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Grandview - Woodland |
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History |
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History The story of the Grandview-Woodland community began when an early settler nailed up a sign called “Grand View” in the area around 1892 (City of Vancouver, 2005). This place was once filled with timber stands prior to the 1880s (City of Vancouver, 2005); however, it was later logged off and left as “a wilderness of stumps” for a long period of in the 1880s (City of Vancouver, 2005). Not till 1892, the development in this area was resumed with the opening of the Vancouver-New Westminster interurban railway, which “had hourly runs from Carrall and Hastings Street along Park Drive,” which is now known as Commercial Drive (City of Vancouver, 2005). In the late 1890s, the area on 2nd and 3rd Avenues, between Clark and Woodland, was further constructed by “chain gangs from the Powel Street jail” (City of Vancouver, 2005). The expansion of Grandview Woodland began in 1904 with the city water system built along Commercial Drive (City of Vancouver, 2005). During the early settlement years, business activities grew along Commercial Drive, formerly known as Park Drive in the 1900’s (City of Vancouver, 2005). Also during this time, 9th Avenue was changed to Broadway Street. In the northern region of the area, industry flourished because of the close vicinity and influence by the CPR and the Port (City of Vancouver, 2005). According to the windshield survey, Commercial Drive appeared to be quite busy in terms of business. Many people were eating and stopping by food and beverage venues throughout the whole street. The north area near the Port seemed quite bleak and not much of a development was observed in directing the area to public appeal and interest other than industry. Development in the area slowed after 1912 because of a city-wide recession, and political-economical attention was more focused on westside neighbourhoods, such as Shaughnessy, Kitsilano, and Point Grey (City of Vancouver, 2005). With comparison to windshield surveys among some of these areas with the Grandview area, The Westside areas seemed to be cleaner and quieter, but Commercial Drive had quite a high level of community interaction. Grandview Woodland has always been big on improving transportation to better its community. Projects have been put in place as far back as 1907 when Park Drive was built to keep children safe from railway lines (City of Vancouver, 2005). Community planning was taken place from a bottom-up method as community empowered themselves for change in road construction, improved lighting system, drainage system, as well as building a library for schools on Commercial Drive (City of Vancouver, 2005). When the Britannia Community Services Centre was built in 1975, it was one of North America's largest facilities (City of Vancouver, 2005). It was carefully designed not to overwhelm the neighbourhood (City of Vancouver, 2005). Its innovative design incorporated learning, social, and recreation facilities to provide services to a very diverse population (City of Vancouver, 2005). In the 1970s, residents joined a lobby to prevent the construction of a freeway down Venables Street through to Downtown (City of Vancouver, 2005). In the 1980s, the Skytrain arrived (City of Vancouver, 2005). “After the First World War when Italian, Chinese, and East European immigrants arrived in the area,” the face of the community changed (City of Vancouver, 2005). A second wave of Italian immigrants made the area home after World War II (City of Vancouver, 2005). Old houses were renovated; the look of Commercial Drive with new shops and restaurants changed noticeably (City of Vancouver, 2005). In 1950s and 1960s, Chinese residents increased in numbers, as some of the earlier Italian and East European residents moved on to other neighbourhoods (City of Vancouver, 2005). Grandview's first East Indian residents arrived in the late 1960s (City of Vancouver, 2005). Britannia Community Centre, also know as “The Hub” to the local residents, was developed with great ambitions in mind. “The Hub” model, designed in 1975, was developed to include several community resources within close proximity to one another but it also took into account the need for easy accessible by foot or public transit (City of Vancouver, 2005). However, the model never fully recognized the implications of such a task. The availability of a public library, public school as well as a community centre each have there own regulatory boards and their own agenda needs (K. Hume, personal communication, January 16, 2008). This poses great difficulty in site development and upgrades as one board may not agree with the others. However, the implementation of this model has provided valuable resources for the culturally diverse community of the Grandview Woodland (City of Vancouver, 2005). History lines the streets of the familiar neighbourhood of Grandview Woodland, which was once referred to as “Little Italy”, but all that has changed since World War 2 (City of Vancouver, 2005). During several windshield surveys and walkabouts, cultural diversity of the community can be seen through the variety of restaurants available and various ethnic groups that wander the streets. Analysis from Statistics Canada reports has identified a decrease in the Italian population, while other native populations are on the rise (Statistics Canada, 2001). This changing trend is perhaps the cause of gentrification and the loss of what was once known as “Little Italy” in Grandview Woodland. As the community has developed and evolved over time, the history of Grandview Woodland is not to be forgotten. Members of this community with the help of City council put together the Heritage Conservation Program in 1983, in an effort to maintain memories from the past (City of Vancouver, 2005). |
