After a rather crowded walk through Granville "Island", we took a small water taxi like vehicle to the mainland. We were near the stadium district on our way to Gas Town. We decided to walk right through town, from the stadium district, through China Town, up to Gas Town, then downtown. What I learned about Vancouver at that time is how layered the city is. Or more importantly how you can go from a beautiful neighborhood to an extremely sketchy neighborhood and to a trendy neighborhood in the blink of an eye.
Each neighborhood in Vancouver seems to have a very different vibe about it, but none such changes are more apparent than walking from China Town to Gas Town. China town is a little bit sketchy, but nothing too weird at all. Then as you head to Gas Town you come across Hastings Street, and suddenly you're in a seriously sketch part of town. I mean the streets are lined with strung out drug addicts, alleyways are filled with homeless people, it's just a mess. I've traveled to a few third world countries and this street would fit right into some of the worst areas.
Then as quickly as you found yourself in this sketchy place, you look across the street and you see a store with no bars in the windows selling very expensive trendy shoes. Within a few feet of that you can buy an 8 dollar cup of coffee, and you find yourself in a super trendy neighborhood. The short distance between a terrifying street and a really hip street is amazing.
It's not to say that there isn't any crossover though. In the center of Gas Town, near the statue of Gassy Jack, a woman walked right in front of a bunch of tourists taking photos. She was obviously very strung out, with beaten up shoes and one leg ripped off her dirty track pants. It was marvelous to watch.
Later