Vancouver Apartments for Rent

Vancouver is a straight up gorgeous city. It’s surrounded by water – there’s the harbor, False Creek, English Bay, and the Georgia Straits to the West. North and West there are mountains, snowcapped for much of the year, and there’s in-city big nature at Stanley Park, a beautiful forested peninsula with biking and hiking trails, a remarkable grouping of massive totem poles, and the Vancouver Aquarium. The 2010 Olympics brought a lot of urban redevelopment to the city and exceptional public spaces were a big part of the plan. This is Canada’s largest city in the West, and it’s a great place to live.

Vancouver has a temperate Pacific Northwest climate – snow is rare but not unheard of, rain is plentiful from November to March. There might be a week or two in August that could be classified as hot, but mostly the summers are very pleasant and because the city is far north, days are very long in June, July, and August. Some in the Pacific Northwest find the lack of sunshine during the rest of the year wearing – Seasonal Affective Disorder – can be an issue. If you choose Vancouver as your home, it’s best not to be afraid of a little rain.

Vancouver is Canada’s most walkable city. The Canada Line connects Vancouver’s international airport (YVR) with Richmond, the biggest city to the south and closes to the airport, and downtown. Two other SkyTrain lines run East to Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, and Surrey. Bus service is frequent and extensive – there’s a NightBus service that runs until 3:00 am. The waters of False Creek are served by little AquaBus shuttles – they’re not just for tourists, though they are a little pricier than taking the bus. The SeaBus runs between downtown and North Vancouver. The West Coast Express is a commuter rail line that points even further east.

Vancouver is bike friendly – there are some bike-only corridors and a well mapped out system of bikeways.

The West End, Downtown, and across the Granville Bridge to the south, Fairview, are some of the city’s most walkable neighborhoods – Kitsilano is nice too. Thanks again to all that development in 2010 around the Winter Olympics, Downtown and the West End are home to a lot of shiny new high-rise buildings. Yaletown was once brick warehouses – now, lots of those buildings have been renovated into stylish loft style apartments –mostly studios and one bedrooms -- some of them with views of False Creek. On the other side of Downtown, towards the Burrard Inlet, there’s more brand new construction – one and two bedroom apartments with gourmet kitchens and upcycled construction materials. The West End has more of the same kind of offerings, and you can walk to the beaches on English Bay.

Rents are a little bit lower in Fairview but there’s still great access to downtown via public transit. You’ll find more two bedroom units available here – a bit more space. There are some recently renovated buildings here along with some older buildings that have garden spaces and balconies. Kitsilano is a popular neighborhood with students because of its easy access to the University of British Columbia. It’s another neighborhood where you’ll find more outdoor space with your rental apartment.

You’ll find more single family homes – three bedrooms and up with off street parking, a back yard, in the outer neighborhoods. North Vancouver has some gorgeous classic homes, you can find a place with a fireplace, a big family style kitchen, and lots of room in the yard and still commute into the city by ferry.