My Top Ten Vancouver List

I was born in Balcarra park, literally, which is close to Port Moody and looks across Indian Arm to Deep Cove. Quite soon after this we moved to Eighteenth Avenue, near Cambie. I have lived in Norway, Australia, Costa Rica, Peru, southern California, and other exotic locales, and what I have learned is that Vancouver is home. I can't imagine living anywhere else.

1. The Trout Lake Market reminds me of growing up on Saltspring Island. It is a wonderful, eclectic mix of homemade soap vendors and heritage tomato purveyors, amongst other things. You can go on a Saturday morning and buy produce that was actually grown locally (in a world which is slowly becoming run by conglomorates, this is unfortunately more and more difficult to find). You also get to meet the people who have farmed this very food, people who are enthusiastic about what they have grown. The market is open from May 14th to October 8th on each Saturday between these dates.

2. Wreck Beach. Okay I know that this has already been written about, but I really do love Wreck beach and it would feel wrong to do a top ten Vancouver list without including it. I am not a nudist, and so the thrill of wreck beach, for me, is about so much more than letting the breeze touch me in places that don't often see daylight. Unlike Kits beach, where it seems profane to have an extra two pounds around your midsection, Wreck beach embraces humanity. Further, unlike other nude beaches along the west coast there are actually woman, in fact many woman, wandering around comfortably. Not having to awkwardly wrap myself in a towel in order to change out of my street clothes is another plus. Also, although I do believe the VPD is cracking down, there is no patio in Vancouver where a cold beer is cheaper or more reliably enjoyed.

3.Flowering trees. Someone once said to me that Vancouver is second only to Tokyo for its urban flowering trees. Although I can't actually find this statistic, come springtime, walking along a street of blooming cherry trees, I can't imagine even heaven competing with this bounty.

4.Granville Island Market. I know that this is a tourist Mecca, and is an obvious Vancouver landmark, but it is obvious for a reason. Collected in one idyllic spot is a wonderful mix of produce stands, gourmet local foods, and culture. Granville island is a major host of the Fringe Fesitival, the Writers Festival, the Comedy Festival, as well as a huge amount of local talent.

5.The Commodore Ballroom. Besides the fact that is the only venue in the city in which consistently hosts bands worth listening to, it has one of the only sprung floors in all of North America. Enough said.

6.Sushi. This is not the only ode to raw fish in the Beyond Robson top tens, however it would not be possible for me to comment on Vancouver's best qualities without making mention of the fact that I don't think there is anywhere else in the world that you can order such top quality sushi in English. If you have ever had the fortune (I mean this both literally and figuratively) to go to Tojo's on Broadway and order the chef special, where they bring you dish after dish of whatever is best in the house that day, you might wonder how Japan is faring without their sushi chefs.

7.The VanDusen Botanical Gardens. In my earlier years I lived on Saltspring Island in a house overlooking the ocean. Right next to our home was the home of one of the principal gardeners of the VanDusen gardens. She had the kind of garden that exists in fairy tales. As she was rarely home (she obviously couldn't work remotely), my sister and I spent our formative years pretending we were fairies in her flower beds. Later when I was a student at Kitsilano Secondary School, it was the ultimate of cool to boast that my best friend and I had gotten stoned and snuck into VanDusen gardens and attempted to find our way out of the maze in the dark of a Friday night. We did this several times, and I'm not sure we ever found our way out (In daylight, with clarity of mind, it's no great shakes). Now I appreciate VanDusen gardens for its sophisticated flora that is the inspiration of gardeners, as well as it's ability to capitalize on a year round admission fee. Check out the festival of lights during the winter.

8.Jericho Beach During the The Folk Festival From Jericho Beach. I haven't paid an admission to the Folk Festival for a number of years now. This is not because I want to undermine the labour of love that is this annual festival, but because it has never been an appealing enough line up to shell out for the ticket price. I have however spent many summers sitting just beyond the makeshift gate, wrapped in a blanket, against a piece of driftwood, looking out toward English Bay and listening to the headlining band on the main stage. The main stage is a stone's throw away from the shoreline (if you have a good arm), and I do not think that after these many years, this fact has eluded the festival organizers. Further, coming earlier in the day means having access to the kind of hippy artifacts, by way of renagade vendors, that are slowly becoming instinct.

9.The Way Everything Stops When it Snows. Much to the vexation of my friends from Toronto, the whole city shuts down with three millimetres of snow. I can invariably look out of my window on a winter evening and watch gentle snow flakes fall against the sidewalk outside my window and feel warm with the knowledge that bus lines will be stalled, schools will be shut down, and many commuters will sleep in. Most winters in Vancouver it snows, but this is no reason that we have to organize as a city and make an action plan for this inevitable event. No, instead let us see this as an act of God, and marvel at the metamorphism of water into perfectly unique, frozen mandalas.

10.Last, but not least, The Georgia Straight. Thank God (really) for the integrity of independent journalism. Yes, the Georgia Straight is primarily an arts and entertainment freebie but really it is one of the only print mediums in this city with any balls. They have built up the circulation to attract writers who demand a salary, and yet they continue to shun the financing of corporate interests that might interfere with real journalism. This is a very fine line to walk, and I applaud them for every step. So after you read Savage Love and your horoscope, you might actually want to read the cover article. The two new freebie papers, 24 hours and the Metro, are both owned by Canwest, which also owns the Sun, the Province, the Westender and the Courier, amongst other local media. They are run with a very strict political agenda that is in no way compatible with journalistic ethic.