Some questions for Vancouver locals....

[jennaja]

Vancouver is my absolute favorite city on the planet.    I'm sure there are changes that have occurred since the pandemic - nothing is the same as it was in the "before times".  My elderly mother and I are travelling together.  Are there areas that locals would suggest that we avoid?  We used to feel very comfortable exploring the downtown area, as well as North Vancouver and Horseshoe Bay.  Due to poor flight times, we won't have much time for exploring before our cruise, but want to make the most of the time we have.  We would also like to find a nice place for dinner the night before our cruise.  We're staying at the Auberge.

Also, what time does it normally get dark in early-to-mid May?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions!

[Milhouse]

Vancouver, like many other cities, has seemingly had its social problems become more pronouce since the start of the pandemic.  Issues around stanger violence, degration of the downtown core, homelessness, etc are regular topics on the news, are election issues, etc.  

 

That said, both the missus and I still regularly go downtown for walks, eat lunch/dinner, attend an event, etc. even late into the night in some areas.  Doesn't hurt to travel in a pair.  There's really only one area we'll avoid: Hastings Street roughly between Abbott and Gore because the mayhem there is just too concentrated. 

 

However, there are a few areas tourists may go/stumble upon, that we visit (due to businesses we frequent) but kind of try to stay alert.  Here's a bit of a list:

Pender Street in Chinatown.  There are a few places here we'll go to get snacks or takeout.  There are also a few couple of interesting tourist attractions here.  It's just one block off of Hastings Street so you get a bit of spillover onto Pender.

Pender Street between Richards and Seymour can feel a bit sketchy because of the social housing in the area.  

South end of Granville Street in downtown Vancouver (roughly between Drake and Helmcken).  We'll occasionally walk through here during our walks and attend some events along Granville Street.  There's some social housing here; boarded up failed businesses.  Some businesses complain about brazen theft. 

The middle section of Granville Street (roughly between Helmcken and Robson).  Granville Street is closed off to most traffic and turns into "an entertainment district" during the weekend evenings with the bars, lounges, and clubs.  On the rare occasion, I'll meet up with friends to have drinks.  There can be a lot of intoxicated people on the streets and that occasionally leads to trouble.  There's typically a visible police presence though to keep the peace.  During the day it's pretty normal and there's enough pedestrian traffic.  

The north end of Granville Street (roughly from Georgia to Pender) can feel a bit sketchy.  The dollar store seems to be a magnet for shoplifters.  

Gastown.  There are a number of eateries here we visit.  And of course the neighbourhood is a tourist attraction along with the Steamclock.  Again, you get a bit of spillover from Hastings Street and along with some social housing.  There's typically enough pedestrian traffic to feel of safety in numbers.  

 

There are other areas (like CRAB park, Oppenheimer park, etc) to be aware of but I don't think the typical tourist would normally end up in those areas.  

 

Sunrise/Sunset in May:  https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/vancouver?month=5&year=2023

 

[jennaja]

Thank you for your thoughtful and helpful answer!  We were hoping to visit Gastown - sounds like that's best done during the daylight hours.

[quillwercruisers]

18 hours ago, Milhouse said:

 

Sunrise/Sunset in May:  https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/vancouver?month=5&year=2023

 

This is awesome. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[Milhouse]

Apologies, I don't want to scare people off from going to Gastown in the evening and maybe grabbing some dinner.  As I mentioned, we still feel comfortable enough to go to Gastown for a meal in the evening whenever we feel like hitting up one of the places we like going to.    

There's going to be enough pedestrian traffic going to the restaurants and pubs in the area, particularly on the weekends, and there always seems a crowd by the steamclock, even in the evening.  

[psuboater]

43 minutes ago, Milhouse said:

Apologies, I don't want to scare people off from going to Gastown in the evening and maybe grabbing some dinner.  As I mentioned, we still feel comfortable enough to go to Gastown for a meal in the evening whenever we feel like hitting up one of the places we like going to.    

There's going to be enough pedestrian traffic going to the restaurants and pubs in the area, particularly on the weekends, and there always seems a crowd by the steamclock, even in the evening.  

Agreed, we just did a girls trip there and went to Gastown both nights while it was dark. We didn't feel unsafe at all and we stayed out until 10-11pm. I feel much safer in Vancouver than I do Seattle, and I don't feel that unsafe in Seattle to begin with. 

[martincath]

+1 for all of the above locations - statistically, the average American is still less likely to be harmed in our worst neighbourhoods than at home, but the perception of danger has definitely ramped up locally even if the actual increases in crime rates are much smaller. Since just about everyone everywhere seems just more on edge, less patient, basically suffering emotional burnout, like Milhouse I've been erring on the side of 'maybe don't stay in that part of town' these days though, which sometimes comes across as a bit too apocalyptic!

 

Prior visitors - you'll notice tents on sidewalks, not really a thing in TheBeforeTimes, but realistically the actual tragedies happening locally are folks dying of drug overdoses in huge numbers rather than tourists being targeted for any criminal activity. New visitors used to gritty urban environments will be fine - just be sensible, walk away if any odd interaction happens - but if you're from a gated community, quiet suburb, small town etc. you might be genuinely disturbed by some of the sights. Unfortunately Gastown, the biggest tourist 'hood, overlaps into the seriously poor part of town - but since the Gassy Jack statue got pulled down there's no more real tourist enticement further down Water Street than the Steam clock.

 

Maybe consider ordering an Uber/calling a cab from inside the resto if you are dining late in Gastown or Chinatown and you were in any way uncomfortable on the way?

[gottagoacruzn]

Hey urbantrekker or martincath, whenever coming in for a cruise, have noticed that across the bay from Vancouver place, there's a slight yellow hill which looks like the egg mcmuffin recycle plant. What is it? Inquiring minds would like to know.

[Urban trekker]

It's potash getting ready to be shipped from Vancouver Wharves to somewhere in Asia.

 

[xlxo]

It's a Sulphur pile to be shipped internationally.

https://www.metafilter.com/122214/Downtown-Vancouvers-Mountain-of-Sulfer

Produced as a byproduct at Suncor's tar sands facilities in Alberta, sulfer is transported by rail to a 25 meter high, 160 000 tonne outdoor stockpile at the North Vancouver Sulphur Works. From there it is shipped to markets in Asia for use in manufacturing fertilizer. In the past ten years the price of sulfur has skyrocketed from $20/tonne to over $650/tonne.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwfzlvH31cg

[martincath]

14 hours ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Hey urbantrekker or martincath, whenever coming in for a cruise, have noticed that across the bay from Vancouver place, there's a slight yellow hill which looks like the egg mcmuffin recycle plant. What is it? Inquiring minds would like to know.

What xlxo said - by far the least-scandalous tar sands export from land-locked Alberta that passes through BC, sulfur is not water-soluble so it doesn't even need covered (and in its pure form doesn't even smell sulfurous!) If you ever watched Highlander the series, the pile was used as the site of one of many sword duels between immortals - if it's safe enough for hollywood types to roll around in, it's very safe indeed and certainly adds a pop of colour to the harbour area!

[gottagoacruzn]

Ok thanks.

[Urban trekker]

I wasn't sure if it was sulphur or potash so I took a guess - so thanks everyone for posting the correct information.

 

[xlxo]

On 5/12/2023 at 7:43 PM, Urban trekker said:

wasn't sure if it was sulphur or potash so I took a guess

Sulphur is bright yellow.  Potash is brown like oatmeal.

[Sigyn]

I made dinner reservations at The Mackenzie Room at 415 Powell St. Is this a safe enough area in the evenings? Looks like it's just across from Oppenheimer Park. 

[d9704011]

13 minutes ago, njsmom said:

I made dinner reservations at The Mackenzie Room at 415 Powell St. Is this a safe enough area in the evenings? Looks like it's just across from Oppenheimer Park. 

It's not an area I'd walk around in.

[Coquitlam Cruiser]

Definitely not a safe area

[xlxo]

You want to taxi out when your meal is over.

 

If you need Uber/Lyft, have the restaurant make the call.  It's not surprising to find ridesharing drivers cancelling pickups when they realize where you want to be picked up.

[Milhouse]

17 hours ago, njsmom said:

I made dinner reservations at The Mackenzie Room at 415 Powell St. Is this a safe enough area in the evenings? Looks like it's just across from Oppenheimer Park. 

I regularly (twice a week+) drive through Powell Street/along Oppenheimer Park when heading to drop off and pick up the missus at work downtown and occasionally on the way downtown to spend an evening. 

 

The area is kind of sketchy with a lot of social housing and social services but there are kind of better and worse pockets in the area  Eg. I'd rather not park my car on Powell by Oppenheimer or walk through the area if I didn't have to.  But if I had reservations to a restaurant, I'd maybe park the car a little off and walk over.  I feel the area north by Railtown Cafe and Belgard Kitchen which is only a block or two away is a little less sketchy and I have parked by them during the day and early evening to visit these places.  There are offices along Railway Street so you kind of have some office workers starting to cross over into the area but more so east of Oppenheimer.  Personally, I do not feel unsafe but it's not pleasant. 

 

On the drive to pick up the missus around 5pm today, there were people hanging out, with a few passed out behind the backstop on the corner of Oppenheimer directly across from the Mackenzie Room.  Not bothering anyone though.  One the way back, on the south side of Oppenheimer opposite of that backstop, there were a couple of fire trucks attending to something at one of the buildings.  And regularly, I have to watch for zoned out jaywalkers that don't care about or are oblivious to the traffic lights.  

 

As a local, I'd walk through the area if I had to but for a tourist, I'd heavily lean towards taking a taxi/uber to and from rather than walking there.  Apart from a hip restaurant here and there, there isn't much open in the evening nor a great street vibe along Powell.  But it's not like the area is in the middle of a turf war.  There's just a lot of impoverished people, some/many unfortunately with mental health challenges. How comfortable would you feel with a random interaction?   

[martincath]

On 5/15/2023 at 3:55 AM, njsmom said:

I made dinner reservations at The Mackenzie Room at 415 Powell St. Is this a safe enough area in the evenings? Looks like it's just across from Oppenheimer Park. 

My answer would be basically the same as @Milhouses last paragraph - with only the extra point that this resto is definitely worth visiting despite the less-than-salubrious surroundings! Oppenheimer Park has also looked a LOT worse than it does these days - it was a full-on tent city for until just into the start of the pandemic, with even more 'random zombie wanders into traffic' events during that time.

[gottagoacruzn]

Hi guys, several weeks ago, on youtube, had seen a video about the seawalk, an saw on there about a house on stilts, anybody know what that is? Inquiring minds would like to know!!

[martincath]

29 minutes ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Hi guys, several weeks ago, on youtube, had seen a video about the seawalk, an saw on there about a house on stilts, anybody know what that is? Inquiring minds would like to know!!

Does this Streetview capture look like what you remember? If so, it's 'Lightshed' - one of our many pieces of public art.

[gottagoacruzn]

Bingo!! Any other of the many pieces of public art thats nearby?

[gottagoacruzn]

1 minute ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Bingo!! Any other of the many pieces of public art thats nearby?

Forgot manners, thanks!!😶

[Milhouse]

Here's a bit of a map and inventory:  

https://covapp.vancouver.ca/PublicArtRegistry/ArtworkMap.aspx

 

A part of a regular circuit I do along the seawall in Coal Harbour from Denman Street to Canada Place passes a number of art pieces and monuments along the walk.  A couple of my favourites are the Digital Orca in Jack Poole plaza and The Drop (I prefer to call it the pin) behind the Convention Centre West across from Canada Place.  There's also a somewhat recently installed kind of a windcharm piece (for lack of a better description) I really like not yet updated on the above map located along the seawall below Jack Poole Plaza on the corner where you get a great view of the seaplanes.   

 

Side note about the Lightshed:  If you walk by it in the evening, the windows intermittently light up.