South Granville Street, Vancouver, BC

It had been a while since we had brunch at one of our favourite restaurants along Granville Street. The South Granville neighbourhood is a one mile strip of upscale stores starting on the south side of the Granville street bridge terminating around 16th avenue.


(South Granville: Bridge to 16th)

Vancouver is comprised of many retail areas scattered around the city. As you navigate your way along the sidewalks and peer into the small specialty stores you get the feeling that you are in a small town.



Fall is definitely in the air as you notice from the fallen leaves and longer shadows cast by the sun, as well as people bundled up with warmer outerwear. Time to ditch the T-shirts and shorts.

There is no set demographic as you notice people of all generations. Some come by bicycle, being ECO friendly



while others come in luxury



Others are just here, waiting for generous souls to throw their hard earned money away into his hat. Or perhaps he is already home and we are intruding upon his personal space.



His sign reads: "EVERYDAY, I bow and Pray that I can find a better way"

This being a Sunday there is not much traffic and only a handful of these stores are opened



Sometimes you can't dwell on the plight of others and move on. The people who live on the street stay there by choice. We have programs on the east side which are prepared to take them in during the cold of winter where they will be fed and given a warm place to bed down.



I would say that this area caters to the upper middle class and you will find many movie stars (famous people) mingling in with the locals trying to blend in



You will not find many of those national chain stores if that was your desire, but rather interesting merchandise from stores with a niche market



We happened to stumble into a well stocked store specializing in kitchen implements and they just happened to be finishing a cooking demonstration with their new stainless steel convection countertop oven. Of course samples were just being distributed to the onlookers



I wandered about the store and could see that they had every conceivable tool available for the kitchen, all in stainless steel and every type of electrical appliance made with sales ladies in every isle for your beck and call.

The stores line both sides of Granville Street, but if you were to look around the corner you would see



apartment buildings, many of which have been restored to their original grandeur



You will find that not all of the underprivileged, unemployed beg for their money. Others go on their merry way scouring the alleyways and garbage bins for objects of value, while pushing their bicycle



I stood there for a moment staring at him and wondered if he was happy in just being, and whether it was hard to forage daily for your substenance. I'm not sure I would have the fortitude, nor desire to be in his shoes. He turned the corner while I watched



I'm not sure who was happier, this fellow content to beg for money to be thrown into his hat, or the person with the bicycle wanting to earn his own way by doing the only thing he knows.



Or this new person who had just arrived and was sitting on the sidewalk



I headed down the street with thoughts of more pleasant things on my mind


(When all of us see a steaming chicken, Jack "r" sees this)