 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Kitsilano" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Kitsilano | |
|---|---|
 Vine Street in Kitsilano | |
| Nickname: Kits | |
 Location of Kitsilano (in red) inVancouver | |
  Kitsilano Location of Kitsilano inMetro Vancouver | |
| Coordinates:49°16′00″N123°10′00″W / 49.26667°N 123.16667°W /49.26667; -123.16667 | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  British Columbia |
| City | Vancouver |
| Named after | August Jack Khatsahlano |
| Area | |
| • Land | 5.46 km2 (2.11 sq mi) |
| Population (2016)[1] | |
• Total | 43,045 |
| • Density | 7,883.6/km2 (20,418/sq mi) |
| Age | |
| • ≤19 | 13.3% |
| • 20-39 | 40.1% |
| • 40-64 | 32.8% |
| • ≥65 | 13.8% |
| First Language | |
| • English | 74.2% |
| • Chinese | 5.6% |
| • French | 2.6% |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| Forward sortation area | |
| Area codes | 604,778, 236, 672 |
| Median Income | $72,839 |
| Population in low-income households | 21.3% |
| Unemployment rate | 5.2% |
| Website | vancouver |
Kitsilano (/kɪtsəˈlænoʊ/kit-sə-LAN-oh) is aneighbourhood in the city ofVancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Named after Squamish chief August Jack Khatsahlano,[2] Kitsilano is located along the southern shore ofEnglish Bay betweenFairview andWest Point Grey, with Burrard Street as the neighbourhood's eastern boundary, Alma Street its western boundary, and 16th Avenue its southern boundary. The area is mostly residential with two main commercial areas, West 4th Avenue andWest Broadway, known for their retail stores, restaurants and organic food markets.[3]
The area has been home to theSquamish people for thousands of years, sharing the territory with theMusqueam and theTsleil-Waututh Peoples.[4] All three Nations moved throughout their shared traditional territory, using the resources it provided for fishing, hunting, trapping and gathering.
The name 'Kitsilano' is derived fromX̱ats'alanexw, theSquamish name of chiefAugust Jack Khatsahlano.[5][6]
In 1911, an amendment to theIndian Act by the federal government to legalize the unsettling of reserves stated that "anIndian reserve which adjoins or is situated wholly or partly within an incorporated town or city having a population of [more] than eight thousand", could at the recommendation of the Superintendent General be removed without their consent if it was "having regard to the interest of the public" without the need for consent from the reserve's residents.
Subsequently, both provincial and federal governments began the "unsettling of reserves" process, which was the "emptying" of the reserves that "be[came] a source of nuisance and an impediment to progress", or, in other words, the government unsettled reserves for growing cities and potential business ventures; and by the end of 1911[contradictory] the reserve was sold to the Government of British Columbia. At this time in Canadian history, the federal government had already isolated the Indigenous population on to morsels of reserve lands, only to further deprive Indigenous peoples of what the government first thought was negligible land.[7]: 3–10
TheSquamish Nation formally surrendered the majority of reserve to the federal government in 1946.[contradictory] Part of the expropriated land was used by theCanadian Pacific Railway who pursued selling the land they had deed to in the 1980s despite the original agreement with the Squamish Nation that they should regain control of the land. This went to court, and in August 2002 the BC Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling in favour of the Squamish.[8] This Indian reserve land is at the foot of theBurrard Street Bridge, calledSenakw (commonly spelled Snauq historically) in the Squamish language, and sənaʔqʷ in the Musqueam people'shən'q'əmin'əm' language, where August Jack Khatsahlano lived.
The forced relocation of theMusqueam Nation by the Canadian government resulted in a Musqueam Reserve created on the north arm of theFraser River.[7]: 3–10 The Squamish Nation was forcibly relocated to reserves on the north shore ofBurrard Inlet, currently the citiesNorth Vancouver andWest Vancouver, as well as the False Creek Indian Reserve No. 6.[7]: 3–10
The False Creek Indian Reserve No. 6, also known as the Kitsilano Indian Reserve, is an Indian Reserve developed by the colonial government in 1869. The reserve is located on the former site of a Squamish village, known as "sən’a?qw" in hən’q’emin’əm’, the language of the Musqueam people, and as "Sen’ákw" in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim, the language of the Squamish people. Inside the reserve there was a largelonghouse that housed families, heldpotlach ceremonies, and became a central point of trade. The land appealed to its residents and attracted settlers by providing access to natural resources.[7]: 3–10 It served as an important fishing area where inhabitants could set up tidalweirs of vine maple fencing and nettle fibre nets to catch fish.[9] Additionally, the Squamish people cultivated an orchard as well as cherry trees on this land.[7] Between 1869 and 1965, as the development of railway lines drew attention to the reserve, the Burrard Street Bridge and various leases began to occupy the reserve land. The land set aside for the Squamish people was continually appropriated until it was completely sold off. After decades of legal proceedings, the Squamish Nation reclaimed a small amount of the reserve land in 2002.[10][11][12]
Most of the area now known as Kitsilano was within the boundaries of Vancouver when it was incorporated in 1886. What is now 16th Avenue was Vancouver's southern boundary, and its western boundary was what is now Trafalgar Street.[13]
Jerry Rogers began logging in the area in 1867 at Jerry's Cove, later known as Jericho.[14] By 1880 the eastern section of Kitsilano was logged off. In 1882 Sam Greer pre-empted 160 acres on the Kitsilano waterfront and with his family began farming it. In 1884,Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) managerWilliam Van Horne was negotiating to extend the CPR right of way along the waterfront to what is now Trafalgar Street.[15] That land, and Greer's farm, was included in the 6000 acres granted by the provincial government to the CPR in 1891. Greer was forced out but the beach retained his name.[16] In 1901, the name "Kitsilano" became the official designation, as suggested to the CPR (who were considering building a hotel at the beach) by postmaster Jonathan Miller.[17]
The English Bay Cannery operated at the foot of Bayswater Street from 1898 to 1905.[18]
In 1907, several Kitsilano streets were renamed because they duplicated names in other parts of the city. The new names, some inspired by battles, were Alma Road (formerly Campbell Street), Waterloo Road (Lansdowne Street), Balaclava Road (Richard Street), Blenheim Road (Cornwall Street), Trafalgar Road (Boundary Street) and Point Grey Road (Victoria Street).[19]
TheBritish Columbia Electric Railway Company expanded passenger service to Greer's Beach in 1905 with a streetcar line across the railway trestle overFalse Creek.[20] A line along 4th Avenue to Alma Road in 1909 resulted in the blocks north of 4th between Blenheim Street and Alma being completely developed as a residential neighbourhood within a year.[16]
Kitsilano was the site of the secondSikh temple to be built in Canada, a few years after the first opened inGolden in 1905.[21] Opened in 1908, the temple served earlySouth Asian settlers who worked at nearby sawmills alongFalse Creek at the time.[22] The Second Avenue Gurdwara served a community numbering around 2000. The building was sold in 1970 to raise money to build the Ross Street Gurdwara in southeast Vancouver.[23]
The influence of Greek immigrants to Kitsilano can still be seen among the businesses along Broadway west of Macdonald. Residents of Greek origin in Vancouver numbered around 3000 in the early 1960s, but were estimated to be as many as 13,000 in 1973. They tended to settle near the Greek Orthodox church (now Kitsilano Neighbourhood House) at 7th and Vine.[24]
In the 1950s, zoning changes in much of Kitsilano permitted low-rise apartments, and many larger houses were converting to rooming houses.[25] Kitsilano residents fought for zoning changes from one- to two-family districts.[26] In 1972, the proposal for a highrise apartment facing Kitsilano Beach caused city council to order a zoning change to a three-storey limit in the waterfront area.[27] Residents expressed fear of Kitsilano turning into a concrete jungle like the West End. In 1974, protesters formed a human chain in front of bulldozers after houses were demolished to make room for a high-rise tower at Balsam Street and 3rd Avenue.[28] The City opened an area planning office at 2384 West 4th Avenue in response to demands by local groups that residents have some input into the development of their neighbourhoods.[29]
The area was an inexpensive neighbourhood to live in the 1960s and attracted many from thecounterculture from across Canada and the United States and was known as one of the two hotbeds of the hippie culture in the city, the other beingGastown. Close proximity to downtown Vancouver, walking distance to parks, beaches and popularGranville Island has made the neighbourhood a very desirable community to live. One of the main concert venues in the city in the days of the counterculture was the Soft Rock Cafe, an all-ages coffee house and music venue near 4th and Maple which operated from 1976 to 1984.[30] Further west, Rohan's Rockpile was another 1970s music venue.[31]
One remaining artifact of the 1960s is the Naam Cafe at 4th and Macdonald, providingvegetarian,vegan, andnatural foods. The area is also known for having the first of certain kinds of restaurants, such as the California-style Topanga Cafe, destroyed by fire in 2018.[32] Two of the first neighbourhood pub licenses in Vancouver are still located on 4th Avenue - Bimini's at Maple and Darby D. Dawes at Macdonald.
Greenpeace held meetings at Kits Neighbourhood House in 1974 - 1975 when it opened an office on 4th Avenue and Maple, sharing the space with the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC).[33]
The first membership meeting of theGreen Party of British Columbia was held at the Museum of Vancouver in 1983.[34] The party office was originally located in the home of longtime party leaderAdriane Carr and her husband Paul George on Trafalgar Street, near 2nd, in early 1983, before being moved by the summer of that year to offices near Broadway and Cypress, which also became the first offices of theGreen Party of Canada.[citation needed]
As of 2016, Kitsilano has 43,045 people. 13.3% of the population is under the age of 20; 40.1% is between 20 and 39; 32.8% is between 40 and 64; and 13.8% is 65 or older. 74.2% of Kitsilano residents speakEnglish as a first language, 5.6% speak aChinese language, 2.6% speak French and 0.2% speakinghən'q'əmin'əm. The median household income is $72,839 and 14.7% of its population lives in low-income households. The unemployment rate is 5.2%.[1]Among neighbourhoods, in 2016, Kitsilano had the second highest (afterGrandview-Woodland) percentage of third-or-higher-generation (parents born in Canada) residents in Vancouver.[35]
| Panethnic group | 2016[36] | 2006[37] | 2001[38] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | ||||
| European[a] | 33,440 | 78.21% | 33,450 | 82.83% | 33,595 | 85.2% | |||
| East Asian[b] | 4,690 | 10.97% | 3,850 | 9.53% | 3,485 | 8.84% | |||
| South Asian | 1,075 | 2.51% | 655 | 1.62% | 590 | 1.5% | |||
| Indigenous | 735 | 1.72% | 480 | 1.19% | 345 | 0.87% | |||
| Southeast Asian[c] | 720 | 1.68% | 500 | 1.24% | 335 | 0.85% | |||
| Latin American | 700 | 1.64% | 505 | 1.25% | 255 | 0.65% | |||
| Middle Eastern[d] | 485 | 1.13% | 305 | 0.76% | 320 | 0.81% | |||
| African | 400 | 0.94% | 310 | 0.77% | 250 | 0.63% | |||
| Other/Multiracial[e] | 510 | 1.19% | 330 | 0.82% | 255 | 0.65% | |||
| Total responses | 42,755 | 99.33% | 40,385 | 99.48% | 39,430 | 99.52% | |||
| Total population | 43,045 | 100% | 40,595 | 100% | 39,620 | 100% | |||
| Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses | |||||||||
TheMuseum of Vancouver has gained several pieces of Northwest Coast art from Indigenous artists. Much of the work is displayed in a wide variety of mediums to showcase the Indigenous culture that surrounds this city.[39]
Kitsilano is home to a number of Vancouver's annual festivals and events:
.jpg)
Kitsilano is home to 17 parks, which include six playgrounds, an off-leash dog park, andKitsilano Beach, one of Vancouver's most popular beaches.[40] Along with the beach itself, Kitsilano Beach Park also contains afranchise restaurant, Kitsilano Pool, and the Kitsilano Showboat. The Kitsilano Showboat, operating since 1935, is essentially an open-airamphitheatre with the ocean and mountains as a backdrop. It is located on the south side of the Kitsilano Pool along Cornwall Avenue. Until being damaged by fire in 2023,[41] it hosted free performances from local bands, dance groups, and other performers all summer long, its main goal being to entertain residents and tourists, showcasing amateur talent. Beatrice Leinbach, MOC, or "Captain Bea," played a role in maintaining the showboat since the mid-1940s. As of 2006, she was the president of the non-profit Kitsilano Showboat Society.[42]
As of September 2018, there was an attempt to reconcile with the Indigenous communities whose land was taken during the expansion of Vancouver. By renaming the beaches and parks, one of which included Kitsilano Beach, Stuart Mackinnon park board chairman was going to work with theMusqueam,Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations to rename those areas after their original Indigenous names. However, the Indigenous community replied by saying the original areas were not named previously, because they were only forests before colonization. As of today no beaches or parks, including Kitsilano Beach have been renamed in the hən'q'əmin'əm' (MusqueamHalkomelem) orSkwxwú7mesh Snichim (Squamish language).[43]
Vanier Park is another one of Kitsilano's most popular parks, and is the location of theMuseum of Vancouver, theH. R. MacMillan Space Centre, theVancouver Maritime Museum, theVancouver Archives, and theVancouver Academy of Musicas well as thepublic art installationsGate to the Northwest Passage by artist Alan Chung Hung and "Freezing Water #7" by Jun Ren.[44][45]
Landmark buildings in Kitsilano include theMuseum of Vancouver andH. R. MacMillan Space Centre,St. Roch National Historic Site of Canada,Kitsilano Secondary School and theBessborough Armoury.
Among many original structures repurposed is Kitsilano Neighbourhood House at 7th Avenue and Vine Street. It combines the 1909 Hay House and a formerGreek Orthodox church built in 1930 and now functions as a neighbourhood centre offering childcare, a performance/meeting hall and seniors' housing.[46] St. James Community Square on 10th Avenue atšxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm, incorporating the former St. James church, with meeting spaces, a daycare, gym, multi-purpose rooms and a performance venue, Mel Lehan Hall,[47] is a hub for artists, activists and community groups of all kinds.[48] Another repurposed church building is at 3rd Avenue and Vine Street. Built in 1910–11, Kitsilano Presbyterian Church became the home of several congregations and the Vancouver Indian Centre before being converted to apartments in 1985.[49]
Arbutus Coffee at 6th Avenue occupies a former grocery store built in 1907.[50] The 1911-built Eastern Townships Bank (laterCanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce[51]) at 4th and Yew Street is now a retail clothing store. At 2114 West 4th, the Russian Community Centre (acquired fromFamous Players in 1958)[52] began life in 1913 as the Kitsilano Theatre.[53] The 1932Imperial Gasoline service station on Cornwall Avenue at Yew Street was sold by Imperial in the late 1970s and, with an added wing, has been home to a series of restaurants ever since.[54]The Hollywood Theatre on Broadway, built in theArt Deco style of the day, operated as a neighbourhood movie theatre from 1935 until 2011. It was renovated, retaining many original features, in 2020 and is now a film and music venue.[55]
Busy Macdonald Street and some quiet, leafy adjoining streets still have some 1910s–1920scraftsman houses that cannot be found anywhere else in Vancouver.[56] According toExploring Vancouver, an architectural guide to the city:
Kitsilano developed as a less expensive suburban alternative to the West End. Endless rows of developer-built houses lined the grid of streets, their gabled roofs picturesque and not boring. Many (...) resemble West End houses of preceding years, but have the wider proportions, broadverandahs, and wood brackets popularized by the newer and trendier Californiabungalow.
— Harold Kalman, Ron Phillips & Robin Ward, Exploring Vancouver
Kitsilano is situated within theCanadian federal electoral districts ofVancouver Quadra[57] andVancouver Granville,[58] currently held byWade Grant andTaleeb Noormohamed, respectively. Both are members of theLiberal Party of Canada. Provincially, Kitsilano lies within theLegislative Assembly of British Columbia electoral districts ofVancouver-Point Grey,Vancouver-Fairview, andVancouver-False Creek.[59] Vancouver-Point Grey is currently held byDavid Eby of theBC NDP, Vancouver-Little Mountain byChristine Boyle, and Vancouver-South Granville byBrenda Bailey, also BC NDP members.
Kitsilano is the current or former home of a number of notable residents including former Squamish chiefAugust Jack Khatsahlano (whom the area is named after), environmentalistDavid Suzuki, writersWilliam Gibson andPhilip K. Dick, actorsRyan Reynolds,Jason Priestley, andJoshua Jackson, ice hockey playersTrevor Linden andRyan Kesler, and comedianBrent Butt.
Other current and former residents of Kitsilano include:
Professor Charles Hill-Tout claimed on May 8, 1931, that he changed the local name, Greer's Beach, to a more appropriate name, Kitsilano, a modified version of the hereditary name of one of the Squamish chiefs.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Kitsilano & Granville Island travel guide from Wikivoyage
Media related toKitsilano at Wikimedia CommonsPlaces adjacent to Kitsilano | |
|---|---|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
