Spend any length of time living in Vancouver and you know it is constantly changing (old buildings come down, new buildings go up). Vancouver is a city in flux.
For a relatively young city (in the global scheme of things), Vancouver has certainly gone through its fair share of changes in its 129 year history. Personally, I am amazed how quickly one can get used to the new scenery and forget what used to be there before. In my own experience, that is just in the past 40 years. Imagine how much the city would have appeared to have changed for people who lived here 80 or 100 years ago – it would be almost unrecognizable to them.
Here is a brief snapshot look at one part of that flux – Cedar Street aka Burrard Street.
This sidewalk stamp reveals the former name of the southern portion of Burrard Street in Vancouver. According to “Street Names of Vancouver” by Elizabeth Walker, Cedar Street dates back to 1885 and was named by L. A. Hamilton, Vancouver’s most influential street namer. When the Burrard Bridge was completed in 1932, Burrard St. (north side, downtown) was then linked to Cedar St. on the south end of the bridge. Cedar Street was officially renamed Burrard Street in 1938.
In the photographs below, I was amazed to see how rural and simple Cedar Street (Burrard St.) looked before the Burrard Bridge was built.
Below, is the same intersection (Burrard at 1st Ave) today. It is interesting to note the continued presence of a gas station in approximately the same spot along Cedar/Burrard street.
Below are two views of Cedar/Burrard St. at 6th Avenue, 70 years apart. The rail crossing and tracks are front and centre in the earlier photo. Whereas, they are just a memory in the 2015 photo and the lushness of the community garden is now the main focus.
One thing I noticed in all the 2015 photos, compared to the earlier photos, is how the hard edges of the built environment have been softened by the street landscaping. They add natural character to the city. Check out The benefit of Trees from Quiet Nature to see why trees are so important to the urban landscape.
I hope to make The City in Flux: a semi-regular feature on Vanalogue. Look for more snapshot looks at different parts of the city in future posts.
Fun Fact: The tree streets were intended to be laid out in alphabetical order, as L.A. Hamilton planned. However, a clerical error changed those intentions permanently. Who knows what tree street Cedar Street was initially intended to be called?
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Interesting, C. Hagemoen. One thing I noticed in the last shot of Burrard & 6th is that most of the overhead wires are gone. Nice – especially with the noted addition of trees.
Yes, I know what you mean, Sophie. But wires had a certain charm too. Or maybe that’s just nostalgia. But trees certainly. I wonder are they native BC trees? I don’t know my trees well enough to identify them.
Thank you for identifying from which Avenue the Cedar Street from 1st Avenue picture was taken. I landed here through Google reverse image search and I was puzzling as to whether that really was 2nd Avenue at the nearest corner, with an earlier gas station where the PetroCan stands, now. I’m a fan of older buildings and think most of more newly built Vancouver is architecturally awful, but the same can’t be said of the street landscaping. Today’s greenery (and fewer prominent utility poles and wires) makes the streets much lovelier, especially when the trees are in leaf.
Thanks Elaine. Isn’t Google fun? You never know where you may end up! I agree, street landscaping makes all the difference.