West Point Grey

West Point Grey is a neighbourhood on the western side of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered by 16th Avenue to the south, Alma Street to the east, English Bay to the north, and Blanca Street to the west. It is one of the two western-most neighbourhoods within Vancouver city limits and is the one closest to the University of British Columbia campus. With its close proximity to the University, many residents rent out basement suites in their homes to local students. In order to increase density and reduce overall traffic the City of Vancouver has phased out the zoning restrictions that made secondary suites in the West Point Grey district strictly illegal. It is now possible to have a legal secondary suite in a basement in this zoned area subject to parking, fire separation, ceiling height, plumbing, gas and electrical bylaw requirements.Fact|date=April 2007

The main commercial strip with shops and restaurants is along West 10th Avenue between Tolmie Street and Discovery Street.

North of West 4th Avenue, the area slopes steeply downhill where it meets English Bay at Locarno Beach and the Spanish Banks.

The 39 Canadian Brigade Group, headquarters for all the Canadian Forces's Army Primary Reserve units in British Columbia, has its headquarters in the northeastern section of the neighbourhood.

Also located within the neighbourhood is Vancouver's largest Youth Hostel.

Schools include Lord Byng Secondary School, which serves students from the neighbourhood, along with Queen Elizabeth Elementary School, Queen Mary Elementary School, École Jules Quesnel and the private K-12 school West Point Grey Academy.

According to ancient Indian legend, Point Grey is the "battleground of the West Wind". The rock the god of the West Wind represents, which is just sitting off the point, is called Homolsom. As the rock is just sitting between their two territories, Homolsom is half a Squamish word and half a Fraser River language word.

Point Grey is named after Captain George Grey, a friend of Captain George Vancouver.

External links

* [http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/LICANDINSP/licences/ssp/process.htm City of Vancouver Secondary Suite Legalization Process]