Downtown Vancouver: A Guide to the West End, Yaletown and Coal Harbour

Downtown Vancouver's peninsula holds the West End, Coal Harbour, Yaletown and the business core, with homes that range from older West End rental and strata buildings to concrete towers. Here is a guide to its neighbourhoods, transit, schools and parks, and what to check before you buy a condo there.

The short version

The peninsula at a glance

Downtown sits on a peninsula with Burrard Inlet to the north, English Bay to the west and False Creek to the south, and Stanley Park, about 400 hectares, covers its tip. It is part of the City of Vancouver, which had 662,248 people in the 2021 Census, up 4.9% from 2016, on about 115 km². Citywide, 31% of occupied homes were in apartment buildings of five or more storeys.

The West End

The City describes the West End as bounded on three sides by water: English Bay, Coal Harbour and Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park. It calls it part of the Lower Mainland's most densely populated area.

• Shops and streets. Denman Street and Davie Village have local shops and restaurants, and the City notes that Davie Village is traditionally a hub for the city's gay community. Robson and Alberni streets have high-end retail.
• The homes. Older rental apartment buildings sit beside condos and towers. The City's community plan says the buildings in its residential neighbourhoods are aging but generally in good condition, with significant reinvestment, and provide relatively affordable housing.
• The community plan. Completed in late 2013. In its four residential neighbourhoods, Nelson Plateau, Nelson Slopes, West of Denman and Beach, it keeps the existing zoning and a primarily six-storey height limit, and makes room for new rental infill along the lanes on sites built before 1975.
• Rental protection. In the RM-5 zones used in the West End, the City's Rental Housing Stock Official Development Plan generally requires one-for-one replacement of rental units, and a tenant relocation plan where it applies, when redeveloping a site with three or more homes would demolish or convert them.

Coal Harbour and Yaletown

• Coal Harbour. It runs along Burrard Inlet from Canada Place to Cardero Street, looking out to Stanley Park and the North Shore mountains, and its waterfront walkway and bike route connect to the Stanley Park Seawall.
• Yaletown. North of Pacific Boulevard between Nelson and Drake streets. It takes its name from Yale: in 1887, the Canadian Pacific Railway moved its construction equipment and repair shops from there to Vancouver. Its warehouses were revived from the late 1970s, and many became offices, restaurants and loft-style homes. It is a City heritage area, zoned HA-3, which encourages converting and renovating existing buildings, and building compatible new ones. The Canada Line's Yaletown-Roundhouse Station, at Davie and Mainland streets, serves it.

The core, Gastown and False Creek North

The City's Central Area Plan, adopted in late 1991, set the goals and land-use policy for Downtown. Around the business core:

• Downtown South. South of Robson Street and east of the West End, planned by the City as a high-density residential and mixed-use community.
• Gastown. Considered Vancouver's birthplace, centred on Water Street at Carrall Street. The Province designated Gastown and Chinatown as historic districts in 1971, and Gastown's HA-2 heritage zoning, north of Hastings between Richards and Main, aims to keep new development compatible with its character.
• False Creek North. Built on the former Expo 86 site on the north shore of False Creek, with parks, schools, community facilities and a waterfront walkway and bike route.

Getting around

• SkyTrain. The Expo Line stops at Waterfront, Burrard, Granville and Stadium-Chinatown, with trains from Waterfront every 2 to 5 minutes at peak times. The Canada Line stops at Waterfront, Vancouver City Centre and Yaletown-Roundhouse on its way south to Richmond and the airport.
• SeaBus and West Coast Express. Waterfront Station, on Cordova Street between Granville and Seymour, links to both. The SeaBus crosses Burrard Inlet to Lonsdale Quay in about 12 minutes, every 15 minutes during the day and every 10 minutes at weekday rush hours.
• Walking and cycling. The 28 km seawall runs from the Vancouver Convention Centre around Stanley Park to Spanish Banks Park, with separate paths for walkers and cyclists, and the Comox-Helmcken Greenway crosses downtown from False Creek to Stanley Park.
• By car. The Lions Gate Bridge crosses Burrard Inlet to the North Shore, and the Burrard and Granville bridges cross False Creek to the south.

Schools, health care and parks

Public schools are run by the Vancouver School Board, School District 39. To find the catchment school for an address, use its School Locator and enter only the street name; if there is a discrepancy, the district's determination is final. The board approved new downtown catchment boundaries in November 2025.

• Secondary. The board says King George Secondary is the only public secondary school serving the downtown peninsula. In the 2025 to 2026 school year it had 623 students in a building with a nominal capacity of 375, and the board's capital plan asks the Province to fund an expansion and seismic replacement.
• Elementary. Without new space, the board projects downtown elementary schools could reach 158% of capacity by 2032. Its June 2026 capital plan expects Seaside Elementary, a new Kindergarten to Grade 7 school for 340 students in Coal Harbour, to be completed before September 2026, and makes replacing Lord Roberts Annex a Year 1 priority, though building above ground isn't expected before 2030.
• Programs. District programs include French Immersion, Mandarin Bilingual, Montessori and International Baccalaureate.

St. Paul's Hospital, Providence Health Care's acute care, teaching and research hospital at 1081 Burrard Street, has a 24/7 emergency department. A new St. Paul's is under construction in the False Creek Flats, a four-minute walk from Main Street-Science World Station, and is due to open in 2027.

Stanley Park has 27 km of forest trails, Second and Third beaches and the outdoor Second Beach Pool, and English Bay Beach is just outside the park. Community centres include the West End Community Centre on Denman Street, Coal Harbour Community Centre and the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre.

How downtown is growing

• Near SkyTrain. In June 2024, the City adopted its Transit-Oriented Area By-law, covering the areas around the peninsula's SkyTrain stations. There, the City can't set minimum residential parking requirements, apart from accessible parking, so ask what parking a new condo includes.
• The West End. Projects to carry out the 2013 plan include a 30-year West End Waterfront Plan, a renewal plan for the West End community hub and the Bute Greenway.
• Homes above a school. Seaside Elementary shares its building with affordable rental homes, half of them for families.

Before you buy

• Older buildings and towers. I explain what to check for leaky condos in Leaky Condos in BC. Towers had envelope problems too: a 2001 study of high-rises for CMHC and the Homeowner Protection Office found concrete walls held up relatively well, while windows and window walls were a focal point for moisture problems, so ask what the depreciation report says about them.
• Tenure. Confirm on title whether a condo is freehold strata or leasehold. With a leasehold, you buy the rest of a lease rather than the land, as I explain in Leasehold Homes in BC.
• Renting it out. Since November 24, 2022, BC stratas can't restrict long-term rentals, but they can still restrict or ban short-term rentals of less than 90 consecutive days. Vancouver also generally limits short-term rentals to principal residences, so a condo you don't live in usually can't be one; see Short-Term Rentals in BC.
• Flood risk. The City plans for one metre of sea level rise by 2100. Its 2021 False Creek Coastal Adaptation Plan found that, without new flood protection, low-lying land around False Creek would be vulnerable to flooding in a major storm once sea levels rise that much. Ask whether a property is in the City's floodplain, and see Floodplains and Flood Insurance.

Questions buyers often ask me

Which neighbourhoods are in downtown Vancouver?

The City's Downtown page covers Coal Harbour, Yaletown, Downtown South, Gastown, Chinatown, Victory Square and False Creek North, among others. The West End, between Downtown and Stanley Park, has its own page and community plan.

How do I find my catchment school downtown?

Use the Vancouver School Board's School Locator and enter only the street name. The board approved new downtown catchment boundaries in November 2025, so confirm the school for any address before you remove subjects.

Is King George Secondary the only public high school downtown?

Yes. The school board says it is the only public secondary school serving the downtown peninsula. It had 623 students in 2025 to 2026, well over its nominal capacity of 375, and the board has asked the Province to fund an expansion.

Can I rent out a downtown condo?

For long-term rentals, generally yes: since November 24, 2022, BC stratas can't restrict them. Short-term rentals are different: Vancouver generally limits them to principal residences, and a strata can still ban them.

When will the new St. Paul's Hospital open?

Providence Health Care expects the new hospital in the False Creek Flats, near Main Street-Science World Station, to open in 2027. The current St. Paul's on Burrard Street has a 24/7 emergency department.

Thinking about downtown? Browse homes for sale in Vancouver, see which strata documents to read first, or compare Vancouver's West Side and East Vancouver.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Population and housing figures are from the 2021 Census, and other details are from the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Park Board, the Vancouver School Board, TransLink, Providence Health Care, CMHC, the District of West Vancouver and the Province at the time of writing. For the City's plan for the West End, see West End Community Plan.