The 411 - Fascinating Facts

Did You Know?

Lions Gate Bridge
Arguably the city’s most revered landmark, the Lions Gate Bridge was built by the Guinness Brewing Company in 1937 as a means of encouraging the development of the North Shore (a none too altruistic move, considering they owned a large part of it). Though many had tried to build a suspension bridge across the First Narrows, locals had always put a stop to cutting a road through Stanley Park. Then the Depression hit, and jobs won out over trees.

Green and Greener
The tree-lined beach-loving neighbourhood known as Kits was previously host to the thriving First Nations village of Sun’ahk. Named in 1905 after Squamish “man of the lake” Chief Khatsahlanough, Kitsilano grew into a dense and affordable student neighbourhood by the 1960s — just in time to house the beginnings of Greenpeace.

Peaked Interest
The two mountain peaks visible from downtown are known locally as the Lions: so named because they resemble a lion’s ears, and in remembrance of statues of two lions in London’s Trafalgar Square. Those so vertically inclined can choose from several hiking routes to get an up-close and personal look.

Famous Vancouverites
Among the international superstars who call Vancouver home are singersongwriter Sarah McLachlan, Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk, singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, Generation X’s Douglas Coupland, architect Arthur Erickson, shoe guru John Fluevog and environmentalist David Suzuki.

Steamy Encounter
More than 100 buildings in Vancouver’s downtown core — including the central library, B.C. Place, GM Place and many major hotels — are heated via a 10.5-km network of high-pressure steam pipes flowing away from the Central Heat Distribution Ltd. boiler plant. But the famous steam clock in Gastown is a bit of a misnomer: though it was built in 1977 to 1875 specs, steam and gravity-driven operation proved unreliable. Electricity now controls the timed steam explosions every quarter hour, culminating in a grand musical show of “letting off steam" every hour on the hour.

Why Doesn’t Vancouver Have Any Freeways?
In the late ’60s city planners were pushing for freeways that would loop downtown along the waterfront: what’s now Coal Harbour, Sunset Beach and the False Creek pedestrian promenades. Another was to push through Vancouver’s first settler neighbourhood, Strathcona; the area between Main and Campbell south of Hastings had been labelled a derelict slum by the municipal government, but residents protested its demolition and won. Since then, hundreds of early 1900s multilevel woodframe homes have been restored in bright heritage colours, making this quiet bike-friendly ’hood one of Vancouver’s oldest (and best-kept) secrets.