Some questions for Vancouver locals....

[martincath]

20 hours ago, gottagoacruzn said:

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

Among the listings on the link is a general map of everything in the database (barring the handful of most recent pieces; sometimes when we have a flurry of many new additions - like when Bienniale happens every second year - the backlog can take a while to get around to entering by city staff...)

 

You can either use the map to just look at the art within the area you have zoomed to, there's a slider for distance, or else click 'show everything' - and since the underlying tech is Googlemaps I'm sure you'll have no difficulty navigating it. Note that not ALL outside art is listed - everything bought by/gifted to the City, or by Developers under the program that forces them to buy and display artworks to be allowed to build big boring towers, are listed but only the private works deemed most important to the cultural landscape get added.

 

So depending on your tastes, there may be a few or many unlisted artworks around that you like - for example, Muralfest has only been running a few years so even though by definition everything produced under that banner is public art, it's not part of the standard city program so there's a completely separate database for all of those. The bulk of them are in Mount Pleasant, quite easily accessible from the core, but with fewer available large expanses of wall by necessity it has expanded to more distant parts of the city too - the easiest way to see them is installing the free app.

 

The city also has a few suggested 'art walks' through areas particularly dense in outdoor artwork, and various links to other artwork listings on this page.

[martincath]

16 hours ago, Milhouse said:

Here's a bit of a map and inventory:  

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

Sorry M, I reposted the exact same link as you already posted - didn't notice your post at bottom of prior page when I followed link from email about GGCs follow-up Q... and now too late to edit my earlier reply!

[psalm104]

Thought I'd jump in here to get some more info from the Vancouver locals.😊 I will be in Vancouver in September, flying in the day before a cruise (NCL), and my family and I would like to see some of the old Expo 86 sites (the only time we've all been to Vancouver was a beloved trip to the Expo and we'd like to see where some of our memories took place).

 

Where would be the best place to get a view of the old main Expo site? We are staying at Hampton Inn Downtown and either taking a taxi or a private van from the airport to the hotel. Do you think we could have the driver drive in a route that would allow us to see the old sites? In other words, does the driving path from the airport to the Hampton go through/near the Expo area?

 

We are landing at 3:45pm, and I'm not sure how long it will take to get through customs and out of the airport. I'd like to see the Expo 86 stuff that day, but don't want it to be dark when we see it. Do you think that will be possible? Two sites I looked at said the sunset would be around 7pm in September.

 

Any other info/insights/tips? Thanks in advance!

 

(Note: some members of our family have mobility issues, so easy access is key to whatever we do.)

[Milhouse]

7 hours ago, martincath said:

Sorry M, I reposted the exact same link as you already posted

🤷‍♂️  No big deal. 🤷‍♂️

Doing a mural walk would be kind of interesting.  We haven't done a circuit specific to the mural festival but have come across interesting murals all over the place.  

 

3 hours ago, psalm104 said:

Where would be the best place to get a view of the old main Expo site?

I loved Expo86.  I wish I was a bit older at the time so that I could have gotten a season pass and hang out there all the time instead of just the handful of visits I made with the family.  

 

Unfortunately, there's only a handful of functional buildings/infrastructure still remaining with a lot of the land developed with high rises and some greenspace.  The remaining pieces that come to mind are:

The "silver golf ball"/Expo Centre which had the Omnimax theatre is now Science World.  

The Plaza of Nations and nearby buildings are still there but it's not in great shape.  The Plaza of Nations stage and canopy/roof were torn down after letting it go to disrepair.  The BC Pavillion is now empty I think but most recently housed the Edgewater Casino which moved to new facilities next door by BC Place and is now Parq Casino with a JW Marriott.  The buildings that housed the nightclubs are still there but I'm not sure if they are being used.  

The Roundhouse building is now a community centre.  

Off the main site, Canada Place is still Canada Place and serves as convention centre space, Port of Vancouver office space, and cruise port of course.  BC Place stadium had its air sported roof replaced by a retractable roof.  

 

The best view of the old Expo grounds IMO, is to walk along the seawall as it's a really nice and easy path between the Roundhouse Community Centre to Science World.  Barring that because of some mobility issues that you mention, taking the Aquabus or False Creek Ferries for a view from the water might be an nice option.  

 

However, specific to taking a taxi/van from the airport to the Hampton Inn, (there are many routes but) I would probably have the driver:

• Head into downtown via Granville Street and take the exit off the Granville Street Bridge that leads you onto Pacific Boulevard eastbound
• Hang a right south onto Davie Street.  That will take you by the Roundhouse Community Centre.  
• At the end of Davie Street, go around the roundabout and head east along Marina Crescent.  This will get you a view of the water but a lot of this land has been developed.
• As you approach the underside of the Cambie Street Bridge, follow the curve and hand a right back onto Pacific Boulevard (which is now one way) and continue heading east.  This will take you past the new Parq Casino/JW Marriot, BC Place, and the Plaza of Nations.  
• As you continue east along Pacific Boulevard and staying in the right lanes, the street will eventually curve south and turn into Quebec Street.  This will take you past Science World.  
• As you approach Science World, hand a left east onto Terminal.  After a block, hang a left north, onto Main Street (as you start to double back towards the Hampton Inn).  
• Heading north along Main Street for a few blocks, hang a left west onto the entrance for the Dunsmuir Viaduct.  This will get you into downtown and give you a slightly obstructed elevated look of the old Expo grounds.  (It's obstructed from the Georgia Viaduct going in the opposite direction.)  
• After you cross the viaduct, hang a left southwest'ish onto Beatty Street.  That should get you to the Hampton Inn after a few blocks.  

 

Other options is to get a view from above by heading north across the Cambie Street bridge and/or heading east across the Georgia Viaduct (which will likely require some extra backtracking to get back to the Hampton Inn).  

[xlxo]

Great list Milhouse...  I'll add...

• some of the pavilions were repurposed to River Road in Delta
• the McBarge has been moved around and can now found on the Fraser up river.
• https://heritagevancouver.org/top10-watch-list/2019-top10-watch-list/8-legacy-of-expo-86/
• https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/what-happened-expo-86-exhibits-photos

 

For those that are not familiar or don't remember Expo '86...

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxDeBW5erjw
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqrlo6AHvOI

Edited May 19, 2023 by xlxo

[psalm104]

Wow! Thank you both for taking the time to respond with so much helpful and fun information! You've given me sooooo much to think about. I'll probably be back with more questions once I process all your info. So fun!!!😍

[jabcruiser]

Have been following and wondering what info you might provide about West End area. Will be at Time Square Suites for two nights before cruise.  Don't arrive until late Friday so really just Saturday to explore.  Basically just plan on wondering around Stanley Park and around the area.  Any suggestions for restaurants in this area.  Not looking for fine dining and DH does not do Asian.  Saw a mexican place close by but wondering about Mexican in Vancouver??  Assume this area is safe in evening??

Any info appreciated.

Thx,

Jane

[dawnvip]

3 hours ago, jabcruiser said:

Have been following and wondering what info you might provide about West End area. Will be at Time Square Suites for two nights before cruise.  Don't arrive until late Friday so really just Saturday to explore.  Basically just plan on wondering around Stanley Park and around the area.  Any suggestions for restaurants in this area.  Not looking for fine dining and DH does not do Asian.  Saw a mexican place close by but wondering about Mexican in Vancouver??  Assume this area is safe in evening??

Any info appreciated.

Thx,

Jane

The west end is a pretty safe area of Vancouver. Same sensible precautions as any large city and you will be fine. 

There are a ton of restaurants along Denman street, and it is a nice area to walk if the weather is good. I'm not sure about mexican, but there is a great spanish tapas place!

[gottagoacruzn]

On 5/17/2023 at 5:23 PM, martincath said:

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

Hey martincath, where on the seawalk is Lightshed located? Will be stayin at the Westin.

[martincath]

20 minutes ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Hey martincath, where on the seawalk is Lightshed located? Will be stayin at the Westin.

If you clicked the link you quoted, you'd literally see the Westin on-screen - it's the stubby tower slightly left of Lightshed! Barely 500m walking, maybe 400m as the crow flies; you might actually be able to see it from the Westin depending on your room floor and orientation - at street level the various trees, and Carderos block the view until you get a bit further along the Seawall, and depending on whether any Megayachts are docked it might still be tricky to see as you walk, but it's a very short wander to get up close & personal with.

 

The Plain English directions are to walk out of the hotel onto the Seawall, head east toward Canada Place/away from the park, and then just keep following the path around to the left then stop at the sharp right turn - that's the corner it sits on.

[gottagoacruzn]

Hey thanks, saw it!!! Remembered my manners this time. 

[martincath]

On 5/18/2023 at 8:17 PM, psalm104 said:

...We are staying at Hampton Inn Downtown and either taking a taxi or a private van from the airport to the hotel. Do you think we could have the driver drive in a route that would allow us to see the old sites?

Very thorough answers already - only two additions to make. First is that while a private van booking should be quite flexible (there's a minimum cost of any such booking, based on 1 hour minimum rental time, so unless traffic is a nightmare you should be able to deviate per Milhouse's suggested route) but riding in taxis on the Fixed Fares from YVR you give up the right to dictate a route - so unless you want a metered ride it would be best to just get to the hotel then go pootling around on foot.

 

Second is that while the Sun Yat-Sen garden was not part of China's contribution to Expo '86 directly (it opened in 1980) it was by all accounts heavily leveraged during Expo - much encouragement at the China pavilion to go see the garden, so you might remember having done so on your visit (and even if you didn't, it's very close to the remaining fragments of Expo buildings around the Seawall). If you walk into or out of Sun Yat-Sen through the zodiac courtyard, you'll find that new metal copy of the '86 pavilion gate on the sidewalk of Pender' it's referenced in one of the articles linked above by xlxo but not in relation to the Garden.

On 5/20/2023 at 3:18 PM, jabcruiser said:

 Not looking for fine dining and DH does not do Asian.  Saw a mexican place close by but wondering about Mexican in Vancouver?? 

There's basically no good Mexican food in Vancouver - even random roadside Florida Mexican restos are better quality and a heckuvalot better value than anything on offer here! We do have some great tacos - but they are MAD pricey for anyone from the US in general, and if you're used to visiting Mexico they will appear obscenely overpriced! Every now and again we get a genuinely good, authentic, regional Mexican something opening... which dies within a year or two because anyone used to the cuisine objects to paying the kind of prices charged here for imported ingredients! I'd also avoid anything that pretends to be BBQ - while Florida may not have the rep of Kansas or Carolina or Texas, if you're used to decent pit BBQs like Sonnys then we have absolutely nothing that comes even close - although the 'least bad' local Q option is probably Buckstop on Denman, easy walk from your hotel if you really want to risk it!

 

I'd definitely second the Tapas suggestion (I'massuming Dawn meant Espana); Denman in general is a great street for Not Fancy But Pretty Good dining, with vanishingly few bad options, so a random 'wander and smell the smells and read the menus' evening goes pretty well here! Personally I'd suggest that you drag DH to Kingyo, despite it being Asian, because it's a stellar example of an Izakaya (or 'Japanese Tapas Pub') the offers a wide variety of food that while in theory Asian, includes pretty much staple Western Pub Grub like sausages, pork chops and chicken wings! Served up in either tiny nibble plates or big share plates it's easy to satisfy a wide palate so group dining, even for picky people, and maybe if DH tries a wee sample off the other plates he might also find there are some Asian foods he really enjoys - it's a heckuva wide category to not like ANY of, China alone has at least eight different regional cuisines. I dragged my dad to one of these on his first visit to Vancouver and he is the most boring, meat-and-two-veg (preferably boiled enough that corn, beans, and potatoes all turn out the same shade of pale beige) diner ever; I just ordered for him and he was very happy with his 'regular pub food' and a pitcher of lager while we all ate 'that weird foreign muck' !!!! 😉

Edited May 22, 2023 by martincath

[gottagoacruzn]

Oh, forgot to ask, is it ok to ride a bicycle, on the pier around canada place? Thanks.

[gottagoacruzn]

Just now, gottagoacruzn said:

Oh, forgot to ask, is it ok to ride a bicycle, on the pier around canada place? Thanks.

Megayachts huh? Wow, gonna be hob nobbin with the wealthy!!

[jabcruiser]

9 hours ago, martincath said:

Very thorough answers already - only two additions to make. First is that while a private van booking should be quite flexible (there's a minimum cost of any such booking, based on 1 hour minimum rental time, so unless traffic is a nightmare you should be able to deviate per Milhouse's suggested route) but riding in taxis on the Fixed Fares from YVR you give up the right to dictate a route - so unless you want a metered ride it would be best to just get to the hotel then go pootling around on foot.

 

Second is that while the Sun Yat-Sen garden was not part of China's contribution to Expo '86 directly (it opened in 1980) it was by all accounts heavily leveraged during Expo - much encouragement at the China pavilion to go see the garden, so you might remember having done so on your visit (and even if you didn't, it's very close to the remaining fragments of Expo buildings around the Seawall). If you walk into or out of Sun Yat-Sen through the zodiac courtyard, you'll find that new metal copy of the '86 pavilion gate on the sidewalk of Pender' it's referenced in one of the articles linked above by xlxo but not in relation to the Garden.

There's basically no good Mexican food in Vancouver - even random roadside Florida Mexican restos are better quality and a heckuvalot better value than anything on offer here! We do have some great tacos - but they are MAD pricey for anyone from the US in general, and if you're used to visiting Mexico they will appear obscenely overpriced! Every now and again we get a genuinely good, authentic, regional Mexican something opening... which dies within a year or two because anyone used to the cuisine objects to paying the kind of prices charged here for imported ingredients! I'd also avoid anything that pretends to be BBQ - while Florida may not have the rep of Kansas or Carolina or Texas, if you're used to decent pit BBQs like Sonnys then we have absolutely nothing that comes even close - although the 'least bad' local Q option is probably Buckstop on Denman, easy walk from your hotel if you really want to risk it!

 

I'd definitely second the Tapas suggestion (I'massuming Dawn meant Espana); Denman in general is a great street for Not Fancy But Pretty Good dining, with vanishingly few bad options, so a random 'wander and smell the smells and read the menus' evening goes pretty well here! Personally I'd suggest that you drag DH to Kingyo, despite it being Asian, because it's a stellar example of an Izakaya (or 'Japanese Tapas Pub') the offers a wide variety of food that while in theory Asian, includes pretty much staple Western Pub Grub like sausages, pork chops and chicken wings! Served up in either tiny nibble plates or big share plates it's easy to satisfy a wide palate so group dining, even for picky people, and maybe if DH tries a wee sample off the other plates he might also find there are some Asian foods he really enjoys - it's a heckuva wide category to not like ANY of, China alone has at least eight different regional cuisines. I dragged my dad to one of these on his first visit to Vancouver and he is the most boring, meat-and-two-veg (preferably boiled enough that corn, beans, and potatoes all turn out the same shade of pale beige) diner ever; I just ordered for him and he was very happy with his 'regular pub food' and a pitcher of lager while we all ate 'that weird foreign muck' !!!! 😉

Thanks so much for the info.  Your dad sounds exactly like DH. Sounds like Kingyo could work. We will wander around and find something no doubt.

Jane

[psalm104]

martincath Thank you so much for responding and adding your tips and insights!😊

[gottagoacruzn]

Hey guys, near stanley park, who are those bronze statues, of those 10 funny little men in a circle?

[martincath]

1 hour ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Hey guys, near stanley park, who are those bronze statues, of those 10 funny little men in a circle?

If they're way bigger than life size, look like they're laughing, and you can also see some palm trees around then it's the installation A-maze-ing Laughter (not modeled accurately on a real person) in English Bay. If you actually load the map already linked above on your mobile device, it will immediately geolocate to where you are... and show the nearby art so you can learn all about it!

[d9704011]

1 hour ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Hey guys, near stanley park, who are those bronze statues, of those 10 funny little men in a circle?

Further to martincath's response...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-maze-ing_Laughter

[larrybritt]

Has anybody been to the restaurants, Nightingales for dinner or Happy Hour? And Arc for Sunday Brunch? We have a couple reservations for them and wanting To make sure worth it.

[gottagoacruzn]

Hi guys, thanks for your help!!

[martincath]

18 hours ago, larrybritt said:

Has anybody been to the restaurants, Nightingales for dinner or Happy Hour? And Arc for Sunday Brunch? We have a couple reservations for them and wanting To make sure worth it.

Nightingale is superb, especially for happy hour (same portions, lower prices!) - I actually visit it more often than the fancier Hawksworth as the menu is much broader with more nibbly options, so we can sample more plates! While there's a more casual vibe, the kitchen retains a crisp attention to detail, same dish on multiple visits near-identical.

 

Arc shouldn't disappoint - all the Fairmont restos are generally well-run and consistent, although I do have to say this is my least favourite of them all (both Notch8 in the Vancouver and especially Botanist in the Pan Pacific are significantly better), although as a caveat I have never done brunch (simply far, far too expensive considering I can get the best brunch in the city at Medina for a significant discount) nor have I dined since the new head chef came on board last year.

 

If you want an unlimited brunch buffet style, there aren't really many other options these days though except here and the Pan Pacific over the road - and their food has never been quite as good as the Fairmonts in the hotel-run restos so if you really want to drop $65pp to stuff yourselves I'd stick to Arc rather than changing to over the road. OTOH, if you want to have a cheaper but almost-certainly-better brunch, with plenty-generous portions and best waffles in the city - book a reso in Medina ASAP!

[martincath]

Whoops - too late to edit! Middle paragraph: Botanist is in the Fairmont Pacific Rim - given I also mentioned the similarly-named Pan Pacific hotel, best to clarify (they too have a swank resto - Five Sails - but unlike with the Fairmont restos that is run by a third party, the Glowbal chain these days; their brunch however is done by in-house staff at Oceans 999 who are a step down from the fine dining brigades).

[travelbuds]

On 4/26/2023 at 5:22 PM, Milhouse said:

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.  

 

 

 

Trying to decide between 3 hotels in Vancouver for wife and me to spend a couple nights prior to cruise. Wondering if you can help us  out. Looking for safe area and near restaurants. EXchange Hotel, Blue Horizon Hotel and the YWCA Hotel. Thank you.

[martincath]

2 hours ago, travelbuds said:

... Looking for safe area and near restaurants. EXchange Hotel, Blue Horizon Hotel and the YWCA Hotel.

All of the above meet both criteria, with some cheapish/casual restos and some swankier ones very close by. There's no such thing as an UNsafe area in the core really - our dangers remain extremely focused on theft from vehicles and homes rather than any kind of violence toward or robbery of persons. You will see beggars near all of them as well as throughout our touristy areas (beggars go where the money is!), you may see drugs and sex being sold in alleyways very close to tourist sites around Gastown, but as long as you don't go looking to score either yourself you won't be hassled, but it's hard to wander Vancouver without seeing some Stuff.

 

BH adds views (every room is a corner) and marginally closer to Stanley Park than the others, with a HOHO/Capilano shuttle stop outside and probably the quietest of this three - it's the oldest hotel but was purpose builot as such; Y is almost certainly the cheapest as well as the only one with real kitchens and self-use laundries in case you're on a longer trip and just want some basic cereal with cow squirt and to wash a load of clothes, it's also closest to Chinatown and the newest build (second wing 2019; original tower fully renoed just this year); EXchange closest to pier and Gastown, a new conversion of a very badly timed stock exchange (built in 1929...) with the hotel part on the bottom, so the condos up top are very new and shiny but the hotel areas will have some random quirks of old walls and new walls not quite perfectly aligning; all are ~1.5 miles from Granville Island on foot/ferry, but Exchange is eight next to a bus stop for the 50 which is the handiest transit option for GI, as well as closest to Canada Line SkyTrain.

 

All have their relative advantages!