north vancouver waterfront

I’ve visited North Van twice since living in Vancouver, both times centred around the waterfront since I just came over by the Seabus and didn’t rent a car. (Seabus is a pretty fun method of public transport, by the way.) I didn’t get a good enough sense of what it has to offer aside from the general look of the area, but I was surprised at how busy and even elegant that space seemed. It felt dressed up.

The only two other times I’ve been to North Van, aside from driving through, were both in summer 2015. The first time I took a cab to Gros Morne because a friend wanted to see the most famous mountain in the area, and we payed an exorbitant amount of money to take a short gondola ride then wander around up top in crappy weather. The only thing I really remember is there are two fenced in grizzly bears you can see, the ethics of which I was slightly uncomfortable with. By far the best aspect of that visit was finding three 20 dollar bills on the grass then promptly losing one of them on a bet my friend admitted, several years later, to have cheated on. In the end the found money didn’t even pay for the gondola ride.

The other time I went with the blog’s co-editor to a photography gallery not too far from the Seabus. I’m sure the gallery was nice – Justin seemed to like it, but what I remember most was how comically steep the hill is walking up from the harbour front. My most recent trip brought back those memories after I ventured only a handful of blocks up, turning around sooner than I had planned because of the hill and my backpack overfilled with beer.

There is a small stretch of North Van where I think you could live without a car and it would feel like you’re in a big city. You’d be surrounded by high rises and look out at downtown Vancouver’s skyline and get everything you need at the market on the quay. You’d have your choice of breweries and restaurants with patios, but the feel wouldn’t be so much of a community, I don’t think – it feels like its full of tourists. Outside of that little part of North Van, it would be very inconvenient to get to Vancouver, since you’d need to either drive over a busy bridge or go to the waterfront to take the sea bus.

There are two areas in Vancouver that are full of breweries and there are virtually none outside of those places. The waterfront in North Van is also full of breweries, making it three areas in Greater Van that are full of them. This brewery area felt a lot more new than the ones in Vancouver, as if it wasn’t even trying to hide its gentrification. But I will always take breweries over no breweries.

I don’t think anyone really lives in North Van because of the waterfront, though. Either you live further out because it’s cheaper or you love the mountains. There are a plethora of hiking options and ski hills. You’re also pretty close to a ferry terminal that takes you to the island, the sunshine coast, or Bowen island. Although not completely necessary, you’d lose most of the benefits of living there if you didn’t have a car.

Near the waterfront, it’s surprisingly not any cheaper than the nicer parts of Vancouver. Maybe it’s because all the buildings are super new – people do seem to value that here. I considered moving there for a bit. I wonder how long it would have taken me to tire of the quay and to make dreading the hill the main thread in my life?

North Van is big enough that I imagine it has its own pockets of community and its own scene. What I don’t think a lot of people not from here realize is that it really is its own separate city, and although you can commute, there is probably little reason to go there if you live in Vancouver, aside from hiking and being on the way to Whistler. It’s kind of like those New Jersey cities across the river from New York, but the price difference isn’t as pronounced.

From what I’ve seen, aside from the waterfront, North Van feels very suburban, in that it has a lot of big box stores, chains, and very highway and car-oriented. I still haven’t made it to any of the hiking there, but I plan to, probably for my next day trip. My biggest local attraction I have yet to see is the Capilano suspension bridge, which is in North Van, so perhaps when I do those things I’ll explore a different area of the city and come away with a different impression.