Sell Your North Vancouver Home Fast, and for Top Dollar!

If you’ve ever asked, “What is North Van?” congratulations, you’ve stumbled upon one of Metro Vancouver’s best-kept, worst-traffic secrets. But be warned, if you move here, you may never leave, it happened to us!

The North Shore (West and North Vancouver) sits between the mountains and the ocean. Westbound it's on route to Vancouver Island and Sunshine Coast Ferries and magestic Whistler Mountain. Southbound is the rest of Metro Vacouver and US borde North Vancouver (yes, that’s the full, proper name) is where outdoor lovers, suburban escapists, and people who pretend they don’t mind the rain come to live.

But before you get too comfortable, let’s break it down: the hikes, the shipyards, traffic, and, of course, the great North Van vs. West Van vs. Vancouver debate.

If you’re new here, you might assume North Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Vancouver are just variations of the same thing. Nope. Here’s the cheat sheet:

Vancouver: The big city across the bridge. Great for work, nightlife, and pretending you’ll actually take the bus. It has its own mayor and within it you’ll find many neighbourhoods in South Vancouver, East Vancouver, Vancouver West and the West End (not to be confused with West Vancouver). Confused yet? Just know this is a totally different place than North and West Vancouver.

Across the water you find the North Shore which includes West and North Vancouver:

West Vancouver: Where your retired dentist lives. It’s wealthier, quieter, and less interested in change.  It runs alnog the ocean and is home to Cypress Mountain Ski Resort. West Van has its own mayor.

North Vancouver: In my opinion, it's the perfect middle ground. It’s urban enough for a good coffee or micro-brewery scene and rugged enough that you’ll always feel guilty for not hiking more. And within North Van, you have two municipalities, each with its own Mayor (less confused?):

1. The City of North Vancouver – More developer friendly, smaller, denser, has many restaurants and amenities and home to Lonsdale Quay and the ever-expanding Shipyards District. Mostly anything below the highway is considered "City".
2. The District of North Vancouver – Its bigger geogrphically, greener, bigger homes and lots, and a little more NIMBI. It definately has more of a suburban feel. Some of the more common family oriented neighbourhoods it include Deep Cove, Lynn Valley, Edgemont Village, Grouse Mountain, all with endless trails… It includes just about anything above the highway.

Think of Vancouver as downtown vs. the North Shore as the suburbs, but with bears.

North Van is basically a giant outdoor gym with better scenery. Some must-do hikes that are ok for just about anyone  that is up for the challenge.

1. Grouse Grind – Aka the "Nature StairMaster." Even toursits brag about geeting to the top of Grouse. And the best part is you can pay $20 bucks to take the tram down. Do it once, so you can join the conversation, it's one of the hikes everyone in Vancouver likes to brag about. 
2. Quarry Rock (Deep Cove) – An easy(ish) trail with postcard views of the inlet. It's a big reward for the effort. It does get crazy busy though so parking is the hard part.
3. Lynn Canyon & Twin Falls – Beautiful suspension bridge without the Capilano price tag. Lots of trails to explore here and you can find some safe spots along the river (creek) to cool off in summer. 
4. Capilano Park – Beautiful walk where you can explore the Capilano Salmon Hatchery and Cleavland Damn though beautiful scenic trails, all for free!

If you live here and don’t hike, that’s fine, you’ll still need to learn the names of at least these trails so you can engage in everyday conversation. There are other activities too, like world class mountain biking, water sports and skiing. Or just sitting at the Shipyards, enoying the views, a spectator sport.

Lonsdale Quay is apparently pronounced “key” by locals, but I’m a local and I pronounce it “way” (though I do get made fun of). Sometimes incorrectly called North Van Quay, it used to be a big tourist attraction, but these days, the Shipyards District is a lot busier. They are side-by-side so they sort of go hand-in-hand, but here is the difference:

Lonsdale Quay: A classic indoor market with waterfront views, fresh produce, food courts and a lingering 1980s charm, although currently it’s getting a facelift. It’s also where the seabus takes commuters into the “city” of Vancouver and YVR airport skytrain.

The Shipyards: I love this new North Vancouver addition, it was exactly what we were missing, now we have little need to cross the bridge. It brings community events, arts, has stunning views of the Vancouver Skyline, is full of breweries, food trucks, shops, waterfront patios, live music and that giant winter skating rink and summer water park. 

If you want a perfect North Vancouver day that excludes trails, grab a coffee, wander through the Quay, then settle in at Tap & Barrel or Streetcar Brewing for a drink with a view.

North Van has launched some successful restaurants including Earls (sort on on the border with West Van), Cactus Club, The Keg and Browns. That’s right, they all started here! We tend to be pretty loyal to our restaurants. Here are some that I’m enjoying these days:

The Gull Bar & Kitchen – Small plates, great cocktails, and zero pretense.It’s been around forever! Amazing big burgers.

Farina a Legna – Arguably the best pizza in North Van and such a great vibe inside. Sadly it may not be around much longer due to redevelopment of the building.

Burgoo – Cozy, homey, and perfect for when it’s raining (which is... often).

Fishworks - I love their Lobster Mac & Cheese, if you go ask them to bring it back. But it's okay because I love their entire menu and service.

The Workshop - Amazing plant based ramen dishes and baked goods (omg the croisants made with coconut oil!!!). Located in an industrial area, it feel pricey for a lunch cafe but they use whole food, home-made ingredients. I was addicted for a while!

So many other restaurants I love, I could go on... Sushi Umi, Blvd Bistro, Tour de Feast, Kypriaki... aya so many good ones here!

Deep Cove is where you go when you want to feel like you’re on stayvacation, without leaving North Van.

• Rent a kayak and paddle through the calm waters.
• Hike to Quarry Rock and take a dramatic Instagram photo.
• Eat a Honey’s Doughnut and regret not buying more.

Pro tip: Arrive early. Deep Cove parking is horrible, especially at 11am on a sunny Saturday. I wouldn’t even bother going at that time. Go early or midweek instead.

Speaking of heartbreak, let’s talk about North Van traffic, it's famous for being terrible. If you live here, you accept it and avoid crossing the bridge. Here are some of the worst North Van traffic hot spots:

• Ironworkers Memorial Bridge – A daily test of your will to live. But it's one of two ways to get off the North Shore by car. It's essential if you need to take the highway across Canada.
• Lions Gate  Bridge –  Alternating traffic lanes, so it can get really backed up! Beautiful bridge, feels like the gates to heaven on both ends. This second way off the North Shore by car. If both bridges have accidents, you are stuck!
• Lonsdale, Main & Marine Drive – Lots of stop and go on these streets. Especially with bike lanes, parallel parkers and the many lights.
• Capilano Road, especially in summer – Slow to move, especially if Lions Gate his backed up
• The Cut - This is the big hill on the highway heading to Ironworkers Bridge, it’s typically backed up southbound (towards the bridge) between 3-6pm almost every day of the week.
• Mountain Hiway - What a nightmare this has become after the highway on-ramp upgrades.

We tend to become obsessed with times to drive, shortcuts and argue over the best ways to avoid gridlock, or even better, if the highway or backroads are faster. But we can only do so much because a backed up highway in Burnaby can impact us in North Van, especially if you need to cross the limited bridges over the two main Norht Vancouver rivers (Capilano River and Lynn Creek) in addition to the inlet.

The secret to surviving North Vancouver’s weather is accepting that rain is the default setting. We don’t let rain stop us from our hikes and walks. We just get wet. It’s what keeps our beautiful lush forests green and our rivers flowing.

Summer: Short and glorious! Makes you forget the other 10 months (8 some years).

Fall: "Crisp" for a week, then just wet.

Winter: Rain. More snow if you live higher up. But normally only a little snow. More rain. Maybe some sun. Then more rain. It’s cozy.

Spring: More rain, but now with cherry blossoms. “April showers bring May flowers”

North Van rule: Buy a good rain jacket (people love Arcteryx here, probably because it’s where it all started) and pretend you don’t mind getting wet. Don’t bother with an umbrella, it rarely rains super hard, and you’ll probably just lose it.

It’s a little bit of city and a little of bit nature. It’s where you get incredible hikes, waterfront and mountain views, and great brewerie, but you have to survive bridge traffic.

Whether you’re here for the mountains, the people, or just pretending you hike, North Vancouver has a way of keeping you here. It's such a special place. My family immigrated from Chile to North Van when I was 7, and we never left. This is similarly true for many of the friends I grew up with, it’s hard to find this combination of nature and urban anywhere else. I know there is a premium price to living here, but the quality of life is calm, healthy and safe. It's probably why North Vancouver was found to be the most Livable City in Canada by the Globe and Mail.