West Vancouver Overview

The North Shore is an exciting, dynamic and most of all, beautiful place to live. Though comfortably suburban, the North Shore still maintains a proximity to cosmopolitan Downtown Vancouver shopping, dining, night life and tourist attractions while also being just steps away from a huge variety of recreational activities.

Geographically the North Shore is made up of West and North Vancouver along the north side of the English Bay and Burrard Inlet. Across the water are Downtown Vancouver and Burnaby roughly 28 kilometres away. The Municipality of West Vancouver consists of the land West of the Capilano River.

A true diversity of neighbourhoods lies within the North Shore as well. Everything from the value oriented apartments and condominiums of Lower Lonsdale, to the mid-range family oriented communities like Blueridge in North Vancouver District, to the opulent waterfront mansions of West Vancouver, the North Shore is certain to appeal to people of all walks of life.

With exceptional golf courses interspersed throughout the community along with a very generous amount of park space the North Shore gives an exceedingly green feel. Legendary courses such as the private Capilano Golf and Country Club and Seymour Golf and Country Club are among the top golf courses in BC.

Cycling is a popular recreational activity on the North Shore... everything from a casual ride up the paved Seymour Demonstration Forest access road which has been specifically set aside for recreation, to the world-renown, extremely challenging free ride trails of Seymour, Fromme and Cypress mountains, cycling on the North Shore couldn't be any more complete.

During the winter months, the three mountains of Cypress, Grouse and Seymour host hundreds of thousands of skiers on their mountains. Living on the North Shore, you're just a quick drive to the slopes... Instead of spending a night in front of the television hundreds of North Shore residents instead spend the evenings riding the lifts and getting in some turns. And if the local three aren't challenging enough for you, you're about an hour and a half away from Whistler-Blackcomb, what many consider to be the World's finest ski resort.

West Vancouver History

West Vancouver began mainly as a summer holiday destination. Many men and women canoed and finally ferried their way across from Vancouver so that they could enjoy a picnic in the sun or camp in the fresh air. Back in the day you could see an entire “tent city” from May to September along the way of Ambleside to 23rd street.

In 1873, the first white resident moved in to the area and built his home in the community that is today known as Ambleside. Jack Thomas lived with his wife who was the granddaughter of Chief Ki-ep-i-lan-o after whom the Capilano River was named.

By the end of 1912, West Vancouver was now bustling part in thanks to the ferries starting regular services in 1909 that caused a small real estate boom to occur. In the area of what was then known as “West Capilano”.

On March 15 in 1912, West Vancouver was finally incorporated as a Municipality and the first election was held shortly after in April. The land to the west of the Capilano River was named West Vancouver and the land to the east became North Vancouver. The Lions Gate Bridge was officially opened in November of 1938 and allowed a large growth of the community to blossom. In the past you could only get to the area by the ferry. Many of the homes in West Vancouver date back almost to the 1920’s and 1930’s and offer a charming appeal with cozy lots.

West Vancouver has now become a large municipality of almost 42,000 people. With a unique mixture of old summer resorts, modern homes, and elaborate waterfront estates, West Vancouver offers no other tourist attraction besides it’s beaches, forests, mountain trails and ski slopes which were the original attractions that drew tourists in.

Most of the city’s revenue comes from property taxes as well as the municipality itself. There is an independent West Vancouver police force and the very efficient Blue Bus system. Truly a wonderful city to live in.