Vancouver
Olympic Village, East Van Arts & Mount Pleasant Creative District
The Olympic Village (the 2010 Winter Olympics Athletes' Village on the south shore of False Creek in Southeast False Creek, converted to the Millennium Water residential development after the Games) and Mount Pleasant (the 'East Van' neighbourhood south of False Creek, centred on the Main Street commercial strip) together represent the most dynamic and creative district in Vancouver — the area where the city's art galleries, craft breweries, coffee roasters, and independent restaurants are concentrated.
Whistler, Mountain Skiing & Vancouver's Outdoor Adventure Culture
Vancouver's mountain culture (the culture of a city that is the only major city in the world with world-class downhill skiing within 30 minutes of the city centre (Grouse Mountain, Cypress Mountain, and Mount Seymour are all accessible by car from downtown Vancouver in under 30 minutes), and within 2 hours of the finest ski resort in North America (Whistler Blackcomb — the resort with the most vertical descent (1,609 metres / 5,280 feet on Blackcomb Mountain) and the most skiable terrain (3,307 hectares / 8,171 acres) of any ski resort in North America)): Vancouver has hosted more Olympic and Paralympic events in winter sports than any other city (the 2010 Winter Olympics).
Gastown, the Steam Clock & Vancouver's Historic Neighbourhood
Gastown (the historic neighbourhood in the northeast corner of downtown Vancouver — the oldest surviving neighbourhood in Vancouver and the site of the original settlement of 'Gastown' (the informal settlement that grew up around the saloon of John 'Gassy Jack' Deighton in 1867)) is the hub of Vancouver's craft beer scene, artisan boutiques, and cobblestone dining, and home to the Gastown Steam Clock — the most photographed object in Vancouver.
Yaletown, False Creek & Vancouver's Urban Design Success
Yaletown (the neighbourhood on the north shore of False Creek in downtown Vancouver — the former Canadian Pacific Railway maintenance yard converted after 1986 into the most successful high-density residential development in the history of Canadian urbanism) and False Creek (the tidal inlet that bisects the south side of the Vancouver downtown peninsula, with the Granville Island Public Market on its north shore and the 2010 Winter Olympics Athletes' Village on its south shore) define Vancouver's reputation as one of the best-planned and most liveable cities in the world.
Davie Village, LGBTQ+ Culture & Vancouver Pride
Vancouver's Davie Village (the stretch of Davie Street between Burrard Street and Jervis Street in the West End neighbourhood — the primary LGBTQ+ neighbourhood in Vancouver and one of the most vibrant gay villages in North America) and the Vancouver Pride Parade (the largest annual Pride parade in western Canada, held on the first Sunday of August each year along Robson Street and Denman Street to the English Bay waterfront) are the centre of one of the most inclusive LGBTQ+ communities in the world.
Stanley Park, the Seawall & Vancouver's Urban Wilderness
Vancouver (the largest city in British Columbia, Canada — population approximately 675,000 in the city and 2.6 million in the Greater Vancouver area — the most spectacularly situated city in North America, set between the Coastal Mountains (which rise abruptly to over 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) immediately north of the city) and the Pacific Ocean, with a temperate oceanic climate that keeps the city green year-round): Stanley Park (the 405-hectare (1,000-acre) urban park on the forested peninsula at the entrance to Burrard Inlet) is the most beloved urban park in Canada and the defining natural feature of Vancouver.
Kitsilano Beach, UBC Campus & Pacific Spirit Regional Park
Kitsilano ('Kits') — the neighbourhood on the south shore of English Bay in Vancouver — is the most desirable residential neighbourhood in Canada, combining beachside living (the Kitsilano Beach with the outdoor saltwater pool), a vibrant restaurant and yoga culture on West 4th Avenue and Broadway, and proximity to the University of British Columbia (UBC — the university ranked among the top 40 universities in the world, with a spectacular campus on the Point Grey peninsula, adjacent to the 763-hectare Pacific Spirit Regional Park).
Indigenous Culture, the Museum of Anthropology & First Nations Heritage
The Museum of Anthropology at UBC (the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia — the finest museum of Northwest Coast Indigenous art in the world, housed in a 1976 building by architect Arthur Erickson (1924-2009) that is the finest work of Canadian architecture of the 20th century) and the broader First Nations cultural presence in Vancouver (the city on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations) represent the most significant Indigenous cultural dimension of any major Canadian city.
Vancouver's Food Scene — Sushi, Dim Sum, Chinatown & Pacific Seafood
Vancouver's food culture (the culinary scene of a city that is simultaneously Canada's gateway to Asia (with the largest Asian-Canadian population of any Canadian city — approximately 47% of Vancouver's population identifies as Asian-Canadian) and the richest seafood region in North America (the Pacific halibut, the Dungeness crab, the wild Pacific salmon, and the BC spot prawn)): Vancouver is the finest city in Canada for sushi, dim sum, and Asian cuisine of all kinds, and one of the finest cities in the world for Pacific seafood.