The Area - Yaletown

Designer purse: check. Tricked-out SUV: check. Purse-size dog: check. Yep, you’ve arrived in Yaletown, where ostentatiousness finds a home in our laid-back, west coast city. This warehouse-district-cum-trendville (à la New York’s Meatpacking District) has smoothed out its formerly rough edges and welcomed into its handsome arms fashion-forward clothing and accessories stores such as Global Atomic Design, 1006 Mainland st., (604) 806-6223; and Posh, 1059 Mainland St., (604) 669-6167; and see-and-be-seen dining rooms like Glowbal, 1079 Mainland St., (604) 602-0835; and Elixir, 322 Davie St., (604) 642-0557. High-end grocery store Urban Fare, 177 Davie St., (604) 975-7550, is where locals shop for imported olive oils, cheeses from boutique farms and other yummy, if pricey, treats.

Eat:
The to-die-for stamina sushi roll (fresh crab, barbecued eel and smoked salmon) at Blue Water Café — it’s among the best seafood restaurants in the city and a favourite of both Dame Judy Dench and Pierce Brosnan. Start with a Grey Goose martini. Shaken, not stirred, naturally. 1095 Hamilton St., (604) 688-8078.

Drink:
The chocoholic equivalent of pure heroin, the Champurrado (dark hot chocolate and corn) or Moctezuma Mix (liquid white chocolate, orange and mandarin) at Chocoatl. 1127 Mainland St., (604) 676-9977.

Browse:
The endless shelves of trendy and tried-and-true beauty products at Beautymark, 1120 Hamilton St., (604) 642-2294.

LOOKING BACK: Hamilton & Drake, 1984

The trendy neighbourhood of Yaletown wasn’t always so cool.

In some ways, Yaletown is that brooding social outcast shunned in high school — the one who grew up to be the hip film director whose parties are in-crowd only.

Like many of us, Vancouver’s warehouse district went through an awkward phase in the ’80s. At a time when Vancouver was billing itself as the city of the future, Yaletown’s abandoned warehouses with their peeling paint and crumbling brick facades didn’t fit in with the newly minted highrises that were popping up downtown. A post-industrial ghost town, Yaletown was best known for its abundance of parking spots, which no doubt came in handy for the swarm of tourists who descended on the city for Expo 86 — not long after this picture was taken.

The most remarkable thing about this stretch of Hamilton Street, which today is packed with some of the city’s top-rated hotspots, is how little it has physically changed. The elevated sidewalks and permanent canopies that once served as loading docks are now heated patios serving seared ahi tuna to an elite clientele. So maybe Yaletown wasn’t an awkward teenager after all. Just misunderstood. — Lara Kordic

At Right—Top, Yaletown in its abandoned, derelict period circa 1984.
At Right—Bottom, Yaletown today: home to Hollywood elite—and wannabe Hollywood elite.

top: Ken Young photo, City of Vancouver archives, CVA382-74
bottom: Byron Lamarque