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A vibrant, progressive and scenic city, Vancouver is the third largest metropolitan area in Canada. Its ethnically diverse population and mixture of modernity and tradition results in a vibrant atmosphere and culture, boasting festivals, excellent food and a lively arts scene. The city was home to events such as the 2010 Winter Olympics and is also well-established in the film industry, often named as the 'Hollywood of the North'. Add to all of this the incredible nature right on its doorstep, and Vancouver makes for an excellent visit.

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While Vancouver is a comparatively young city, founded in 1886, its history begins long before. The Coast Salish indigenous peoples (First Nations) have lived in the area for at least 6000 years, and Vancouver's namesake Captain George Vancouver sailed through the First Narrows in 1792. The first settlement on the downtown peninsula was Granville, located on the spot of today's Gastown. In 1867, the year of Canada's confederation, a saloon was built on this site and gave birth to a small shantytown of bars and stores adjacent to the original mill on the south shore of what is now the city's harbour. A seemingly endless supply of high quality lumber was logged and sold through the ports of Gastown and Moodyville, across the inlet. Some of the trees were gigantic beams which were shipped to China to construct Beijing's Imperial Palace, and one account maintains that the world's windjammer fleets could not have been built without the trees of Burrard Inlet.

Vancouver's first City Hall was little more than a hand-painted sign nailed to a wooden tent post. The arrival of the transcontinental railway a few years later spurred growth even more and by 1892 the area had over 20,000 residents; 18 years later this figure was over 100,000.

Factor in constant growth every year since (many in the double digits), and Greater Vancouver today is Canada's largest metropolitan area west of Toronto by far with more than 2,600,000 residents, more than half of British Columbia's population as a whole. It is also the fastest growing part of Canada. Greater Vancouver is one of the most ethnically diverse metropolitan areas in the world and is home to the second largest Chinatown in North America after San Francisco.

For many, Vancouver truly "arrived" in 1986 when the city hosted the Expo 86 World's Fair. Media attention from around the world was consistently positive, though many saw the resulting gentrification of poorer areas as being harmful to Vancouver's lower-class citizens, as many residents of the Downtown Eastside were evicted from their homes. Vancouver also hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, which was largely seen as another success, though it brought some similar criticisms.

Vancouver is perhaps best known for its scenic beauty, and the opportunities afforded by its natural environment. Vancouver is one of those rare places where you could theoretically ski in the mountains, windsurf in the ocean, and play a round of golf all in the same day. Surrounded by water on three sides, and crowned by the North Shore mountains, Vancouver is a great destination, and a great starting point for discovering the area's many outdoor activities.

Vancouver is a major sea port on the Pacific Ocean, and a base for many Alaska Cruise Ships in the summer. It has the same name as another city in the region, Vancouver, Washington (USA).

Climate

Depending on who you talk to, or perhaps, when, Vancouver's climate is either much maligned or envied. Late fall and winter are typically damp with clouds smothering the sky like a wet grey blanket (there's a reason Vancouver is sometimes referred to as the "Wet Coast"). But there are benefits to all that rain: it's usually not snowing (unlike most of the rest of Canada) and it leads to a gorgeous display of colour with the start of spring in early March. And that's where Vancouver really shines -- the spring and summer. Springs can still be wet, but it gets warmer and the shrubs, blossom trees and flowers put on a pretty show. Summer days are long and usually sunny with little humidity.

Daytime highs from mid-June to early-Sept are mostly comfortable in the low to mid-20s°C (70-80°F). Overnight temperatures are usually in the teens (55-70°F). Spring and fall are cooler and wetter, so packing a mix of cool and warm weather clothing is recommended. If visiting Vancouver between November and March, be prepared for wet weather and cool temperatures. Daytime highs are typically around 5-8°C (40-50°F) while overnight lows will get close to 0°C (32°F) and sometimes colder. December and January are the coldest months, with the most rain and a chance of snow. While Vancouver's winters are not as harsh as those in other major Canadian cities, the city does get a few days of snow in the winter months every year.

Visitor information

© Sourced from Wikivoyage

Settled in one of the most scenic spots in the USA, surrounded by water, mountains and evergreen forests, Seattle is a thriving and modern port city. With a progressive attitude, laid-back nature and ethnically diverse and vibrant culture, Seattle makes an interesting stop on any trip to the USA. Enjoy what the city has to offer before exploring the surrounding pristine nature which gives it the nickname of the ‘Emerald City’.

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History

Like the rest of the United States, the Seattle area used to be home to Indian settlements. The first humans are believed to have entered the region nearly 4,000 years ago. Englishman George Vancouver mapped the area in the 1790s, but the first white settlers didn't arrive until 1851. Luther Collins led a party of settlers to the mouth of the Duwamish River (in what is today southern Seattle), followed shortly by a party led by the more notable Arthur A. Denny of Chicago, who settled at Alki Point in West Seattle. Confrontations between the original settlers initially flared, only to die out as the groups settled together on the Elliott Bay. The area was then named Seattle by David Maynard, in honor of Chief Si'ahl of the Duwamish & Suquamish tribes, and later officially established as a city in 1869.

By the 1880s, development of a modern city came to life with the erection of buildings, a streetcar system, and a lumber mill at the end of a timber skid row (what is now Yesler Way), only to be destroyed by fire in 1889. The city came alive again in 1903 with the Klondike Gold Rush, when Seattle served as the departure city for miners bound for Alaska and the Yukon. During this boom time, hills were flattened for development and the Lake Washington Ship Canal was created.

The city's economy slowed down again during the Great Depression and World War II, but experienced a renewed fervor with the establishment of the aircraft company Boeing and the occurrence of the 1962 World's Fair, which opened the gates for modernization of the city. Heavy dependence on Boeing took an economic toll on the city during the 1970s oil crisis, but Microsoft's move from Albuquerque to the Seattle area further promoted the economic vitality of Seattle. Soon, Amazon, Nintendo of America, T-Mobile, Starbucks, and numerous biotech companies also established their headquarters here, bringing an influx of population growth and money into the area. Today, the Seattle metropolitan area's wealth and its four million inhabitants (more than half of the population of Washington State) make it the economic powerhouse of the Pacific Northwest and a city of huge importance for the entire United States.

Culture

Seattle is historically a very diverse city and multiculturalism is seen as a virtue. Whites make up about 70% of the population, while more than a tenth of Seattlelites are of Asian descent. English is spoken virtually everywhere in the city but there are ethnic areas in South Seattle where Vietnamese and Tagalog are also commonly spoken, as well as Chinese and Japanese in the International District. The ZIP code 98118 in South Seattle designates one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the entire United States!

Being a very politically left-wing part of the country, Seattle has one of the most sprawling LGBT communities in the US, second only to San Francisco. The Capitol Hill area, east of downtown, is the place for LGBT-friendly business and bars, as well as a resource center. A large PrideFest takes place annually at the Seattle Center, along with preceding events such as a Pride Parade.

Locals have long talked of the Seattle Freeze, referring to the cold politeness of residents. The theory is that while they are very polite and warm on first interaction, they are actually reserved, and interactions rarely lead to real acts of friendship (an invitation to dinner, personal conversations, etc.). The origin is obscure, but it is mostly assumed to be from Scandinavian immigrants that brought their home country's customs here, including this equivalent to introversion. Expect to have to make all the "first moves" to meet people here.

Residents' shyness also extends to anger and annoyance. Locals often make fun of themselves for their passive aggressive culture, where even in the most upsetting circumstances they will retain their polite nature.

Climate

A common stereotype of Seattle is that the sky is always grey, rainy, and depressing. But it may surprise you that rain is virtually absent in late spring through early fall, making Seattle an excellent place to spend summer. It's warm and comfortable, with little to moderate humidity and temperatures averaging in the upper 70s (about 25°C), though sometimes rising to the 80s and even 90s (above 30°C). Furthermore, because of Seattle's high latitude, the sky is bright from around 4:30AM to 10PM during the summer months, giving you ample daylight for outdoor activities.

During all other seasons, the sky above Seattle is often murky, grim, rainy and breezy, with occasional days of sun. It can be dry but cold, or mild but rainy. Even in the case of dry weather, the morning typically starts with fog that usually vanishes by midday. Despite its location as the northernmost big city in the U.S., winters in Seattle are not as harsh as those east of the Cascades. Marine air from the Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean moderate Seattle's climate, so that most precipitation falls as rain and little as snow. However, on occasion a snowstorm will hit, though it's a fairly rare event. The area consists of complex topographical features; thus it can be raining in the city itself but sunny five miles north or snowing in heaps fifteen miles inland to the Cascade foothills, often puzzling weather forecasters.

Despite the Rain City reputation, the main challenge of Seattle's weather is more the overcast skies than the rain, and in fact Seattle has less annual rainfall than most cities east of the Rocky Mountains. Seattle's rain usually comes in a drizzle that lingers for days, which only occasionally strengthens to a full-blown torrent that rarely lasts long.

Literature

E.L. James' phenomenally popular erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey, as well as its sequels (Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed), are set in the Seattle area. The Twilight saga is set in the Forks area of the Olympic Peninsula, but the third installment, Eclipse, is set primarily in a Seattle plagued by murderous vampires. The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein, is a New York Times bestseller about a race car driver told from the perspective of his dog, Enzo.

Film and television

As might be expected, nearly all movies and TV shows set in Seattle feature at least an establishing shot of the Space Needle. Many people will still remember the sitcom Frasier, which ran for 11 seasons until 2004. The show followed the life of the Crane family: Frasier Crane, a radio psychiatrist, his brother Niles, his father Martin, and his assistant, Daphne Moon. Although most of the show was actually filmed in studios in Los Angeles, the 100th episode was shot for real on the streets of Seattle, the monorail, and the Seattle Center. The medical drama Grey's Anatomy is set in Seattle to distinguish it from its counterpart, Chicago's ER. Fisher Plaza, home to the ABC-affiliated KOMO radio and television station and right across the street from the Space Needle, serves as the exterior of the fictional Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital. It Happened at the World's Fair (Norman Taurog, 1963). Elvis Presley stars as Mike, a cropduster pilot who hitchhikes with his friend Danny (Gary Lockwood) into Seattle during the 1962 World's Fair, where he meets his love interest, played by Joan O'Brien. The Parallax View (Alan J. Pakula, 1974). Released at the height of the political paranoia of the 70s, this film follows an investigative reporter (played by Warren Beatty) who discovers a secretive corporation that recruits political assassins. There's a lot of excellent Seattle imagery in this film, and the movie is well-remembered for its opening assassination scene that takes place atop the Space Needle. Singles (Cameron Crowe, 1992). A romantic comedy about two young couples experiencing rocky love while living in a Seattle apartment block. The film was particularly noted for its grunge soundtrack, coming on the heels of Seattle's grunge music boom. The central coffee shop in the film is at the now-closed OK Hotel in Pioneer Square, and the apartment used in the movie is at the northwest corner of E. Thomas St & 19th Ave E. Sleepless In Seattle (Nora Ephron, 1993). Tom Hanks plays Sam Baldwin, a widower father searching for comfort in Seattle after the loss of his wife. After his young child calls a radio station for help, a woman (Meg Ryan) develops an attraction to Sam. Sam Baldwin's houseboat is set on Lake Union, which is worth a visit for fans of the movie.

Music

Although Seattle may be more well-known for grunge, it has had a long, diverse and tolerant music history from early on, including a politically radical American folk scene in the 1920s to a thriving post-war jazz scene that boomed in many clubs throughout the area.

Grunge was heavily influenced by the counterculture music scene that dominated Seattle from the mid-1970s through the 1980s, with such noted acts as a gay glam theater group called Ze Whiz Kids and bands like The Telepaths, The Beakers, and Red Dress. Seattle also has another musical claim to fame in native son Jimi Hendrix, although he found his success in England; nevertheless, this hasn't stopped Seattle from erecting a statue of him in Capitol Hill and devoting an entire section to Hendrix at the Museum of Pop Culture in the Seattle Center.

Grunge didn't really emerge until the 1980s and was a combination of punk and metal promoted by such notable Seattle-based groups like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. The genre emerged and slowly grew through the mid-1980s before exploding to international fame in 1991 with the release of Nirvana's breakthrough album Nevermind, but its prominence came to an end after singer Kurt Cobain's shocking suicide in 1994.

Local favorite radio station KEXP is a great source for alternative and experimental music and has helped launch the careers of not only grunge bands like Nirvana but local hip hop favorites such as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and the Blue Scholars as well as many other nationally known alternative bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate, Modest Mouse, The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Horses, The Head and the Heart and Fleet Foxes.

Tourist information

The Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau operates two visitors centers. Both offer maps, brochures, event details, tour bookings, and restaurant reservations:

© Sourced from Wikivoyage