Commercial Drive

Where to begin with describing the Drive? It's brash. It's got opinions. The pedestrians are anything but and will walk into the street as if every day is Car Free Day. Located in Vancouver's east side, the neighbourhood officially known as Grandview-Woodland has been the nexus of a wide variety of different ethnic and cultural groups since its heyday as a Vancouver's counter-culture scene. Since then it has seen waves of first Italian, then Portuguese, Latin American and East Asian immigrants settling and making the neighbourhood home. It's not so much a melting pot and more of a Jackson Pollock painting with each blob of paint be it Chinese, Ethiopian, lesbian, or crust-punk adding its own unique voice and presence to a larger whole.

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Grandview Park

Address
1657 Charles Street
Website
Visit Website

Ok. Here's the deal. I'm quite fond of Grandview Park but compared to the majesty of other parks in the city it looks a little rough around the edges. The thing is that what Grandview Park lacks in facilitating your communion with nature, it makes up for as a community hub. If Commercial Drive were an Italian town (which it sort of is), Grandview Park would be its piazza, its social focal point where one can lounge on the grass on a hot summer's day, play tennis, stage an anti-gentrification rally, all with views of the city's core. It's also the only place on this list that's ultimately free. Just pick a spot to park your tush, take in the air and enjoy watching vast array of interesting people from many walks of life drift past you.

Grandview Park
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Grandview Park
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Grandview Park
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Grandview Park
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Grandview Park
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Kishimoto

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