There’s no mistaking “The Left Coast” for any other part of Canada. British Columbia is 99% serious nature, with wilderness areas as exotic as their names—Tatshenshini-Alsek, Clayoquot Sound, Haida Gwaii—justly protected. (In many small towns, logging and fishing and mining are locked in a delicate dance with the province’s environmental concerns.)
But on the edge of the wild sits one of the youngest metropolises in the world. Vancouver, City of Glass, home of Lululemon yoga togs, birthplace of Greenpeace and environmental concepts like the “eco-footprint” and the “100-mile diet.” (At 2-million plus, it’s Canada’s third-largest metro area.) In the mildest climate in Canada, lifestyle trumps all: the old saw that “you can ski in the morning and sail in the afternoon” is true. Pretty much everybody looks decent in shorts, owns Gore-Tex raingear, and has seen bears up close.
A quasi-New Age spirituality—entwined with strong First Nations presence—runs through what’s routinely voted one of the most desirable cities on the planet. (The demand is reflected in the real-estate prices: the highest in Canada.) Cultural Creatives run amok, designing gaming software and working in the third-largest film industry in North America. (Hence the Vancouver moniker Hollywood North.)
It has led the way in design movements such as westcoast style and photoconceptualism. And everyone has an almost-finished film script in his or her back pocket. An Asian police chief reflects the Lower Mainland’s ethnic mix; around 52% of the city’s population speaks a language other than English at home. Population is relatively transient and politically fickle. Gregor Robertson, who sold organic juice before becoming mayor, wants Vancouver to be “the greenest city in the world by 2020.” (The previous mayor, a quadriplegic, vowed it would become the world’s most “accessible” city, and it’s on its way.)
In the provincial capital of Victoria, you can feel Canada’s colonial roots as nowhere else while taking “afternoon tea” at the Fairmont Empress Resort Hotel.
“BC” in a nutshell:
Smells like: apple blossoms, bok choi, Stanley Park cedars, Okanagan wine and Nanaimo bars
Iconic artists: Emily Carr, Bill Reid, Jack Shadbolt, Robert Bateman, Jeff Wall
Writers in residence: Douglas Coupland, William Gibson, Jack Hodgins, Patrick Lane, Lorna Crozier
Libretto by: P.K. Page, enviro steward David Suzuki
Soundtrack by: Sarah McLachlan, Nelly Furtado, D.O.A., Hedley, Michael Bublé
Sports to do: hiking, skiing, fishing, golfing, kayaking, badminton, climbing, surfing
Sports to watch: hockey, football, soccer
Mascot: Terry Fox, Steve Nash
Quirky fact: “Live Aid” founder Bob Geldof was once music editor of the local weekly, The Georgia Straight
***British Columbia Day at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is Feb. 14.
www.hellobc.com
video:
A Day trip to Victoria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYN4uykbySE
Sustainable dinning in Vancouver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anZ_T62x7Bo
Green Spaces of Vancouver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLMWB6PDhQY
Experiencing BC on two wheels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrMS1TnarS4
Read about Canada’s 13 provinces and territories
