The aptly named Commercial Drive is the most popular street in Grandview-Woodlands. It got its start in Vancouver’s own beginnings as a lengthy trackway for dragging felled logs down to the waterfront. An 1890’s streetcar line connecting New Westminster to Vancouver ensured its rise as a small business high street, and eventually earned it its name-change from Park Drive to Commercial Drive. It had it ups and downs between the wars as its peripheral blocks were filled in with houses, and it wasn’t until the 1950’s that its present day cultural character would begin to metastasize. Post-war Italian immigration and an increasingly heavy Italian business presence on Commercial Drive would result in the area garnering its “Little Italy” moniker. Later immigration from Portugal, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia added more diversity to the mix, as did a slow but vital trickle of artists, musicians, and politically activists. A distinctly permissive counter-culture had a lock on the neighbourhood by the 1980’s, and despite the creep of gentrification it has never really let go. Today, Commercial Drive is one of the most vibrant and culturally exciting streets in the city. A walk of its length, from Venables to Broadway, is always a enlivening breath of fresh air.



On Commercial Drive at the moment (our HOOD palettes are ever-changing), we’re seeing several shades of incense amalgamated into one dun brown; high quality marijuana; Prado coffee tri-colour; aspirational Italian male Ferrari red and yellow golf shirts; yoga mat lavender; VW Type 2 van rust; Joe’s Cafe rainbow (six colours); summer day sidewalk.


LOTS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN AWESOMENESS AT ATTIC TREASURES
CUSTOMERS SHAZAMMING WHATEVER RECORD IS SPINNING AT AUDIOPILE
PLENTY OF GROWN-UP SUPER PRIVATE FUN TIME TOYS AT WOMEN’S WARE
SHOP KEEPER & CAFE OWNER SENSITIVITY TO “OUTSIDE FOOD AND DRINK”
BLACK VELVET PAINTING COLLECTION AT LITTLE MISS VINTAGE
SAUSAGE AND FISH SMOKE ON CAR FREE DAYS
WELCOMING QUEER LGBT COMMUNITY
THE CONSTANT THREAT OF HACKEYSACK
THE INTOXICATING INCENSE SMELL INSIDE (AND OUTSIDE) OF PARANADA TRADERS
HAPPY HARMLESS PEOPLE SMOKING MARIJUANA LIKE IT WAS LEGALISED IN THE REAGAN YEARS
BEDOUIN WORLD TRANCE WIZARD YOGA*
THE TIMELESSLY GARISH INTERIOR OF CAFE CALABRIA
HOMELESS DOGS IN NECKERCHIEFS GUARDING A LIQUOR STORE
MIDNIGHT MOVIES AT THE (LICENSED) RIO THEATRE
EVERYBODY WEARS PATCHOULI TUESDAY
BEER FETISHISTS SCHOOLING SERVERS AT BIERCRAFT
PEOPLE PEOPLE WATCHING THE PEOPLE WATCHERS ON THE PATIO AT HAVANA
SUNDAY AFTERNOON JAZZ AT TANGENT CAFE
MIDDLE-AGED ITALIAN MEN GOSSIPING OUTSIDE ABRUZZO CAPPUCCINO BAR
SKATEBOARD WHEEL VENDING MACHINE AT BLVD SKATESHOP

– The name “Grand View” is said to have originated from a hand-painted sign located on First Avenue in 1892.
– Commercial Drive started as a skid road for logs en route to the old Hastings Mill on Dunlevy.
– Ice hockey can be played year round at the Britannia Rink.
– Following World War II, many of Vancouver’s Italian-Canadian population migrated from Strathcona to Commercial Drive, leading to its nickname as “Little Italy”.
– In the Blvd Skateshop there is a gigantic photo reproduction of the 1986 Thrasher Magazine cover that put Vancouver’s skateparks on the world’s skateboarding radar. It features a young Chris Miller tucking a frontside air over one of the hips at Seylynn Bowl in North Van.
– Early Squamish settlers identified the southern section of Grandview-Woodland as Khupkhahpay’ay, which translates to “cedar tree”.
– Trout Lake (or Blackie’s Lake as it was originally called) is the only lake in the city of Vancouver.
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Just another Commercial Drive afternoon
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Santa Barbara Market | Commercial Drive Institution
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Joe's Cafe | Commercial Drive
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Old meets new, La Mezcaleria moves in to the 'hood
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La Mezcaleria guacamole
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Nick's Spaghetti House
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Car Free Commercial
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World Cup on Commercial Drive
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Drum love, Commercial Drive
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Britannia Centre Ice Skating Rink
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Girl with Ferret | The Drive
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Italian Days street food | The Drive
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Chillin' at a car free event on the drive
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Britannia Community Centre
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Italian Days - the perfect excuse to put on your yellow tutu | The Drive
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Heritage
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Pizza on Commercial Drive
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Community members pitch in to plant
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Restaurant seating spills on to the street during car free day
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Commercial Drive houses (and some fence graffiti)
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Hanging out at Prado
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Cannibal Cafe Burger | Commercial Drive
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Street scene Commercial Drive
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Lemonade - Commercial Drive
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There is always a guy in a long purple coat somewhere on The Drive
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Drive mural
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Commercial Drive, dig it.
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Shopping on Commercial Drive
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Prado Cafe
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Community notices on The Drive
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Star Weekly Tobaccos | Neon Commercial
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Blvd Skate Shop | Commercial Drive
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Cafe Deux Soleil
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East Side house near Trout Lake
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Siddharihas
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Old School Typography outside Grandview Lanes | Commercial Drive
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La Mezcalaria
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Merchant's Oyster House | The Drive
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Little Nest
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Italian Days on The Drive
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The Drive
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Commercial Drive megaphone
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La Grotta Del Formaggio
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La Mezcalaria
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Impromptu scrabble game | The Drive
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Saturday morning at Prado Cafe
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Cafe Calabria
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Havana | The Drive
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Havana | The Drive
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Grandview Park
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Commercial Drive Window
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People's Co-Op Books
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Masked fan dancers on Commercial
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Britannia High School Mural | Commercial Drive
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Little Nest
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Italian
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Little Nest Menu
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Community notice board
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Veggies - commercial drive
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Prado Cafe
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The Ravioli Store
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Coffee, Commercial Drive, The Drive, Eastvan
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Commercial Drive mosaic
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Joe's Cafe, The Drive, Commercial Drive
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Street performer, Commercial Drive
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La Mezcalaria
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Blvd Skate Shop | The Drive
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Fish n Chips at car free something on The Drive
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Spring murals
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La Mezcalaria bar
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Inside Famoso at 1380 Commercial Drive
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Bier Craft
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Commercial Drive crowds
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Blossoms on Clark, Eastvan
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Commercial Drive back yard
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Tacos!
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The Patio at Havana
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Free Bradley Manning
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Take over the streets | Commercial Drive
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Havana lunch service
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wandering musicians, of course | Commercial Drive
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Chess in Grandview Park
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Popsicle Girl | Commercial Drive
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Medical Marijuana | The Drive
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Hockey game at Britannia Centre Ice Rink
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Havana
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Summer stroll on The Drive
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Car free festivities on The Drive
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Portuguese Club
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Commercial Drive Car Free Crowd
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Foosball on Commercial Drive
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Reader C.W. | East 4th Ave. at Commercial Drive | 3:29pm
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Dancing on the street, Commercial Drive
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Vintage shopping on the drive always delivers
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no shirt, no shoes, Commercial Drive
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Attic Treasures
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I Love Disco
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Italian Days outside of Dilly Dally kids store
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Commercial Drive Italian Days #sogreat
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Liberty Wine Merchants
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Pedestrian Alley, The Drive
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Lining up for Portuguese sausage on The Drive
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Building detail, The Drive
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Italian Days outside of Dilly Dally kids store
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Goddess on Commercial Drive
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Commercial Drive Mural © Scout Magazine 2011
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Street Food | Italian Sausage | The Drive
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Hitching a ride through the crowds at Italian Days on Commercial Drive
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Street Grilling | Commercial Drive
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Hungry crowds, Commercial Drive
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Records on The Drive
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Skate vending machine, The Drive
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Commercial Drive Style
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Caroline of Tin Can Studio
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Tin Can Eat Together Dinner
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Laundry drying in East Van
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Respect.
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Cannibal Cafe
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Paste-up corner | The Drive
* NOT A REAL THING
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