to the north. The Downtown area is officially considered to be bounded by
Burrard Inlet to the north,
West End to the west,
Granville Island/
Fairview and
Mount Pleasant across the
False Creek to the south, and
Downtown Eastside and
Strathcona to the east and southeast. Most unofficial sources also include
West End and
Stanley Park into Downtown (the so-called "Downtown Peninsula"), but the City of Vancouver officially defines them as separate
neighbourhoods. Besides the readily identifiable
office towers of the
financial and central business districts, Downtown Vancouver also includes residential neighbourhoods in the form of high-rise
apartments and
condominiums in
Yaletown and
Coal Harbour, and other Downtown neighbourhoods include the
Granville Mall and
Entertainment District, Downtown South,
Gastown,
Chinatown and
Japantown.
Notable sub-neighbourhoods •
Yaletown is the
heritage area of Downtown, located along
False Creek and the
seawall. Formerly home to the Vancouver's warehouses, the area has been revitalized with commercial and residential developments, and is now home to an
upper middle class with a mix of
condominiums and
apartments. •
Coal Harbour is the Vancouver's former
port area. Like Yaletown, the area has been redeveloped for residences and some business, and is now home to high-income residents. •
Gastown is another heritage area of the city, and some streets are still
cobblestone. Tourist shops are found near the notable
Gastown steam clock. The area is mixed with
lower- and
middle class residents living in apartments, condos and lofts. •
Chinatown is where many Chinese immigrants established their homes and businesses when they first moved to Vancouver. Residential areas are home to low-income residents in apartments. There are some warehouses still located in the area. •
Crosstown is a roughly four-block area at the eastern edge of Chinatown, east of Yaletown and south of Gastown, connecting these three neighbourhoods. It is a compact, high-density neighborhood including high-end heritage buildings (include the historic
Sun Tower), a row of heritage high-rise boutique loft conversions along Beatty Street, and nine
mixed-use residential condos towers, all with easy access to major amenities of Downtown either by foot,
SkyTrain or
SeaBus. As one of the fastest-growing area of Downtown with an influx of new investments and businesses, the neighbourhood offers parks, traditional restaurants, coffee/tea shops, outdoor markets, clothing and many more retail shops. •
Japantown was an old neighbourhood located east of Gastown, that once had a concentration of Japanese immigrants. It ceased to be a distinctly ethnic Japanese area during
World War II when
Japanese Canadians
were interned and had their properties permanently confiscated by the
King government, and although some Japanese returned after the war, the community never revived to the original state. As the Japantown ceased to exist, the area is now often marketed as
Railtown by real estate developers due to the proximity of the
West Coast Express railways. ==Demographics==