The Point Grey Neighbourhood

By Van City Tree Removal Vancouver

Time magazine once described Vancouver as a gem set between snow-covered hills and deep Pacific Ocean inlets, and it is tough to disagree.

However, for the Musqueam people of Ee’yullmough, the community that originally sat on the bluffs overlooking the Strait of Georgia, the peninsula was called the”Battleground of the West Wind.” This was the landmark dividing the land of the Musqueam from those of the Squamish people. To this day, the winds sweeping across the peninsula bring a mixture of weather across the bluffs separating the Fraser River from Burrard Inlet.

The bluffs also supply a natural terracing which supplies a selection of beautiful views of the North Shore mountains and the jewel-box towers of the downtown center. Vancouver might be a jewel, but it is one best admired from Point Grey.

The community, which extends west from Alma Street to Pacific Spirit Regional Park and the University Endowment Lands, and north of West 16th Avenue to the shores bordering English Bay, has conceived of itself as set apart. Named for Captain George Grey, a friend of Captain George Vancouver, Point Grey has been its own municipality from 1908 until its merger with Vancouver in 1929. The historical shopping district along West 10th Avenue between Discovery and Tolmie streets remains intact, yet in a state of constant renewal. Time-loved stores sit by new residential blocks, with their own additions to the retail streetscape.

While it’s among the most exclusive neighbourhoods in Canada, Point Grey is hardly stuffy. Conservative in the best sense of this word, it adopts a mixture of residents including business executives and faculty members of the University of British Columbia; working professionals, business owners, artists, and young families; and pupils, who find the proximity to UBC and the numerous recreational opportunities enticing.

Point Grey Access and Transit
Component of Point Grey’s allure is its compact personality, and a fact that has also made it quite easy to avoid. West 16th, its southern border is a key east-west route terminating at UBC, while to the north West 4th Avenue runs through the once-vast tracts of government land, much of it currently parkland. West 4th also results in the UBC campus. Between the two paths is West 10th, the industrial center of the neighbourhood and the road of the 99 B-Line express bus, which stops at Sasamat Street. Regular buses also run across West 16th and West 4th, and talks are in progress regarding a rapid transit line from UBC to SkyTrain lines in East Vancouver.

Alma Street, the eastern border of the neighbourhood, also hosts many bus routes, running south to Dunbar and the Southlands as well as north to Kitsilano and downtown.

In addition to bus routes, the Off-Broadway cycling route is popular with commuters while Jericho and Pacific Spirit parks provide several recreational trails.

Community Resources and Recreation
Point Grey has many parks of its borders and own acres of others that offer many opportunities for recreation and relaxation. Popular beaches and lush stands of rainforest provide a spectacular background to houses and ample space for many different tasks from birdwatching to beach volleyball, cycling and dog-walking to easy sunbathing.

Trimble and West Point Grey parks sit on the peaks of Point Grey, and look back on the shores where Locarno and Hastings Mill parks provide waterfront settings. A hidden gem is Westmount Park on Bianca Street, where ancient trees shield chairs and a play area for kids.

The shores of Jericho, Locarno and Spanish Banks provide paths through woods and beaches for walking dogs, and of course off-leash places for more free-spirited play. Above the shores, trails wind through Pacific Spirit, connecting with the area’s major arterials for some magnificent circuits that’ll make certain to keep you in shape and supply fresh appreciation for the natural terrain.

West Point Grey Community Centre provides an assortment of tasks at several facilities, such as Aberthau Mansion, an event centre with a coach house that acts as a pottery studio; Jericho Arts Centre, and its resident play company; and Jericho Hill Centre and Lord Byng pool and weight room.

Jericho Sailing Centre offers kayaking lessons and is also home to a favorite bistro.

Education in Point Grey
Point Grey is home to five colleges, both private and public, for elementary school pupils. The earliest, Queen Mary Elementary School, opened in 1915, and is one of three colleges in town offering Multi-Age Cluster classes. Jules Quesnel Elementary School offers French immersion classes, while Our Lady of Perpetual Help is an independent Roman Catholic elementary school.

The fourth school offering basic classes, Queen Elizabeth Elementary School, opened in 1940, and is among the best schools from Vancouver. It is adjacent to the community’s only public high school, Lord Byng Secondary School, which always receives high marks at the Fraser Institute’s yearly ranking of neighborhood schools.

West Point Grey Academy, which is open to pupils from pre-kindergarten to high school, is a well-regarded private alternative to the public system which sits on the grassy slopes over Jericho Park.

Several Montessori schools function in the area, such as Sunflower Academy and the Family Montessori School Society.

Annual Events and Festivals in Point Grey
The highlight of Point Grey’s social calendar is Fiesta Days, a popular community festival arranged by the West Point Grey Community Centre with the backing of local companies. A parade unites with stage performances and a carnival, complete with a little midway. It typically coincides with the end of college, the first weekend of summer, and the spirits that accompany these items.

Additionally, July brings the annual Vancouver Folk Music festival, one of many events which happen in Jericho Park throughout the year. The music resounds across the neighbourhood, and brings an international selection of visitors in addition to leading names from the music industry.

My Favorite Spots In Point Grey
Bean Around the World, 4456 W 10th Avenue: This neighbourhood coffee shop has outlasted the competition and remains a favorite gathering place for cyclists, students, and individuals — as its name implies — from around the world. It has what every fantastic coffee shop should have — great coffee, and sufficient regulars which you can mingle and become part of the community.

Jericho Park: The easternmost of the shores that end round the Point Grey bluffs, Jericho is home to woods, marshes and waterfront that make it a microcosm of the region. The park is home to various species, from blackbirds and beavers to turtles and warblers. During the annual folk festival, the shores beyond the admission-only enclosure are a excellent area to catch a free show as the sun sets.

Pacific Spirit Regional Park: While technically adjacent to Point Grey, Pacific Spirit is very much the neighbourhood’s large backyard. The shores lead naturally to its trendy forested paths, offering an escape from the busier beachfront trails and roads in the rest of the community. The park is moments away, but a world apart.

Burgoo, 4434 West 10th Avenue: The first place of this popular Vancouver series of eateries, Burgoo provides what it calls”food for relaxation” in the center of Point Grey Village. Like other regional stores, it has cultivated a dedicated following and become a community favorite with its cheap homestyle cooking.

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