Vancouver has the fastest growing residential residential center in North America – nearly 40,000 people have moved downtown in the last 15 years. Nowhere is this urban renaissance more evident than in the high-rise condos and converted warehouses of Yaletown.
Once an industrial district, today Yaletown is one of the most popular neighborhoods in Vancouver. It is home to many of the city’s trendiest restaurants, bars and nightspots, trendy boutiques, and famous venues.
Yaletown Boundaries:
Yaletown is located in the southeastern part of downtown, bordered by Homer St. to the west, Beatty St. to the east, Smithe St. to the north, and Drake St. to the south.
Yaletown Boundary Map
Yaletown people:
While most of Yaletown’s residents are young professionals in their 20s and 40s, wealthy penthouse dwellers, a small number of families, and a growing number of empty nests are part of the mix.
Whoever they are, there are certain traits that all Yaletown locals share: They love their gyms, their yoga, their weekends in Whistler, their easy access to the area’s gourmet food and trendy nightlife, and their dogs. Small dogs are de rigueur .
To see the locals in action, head to the neighborhood’s favorite gourmet market, Urban Fare, Yaletown’s daytime center, where you can have breakfast and lunch or take home dinner.
Yaletown Restaurants and Nightlife:
Hamilton Street and Mainland Street are two of the busiest streets for nightlife in Vancouver. Both streets have a collection of bars and restaurants, including Cactus Club, Bar None Nightclub, and the Opus Hotel bar (one of the top 10 hotels in Vancouver), which makes hitting the bar easy. If a place is too crowded, and these places get very crowded on the weekends, just try next door.
Yaletown’s excellent restaurants include Blue Water Café + Raw Bar and Glowbal Grill and Satay Bar.
See also: Yaletown’s Best Restaurants and Nightlife
Yaletown Parks:
There are two parks within the Yaletown borders, Cooper’s Park, on Marinaside Crescent and Nelson Street, and Helmcken Park, on Pacific Boulevard and Helmcken Street.
Cooper’s Park is a grassy stretch near the Cambie Bridge, perfect for views of the south of the city and for walking your dog, little or nothing.
Yaletown Historic Monuments
Yaletown’s most significant historical landmark is the famous Roundhouse Community Center, once the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and a provincial heritage site. It still houses Engine 374, the first passenger train to enter Vancouver on May 23, 1887. (Yaletown is named after the RCP’s move to the area from Yale in the Fraser River Canyon). Today, the Roundhouse is a vibrant community center dedicated to the arts and learning.
Other neighborhood attractions include BC Place Stadium, home of the Vancouver Canucks, the Queen Elizabeth Theater, and the Vancouver Art Gallery.
