From his commanding view at City Hall, Captain George Vancouver, after whom our city is named, is pointing over the domain he first explored in 1792. Captain Vancouver showed respect for and enjoyed mainly good relationships with indigenous people, easing his ability to survey the area. Less than a century later, the city of Vancouver was established on April 6, 1886. On Wednesday, April 6, 2016, Vancouver will celebrate 130 years.

Today Vancouver is a bustling place, growing, prospering with business and trade, and is one of Canada’s most ethnically diverse cities. It’s been much the same for the last 10,000 years. The area now known as Vancouver was a place of settlement, trade, and gathering for the Squamish, Musqueam and Tseil-Watuth peoples and is still recognized as their traditional territory. The obvious difference is the respect the new settlers are only now beginning to fully realize for the environment.

We can take False Creek, especially the Granville Island area as a good example. Pre-settlement, it was a rich tidal basin consisting of 20 acres of sandbars teeming with fish and wildlife. It was an essential food source for Indigenous people. However, by the late 1800s, it was filled with tugs, ships and barges to move timber, bricks and lime. Sawmills filled the air with smoke and the waste from sawmills and factories went into the tidal basin along with raw sewage from the surrounding neighbourhood. It gained the nickname, “Shit Creek.” There was a lot of money to be made and people did not “give a shit” for the environment. Some of the largest trees in the world grew along south False Creek, providing lumber for export and masts for sailing ships that transported the lumber to other places.

With the coming of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1887, lumber and other goods could be loaded onto trains, goods could be shipped back and forth across the country and new settlers could be transported to this thriving hub. With the importance of fishing and the shipping industry creating Vancouver’s prominence as a port, we have all the ingredients that created the city Vancouver has now become.

In many ways, the rush to gain money is still ever present. We have the mushrooming of towers staring us in the face, representing how Vancouver has become a major centre where housing has become an investment commodity for the wealthy. Recent reports estimate a third of Vancouver’s housing is purchased from China and that certainly does not represent all foreign investment. It’s curious that this report comes from the U.S. National Association of Realtors when local sources seem to have trouble finding this information.

But in spite of current sources of wealth in this city and its attendant problems, at least we are slowly gaining knowledge of its makings and hopefully this will lead to positive solutions. After all, we certainly have become environmentally conscious and are gaining a reputation as a “green city.” Look at the transformation of False Creek and Granville Island. Despite all its shortcomings, Vancouver is still a remarkable place of beauty and has the potential to thrive, providing a decent life for all. With spring comes hope!