Grandview ("Commercial Drive") Community
Grandview stretches from Venables Street south to Broadway, and runs West to East, from Clark Drive, east to Nanaimo Street. It is characterized by a mixture of housing, from large elaborate houses to small comfortable homes. Most of the condo buildings are locates between Commercial Drive and Clark Drive north of Broadway. Just a few blocks west of Clark at Glen Drive and E. Broadway is the new VCC, UBC, SFU campass expansion. This is a major catalyst for the areas economic revitalization as over 500,000 sqft of new educational buildings have been constructed. More Details on this in the Mount Pleasant Comminity Page.
With Commercial Drive as the heart, this charismatic area offers a wide diversity of people and housing with abundance of ethnic restaurants and grocery stores. It also holds many trendy places to hang out, such as pop-culture clothing stores, cafes and the streets that bustle with entertainment. Always full of lively appeal, this area is known throughout the rest of Vancouver. It is also known as “Little Italy”. Today the Drive is the hub of east Vancouver.
COMMUNITY FACILITIES & BUSINESS
Parks: Pandora Park, Woodland Park, Templeton park, Grandview park, Victoria park, McSpadden park, and Garden park.
High Schools: Britannia and Templeton High schools.
Elementary Schools: Grandview, Queen Alexandra, Macdonald, Secord, Nelson, and Britannia Elementary schools.
Community Centres: Britannia community Centre
Business Centres: Vancouver Public Library and the Pacific National Exhibition
Recycling / Garbage: There is a community garbage disposal and recycling centre just South of the intersection of Cambie and Marine drive.
GRANDVIEW HISTORY
If it weren’t for the “New Westminster” (Vancouver’s interurban railway that opened in 1891), Grandview would today most likely still be the mountain of log stumps that it was before. The area was logged off for the construction of the railway that opened space for more communities to grow.
In the early 1900’s, what is now known as Commercial Drive was seen to have all the potential for business activity and surely enough, shops, and stores were being built down the road. However, in 1912, construction of the area came to a stop because of a citywide recession, and a new economic focus was being centred on the Westside of Vancouver. Communities like Kitsilano, Point Grey and Shaughnessy started to gain attention. It wasn’t until the 1970’s when the Britannia Community Centre was built and the face of the community began to change. It became more multicultural and eclectic with Italian, Chinese, and East European immigrants locating to the area. They added their warmth and character to the homes and to the shops on Commercial Drive, giving this quaint area its wonderful character that remains today.
Useful Links
The following is a list of services in or near the Grandview area that could be of use.
If you know of any businesses / facilities that should be listed here, please let us know!
Education
Grandview Elementary School
http://grandview.vsb.bc.ca/ - 2055 Woodland Drive, Vancouver Eastside, B.C, V5N 3N9, Tel: (604) 713-4663
Queen Alexandra Elementary School
http://queenalexandra.vsb.bc.ca/ - 1300 East Broadway, Vancouver Eastside, B.C. V5N 1V6, Tel:(604) 713-4599
Sir William Macdonald Elementary School
http://macdonald.vsb.bc.ca/ - 1950 East Hastings Street, Vancouver Eastside, B.C, V5L 1T7, Tel: (604) 713-4696
Laura Secord Elementary School
http://secord.vsb.bc.ca/ - 2500 Lakewood Drive, Vancouver Eastside, B.C, V5N 4V1, Tel: (604) 713-4996
Lord Nelson Elementary School
http://nelson.vsb.bc.ca/ - 2235 Kitchener Street, Vancouver Eastside, B.C. V5L 2W9, Tel: (604) 713-4595
Britannia Elementary School
http://britannia-elem.vsb.bc.ca/ - 1110 Cotton Drive, Vancouver Eastside, B.C, V5L 3T5, Tel: (604) 713-4497
Britannia Secondary School
http://britannia.vsb.bc.ca/ - 1001 Cotton Dr., Vancouver Eastside, BC, V5L 3T4, Tel: (604) 713-8266
Templeton Secondary School
http://templeton.vsb.bc.ca/ - 727 Templeton Dr., Vancouver Eastside, BC, V5L 4N8., Tel: (604) 713-8984
Vancouver School Board
http://www.vsb.bc.ca - The Vancouver school district is a large, urban and multicultural school district providing programs to 56,000 students in Kindergarten to Grade 12, over 3,000 adults in adult education programs and over 40,000 in continuing education.
Parks and Community Centres
Britannia Community Centre
http://britanniacentre.org/ - To be a recognized leader in the well being of everyone who lives, works and plays in our community. 1661 Napier Street, Vancouver Eastside, BC V5L 2M6, Tel: (604) 718-5800
Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks/index.htm - Offers information on parks and recreation in the Vancouver.
Government
Pacific National Exhibition
http://www.pne.ca/ - Captures the spirit, history of the city, its people and its many achievements. 2901 East Hastings Street, Vancouver Eastside, BC, V5K 5J1, Tel: 604-252-3583.
Vancouver Public Library
http://www.vpl.ca/branches/Britannia/home.html - Vancouver public library - Britannia branch. 1661 Napier Street, Vancouver Eastside, B.C, V5L 4X4. Tel: 604-665-2222
City dump and Recycling Depot
http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/solidwaste/transfer/index.htm - Vancouver city recycling depot and garbage dump. 377 West Kent Avenue North, Vancouver Eastside, BC