Situated between the world-famous Stanley Park, Vancouver's cherished English Bay Beach, and the downtown business district, the West End is a dynamic, densely populated community overflowing with activity, day and night.

The popular Robson Street shopping area is known throughout the city as the place to "see and be seen." It is a major tourist destination and is filled with upscale boutiques, trendy clothing stores, restaurants and coffee shops. Denman Street is another popular shopping haunt, lined with funky shops, inexpensive dining, movie theatres, and the local community centre and library. The downtown business core is just minutes away, making this area an ideal home for office workers and car-less Vancouverites.

Did You Know?

A popular annual event, the Gay Pride Parade, follows a route through the West End and finishes at Sunset Beach.

A marble drinking fountain with the name "Fortes" sits at the edge of Alexandra Park at English Bay. The fountain honours Joe Fortes, an early pioneer and the city's first lifeguard. From the 1890s, until his death in 1922, Fortes was famous for being at English Bay Beach and teaching generations of Vancouver children to swim.

The first settler, John Morton, was a potter by trade and was lured to the area from New Westminster by the local deposits of coal and clay. In the summer of 1859, a survey ship had found coal on the shore of Burrard Inlet near the foot of Bute Street. Although coal was never actively mined in the area, its discovery led Morton and two partners to lay claim to the land with the intention of establishing a brick making operation.

When St. Paul's Hospital was first established by the Catholic Church in 1894, it was located at the end of the Burrard Street trail "way out in the bush." A pathway extended southward to English Bay and a rutted wagon trail connected to Yaletown.

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