Vancouver/Commercial Dr-Hastings Park

East Van is traditionally the more working-class area of Vancouver. However, the area has become more gentrified as the Vancouver housing market develops.

See Vancouver for options to get in the Vancouver area by plane, by bus, and by train, and by boat.

• 🌍 New Brighton Park, 3201 New Brighton Rd (head north on Commissioner St from McGill and make a left onto New Brighton Rd just before the checkpoint to the port), ☏ +1 604-298-1847 (pool). Good-sized park tucked on the shore of the Burrard Inlet between port facilities. It provides an interesting, grittier view of the North Shore mountains with the port facilities and Second Narrows Bridge in sight. Amenities include playing fields, a children's playground, a beach and a trail along the shore. There is also the New Brighton Pool, a heated outdoor pool that is usually open from the Victoria Day long weekend to Labour Day (late May to early Sept). The park is free, $3-6 for the pool. (updated Feb 2016)
• 🌍 Hastings Racecourse, 188 N Renfrew St (within Hastings Park enter at PNE Gate 6, off Renfrew St), ☏ +1 604-254-1631, info@hastingsracecourse.com. Horse racing on most weekends. 
• 🌍 Momiji Garden (At the south-west side of the PNE.). Small Japanese garden built as an apology for Japanese internment. Free, except when the PNE is open during the second half of August. (updated Aug 2021)
• 🌍 East Van Cross (East 6th Avenue at Clark Drive). This artwork installed in 2010, looks like a Christian cross, and is a reference is to the city’s Eastern half, which is traditionally less wealthy and harder-edged. Ironically almost half of Greater Vancouver residents identify as not having a religion, a fraction that is higher than any other large city in North America. This artwork is easily seen when looking south, while taking the SkyTrain Expo Line between Main Street-Science World station and Commercial-Broadway station. It is also a located a block east of VCC-Clark station on the SkyTrain Millenium Line. (updated Sep 2023)

• 🌍 PNE (Pacific National Exhibition), 2901 E Hastings St (corner of Renfrew & E Hastings, parking is accessed from Renfew St and Bridgeway; from Hwy #1 take exit 26), ☏ +1 604-253-2311, fax: +1 604-251-7768, info@pne.ca. Open daily from 11AM - late during the second half of August. Two week exhibition where extra rides and events are added to the usual Playland activities. Gate ticket $15, Ride ticket $27-40. 
• 🌍 Playland at the PNE (at the PNE grounds), ☏ +1 604-253-2311, fax: +1 604-251-7768, info@pne.ca. Open daily from late June through August and weekends only in May and September. Hours of operation are generally 10AM-6PM; during the PNE hours are from 11AM - late. Playland is a medium-sized amusement park, like something you may find at a U.S. county fair, and activities include a wooden rollercoaster, games, shows for kids and perhaps 20 or so other rides that spin, throw and hurl you in various ways. $20 if under 4 feet, $30 otherwise. Parents of kids under 12 pay $13. 
• Parade of Lost Souls takes place around Halloween in the Commercial Drive area. It is free to go, and features live music, fire dancers, lots of costumed revellers. Under-advertised, but one of the biggest yearly festivals in Vancouver.

• 🌍 Centre for Digital Media (CDM), 685 Great Northern Way, ☏ +1 778-370-1001, toll-free: +1-855-737-2666. Publicly funded. A collaborative university campus environment put together with the help of all of the major local universities, focusing on arts, technology, and the environment. (updated Sep 2023)
• 🌍 Emily Carr University of Art + Design, 520 East 1st Avenue, ☏ +1 604-844-3800. Publicly funded. Offers a number of programs focused primarily on design and the visual arts. (updated Sep 2023)
• 🌍 Vancouver Community College (VCC) - Broadway campus, 1155 East Broadway, ☏ +1 604-871-7000. Publicly funded. Offers vocational related training programs to obtain diplomas and certificates. (updated Sep 2023)

East Van has a wide variety of multicultural shopping districts.

• A funky shopping area is Commercial Drive (also known by locals as "The Drive"), which was once was the city's Italian neighbourhood but which is now amazingly multicultural. Buskers, dogs, babies, pierced people, office workers, grocery shoppers share the Drive. The shops are relatively inexpensive and eclectic -- lots of coffee shops, tie-dye, toys, trinkets, and organic groceries. It's a great neighbourhood to live in because you can go out on foot and do all your shopping -- produce, cheese, sausage, stationery, pet food, hardware -- within just a few blocks. Commercial drive spans along Commercial Drive from approximately East 12th Avenue at the south end to Venables Street at the north end. 🌍 Commercial-Broadway station (SkyTrain Expo Line and Millennium Line) is located near the southern end of this shopping area.
• 🌍 East Hastings. Between Renfrew St and Clark Dr, especially east of Victoria Dr. Offers some of the best hidden delights in the city, including produce stores. (updated Oct 2023)
• 🌍 Farmers' Market at Trout Lake. (updated Jan 2023) There are a few farmers markets that occur in Vancouver, but this is the first, and probably the best. It is only open on Saturday mornings and only in the summer and the last market day of the year is around Canadian Thanksgiving (early Oct).
• 🌍 Taiga Works, 3454 Bridgeway St, ☏ +1 604-875-6647. M-Sa 10AM-5:30PM. Sells outdoors supplies. (updated May 2022)

The Commercial Drive area is blessed with a huge number of different restaurants, many of them drawn from cuisines all over the world and very reasonably priced. Walk a couple of kilometres along The Drive north from Broadway to Venables, and you will doubtlessly find something to match your taste and your wallet before you get to the end.

• 🌍 Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood Pub, 3728 Clark St (Kingsway and Clark, just off of Knight St), ☏ +1 604-876-1411. Su-Th 11AM-midnight, F-Sa 11AM-1AM. Upstairs is a funky little coffee house with lots of comfy seating, downstairs is a friendly pub, popular with a lot of local sports teams. There is a patio adjoining, with heat lamps for those cooler evenings. Friday nights are almost always packed. $10-16 mains. (updated Feb 2016)
• 🌍 Odd Society Spirits, 1725 Powell St, ☏ +1 604-559-6745, info@oddsocietyspirits.com. Th 1-7PM, F-Sa 1-10:30PM, Su 1-6PM. Microdistillery with their own cocktails. They offer a tasting with a sample of each of their different liquors as well as small tours. $11/drink. (updated Mar 2015)
• 🌍 St. Augustine's Pub, 2360 Commercial Dr (corner of Commercial and N Grandview Hwy), ☏ +1 604-569-1911. Su-Th 11AM-1AM, F-Sa 11AM-2AM. A pub that takes its beer seriously. The two page beer menu features craft beers from across Canada and U.S. and there are live reports on how full each keg is. The food choices are pretty standard for a pub — burgers, sandwiches, pizza and finger foods — but it's well done. There are also a number of TVs for catching the game. $10-20 for food, $6-10 for the beer. (updated Feb 2016)

For such a large area, there isn't much accommodation in East Van. It is mostly older and in the budget to mid-level price range. The biggest concentration of motels/hotels is along Kingsway.

• 🌍 Atrium Inn, 2889 E Hastings St (at Renfrew), ☏ +1 604-254-1000, toll-free: +1-888-428-7486. Check-in: 4PM, check-out: 11AM. Standard motel room with wireless internet in each room and a complimentary continental breakfast. Located on a busy street so traffic noise can sometimes be a problem. Will provide complimentary shuttle service to downtown and some nearby attractions (although space is limited). $150 and up, suites start around $240 (summer rates). 
• 🌍 The Waldorf Hotel, 1489 E Hastings St (between Commercial and Clark), ☏ +1 604-253-7141. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 11AM. The Waldorf is a creative hub in the heart of East Vancouver where contemporary art, music, food and culture convene under one roof. The programming for the space will be both artistically expansive and thematically inclusive. The complex consists of thirty rooms, two restaurants (Nuba Cafe and The Leeteg Dining Room), a Tiki bar (restored and retrofitted with a vintage analogue audiophile sound system), a hair salon (run by Barbarella Hair), a gift shop, a nightclub and a live music venue. In the works are a multi-media theatre space and recording studio (tied to a residency program for visiting musicians).The Waldorf joins a new wave of Vancouver businesses that are conversing with the city, setting a benchmark for culture and hospitality. $99-120.