Inspired by the recently celebrated B.C. Day, which came with attendant essays on what makes this province unique and worth bragging about, I’ve decided we need a Vancouver Day, with guidelines on how you can tell a true Vancouverite (whether here for five days or five generations) from a mere visitor.
Plus, we all need a chance to be silly.
Here is my kickstarter and highly idiosyncratic list about what defines someone as a Vancouver native:
- Knows the difference between West Vancouver, the West End, and the west side of Vancouver
- Never bothers to carry an umbrella in any weather. What are Gore-Tex jackets with hoods for?
- Pronounces Vancouver as “Vangcouver,” a strange but true Canadianism I’ve noticed.
- Has a strong opinion about cycling, one way or the other
- Does not think there’s anything strange or unusual about butter-chicken poutine.
- Has waited more than four hours in a ferry line-up, at some point.
- Knows where there is a decent wild blackberry patch
Additions?
92 responses so far ↓
1 trixie // Aug 7, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Knows that North Vancouver is located due east of West Vancouver.
2 Raingurl // Aug 7, 2012 at 2:59 pm
What makes a Vancouverite? I’d say anyone that can put up with rats year after year.
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/photo/tired-rats-and-demolition-disaster-dtes-community-challenges-city-hall-act/11712
3 IanS // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Someone who’s wiling to pay close to $4 for a cup of coffee several times a week.
4 Sean Nelson // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Has ridden a trolley bus.
5 trixie // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Knows where Second and Third Beach are, but is unconcerned that there is no First Beach.
6 trixie // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:17 pm
Knows that Lost Lagoon is easily found.
7 Editor, REW.ca // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Can’t get through an entire conversation without mentioning the Vancouver real estate market.
8 Sharon // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Knows that South Granville is not at 70th Avenue – that’s Marpole!
9 trixie // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Understand, but rarely talks about, DTES / SRO.
10 Tim Bray // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Orders in sushi & pizza for kids’ birthday parties.
11 Carlos // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Understands pretty much every GIF on this website:
http://definitelyraining.tumblr.com/
12 Raingurl // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:36 pm
RE: 9 trixie // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Understand, but rarely talks about, DTES / SRO.
Maybe if we did start talking about it, DTES wouldn’t be a problem anymore.
13 Raingurl // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Thanks to development is STILL able to use the term “I’m going to shop at Woodward’s” (that’s one of my favourite terms)
14 Cara // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Someone from Vancouver understands the phrase ‘creme de la creme’ and starts to roll their eyes.
15 Agustin // Aug 7, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Awesome list!
How about: someone who loves Luongo when he’s wearing red and white, but can’t stand him in green, white, and blue?
Or, to build on a few themes: someone who’s gone walking on the beach and skiing in the same day, then went immediately home to call all his relatives in the rest of the country to rub it in? (Or posted it on Facebook, if you’re one of those.)
16 trixie // Aug 7, 2012 at 4:08 pm
Sends daffodil pix to relatives in Saskatoon.
17 Frank Ducote // Aug 7, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Cara @ 14: Now that’s a Vancouverite all right!
A real Vancouverite knows more about planning than (fill in the blank) and architecture than (ditto). And transit, and land economics and ad nauseum…
18 gmgw // Aug 7, 2012 at 4:18 pm
The late Denny Boyd (who True Vancouverites of a certain age will recall as the Sun’s longtime items/gossip/saloon columnist, back when newspapers still had such things– Boyd inherited the position from the semi-legendary Jack Wasserman) used to regularly do columns on this topic, probably when he got bored. The only one of his aphorisms I can recall claimed that True Vancouverites always drove (slowly) around Stanley Park Drive when returning from the North Shore via the Lions Gate Bridge, rather than along the faster-but-duller Park causeway. I remember being pleased to read that, as I’d already been doing it for years; it’s a habit I picked up from my father. Of course, I was born and grew up in North Vancouver, which might disqualify me as a True Vancouverite– although my father was born in Vancouver, in 1912– so perhaps I’m one by default. (You want to know how to spot a True North Vancouverite? One who speaks of going to Vancouver as “going overtown”. )
Incidentally, anyone who spends four hours or more in a ferry lineup isn’t a True Vancouverite, necessarily– more likely they’re merely either too stupid or too cheap to make a reservation.
gmgw
19 Frances Bula // Aug 7, 2012 at 4:27 pm
@GMGW. I’m not too cheap so it must be that I’m too stupid. I don’t travel a huge amount on the ferries, so I’m always shocked to discover what a chaotic system it is that has people waiting for hours and hours.
20 West End Gal // Aug 7, 2012 at 4:45 pm
One that buys a house on the corner of Prior St. & Dunlevy Ave, facing Prior… 7-8 years ago, a house that was so derelict, that the raccoons refused to live there… with floors smelling of dog pee… and mold all over. Then sank some money in, repaired it… and now hold big signs in their windows saying that the Dunsmuir/ Georgia Viaducts are ruining their “neighborhood” for the past 40 years. NIMBY assholes like these, yeah… makes a Vancouverite.
21 Raingurl // Aug 7, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Frances, you’re not too stupid………I’ve waited in ferry lineups for at LEAST three hours on several occassions (I’m a TRUE ISLAND GIRL transplanted to this lovely place we call the mainland) and it had nothing to do with being stupid nor cheap. Sometimes ferries break down and sometimes you miss them by a whisker because of (STUPID) Vancouver traffic. A TRUE Vancouverite would KNOW that. *wink*
22 Jake // Aug 7, 2012 at 4:57 pm
Apparently Vancouverites generally identify themselves to other British Columbians and Canadians by prefacing whatever they are about to say on call-in radio with the following: “I’m from Vancouver and I’m appalled that xyz”. Frankly I’m appalled that CBC’s This is That has yet to lampoon this.
23 Cedarwaxwing // Aug 7, 2012 at 5:21 pm
I’m from Vancouver and I’m appalled at the cheap and gratuitous dig at vancouverites.
24 Mayna // Aug 7, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Brings up the weather – good or bad – in the first five minutes of any conversation.
25 gmgw // Aug 7, 2012 at 6:42 pm
@ Frances:
I recommend ferry reservations. They add to the cost, but they also add immeasurably to your peace of mind if you’re trying to make the 9 PM out of Swartz Bay at the end of a holiday weekend and have to be at work the next day (as long as you get to the terminal the required 30 minutes in advance, of course). Plus you’re first on/first off. Plus it calms spouses who are prone to be excessive worriers to the point of having panic attacks. Of course, it will frequently happen that you make your reservation and then find no lineups at the terminal, but that falls into the same realm of magical reality as carrying an umbrella to ensure that it doesn’t rain, another mysterious phenomenon with which True Vancouverites are intimately familiar… just to get back on topic, sort of.
gmgw
26 Darren // Aug 7, 2012 at 7:23 pm
I don’t count as a true Vancouverite because I’ve only been here 20 years and still won’t sit on a restaurant patio in pouring March rain under a beach umbrella wrapped in scarf and jacket while drinking cold beer. If it’s Sunday, it’d be a Cesar. And I don’t get those either…
27 F.H.Leghorn // Aug 7, 2012 at 7:33 pm
A True Vancouverite: Hates Toronto (usually with several good reasons).
28 gmgw // Aug 7, 2012 at 7:49 pm
@F.H. Leghorn #25:
Whenever I’ve been to Toronto, I inevitably encounter at least one local who, should I divulge that I’m from Vancouver, will regard me with great consternation and urgently inquire: “Vancouver?! Why would you want to come *here*??”
There are many ways to answer that question, but it’s kind of sad/funny that they feel compelled to ask it.
gmgw
29 Silly Season // Aug 7, 2012 at 9:15 pm
Knows ALL the ‘secret’ driving route shortcuts around town, that will get them from A to B MUCH faster.
And no, I’m not telling you, ’cause if you were a real Vancouverite, you’d already know…
30 Silly Season // Aug 7, 2012 at 9:22 pm
Knows what “Peter’s”, “The Aristocrat” and “On On” are referencing.
31 Joe Just Joe // Aug 7, 2012 at 9:24 pm
A true Vancouverite doesn’t walk under canopies with their umbrella open.
A true Vancouverite has seen trolley poles be reattached so many times that they’d have no problem doing it themselves.
A true east Vancouverite over 25 knows what a deluxe and chuck wagon are.
A true east Vancouverite almost never pays for the Skytrain, but they feel guilty about it.
32 jesse // Aug 7, 2012 at 11:18 pm
A true Vancouverite knows where to find rainforests.
33 Silly Season // Aug 7, 2012 at 11:42 pm
Knows the REAL length of Kits Pool and swims there in all kinds of weather, from Opening Day, to whatever date the Mayor decides constitutes Closing Day (and if you swam there last year at the end of season, you’ll know to what THAT references. Grrrr).
34 John // Aug 8, 2012 at 8:17 am
Doesn’t really care or think about it…
35 Grant // Aug 8, 2012 at 9:19 am
A true Vancouverite lets the lawn go to seed, but is out with shovel and salt as soon as a quarter-inch of slush falls in the winter.
36 Raingurl // Aug 8, 2012 at 9:48 am
@ Grant // Aug 8, 2012 at 9:19 am
I’ve already got my snow shovel, toque and gloves cleaned and ready! LOL and I signed up for the Snow Angels program to help out seniors who can’t shovel their own walk.
37 David // Aug 8, 2012 at 10:10 am
You have to carry an umbrella to ensure it doesn’t rain. A true Vancouverite knows that having one tucked away in a bag doesn’t count.
I loved the comment about the trolley poles, so true! True Vancouverites, even some high paid professionals, are willing to take the bus.
A true Vancouverite finds north by looking for the mountains.
An old Vancouverite remembers being kept awake at night by the sound of the Pt. Atkinson fog horn.
38 rf // Aug 8, 2012 at 10:20 am
A true Vancouverite thinks 700 sq ft is a large 1 bedroom, and at under $500,000 is cheap.
39 Julia // Aug 8, 2012 at 10:50 am
A true Vancouverite never tires of those crisp mornings when you wake up to see fresh snow on the north shore mountains.
A true Vancouverite is doing something outdoors 10 minutes after the rain stops – regardless of season.
40 Joseph Jones // Aug 8, 2012 at 11:10 am
A true Vancouverite know that the only real economic activity is demolition and rebuilding – and in between, remediation.
41 brilliant // Aug 8, 2012 at 11:25 am
-Wears shorts in February as soon as the sun makes an appearance, no matter what the temperature.
-Uses an umbrella when it snows.
42 Rainbaby // Aug 8, 2012 at 11:44 am
“Butterflies” on the home stretch as the descent begins above the mountains and starts into that left roll-out over the Pacific and back towards the runway while contemplating that familiar (rain) water we walk on….
43 tedeastside // Aug 8, 2012 at 1:07 pm
being angry , unfriendly and hoarding your money makes you a true vancouverite
44 Paul T. // Aug 8, 2012 at 1:45 pm
A true Vancouverite knows:
when the tents go up in Vanier Park, summer is around the corner.
a high of 15 degrees for more than 2 days is considered a heat wave.
they are happier splashing around in puddles than sweating in +20 degree heat.
that no matter what the government announcement (any level), it’s probably going to cost them money.
that the weather report is there solely for entertainment purposes, much like horoscopes.
45 tedeastside // Aug 8, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Knows vancouver has industry but pizza by the slice and marijuana
46 Mira // Aug 8, 2012 at 2:14 pm
LOL, what makes a Vancouverite?
Vancouverite … only Vancouver Museum, can tell you that! No such a thing as a true Vancouverite anymore, they’ve been all replaced by true Shanghaians!
47 rf // Aug 8, 2012 at 4:07 pm
I was wondering how long it would be before someone “went there.”
48 Plangal // Aug 8, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Knows all of the lyrics to the BC Lions song “Come on and roar you lions roar” and the Whitecaps song “White is the Colour” and knos that the Canucks do not have a song.
Was a proud member of the Sun Ray Club.
Took free swim lessons ( or taught free swim lessons) from the Vancouver Sun.
Caught a salmon in the Sun Free Salmon Derby!
(I was a Pacific Press brat…)
49 Julia // Aug 8, 2012 at 4:27 pm
pretty pathetic Mira.
You know you are a Vancouverite when you make a big deal about being born here.
50 Raingurl // Aug 8, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Yeah, that was pretty pathetic Mira. This city and railroad were built by the blood of immigrant workers. My mother and her family were (are) immigrants. The only reason they don’t have to listen to racist, redneck, IGNORANT comments like yours is because they’re from a white European country…………..You know you’re a true Vancouverite when you can pretty much gauge the weather on when the PNE starts. tee hee.
51 Raingurl // Aug 8, 2012 at 4:36 pm
You know you’re a true Vancouverite when you know what I meant by my PNE comment. LOL and you also know that the PNE is cursed but you don’t care………….bring on the super dogs and mini donuts! YEEEE HAWWW!
52 Rainbaby // Aug 8, 2012 at 4:55 pm
The question is not “what makes a TRUE Vancouverite?”….
Mira, Mira, Mira…….tsk, tsk…
53 Julia // Aug 8, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Raingurl #49 LOL, you are absolutely right about the PNE
54 Bill Lee // Aug 8, 2012 at 8:08 pm
re: ” Knows the difference between West Vancouver, the West End, and the west side of Vancouver”
And knows the Southwest, Northwest, SouthEast (formerly River Road) and other Marine Drives around metro in Vancouver, Burnaby and the North Shore, many of the directional designations coming after the 1929 Amalgamation.
And while his computer has a New York algorithm calculator for Aves and Streets, a Vancouverois (as Radio-Canada calls them) can calculate in their heads, despite the buzz of a few bottles of Old Style, the south of First Avenue addresses and has numerous mnemonics for the north and south street patterns, especially along Broadway (ex-9th Avenue until 1909 [ Real estate promotion again!] )
Oh and you might notice that VPL has Elizabeth Walker’s VHS’s SNoV as a full 186 page downloadable PDF.
55 Morry // Aug 8, 2012 at 8:17 pm
有學問的傻瓜比無知的傻瓜更愚蠢
56 F.H.Leghorn // Aug 8, 2012 at 9:59 pm
@Bill Lee #53: I drove hack for Yellow in the mid-70′s. There was a dispatcher who always referred to Broadway as West (or East) 9th.
57 Glissando Remmy // Aug 8, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Morry #54
Ha!
Good one!
I had it translated, though, gee thanks…
It says:
“True Vancouverite… is one who follows Glissando Remmy on Twitter!”
58 Julia // Aug 8, 2012 at 11:12 pm
OK… help me. I honestly have lived here all my life and my Dad was born here. What is the numerical magic on the hundred blocks (N-S) that tells you what Avenue you are on?
59 Joseph Jones // Aug 8, 2012 at 11:37 pm
Add 15 to the Avenue, then 00.
60 Erica // Aug 9, 2012 at 8:04 am
A true Vancouverite gets sentimental during the annual Christmas rain (thanks Len Norris)
61 Tessa // Aug 9, 2012 at 8:44 am
A true Vancouverite knows that Ontario really is the centre of the universe. Ontario Street, that is.
62 boohoo // Aug 9, 2012 at 9:07 am
Back from holiday to this…things never change lol…
63 Raingurl // Aug 9, 2012 at 9:18 am
@rf // Aug 8, 2012 at 10:20 am
A true Vancouverite thinks 700 sq ft is a large 1 bedroom, and at under $500,000 is cheap.
No they don’t, that’s the new Vancouverite that thinks it’s cheap. WE know better!
64 spartikus // Aug 9, 2012 at 10:08 am
I suddenly have a jonesing for a PNE burger. Fried onions and mustard…mmmm
65 Raingurl // Aug 9, 2012 at 11:39 am
@64 spartikus // Aug 9, 2012 at 10:08 am
I suddenly have a jonesing for a PNE burger. Fried onions and mustard…mmmm………….
I can already smell and hear the PNE. I’m jonesing for some farm animals. Poop and all! LOL
66 Agustin // Aug 9, 2012 at 1:08 pm
I can’t take credit for this one (it was an ad for Granville Island beer):
A true Vancouverite knows that, despite the pants, there is not a yoga class at the grocery store.
67 Andrew Browne // Aug 9, 2012 at 1:12 pm
@ Plangal #48
Re: Vancouver Sun swimming lessons
My dad enjoyed those as both a Sun carrier and lower income kid from East Van.
Strange that the pools are gone now but the retaining walls across from the PNE remain.
68 Raingurl // Aug 9, 2012 at 4:50 pm
A Vancouverite has already checked the Canucks schedule for the coming season. Whitecap? What is a Whitecap? But definitely knows how to ROAR with the best of them! GO LIONS!
69 David // Aug 10, 2012 at 7:40 pm
A Vancouverite finds something to hang on to when standing on Skytrain, having experienced several “Sudden Stops are sometimes necessary”
70 David // Aug 10, 2012 at 7:49 pm
Vancouverites of a certain age know what part of town had MUtual, REgent, CAstle, ALPine phone numbers. And remember what the TR, or 87 exchange name was http://goo.gl/maps/IGpNw
71 Norman // Aug 12, 2012 at 7:58 am
Doesn’t know the difference between hottie and haughty.
72 Raingurl // Aug 13, 2012 at 9:20 am
When the sun comes out a Vancouverite takes a sick day…….or at least DREAMS of taking a sick day and gets back to work because a Vancouverite knows how lucky we are to actually have work!
73 Raingurl // Aug 13, 2012 at 9:22 am
A Vancouverite can “surf” the sky train and is a little disappointed getting on the Canada Line and finding it not as challenging andway too much underground. (what’s up with that, anyway?) So subway like. Bleck!
74 Raingurl // Aug 13, 2012 at 9:30 am
A Vancouverite packs everything up (including the kitchen sink) and heads off for a great weekend on the Harrison River, visits the Hot Springs, has an uber huge campfire and eats freshly caught Sockeye Salmon (for only $10!)from a local Native fisherman and comes to work Monday with shooting stars (from the meteor shower) still fresh in her head. A TRUE Vancouverite knows how lucky she is to be able to LEAVE Vancouver (with the kitchen sink) and actually SEE STARS on a warm Saturday evening.
75 matt // Aug 13, 2012 at 12:58 pm
Raingurl: “Whitecap? What is a Whitecap? But definitely knows how to ROAR with the best of them! GO LIONS!”
something tells me you’re not from Vancouver, and perhaps arrive in Vancouver on the skytrain…
76 Raingurl // Aug 13, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Nope! No skytrains for me……….Used to ride it when I was a teenager and worked at Expo ’86. We all thought it was cool back then but now I avoid it like downtown during a Stanley Cup playoff game………..Sorry, hope I didn’t offend you with my Whitecap comment. I grew up in an ice rink but also have a soft spot for those cute lions. Soccer was not something I was interested in. You shouldn’t take it so personally and put other people down just because we don’t agree on something.
77 Raingurl // Aug 13, 2012 at 3:43 pm
Most Vancouverites don’t like Soccer. Something tells me you’re not from here.
78 Frank Ducote // Aug 13, 2012 at 4:15 pm
With national hero and Olympic flag bearer Christine Sinclair hailing from Burnaby, I hope that even more kids take up this amazing and truly international sport, even gurls. It’s about time.
79 Raingurl // Aug 14, 2012 at 9:16 am
Frank Ducote // Aug 13, 2012 at 4:15 pm 78
You’re right. It’s about time we Natives of North America stopped living in our sports bubble and call that game what it is……….FOOTBALL. LOL. It can be a very interesting game but to be quite honest, if there’s a hockey game on, any game, anywhere, anytime, it’s what most of us are gonna watch…………….who else is hoping for an end to the most recent NHL dispute? We need our hockey, We’re Canucks, this is what we live for. On another note, do hockey players actually walk a picket line? LOL
80 Frank Ducote // Aug 14, 2012 at 2:19 pm
A little known fact – here in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, many, many more kids play football/soccer than hockey. For me at least that is a refreshing trend.
It is cheap (in comparison) and played all over the world, making it the most egalitarian sport out there. In addition, almost every game means something (at the higher levels) than, say, baseball (162 game season, then up to 21 games in playoffs), basketball or … hockey (80+ game season plus playoffs), where the seasons are interminably long and only vaguely interesting much of the time. Even then, 50% of the teams move on to the next round … of 7 games!
One more time – three cheers for Christine Sinclair! I hope a new generation of young folks are paying attention to the athleticism and compelling interest of “the beautiful game,” as well as the funding bodies and media networks that control so much of what is on offer.
81 Raingurl // Aug 14, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Plus, a soccer ball hurts way less than a hockey puck when you get it between the eyes.
Yes, way to go TEAM CANADA and all our hometown heroes. Including Port Mcneill’s Willie Mitchell for winning Lord Stanley’s cup with the (gasp, choke, cough, cough) LA Kings.
82 Bill Lee // Aug 16, 2012 at 7:18 pm
@Frank Ducote #80
and there are other quiet sports proliferating.
In a nearby city http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2012/08/07/calgary-cricket-field-access.html
Here, the oddest parks are cricket pitches (General Brock) for the pick-up and informal leagues.
83 Julia // Aug 16, 2012 at 11:04 pm
I have a dear friend living in a 3rd world country that use to make a soccer ball out of plastic bags bound by string… and for ball handling skills… he would play cat an mouse with street rodents.
ANYONE can play football/soccer – call it what you want.
Bring it on – for everyone.
84 MVWHealth // Aug 20, 2012 at 10:16 pm
I never really noticed, but we do say Vancouver as “vangcouver” lol
you could also say, you know when you’re a Vancouverite when you cruise in the left lane and pass cars on the right…the I-5 shows a lot of us in the left lane *sigh*
85 Raingurl // Aug 21, 2012 at 1:39 pm
What makes a Vancouverite? Anyone who has the sense to leave their yoga pants in their locker. LOL. Yaletown and Coal Harbour are full of yoga pants. Those gals aren’t really from here……….
86 Norm // Aug 21, 2012 at 3:03 pm
A Vancouverite will not talk to you unless they’ve been introduced to you.
87 JM // Aug 27, 2012 at 9:58 am
Someone who doesn’t confuse the existing place names of Eastside neighbourhoods with those from larger American cities (mostly New York) despite what business improvement associations might tell them.
The DTES/East End is not the Lower Eastside
Hastings Sunrise is not the East Village
Mt Pleasant is not SOMA
Etc. etc.
88 MichaelT // Aug 27, 2012 at 12:41 pm
“Knows at least three stains of Kush”
89 Vancouver // Aug 28, 2012 at 10:25 pm
Vancourites stop bragging to eaterners about the weather in April
Vancouverites hate to travel outside bc in July and August, because it is so nice here.
Vancouverites associate with Washington and Oregon more than all of the other states.
Vancouverites are proud of their multiculturalism
Vancouverites thought about moving back east in June 2012 because the weather was so bad
90 Jean // Aug 30, 2012 at 11:41 am
A true Vancouverite knows Vancouver isn’t as cosmopolitan as…Toronto: come on there’s less Afro-Canadians in Vancouver.
A true Vancouverite knows its racial, multicultural diversity is actually Pacific Rim country/Asian/South Asian oriented with some Middle East.
91 desertsolitaire // Sep 28, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Vancouverites (among others) keep saying that Vancouver has the best water in the world without knowing what the word propaganda means.
Too late for them. No excuse and no hope for recovery.
92 desertsolitaire // Oct 19, 2012 at 12:04 pm
A true Vancouverite keeps trying to convince himself that he lives in the best city in the world even if doesnt know much about the cities in the world. He just repeat stupidly what propaganda says.
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