The Vancouver real EAST-ate debate
“Frankly, the east vs. west debate is tired. you seem to instigate/need it though, strange.” - comment from a Thirties Grind reader
Is it true…is the east vs. west debate tired? I think so…which was actually the point I was trying to make in my last Absurd Vancouver Property of the Week post.
I grew up on the West side. I remember when we were warned not to go “East of Cambie” as it was “rough” there. I don’t really know whether or not that was true or if it was something parents said just to keep us from venturing too far away from home. I have friends who grew up on the Eastside and say it was fantastic. I also know others who say it really was tough.
Things I do still notice, however, are how much tidier streets look West of Main street. Take the power lines, for example. When I drive east along King Edward, for example, I notice how the power lines go from being underground and in the laneways of streets (Westside) to above ground and across the front of streets (Eastside). The lines criss-crossing across the roads is definitely not as esthetically pleasing as when they are hidden.
Another example is how quickly things get tidied up. In the winter, my parents street (Westside) gets cleared of leaves and snow almost daily. My street (Eastside) might get cleared once a week. Perhaps a result of a difference in the amount of property tax paid…I’m not sure.
On the other hand, my parents’ Westside neighboourhood has a lot of panhandlers hanging about outside the main strip of shops. In my neighbourhood,however, I’ve rarely seen anyone panhandling. My parent’s home has been broken into several times…mine (touch wood) – never.
Look, I really don’t think that there is a whole lot of difference between what’s east of Main Street and what’s west of it. Neighbourhoods are about the people that inhabit them. They are about community and livability not power lines and street sweeping.
The problem is that most people judge based on appearance (particularly buyers paying millions of dollars for homes)…and, frankly, many Westside neighbourhoods appear to look more manicured and “millionaire-esque”.
So, right or not, maybe that’s why the great east vs. west debate still exists.
With risk of “instigating” (little upstart that I am) What are your thoughts?
I don’t live in either area and am not biased either way, but I do find that the westside has many more tree lined streets, which I find prettier.
You’re not making it up–there’s still a major price gap between east & west side addresses. You can really see it right around Main Street because the homes & the neighbourhoods they’re in are not really that different within three or four blocks of Main either way. Yet the prices are different. I remember joking that we saved $100K for every block east of Main that we went on our house hunt. But honestly, that’s not hyperbole. A cursory search of ML.ca shows you can’t get anything better than a small townhouse or half duplex for less than a million a block or two onto the west side. If you head the same distance east, you can buy a detached house for under a million. Not much under, sadly, but they are cheaper.
Interesting. It really is all about perceptions and preconceived notions. I was born right downtown and grew up on the East side. As a kid I didn’t pay any attention to the whole east vs west debate but as I hit my teens being from East Van was something to be proud of, and anyone from the West side was rich, spoilt, weak, and generally all-around useless. Not necessarily my opinion, but definitely the prevailing culture amongst my peers.
It was so ingrained that when I hit grade 8 and was sent to LFA (where I managed to survive one pathetic, miserable year) I was extremely out of my element. Never since have I felt so out of place. I transferred back to an East side high school for grades 9-12 and they were the happiest years of my entire school career.
Still now, some 25 years later, I retain a strong sense of pride in my East Van origins and there is an instant bond when I come across someone from the ‘hood, here, a province away.
I’m Westside born and bred and I wouldn’t move back there unless I had a free house. There is still a huge amount of prestige associated with the Westside (so much so that my parent’s Westside house recently sold for less than it was worth because it was on a street called “East Boulevard”) but from a family/kids/neighbourhood perspective, not good prestige. The Westside, or at least Kerrisdale, is turning into a ghost town full of super old people (few young people can afford to live there) and overseas owners. My parents live near Kind Edward and people drive 80 km/h up that street in their fancy cars, I don’t feel safe with my dog or son in the front yard. There’s very little sense of community there, and while the streets are beautiful, it isn’t a very nice place to live. The people who obsess over it are overseas buyers, people who grew up there and still think it is amazing (I know many of these people) and people who wished they’d grown up there. I loved my childhood there but wouldn’t go back. Simply put, it is lame.
East of Fraser is where Main really starts now. Check out Fraser/Night/Victoria. There is NO comparison in terms of amenities, stree beautification and so on. I love living off Fraser. I like the authenticity, the diversity, the sense of community, the friendliness, But there IS a major difference in safety (more grow ops), house quality and upkeep, evern side-street quality…
I do think the east / west of Main price difference has a lot to do with catchment districts, because, at least on 10th-about 16th east and west of Main, the neighbourhoods don’t look that different (tree-lined, some aging 60s apartment buildings mixed with renovated single family homes). In Mount Pleasant, Main is the dividing line between an elementary school that seems to make all the parents I know shudder (Florence Nightingale) and one that apparently is better (Simon Fraser). So yeah, east of Main you may save $500 or $1000 a month in mortgage for the same space, but if you have kids, you’re then looking at almost double that for private school, plus the daily gas to get to a decent one, few of which are in the area.
We looked in the Knight area, but it seemed pretty desolate — no (or short, skimpy) trees, lots of poorly maintained Vancouver specials, no one out in the streets or yards, not much of a neighbourhood feel, few stores or restaurants. Maybe we were there on a couple of off days. Definitely better house value there, just didn’t feel like a place to really live. But Fraser is a nice area, with lots of young families. Maybe the schools will improve?