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Posted Sep 5, 2014, 7:45 PM
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Moderator
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Toroncouver
Posts: 13,120
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ssiguy
Gastown in Vancouver certainly has some good architecture and is a unique place but I have never really thought of it as a real part of the city. It's been getting better but it is still very much a tourist destination with all the standard tacky souvenir shops and Old Spaghetti Factory. It's just not part of the Vancouver urban fabric.
Vancouverites don't go to Gastown unlike Peggers who do go to The Exchange. Gastown is still very much a tourist trap and although that is beginning to wane, Vancouverites tend to avoid it. Another problem with Gastown and Chinatown is that it is quite dangerous and is Canada's only true skid-row.
You can't go 10 feet without being asked if you want "company", pot, meth, heroine, coke, spare change or just look at the hundreds of street people who's sole occupation is looking for their next fix. It's a very sad area where young girls openly shoot-up right on the sidewalks. Chinatown and Gastown are in the thick of skid-row which is why the one thing you will never see in the area is young children with their parents.
It's for these reasons that, although Vancouverites may say it's nice area to visit for tourist, they would never even dream about going there themselves. This is completely the opposite of The Exchange in Winnipeg which is truly a vital part of the city and her residents.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prometheus
This has to be one of the most asinine and clueless (or viciously dishonest) statements ever made on this forum. Utterly laughable.
For people who have not been to Vancouver, Gastown is the historic heart of downtown Vancouver and is arguably the hippest, funkiest, most relevant urban neighbourhood in the city. It's a vibrant nexus of bold cuisine, independent cafes and bars, art studios, film schools, independent fashion, music and nightlife, high-end interior design shops and the very epicentre of Vancouver's dynamic high-tech and VFX industry.
Gastown is a jewel, for both Vancouverites and visitors.
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Just to further agree with promethius and counter ssiguy's predictably inaccurate rambling diatribe, here is an article from yesterday's Business in Vancouver.
It generally states what everyone who lives there actually knows, that Gastown is probably the coolest neighbourhood in the city. It has several of my favourite higher end restaurants and is often my first choice to going out when in Vancouver for work or fun. Most downtown residents I know feel the same, and it's often a toss up between a bar or restaurant in Yaletown or gastown for a night out. Yaletown is a bit fancier (but can be douchier) and Gastown is a bit hipper (but can be seedier).
Quote:
Gastown maturing into high-tech hub
By Frank O’Brien
Thu Sep 4, 2014 8:16am PST
A Vancouver cloud-linked tech giant has become the largest office tenant in Gastown, further evidence that the heritage area is emerging as a hip, high-tech hub in Vancouver.
Global Relay, which began in 2005 with 2,500 square feet at 220 Cambie Street has relocated in the same building by leasing up 62,000 square feet, reports Colliers International.
“Global Relay is one of Vancouver’s biggest success stories and their space has allowed them a competitive advantage over others looking to hire locally,” said Colin Scarlett senior vice president of Colliers International, who handled the lease.
A leading provider of cloud-based electronic messaging for the global financial sector, Global Relay has 18,000 customers in 90 countries and offices in New York, Chicago, London and Singapore.
Global Relay’s new Gastown digs reflect what Jones Lang Lasalle, in a recent High-Technology Office Outlook report, calls a “second wind” that is boosting office demand in once-struggling urban centres.
"Tech companies are looking for new locations for many reasons, not just for intellectual capital, or venture capital funding, but also for other factors such as standard of living," said Julia Georgules, co-lead of JLL's Technology research group
Gastown, with its heritage buildings, restaurants, clubs and urban vibe is considered one of Vancouver’s top hipster neighbourhoods. Global Relay’s new office includes a rooftop deck, high ceilings, the quintessential brick walls and timber beams – and even an in-house chef who makes hot meals for the mostly millennial staff.
It reflects a re-development trend in Gastown aimed squarely at the high-tech sector.
An example is Century Group, which is redeveloping the first new office building in Gastown in decades.
The Delta-based developer plans to restore the façade of 151 West Hastings Street, built 114 years ago, and build four floors of new office space behind it. The site will have a 4,800-square-foot green rooftop deck as well as amenities such as plug-ins for electric bikes, indoor and outdoor bike racks, according to Brett Walsh, Century Group’s director of real estate financing. Colliers is handling the leasing and is targeting tenants in the technology, digital media and gaming sectors, according to Colliers associate vice-president Stephen Moscovich.
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I honestly wonder if ssiguy even lives in Vancouver or if he's just some troll account from another city.
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