Marpole

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Location of Marpole in Vancouver.

Marpole is a mostly-residential neighbourhood of 22,400 ([1]) located on the southern edge of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, immediately northeast of Vancouver International Airport. It is approximately bordered by Angus Drive to the west, 57th Avenue to the north, Main Street to the east and the Fraser River to the south. It has undergone many changes in the past century, with the influx of traffic and development associated with the construction of the Oak Street Bridge (which leads to Highway 99 leading to the southern suburbs) and the Arthur Laing Bridge (which leads to Vancouver International Airport).

1 History
2 Transportation
3 Economy
4 Education
5 Healthcare
6 Joy Kogawa's Obasan
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] History

Marpole is one of Vancouver's oldest communities. Evidence of settlement dating back to 3500 B.C. has been found in the area, and it was first inhabited by non-natives in the 1860s [2]. It was originally called Eburne Station and once existed as a separate village separated from the city by miles of forest land.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Vancouver Lulu Island Railway and the B.C. Electric interurban train were constructed, which triggered the development of sawmills, shingle mills and gravel companies in the region. The area was renamed after Richard Marpole in 1916, and by the time it joined Vancouver in 1929, it had become one of the area's major industrial centres [3].

Marpole street banner.

The Oak Street Bridge was completed in 1957 and was partly responsible for a downturn in business around the Marine and Hudson area, as traffic shifted to the east. The 1975 opening of the Arthur Laing Bridge helped shift the business area back to the west, along Granville Street [4].

[edit] Transportation

Because of the Oak and Arthur Laing Bridges, traffic jams are common in the area, especially during peak hours. However, it is well-served by public transit (which is run by TransLink and operated by Coast Mountain Bus Company) mostly because almost all the buses going to the southern suburbs pass through Marpole at some point.

In 2009, the Canada Line will replace most of the suburban routes above (with triple-digit route numbers) and the 98 B-Line. It will run along Cambie Street, and will have a station at Marine Drive, with a future station at 57th Avenue [5].

Marpole is also directly across the Fraser River from Vancouver International Airport, located on Sea Island in Richmond, which is the second busiest airport in Canada.

[edit] Economy

Most of Marpole's stores are centred along the southern end of Granville Street. There are small corner shops located on Oak Street and 67th, and on Cambie at 57th. A small number of businesses are also located sparsely along Marine Drive.

Industrial businesses are located along the banks of the Fraser River.

[edit] Education

Elementary schools in Marpole include David Lloyd George Elementary School, Sir Wilfrid Laurier Elementary School and McKechnie Elementary School. Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School is the only high school in the region.

[edit] Healthcare

George Pearson Centre is located in Marpole. It is a centre that specializes with adults with disabilities who require special assistance.

[edit] Joy Kogawa's Obasan

Joy Kogawa's bestselling novel, Obasan, which is about Canada's internment and persecution of its citizens of Japanese descent during World War II, partially takes place in Marpole, at a house on 64th Avenue. Kagawa herself lived in that house as a child, and there is currently a large campaign to save the house from demolition [6] as Obasan is a very famous and well-recognized [7] novel in Canada. Those involved in the campaign are hoping for the City of Vancouver to designate the house as a historical landmark.