092 VIRGIN AUSTRALIAMAY 2017
Property values in various parts of the city have risen an
astonishing 41 per cent in recent years, efectively pricing out
an entire generation. Last year, the provincial government
rushed in a 15 per cent real estate tax on foreign buyers to
try to slow the insanity. But it has come too late to prevent
Vancouver’s downtown core becoming the domain of high-
end fashion outlets, retail giants and chain restaurants, all
with a view of Trump International Hotel & Tower right in the
middle. This has meant smaller one-ofs have been pushed to
the more afordable peripheries, to places where creativity can
breathe a little easier — places such as Mount Pleasant.
Redeveloped through the 1990s and early 2000s, the
neighbourhood’s face lift successfully blended old and new.
Helen’s Grill & Restaurant is no worse for wear after 56 years of
cheap breakfasts. It is now the only eatery in town that still has
individual jukeboxes bolted to the booths (playing everything
from Elvis to the Eurythmics). It stands in thematic contrast
to The Acorn Restaurant, a stylish, award-winning bistro
situated opposite. Owned and managed by local musician Shira
Blustein, the 48-seater is one of the most innovative vegetarian
restaurants in Canada, putting the neighbourhood on notice
that not only has change come, but it’s also delicious.
Across the street, a group of children gawk in wonder at
a typewriter display in the window of The Regional Assembly
of Text. The adorable stationery store regularly hosts letter-
writing nights (attendees dedicate time to handwriting missivesto their loved ones). It wouldn’t stand a
chance in downtown Vancouver, but here
it is an institution of sorts, emblematic
of the quirky community it serves.
Similar businesses — be they galleries,
independent bookstores, vintage shops,
or high-quality bakeries and cafes —
are also supported on Main Street.
At the top of the hill, the hot-pink front of the Fox Cabaret
stands like a gatekeeper. It used to screen adult films until
2013, when a collection of young creative types converted it
into a live music and performance venue.
Next door is Antisocial, a skateboard shop and art gallery
co-owned by professional boarder Rick McCrank. It’s anything
but antisocial, equipping a steady flow of skaters keen to
cruise the long slope down Main Street to the popular outdoor
Vancouver Skate Plaza (under the Georgia Viaduct).
With board or without, there are a growing number of
distractions along the way, ranging in measure from the global
headquarters of social media giant Hootsuite and the massive
Equinox Gallery to the more diminutive Cartems Donuterie,
where vanilla cake donuts glazed with maple, whiskey and
bacon fat aren’t figments of delirious imaginations.
In 2010, the city council finally permitted food trucks to
operate in Vancouver (changing a by-law that had previously
only allowed for hot dogs, cofee and popcorn), and twoThe city’s skyline.
OPPOSITE PAGE,
FROM TOP The
Assembly of Text;
share plates at Juke.
PREVIOUS PAGE,
FROM LEFT Juke’s
exterior; beer at 33
Acres Brewing Co.