Gastown

Vancouver's oldest neighbourhood is undergoing a quiet revolution: architects, filmmakers, artists and designers have been seduced by heritage properties morphed into live-work spaces.

Although it’s the birthplace of Vancouver (John “Gassy Jack” Deighton opened his saloon and the city’s first business in 1867), Gastown was, for a time, little more than a tourist trap of faux heritage sites and schlocky souvenir stores bordering on one of Canada’s poorest postal codes, the Downtown Eastside. But plans for swank boutique hotels, an expansion of design haven Inform Interiors, and a recently completed revitalization of The Dominion Hotel— a budget art hotel where individual rooms are outfitted by local up-and-coming designers—have given the area a much-needed boost.

A formidable fashion scene is cropping up along Abbott Street, and further plans to convert crumbling heritage buildings into mixed-use spaces should ensure the continued influx of talent.

EAT:

Congolaise moules frites, with a hit of fresh tomatoes, smoked chilis and cilantro, at Chambar, the city’s sexiest room (562 Beatty St., 604-879-7119).

DRINK:

A true 20-ounce pint of 100-percent natural all-organic lager at The Alibi Room, a favourite haunt of the local film-industry set (157 Alexander St., 604-623-3383).

BROWSE:

Richard Kidd, for one of the most breathtaking retail spaces in the city. P.S. The gorgeous architecture isn’t the only thing that will take your breath away: the store’s nickname “Rich Kid” is a rather direct reference to the price tags (65 Water St., 604-677-1880).