Local: Vancouver History - Pacific Trade Boom
After the railway connected BC’s ports to the rest of Canada, it was only natural to connect Canada to the rest of the world. In 1891 the CPR "Empress of India" was the first CPR ocean liner to arrive from the Orient. In 1904, the Great Northern Railway connects the city to Seattle. The 1914 opening of the Panama Canal makes Vancouver an important west coast port.
In 1898, the city adopts the "Daily Province", which has relocated from Victoria. In 1908 the University of British Columbia is founded. In 1909 Ferry service begins to West Vancouver. In 1912, the "Vancouver Sun" begins publication. In 1915, a fishing sandbar used by the Squamish becomes Granville Island, built up with silt dredged from False Creek. In 1922, Vancouver switches to driving on the right-hand side from the British left-hand side. In 1925 the first Second Narrows Bridge is built, connecting the North Shore for the first time. In 1937, the Guiness Family begins construction of the Lions Gate Bridge, which opened as a toll bridge until the city bought it in 1963. In 1939, the present-day Hotel Vancouver opens up. In 1958, the current Second Narrow Bridge is built, though nineteen workers died in its construction.
Vancouver is on the lee (downwind) side of Vancouver Island, providing both wide deep harbors and a sheltered location. Its first export shipment of wooden pickets to Australia in 1864. Vancouver's harbors now have 25 specialized terminals for goods like cars, coal, forest products, minerals and petroleum. More than 3,000 ships trading with over 90 nations visit Vancouver's harbors every year.
Vancouver has grown over the years, and the metro area has over 1.5 million people. Many Canadians have moved here from other parts of the country because of its mild climate and lush, green vegetation. The ability to windsurf in the morning and ski on Grouse Mountain the same afternoon attracts the recreation and leisure crowd.
Vancouver's recent real estate boom (its home prices run neck-in-neck with Toronto's) was fueled substantially (though not exclusively) by the influx of Asian immigrants. Those from Vietnam left their homeland in the 70s after the communist victory after the war in Vietnam. The Japanese continue to move to Vancouver because the cost of living is so much lower here than in Japan. Those from Hong Kong have moved here in anticipation of China taking over the British colony in 1997.
The recent "Asian Flu" has reduced Asian economic prosperity, reducing its ability to import BC’s resources for its manufacturing, reducing the income levels of those to regularly visit British Columbia, and finally their ability to emigrate to BC.
More history of Vancouver
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