I’m currently on vacation in Europe and this month also marks my seventh year in Vancouver. To celebrate, I’m highlighting a few things I’d miss about Vancouver if I moved away:

I love the West End. I have t-shirts that prove this.

I live in the West End, a neighbourhood bordering Stanley Park.

I’ve called the West End home for the past seven years, much longer than I’ve called many places home.

I came to live in the West End by coincidence. Chris had said “where you guys want to live is Kits, it’s young, vibrant and hip”.

I’d always wanted to live downtown in the city, as a matter of fact it’s part of the reason why I moved to Vancouver.

We were walking from Stanley Park when we discovered this residential neighbourhood right in the middle of the city with an assortment of old homes, high-rises, parks and trees. I felll in love with the trees. Coming from living in the suburbs, I was fascinated by the variedness of the buildings, no single building was alike. I knew I was going to like living there I just didn’t’ know how much I was going to love living there.

I love the West End for its walkability, everything I need is within a walking distance – I hardly ever need to drive or take public transportation, I walk everywhere.

I love the West End for its diversity; it’s where people come to be themselves. There’s diversity in the people, the landscape and the architecture that makes up our little neighbourhood.

I love the West End for its vibrancy, there’s always something going on in the West End, residents and tourists keep the neighbourhood bouncing along.

There’s almost something mystical that makes every activity charming.

I love the West End for its community. It’s hard to find community in a big city, but the West End manages to combine urban living for that nice close knit community feeling.

Finally, I love the West End because it’s not perfect – and we know that. Well meaning residents work every day to steer the neighbourhood to near perfection… but seeing that we’re so diverse, perfection is relative.