2012
36 2214
37 2214
51 1911
121 147
189 94
162 61
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion
Vancouver is one of Canada's warmest cities in the winter. Vancouver's climate is temperate by Canadian standards and is classified as oceanic or marine west coast, which under the Köppen climate classification system is classified as Cfb that borders on a warm summer Mediterranean Climate Csb. While during summer months the inland temperatures are significantly higher, Vancouver has the coolest summer average high of all major Canadian metropolitan areas. The summer months are typically dry, with an average of only one in five days during July and August receiving precipitation. In contrast, there is some precipitation during nearly half the days from November through March.[68]
Vancouver is also one of the wettest Canadian cities. However, precipitation varies throughout the metropolitan area. Annual precipitation as measured at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond averages 1,189 mm (46.8 in), compared with 1,588 mm (62.5 in) in the downtown area and 2,044 mm (80.5 in) in North Vancouver.[69][70] The daily maximum averages 22 °C (72 °F) in July and August, with highs rarely reaching 30 °C (86 °F).[71]
The highest temperature ever recorded at the airport was 34.4 °C (93.9 °F) set on July 30, 2009,[72] and the highest temperature ever recorded within the city of Vancouver was 35.0 °C (95.0 °F) occurring first on July 31, 1965,[73] again on August 8, 1981,[74] and finally on May 29, 1983.[75] The coldest temperature ever recorded in the city was −17.8 °C (0 °F) on January 14, 1950[76] and again on December 29, 1968.[77]
On average, snow falls on nine days per year, with three days receiving 5 cm (2.0 in) or more. Average yearly snowfall is 38.1 cm (15.0 in) but typically does not remain on the ground for long.[71]
Winters in Greater Vancouver are the fourth mildest of Canadian cities after nearby Victoria, Nanaimo and Duncan, all on Vancouver Island.[78] Vancouver's growing season averages 237 days, from March 18 until November 10.[71] Vancouver's 1981–2010 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone ranges from 8A to 9A depending on elevation and proximity to water.[79]
Climate data for Vancouver International Airport (Richmond), 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1898–present[a]
Cityscape
Urban planning
Aerial view of Downtown Vancouver. Urban development in Vancouver is characterized by a large residential population living in the city centre with mixed-use developments.
Main article: Vancouverism
As of 2011, Vancouver is the most densely populated city in Canada.[7] Urban planning in Vancouver is characterized by high-rise residential and mixed-use development in urban centres, as an alternative to sprawl.[96] As part of the larger Metro Vancouver region, it is influenced by the policy direction of livability as illustrated in Metro Vancouver's Regional Growth Strategy.
Vancouver has been ranked one of the most livable cities in the world for more than a decade.[12] As of 2010, Vancouver has been ranked as having the fourth-highest quality of living of any city on Earth.[97] In contrast, according to Forbes, Vancouver had the sixth-most overpriced real estate market in the world and was second-highest in North America after Los Angeles in 2007.[98] Vancouver has also been ranked among Canada's most expensive cities in which to live. Sales in February 2016 were 56.3% higher than the 10-year average for the month.[99][100][101] Forbes has also ranked Vancouver as the tenth-cleanest city in the world.[102]
Vancouver's characteristic approach to urban planning originated in the late 1950s, when city planners began to encourage the building of high-rise residential towers in Vancouver's West End,[103] subject to strict requirements for setbacks and open space to protect sight lines and preserve green space. The success of these dense but liveable neighbourhoods led to the redevelopment of urban industrial sites, such as North False Creek and Coal Harbour, beginning in the mid-1980s. The result is a compact urban core that has gained international recognition for its "high amenity and 'livable' development".[104] In 2006, the city launched a planning initiative entitled EcoDensity, with the stated goal of exploring ways in which "density, design, and land use can contribute to environmental sustainability, affordability, and livability".[105]
Vancouver skyline from Stanley Park
Architecture
Main article: Architecture of Vancouver
Robson Square is a civic centre and public square designed by local architect, Arthur Erickson.
The Vancouver Art Gallery is housed downtown in the neoclassical former courthouse built in 1906. The courthouse building was designed by Francis Rattenbury, who also designed the British Columbia Parliament Buildings and the Empress Hotel in Victoria, and the lavishly decorated second Hotel Vancouver.[106] The 556-room Hotel Vancouver, opened in 1939 and the third by that name, is across the street with its copper roof. The Gothic-style Christ Church Cathedral, across from the hotel, opened in 1894 and was declared a heritage building in 1976.
There are several modern buildings in the downtown area, including the Harbour Centre, the Vancouver Law Courts and surrounding plaza known as Robson Square (designed by Arthur Erickson) and the Vancouver Library Square (designed by Moshe Safdie and DA Architects), reminiscent of the Colosseum in Rome, and the recently completed Woodward's building Redevelopment (designed by Henriquez Partners Architects).
The original BC Hydro headquarters building (designed by Ron Thom and Ned Pratt) at Nelson and Burrard Streets is a modernist high-rise, now converted into the Electra condominia.[107] Also notable is the "concrete waffle" of the MacMillan Bloedel building on the north-east corner of the Georgia and Thurlow intersection.
A prominent addition to the city's landscape is the giant tent-frame Canada Place (designed by Zeidler Roberts Partnership Partnership, MCMP & DA Architects), the former Canada Pavilion from the 1986 World Exposition, which includes part of the Convention Centre, the Pan-Pacific Hotel, and a cruise ship terminal. Two modern buildings that define the southern skyline away from the downtown area are City Hall and the Centennial Pavilion of Vancouver General Hospital, both designed by Townley and Matheson in 1936 and 1958, respectively.[108][109]
Completed in 2008, Living Shangri-La is the tallest building in Vancouver.
A collection of Edwardian buildings in the city's old downtown core were, in their day, the tallest commercial buildings in the British Empire. These were, in succession, the Carter-Cotton Building (former home of The Vancouver Province newspaper), the Dominion Building (1907) and the Sun Tower (1911), the former two at Cambie and Hastings Streets and the latter at Beatty and Pender Streets. The Sun Tower's cupola was finally exceeded as the Empire's tallest commercial building by the elaborate Art Deco Marine Building in the 1920s.[110] The Marine Building is known for its elaborate ceramic tile facings and brass-gilt doors and elevators, which make it a favourite location for movie shoots.[111] Topping the list of tallest buildings in Vancouver is Living Shangri-La at 201 metres (659 feet)[112] and 62 storeys. The second-tallest building in Vancouver is the Trump International Hotel and Tower at 188 metres (617 feet), followed by the Private Residences at Hotel Georgia, at 156 metres (512 feet). The fourth-tallest is One Wall Centre at 150 metres (490 feet)[113] and 48 storeys, followed closely by the Shaw Tower at 149 metres (489 feet).[113]
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Vancouver
Ambox current red.svg
This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (September 2018)
Vancouver[citation needed]
Year Pop. ±%
1891 13,709 —
1901 26,133 +90.6%
1911 100,401 +284.2%
1921 117,217 +16.7%
1931 246,593 +110.4%
1941 275,353 +11.7%
1951 344,833 +25.2%
1956 365,844 +6.1%
1961 384,522 +5.1%
1966 410,375 +6.7%
1971 426,256 +3.9%
1976 410,188 −3.8%
1981 414,281 +1.0%
1986 431,147 +4.1%
1991 471,644 +9.4%
1996 514,008 +9.0%
2001 545,671 +6.2%
2006 578,041 +5.9%
2011 603,502 +4.4%
2016 631,486 +4.6%
The 2016 census recorded more than 631,000 people in the city, making it the eighth-largest among Canadian cities. More specifically, Vancouver is the fourth-largest in Western Canada after Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.[114] The metropolitan area referred to as Greater Vancouver, with more than 2.4 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country[114] and the most populous in Western Canada. The larger Lower Mainland-Southwest economic region (which includes also the Squamish-Lillooet, Fraser Valley, and Sunshine Coast Regional District) has a population of over 2.93 million.[115] With 5,249 people per square km (13,590 per sq mi), the City of Vancouver is the most densely populated of Canadian municipalities having more than 5,000 residents.[7] Approximately 74 percent of the people living in Metro Vancouver live outside the city.
Vancouver has been called a "city of neighbourhoods". Each neighbourhood in Vancouver has a distinct character and ethnic mix.[116] People of English, Scottish, and Irish origins were historically the largest ethnic groups in the city,[117] and elements of British society and culture are still visible in some areas, particularly South Granville and Kerrisdale. Germans are the next-largest European ethnic group in Vancouver and were a leading force in the city's society and economy until the rise of anti-German sentiment with the outbreak of World War I in 1914.[18] Today the Chinese are the largest visible ethnic group in the city, with a diverse Chinese-speaking community, and several dialects, including Cantonese and Mandarin.[39][118] Neighbourhoods with distinct ethnic commercial areas include the Chinatown, Punjabi Market, Little Italy, Greektown, and (formerly) Japantown.
Vancouver's Chinatown is Canada's largest Chinatown. The city holds one of the largest concentration of ethnic Chinese residents in North America.
Since the 1980s, immigration has drastically increased, making the city more ethnically and linguistically diverse; 53% do not speak English as their first language.[119] Almost 30% of the city's inhabitants are of Chinese heritage.[10] In the 1980s, an influx of immigrants from Hong Kong in anticipation of the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom to China, combined with an increase in immigrants from mainland China and previous immigrants from Taiwan, established in Vancouver one of the highest concentrations of ethnic Chinese residents in North America.[120] This arrival of Asian immigrants continued a tradition of immigration from around the world that had established Vancouver as the second-most popular destination for immigrants in Canada after Toronto.[121] Other significant Asian ethnic groups in Vancouver are South and West Asian (7.4%), Filipino (5.9%), Japanese (1.7%), Korean (1.5%), as well as sizeable communities of Vietnamese, Indonesians, and Cambodians.[122] Despite increases in Latin American immigration to Vancouver in the 1980s and '90s, recent immigration has been comparatively low, and African immigration has been similarly stagnant (3.6% and 3.3% of total immigrant population, respectively).[123] The black population of Vancouver is rather scant in comparison to other Canadian major cities, making up 0.9% of the city. Hogan's Alley, a small area adjacent to Chinatown, just off Main Street at Prior, was once home to a significant black community. The neighbourhood of Strathcona was the core of the city's Jewish community.[124][125] In 1981, less than 7% of the population belonged to a visible minority group.[126] By 2016, this proportion had grown to 57%.[127]
Prior to the Hong Kong diaspora of the 1990s, the largest non-British ethnic groups in the city were Irish and German, followed by Scandinavian, Italian, Ukrainian and Chinese. From the mid-1950s until the 1980s, many Portuguese immigrants came to Vancouver and the city had the third-largest Portuguese population in Canada in 2001.[128] Eastern Europeans, including Russians, Czechs, Poles, Romanians and Hungarians began immigrating after the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe after World War II.[18] Greek immigration increased in the late 1960s and early '70s, with most settling in the Kitsilano area. Vancouver also has a significant aboriginal community of about 11,000 people.[129]
Vancouver has a large LGBT community[130] focused on the West End neighbourhood lining a certain stretch of Davie Street, recently officially designated as Davie Village,[131] though the gay community is omnipresent throughout West End and Yaletown areas. Vancouver is host to one of the country's largest annual LGBT pride parades.[132]
Pie chart of the ethnic breakdown of Vancouver from the 2016 census.
European (48.4%)
Chinese (27%)
South Asian (6%)
Filipino (5.9%)
Southeast Asian (2.8%)
Aboriginal (2.2%)
Latin American (1.8%)
Japanese (1.7%)
Korean (1.5%)
West Asian (1.4%)
Black (1%)
Arab (0.5%)
Multiple visible minorities (1.8%)
Visible minority not included elsewhere (0.2%)
Canada 2016 Census Population % of Total Population
Visible minority group
Source:[133] Chinese 167,180 27%
South Asian 37,130 6%
Black 6,345 1%
Filipino 36,460 5.9%
Latin American 10,935 1.8%
Arab 2,965 0.5%
Southeast Asian 17,120 2.8%
West Asian 8,630 1.4%
Korean 9,360 1.5%
Japanese 10,315 1.7%
Other visible minority 1,500 0.2%
Mixed visible minority 11,070 1.8%
Total visible minority population 319,010 57%
Aboriginal group
Source:[134] First Nations 8,930 1.4%
Métis 4,405 0.7%
Inuit 105 0%
Total Aboriginal population 13,905 2.2%
European Canadian
Source:[135] 297,700 48.2%
Total population 618,210 100%
Economy
Main article: Economy of Vancouver
The Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada, and the third largest port in the Americas (by tonnage).
With its location on the Pacific Rim and at the western terminus of Canada's transcontinental highway and rail routes, Vancouver is one of the nation's largest industrial centres.[63] Port Metro Vancouver, Canada's largest and most diversified port, does more than C$172 billion in trade with over 160 different trading economies annually. Port activities generate $9.7 billion in gross domestic product and $20.3 billion in economic output.[136] Vancouver is also the headquarters of forest product and mining companies. In recent years, Vancouver has become a centre for software development, biotechnology, aerospace, video game development, animation studios and television production and film industry.[137] Vancouver hosts approximately 65 movies and 55 TV series annually and is the 3rd largest film & TV production centre in North America, supporting 20,000 jobs.[138] The city's strong focus on lifestyle and health culture also makes it a hub for many lifestyle brands with Lululemon, Arc'teryx, Kit and Ace, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Herschel Supply Co., Aritzia, Reigning Champ, and Nature's Path Foods all founded and headquartered in Vancouver. Vancouver was also the birthplace of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?.
Stanley Park is a 405-hectare (1,001-acre) public park, and major tourist destination, that borders downtown Vancouver.
Vancouver's scenic location makes it a major tourist destination. Over 10.3 million people visited Vancouver in 2017. Annually, tourism contributes approximately $4.8 billion to the Metro Vancouver economy and supports over 70,000 jobs.[139] Many visit to see the city's gardens, Stanley Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, VanDusen Botanical Garden and the mountains, ocean, forest and parklands which surround the city. Each year over a million people pass through Vancouver on cruise ship vacations, often bound for Alaska.[137]
Vancouver is the most stressed city in the spectrum of affordability of housing in Canada.[140] In 2012, Vancouver was ranked by Demographia as the second-most unaffordable city in the world, rated as even more severely unaffordable in 2012 than in 2011.[141][142][143][144] The city has adopted various strategies to reduce housing costs, including cooperative housing, legalized secondary suites, increased density and smart growth. As of April 2010, the average two-level home in Vancouver sold for a record high of $987,500, compared with the Canadian average of $365,141.[145] A factor explaining the high property prices may be policies by the Canadian government which permit snow washing, which allows foreigners to buy property in Canada while shielding their identities from tax authorities, making real estate transactions an effective way to conduct money laundering.[146]
Since the 1990s, development of high-rise condominia in the downtown peninsula has been financed, in part, by an inflow of capital from Hong Kong immigrants due to the former colony's 1997 handover to China.[147] Such development has clustered in the Yaletown and Coal Harbour districts and around many of the SkyTrain stations to the east of the downtown.[137] The city's selection to co-host the 2010 Winter Olympics was also a major influence on economic development. Concern was expressed that Vancouver's increasing homelessness problem would be exacerbated by