LITMIR.BIZ

      Stanley Park totem pole

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      After more than 10 years as an adopted Vancouver local, there are hundreds of individuals who have contributed their valued insider input to the selection, stories, and asides contained herein. Most of those conversations have taken place in shady corners of the Railway Club or the Irish Heather (in its older, shadier incarnation). I would especially like to thank Dominic Schaefer, Glenn Drexhage, and Peter Mitham for joining me on many of these beery nights. And for this project in particular, I’d also like to send my thanks to Noel MacDonald for his sterling photography work on seven of these walks; Ryan Ver Berkmoes for hooking me up with Wilderness Press in the first place; and Roslyn Bullas … mostly for her patience.

      AUTHOR’S NOTE

      Having rushed countless times along many of the streets covered in this book, it’s been a real pleasure to slow down, lift my gaze above foot level and finally find out the stories behind them. Barreling along Robson, Georgia, Granville or Hastings on a frantic, chore-laden quest, you barely notice what’s around you, but this project has enabled me to do just that. I’ll certainly never see the city in the same light again. And that, of course, is the point: this book is an opportunity for readers across the Lower Mainland to rediscover the metropolis they thought they knew.

      Luckily, Vancouver is a walking town. There are 36 sidewalk-tested strolls in this book. They cover all the city’s key districts as well as some exotic out-of-town locales like the North Shore, New Westminster, and Steveston. All the routes are easily accessible by public transit and are designed so you can go at your own pace: feel free to speed walk along any route or turn a short stroll into a half-day amble with coffee breaks, shopping stops, and a long, leisurely dinner—there are handy pit stop recommendations throughout.

      Right, what are you waiting for? It’s time to hit the streets, unpeel a few layers of unexpected history, and dive into neighborhoods you haven’t properly looked at for years. Make sure you bring your curiosity, always look above the main level on every building and, since this is the Wet Coast, consider packing a rain jacket—you’ll thank me in the end.