The overall atmosphere is relaxed and outdoorsy, yet cosmopolitan. Vancouver is the kind of place where outdoor gear shops coexist with high-fashion boutiques. Add in the city's fondness for the arts and its generally health-conscious and laid-back residents, and it's a comfortable city that has something for nearly everyone.

History
The first natives of British Columbia, unlike so many hunting-and-gathering peoples, found an abundance of natural resources. They didn't have to travel from place to place in search of necessities. It was all right there: game, fish, water and building materials. There was so much of it, in fact, that potlatches ceremonies in which the riches were distributed were a regular event among the Kwakiutl, Bella Coola, Haida and other indigenous tribes.

The British captain who lent the city his name, George Vancouver, sailed into Burrard Inlet in 1792. He called it "the most lovely country that could be imagined." Settlers didn't immediately respond to his superlatives, though. It took a gold rush in 1858 along with Manifest Destiny to bring a slew of fortune seekers, who camped along the Fraser River.

What truly established Vancouver as a city, however, was the decision 30 years later by the Canadian Pacific Railway to make Vancouver the terminus of its transcontinental route. The railroad, in turn, increased the city's importance as a seaport. To this day, a tremendous amount of cargo is shipped in and out of Vancouver to and from ports around the world.

Geography
With the North Shore mountains as a reference point, finding your way around Vancouver is pretty easy. The core of downtown radiates outward on a grid system from the intersection of Georgia Street, which runs east-west, and Granville Street, the main north-south artery. This intersection also marks the city's highest point above sea level. In negotiating Vancouver, it helps to know that the city proper lies on a peninsula that extends into the Strait of Georgia. (Across the strait is Vancouver Island.) The downtown occupies a smaller peninsula formed by False Creek.