planted city

Dusk on Vancouver’s Granville Street

Granville Street is one of the city’s main arterial corridors and a hub of retail and entertainment spaces. Between the blocks of Hastings and Nelson the Granville is a pedestrian and transit mall dating back to 1968 and the fateful decision to not build a freeway through downtown Vancouver. Over the last half decade it has gone through a massive redesign led by ‘Great Streets’ author and urban planner, Allan Jacobs. 

On summer weekends over the last couple of years the city has transformed several blocks of the street into a temporary public space where folks can socialize, hang out and take part in programming (e.g. dancing, street hockey, performances). At night the street takes on a more intoxicating personality as home to one of the city’s main bar and nightclub districts and what was in the 1950s one of the world’s largest collections of neon signs.

You can check out more of my photos over at Flickr.