Talk:Kitsilano
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[edit] Tress lined streets and old houses ?
I agree re. the age of buildings (don't forget Strathcona (began as a neighbourhood in the 1860s) and Mt Pleasant (homes date from the 1880s)). Also, I'd be hard pressed to find many areas of the city without street trees (for example). Hu Gadarn 20:11, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
Ds13, while I think most of your changes are good, I don't understand why you made the change in the first paragraph to remove "tree-lined streets" and "oldest architecture". I think they are both important characteristics of the neighborhood that clearly distinguish it from other places in Vancouver. --Andrew Eisenberg 04:28, 20 February 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks, Andrew. If you or others feel strongly that those descriptions are important to the article, add them back in. They're technically true, so I can't argue on that basis. There were two aspects to what I deleted so I'll explain my rationale for each:
- 1. Re/ "tree-lined streets"... technically true, though it's also true of all of Vancouver's neighbourhoods, isn't it? There may even be more remarkable tree-lined streets in Point Grey or Shaugnessey. But yup, Kits has nice trees.
- 2. Re/ "oldest architecture"... possibly true, though it's uncited, which would be very helpful if you want to add that description back. For comparison, I know there are buildings in Chinatown (like the Wing Sang building) from the 1880s. I would suggest that "oldest architecture" distinguishes Gastown more than any other neighbourhood since it has many buildings built in the 1910s and 1920s.
- Cheers. --Ds13 05:14, 20 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Electoral districts
I corrected the text since Kitsilano is not entirely within Vancouver Quadra; the part west of Arbutus is within Vancouver Centre according to this map (see also this text description).
Also added provincial riding info. --Mathew5000 09:35, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Restaurants
It seems wierd to have a section on restaurants in Kits. I don't see any of the other Vancouver neighborhoods with a restaurants section. It's just a list with no links and no description.
Possibilities: either a) remove it, b) add links to the restaurant homepages, c) add restaurants section to all Vancouver neighborhoods sections.
My preference is a) since it just seems strange and out of place. Of course options b) and c) should go together.
- Actually I'd go with c), as many restaurants are notable in various ways, sometimes for what buildings they're in (though not in any Kitsilano case I can think of); the point is to give an idea of the flavour of the area; names need not be used, but a broader pallette or what 4th is about than hippiedon vs. gentrification is in there too; the Greek places etc. Ditto Broadway; the Drive has a different range of offerings, likewise North Van vs Main Street vs Kerrisdale; it's what establishes identity in part; and as I just added, Kits has a certain style of restaurant, and has pioneered certain things locally (California-style Mex at the Topanga and Las Margaritas, e.g.) vs other area's own originalities (Gastown's long history of restaurant experiments).Skookum1 08:41, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] History section
OK, as elsewhere I'm wary of adding overmuch to the history section, which can be quite lengthy if let be; that's why some are inline comments which perhaps someone else can condense down to visibility if suitable; I know I should have put them here, naughty-naughty....but anyway, the story of Greer's Beach and the old Kitsilano streetcar loop, and the 4th Avenue extension and what-not, should all be here, and it's all quite interesting; also something about the ultra-wealthy strip along Point Grey Road from Kits Beach to Jericho (I happen to know the family connected with the name Locarno, the Delmonicos, but that's another story). I also can't quite recall the other community halls than the Russian Community Centre; there's that one at about 7th and Balsam or Vine, and the one at Vine and 5th (formerly a bank, or church, for a while a native centre, maybe townhouses now), and others; there's other historical businesses worth noting; btw the name of the store on Broadway called Kiss-A-Rhino is an old kid's nickname for Kitsilano.Skookum1 08:38, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] ...and Kits architecture
It's not just the aforementioned structures, as well as some of the nice Edwardian stuff like the bank on the corner of Yew and such; but the particular Kits style of house, which is very different from Fairview or Grandview or Shaughnessy or even Dunbar/Point Grey or Kerrisdale; most similar to Point Grey/10th Avenue, and I believe it has something to do with the particular contractors and designs that the CPR used when subdividing and building and marketing the city, which after all was a really big real estate promotion. Notable including Arts & Crafts and the timbered-bungalow look that's so typically bungalow, and those big rambling things Arts & Crafts I think like on Dunbar & 2nd and 1st...), and also innovative 60s/70s modernism sometimes, sometimes kitsch; the garden atmosphere of both streets and lanes, and so on, is part of what Kitsilano is; certainly it's more than the commercial strip(s). BTW Vanier Park is not on Kits Beach, but aside from that, in closing, there used to be a graffito where the No. 4 came out of its loop off the Granville Bridge and crossed the tracks at fir, by the collision place; in big scrawled black paint-can letters "Entering Kitsilano". It had been there since the '60s and was still there in the '80s, not sure about early '90s.
[edit] "Skitsilano"/"Schitzalano" etc. or just "Skitz"
Also the standard nickname "Skitsilano"/"Schitzalano" etc. or just "Skitz" ("Schiz" maybe?) should be mentioned somewhere here; perhaps The Straight is the place to look for a cite for the usage. It's uncitable, but I swear the area has the highest concentration of amateur psychiatrists on the planet ;-) - and of course eco-volunteerism and leading-the-way in recycling and organic-ness. I should probably try and fit in Banyen Books, one of the flagships of what the counterculture, um, turned into - are they still up on Broadway? Trying to remember where they were on 4th....Skookum1 08:38, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
- And speaking of old Kits lore, a Harold Hedd article is sorely needed, as well as articles on others from that time....Skookum1 08:48, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Pic of funky stores at 6th and Arbutus?
Anyone live down that way? Typical old Kits and old Vancouver corner stories, though hippified some; shots of side streets in Kits and various houses or groups of houses would help illustrate this, doncha think?
[edit] Kitsilano High School and Kitsilano Community Centre
And actually the armoury right in there on 10th, just west of Arbutus, too; both as architecture items and as institutional items not that the Community Centre is of architectural interest, but the school is). Maybe Connaught Park also?Skookum1 08:49, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Famous residents and the Dadaists an St. James Centre
Sorry again for inline comments, but also needing to add that the Vancouver Dadaists, like Mr Candyman and Mr Peanut and the other surrealists here in the 60s and 70s, not only need an article, but were also Kits folks, big-time; obscure now but important in Dadaist history; I saw some of their music charts once; you rubbed fake-fur patches and sandpaper to play it...there's quite a cast of characters when you scratch Kits deeper, I'd say; btw St James Centre should be listed, perhaps have an article.Skookum1 09:04, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
