Local: Vacouver City Info.
Here are some basic facts about Vancouver:
Location
Vancouver is nestled beside the
Coast Mountains, where they meet the ocean. The city is at 49°15' north
latitude, 123°05' west longitude. We are in Pacific standard time,
three hours earlier than Toronto and New York, and 9 hours earlier than
western Europe (by coincidence, these are almost the flying times).
Name
Vancouver was named for Captain George Vancouver, who in
1792, fourteen years after sailing here under Captain Cook, returned to
the area in 1792, and spent the next two years exploring the area in
search of the western end of the "Northwest Passage".
Population
The City of Vancouver has over 521,000 people though the metropolitan area, often referred to as the "Lower Mainland" has 1,831,665 residents and is the third largest metropolitan in Canada, and the third largest after Toronto and Montreal. Here is the breakdown for the larger municipalities in the Lower Mainland:
Vancouver 521,048
Surrey 292,431
Burnaby 175,811
Richmond 143,700
Coquitlam 100,946
Delta 96,870
North Vancouver District 81,848
Langley (District & City) 80,708
Source: BC Stats, Central Statistics Branch, Ministry of Government. Services, Victoria, B.C. 1995 estimates as of November 1995.
British
Columbia is the most westerly of Canada's provinces, and joined Canada
as a province in 1871. BC has 4 million residents its 947,800 square
kilometres). The province is about the same area as Texas or twice the
size of Japan.
Industries
The major industries in Vancouver reflect that of the
whole province. Forestry and trade are the top job-creating industries,
followed by mining and tourism.
Weather
Daytime temperatures and night-time temperatures are fairly consistent because of the moderating influence of the sea. Vancouver is sheltered from the worst of Pacific Ocean weather systems by Vancouver Island. In the summer time, you can generally expect hot and sunny weather, with only occasional precipitation. In the fall, winter, and spring time, expect rain more often than not...after all, there's a reason the grass and tree-leaves are green year-round. Always carry an umbrella with you in case of rain.
Tipping
Some hotels include tips or gratuities with group programs to simplify bookkeeping. This will usually include gratuities for housekeeping, bell service and food service. In a hotel, bell service should be tipped about $1 per bag, and housekeeping $1 to $5 dollars a day (in proportion to your room rate). Visitors should know that the standard tip in restaurants is 10%-15% (on restaurant bills, an average tip will match the GST tax), with 20% for very outstanding service. This is especially important for visitors from countries where tipping on meals is not done: here the waitering staff depend on tips for a significant portion of their incomes. Tip a similar proportion for taxis, or at least round fares up to the nearest dollar.
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David Valente
www.davidvalente.com
Prudential Sussex Realty
Committed Service. Real Estate Sales.
Valente Real Estate North Vancouver. Real Estate West Vancouver. Real Estate Downtown Vancouver. Real Estate in the Lower Mainland. Buy and Sell Real Estate. Dave Valente