Renfrew Heights Real Estate (Vancouver)
(Links below will take you to our sister website www.renfrew-heights-houses-condos.ca)
| Renfrew Heights Houses |
Community Facilities & Business
Parks: Aberdeen Park, Beaconsfield Park, Cariboo Park,
Carleton Park, Collingwood Park, Earles Park, Falaise Park, Foster Park,
Gaston Park, Melbourne Park, Norquay Park, Price Park, Renfrew
Community Park, Renfrew Ravine Park, Slocan Park.
High Schools: Windermere Secondary School.
Elementary Schools: Graham D Bruce, Nootka, Sir Guy Carleton, Sir Wilfred Grenfell & Renfrew Elementary School.
Community Centres: Renfrew Community Centre.
Business Centres: Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver City Hall, Mount Saint Joseph hospital and Vancouver Public Library are some of the business centres in Mount Pleasant.
Recycling / Garbage: The community garbage disposal and recycling centre is located just South of the intersection of Cambie and Marine drive.
Renfrew Heights Community
Renfrew Heights which is often referred to as Renfrew - Collingwood is a middle class Vancouver neighbourhood conveniently located near the border of Burnaby. Renfrew Heights is a relatively quiet community with a mix of couples, young families & older residents.
This area is home to the city's highest population of children and youth and fastest growing seniors population. Numerous languages are spoken throughout the community and its ethnicity is celebrated through a variety of diverse and vibrant cultural events.
With an area of 8.2 km², Renfrew–Collingwood is a large official city neighbourhood that is bordered by Broadway to the north, East 41st Avenue to the south, Nanaimo Street to the west, and Boundary Road to the east. Kingsway runs through the southern part of the neighbourhood. Grandview Highway runs through the middle of Renfrew-Collingwood, carrying much of the traffic entering Vancouver from the Trans-Canada Highway during morning and evening rush hour.
While much of the natural features of the area have been changed by recent development, portions of Still Creek continue to run through the area, which is built on rolling hills. The southeast corner of Renfrew-Collingwood near the intersection of Boundary Road is adjacent to Swangard Stadium and the northwest corner of Central Park.
| Renfrew-Collingwood Housing Stock Statistics | |||
| 1996 | 2001 | 2006 | |
| Single-detached house | 54.20% | 47.20% | 25.60% |
| Semi-detached house | 1.00% | 0.40% | 0.40% |
| Detached duplex | 22.80% | 23.00% | 37.70% |
| Row house | 2.20% | 1.90% | 1.60% |
| Apartment, under 5 storeys | 11.70% | 16.10% | 20.70% |
| Apartment, 5 or more storeys | 8.00% | 11.30% | 13.50% |
Renfrew Heights History
Prior to 1890, this area had a significant wildlife population, but only a handful of residents.The earliest non-native settler was George Wales. In 1878, Wales bought 221 acres (89.4 hectares) of land bounded by Wales Street, Kingsway and 45th Avenue. Today, the street on which his house stood still bears the family name.
In 1891, the inter-urban railway tram brought new people to the area. The electric railway, the first of its kind in Canada, connected Downtown Vancouver and New Westminster. Many of the early houses and stores were built near the Collingwood East Tram Station, at Vanness Avenue and Joyce Street.
After the area was cleared, people settled along Westminster Road (Kingsway) west of Boundary Road. Philip Oben opened the first store in the area near Central Park, and Peter Dubois held the first Collingwood school class in his vacant store in 1895.
In 1896, what is now the oldest school in Vancouver, was built. The two-room Vancouver East School accommodated all 30 Collingwood students. The school was the source of great community pride and many of the area's streets were named after the families of the school's first students. Battison Road is named after the Battison brothers, while Earles Road is named after Florence Earle. Joyce Road is named after the first school board secretary, A. Joyce, while Vivian Road is named in honour of the first child born in the area, Jennie Vivian, born in 1892. In 1908 the name of the school changed to Collingwood Heights. It changed once again in 1911 to Sir Guy Carleton.
By 1913, Collingwood was home to a grocery store, a branch of the Bank of Vancouver, a butcher shop, a Methodist Church, and a doctor (F. J. Buller). Westminster Road was paved and renamed Kingsway, and the streetcar system between Victoria Drive and Earles Street was extended to Joyce Street. This, along with a new bus system eventually led to a decline in the ridership of the inter-urban tram, and encouraged businesses to grow in the district around Kingsway and Joyce.
This development, and the amalgamation of the Municipality of South Vancouver with Vancouver in 1929, eventually led the community to change from being semi-agricultural to a residential suburb.
Although the interurban closed in 1954 after 63 years, its legacy lives on. In 1986, construction of the SkyTrain route along the old interurban route spurred the development of lowrise and highrise apartments near station stops, just as the interurban had done so many years before.