Greektown (Vancouver)

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Greektown in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is an area in the Kitsilano neighborhood which was historically an enclave of Greek immigrants and their descendants. The term is an informal one, and Greektown's borders were never strictly defined. However, West Broadway at MacDonald Street is generally considered the centre.

By 2005 this Greek identity has waned considerably, and the primary remnants of Greektown are St. George's Greek Orthodox Church at 31st Ave. and Arbutus, the local Athens Social Club, a Greek supermarket, and a higher-than-average concentration of Greek restaurants. St. George's Greek Orthodox Church has been noted for its beautiful, traditional Byzantine Iconography. St. George's Hellenic Community of Vancouver (attached to the Church with the same patron Saint), has a long standing tradition of holding every year a Greek Food Festival from October 20th to October 22th.

In 2005, Vancouver Greektown's famous Greek Day returned between MacDonald and Blenheim on West Broadway for festivities; it had been since 1988 when the last Greek Day was allowed to transpire. The return of Greek Day to the Kitsilano area, is part of an on going effort to restore the "Greek" in the Greektown of Vancouver. Hellenic Cultural Week, as "Greek Day" is more offically known, takes place every year from June 16th to June 25th.

[edit] History

After World War II, Greek refugees from Europe and western Canada congregated in the Kitsilano area of Vancouver. They founded the aforementioned Greek Orthodox church, several businesses and social clubs, schools, a bank, newspapers, and, later, even a television station.

In the 1971 Canada census, Greek was the second-most common language and ethnic origin in the Kitsilano area, second only to English and the British Isles, respectively. In 1974 the city of Vancouver sanctioned an annual "Greek Day" celebration in the area.

During the 1980s a combination of cultural assimilation, an influx of baby boomers, rising property prices, and Asian immigration began to significantly erode the Greek influence in the area. During this time many Greek businesses moved or ceased operation, the television station went off-air, and Greek Day was canceled. Many of the Greek migrated to other parts of the Greater Vancouver Area or even returned to Greece. Also, many Greeks who moved to Vancouver during that time period had neither connection to nor immediate knowledge of Greektown. Thus began the slow erosion of the Greek cultural influence in the area until it ceased with the restoration of the aforementioned Greek Day 2005.

In the 2001 Canada census, the percentage of people in Kitsilano reporting Greek as their mother tongue had shrunk to 2%, below that of English, Chinese, French, and even German.