Photos of Vancouver (Downtown, Jericho Beach, W 4th, and Kerrisdale) - December 2006 - Part I

A shot immediately outside Stadium SkyTrain station overlooking the condos at CityGate. It is strange to see a Costco is located immediately at the bottom of the condo on the left-hand side of the picture.

The internal square just outside Vancouver's Central Library. One can notice the drastic difference inside and outside of the actual library, as the outside is bustling with energy with people sitting down on a table and start chatting while a sense of peace and quietness can be felt once a person is inside.





Here is a zoomed-in look from the previous picture.
















The Centre (formerly Ford Centre of the Performing Arts), immediately adjacent to the central library. Now it becomes a showhouse featuring mainly Chinese-made shows (as the owner of this place is also himself Chinese).

The coliseum wannabe: Vancouver's Central Library. It was once a unique building until Salt Lake City decide to ask Moshie Safdie, the architect, to build a replica down at the capital of Mormon State. A taller structure situated on the back of it is occupied by the federal government. Here is one last look before proceeding down along Robson at the SW corner of Robson and Homer.

Here is a look at the future version of Yonge and Bloor for Vancouver: the intersection of Robson and Granville. Like in Toronto, we have smaller TVs blasting advertisments to passersby.

Why the fence at the left hand side of the picture? That's because of the construction of the Canada Line subway line, which will intersect with the existing SkyTrain line at Granville Station, forming a mega underground transfer point for transit riders (hence the comparison with Yonge and Bloor).

A shot of the Vancouver Art Gallery (formerly the Supreme Court of British Columbia - front centre), Hotel Vancouver (back centre with the copper roof), and Cathedral Building (immediately to the right of Hotel Vancouver) at the SE corner of Robson and Howe.

A funky-looking Chapters flagship store at Robson and Howe, with residential units placed on top.






I don't know how many pics have I taken on the same spot at Burrard and Robson. But I have an excuse since I lost all the previous ones :D

I wish Virgin is still here rather than the huge pink sign of HMV (maybe because it is rare to see a Virgin store in North America compared to Britain?) Well at least there is a small Virgin store over at the Vancouver International Airport.

Robson Street on a typical Friday afternoon as it is packed with people and cars, similar to Queen W or Yonge around Dundas in Toronto. What else can I say as the area (along with Burrard between Robson and Georgia) is becoming a semi-Rodeo Drive with medium- to high-end stores paying premium rents to do business here?