FALSE CREEK

Description

Essentials about False Creek in brief

As the name suggests, False Creek is not a real creek, but a narrow estuary about two kilometers long. False Creek separates downtown Vancouver from the rest of the city on the Burrard Peninsula and is spanned by three bridges, Burrard Street Bridge, Granville Street Bridge and Cambie Street Bridge. In the western part of the estuary lies the small (and absolutely worth seeing) peninsula of Granville Island. A walk along the inlet should definitely be part of a visit to Vancouver, as False Creek is home to some of the city’s most interesting neighborhoods and buildings.

Exploring False Creek

There are two good ways to explore False Creek. Either you can walk around the water on the famous Seawall boardwalk – an absolutely recommended walk – or you can take one of the small passenger ferries and sail through the inlet. The routes, operated by False Creek Ferries and Aquabus Ferries, connect nine different piers in a scheduled service.

The history of False Creek

Until the beginning of the 20th century, False Creek extended a good 1.5 kilometers further inland. During World War I, however, the eastern portion was filled in by Canadian railroad companies to make room for railroad facilities. In the 1950s, there were even plans to fill the inlet all the way to Granville Street, but (fortunately) this was never implemented. Until that time, False Creek was the industrial center of Vancouver. The shoreline was home to numerous sawmills, port facilities, and the Pacific Central train station.

As industry moved away to other areas, the False Creek area slowly decayed. An urban development program began in the 1970s, transforming the derelict industrial areas on the south bank into mixed residential and commercial zones. Another development push followed in the 1980s, when numerous buildings were constructed around the inlet for the Expo 86 World’s Fair, including the Plaza of Nations leisure and entertainment center and the Science World science museum.

Sports at False Creek

Since then, the north shore has also been transformed into a densely populated residential zone for over 50,000 inhabitants. The area around the southeastern part, which was very run-down at the time, was renovated for the 2010 Winter Olympics and made the site of one of the two Olympic villages. False Creek is also home to two of Vancouver’s largest sports arenas, Rogers Arena (home to Vancouver’s ice hockey team) and BC Place Stadium (home to Vancouver’s football and soccer teams).