`Defiantly ungentrified': The Drive's cool factor gets global recognition
Call it the Drive at Five.
Vancouver has the fifth coolest street — Commercial Drive — of any major city in the world, according to Time Out, a global publisher of city guides.
Melbourne's High Street tops the list as coolest street in the “world's best cities,” from cool little corridors to major thoroughfares that are worth a stroll.
“Streets are the heart of local life; they're where communities come together, where new local businesses become go-to staples and where urbanites go out, hang out and have fun,” Time Out says.
Hong Kong 's Hollywood Road is second, followed by East Eleventh in Austin, Tex., and Guatemala Street in Buenos Aires before arriving at Commercial Drive.
“In a city of rapid change, Commercial Drive remains defiantly ungentrified,” writes Time Out Vancouver contributor Shawn Conner.
He notes both Starbucks and McDonald's tried and failed to establish chain locations on the Drive, while vintage and ethically sourced clothing stores thrive.
“Sure, there's a low-flying doughnut chain outlet and one of the street's best (former) dives is now a generic watering hole, but nearly everything else is unique and oneof-a-kind,” the article says. “Hip by default, The Drive also boasts a family-owned bowling alley, a plethora of coffee shops (try finding a seat on a nice day), no fewer than four used book shops and three record stores — and more pizza joints than you can shake a pepperoni stick at.”
COVID -19 has slashed the number of live stages for music or theatre to two from five, the article notes, fails to mention a Drive staple such as Joe's Cafe Bar, but does offer eat and drink suggestions.
“It's still the best hangout-and-people-watch show in town.”
The only other Canadian street to make the magazine's top 30 is Saint-Hubert Plaza in Montreal.
“It's a remarkable accomplishment,” said Andy Yan, director of the city program at Simon Fraser University and a member of the board of directors for the Planning Institute of B.C.
“And I think it kind of notes the nature of The Drive and how it has this patina of Vancouver present, past and future.
“I think of it as the collision and collaboration of any number of cultures on The Drive.”
Little Italy has been joined by Central American, African, southeast Asian and Chinese influences, its storefronts remain mostly board-free, Grandview Park is popular with neighbourhood families, while across the street you can admire the buzz from the Havana's patio or catch an act inside at the live stage in the Flamingo room.
But all this does raise a question: Is The Drive even the coolest street in Vancouver?
What about Main Street? What about Victoria Drive? What about Kingsway, and which parts of Kingsway? Denman? Parts of Fraser?
“I think it depends on what you're looking for,” Yan said. “In their own unique way those streets are perhaps the most authentic streets in Vancouver. They're not manufactured toward some facade of what people think (Vancouverites) want for Vancouver.”
And these are just Vancouver streets.
“Remember, we're only focusing on one city, we haven't even gone into a street like Lonsdale with the Shipyards, Mid and Upper Lonsdale all coming together for what I think is a remarkable, livable neighbourhood.”