Uptown

Uptown is Vancouver’s historic heart just north of downtown — a walkable stretch of early-1900s and pre-war homes that takes in the Arnada, Carter Park, Hough and Shumway neighborhoods. Main Street is the spine, running from about 15th Street up to Fourth Plain Boulevard and lined with the shops, bakeries, coffeehouses and restaurants that make up Uptown Village.

This is one of the oldest and most architecturally rich parts of the city. Hough holds the largest collection of still-standing pre-World War II houses in Vancouver, and the tree-lined streets are full of carefully built craftsman and foursquare homes from the early 1900s. Arnada’s neighborhood association, formed in 1976, was the very first the city recognized — a fitting sign of how proud and engaged these blocks have always been.

It draws people who want character over square footage and the ability to walk to dinner, a movie, or the farmers market. If you love historic homes and a real Main Street, Uptown is hard to beat.