East Vancouver

East Vancouver also goes by some nicknames including: "East Side" or "East Van". This region within the City of Vancouver is geographically surrounded towards the south by the Fraser River, to the north by the Burrard Inlet, and to the east by the city of Burnaby. Ontario Street divides East Vancouver from Vancouver's West Side, that is not to be mistaken for West Vancouver or the "West End" of Downtown Vancouver.

Ever since the 1880s, East Vancouver has been historically the very first home for a lot of non-British immigrants. Traditionally, it was also considered a more reasonable area for lots of lower-income working class. The East Side is home to much diversity, with land use, family income, languages and ethnicity. The diversity may be affected by the rapid increase in housing prices and gentrification of the area.

There is a strong community and geographic identity within the East Vancouver community, consisting of many cultures co-existing together within a dynamic urban district. This diverse identity is influenced by a vibrant artistic vibe, gender-identity groups and a politically engaged youth population.

The artistic portion of the area is reinforced by events hosted at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, the Eastside Culture Crawl, "the Drift" that is an annual event where local artists feature their work centred around Main Street and a community poetry anthology known as "East of Main."

The community has their political identity supported by newspapers such as the Republic of East Vancouver. This newspaper name invokes a long standing joking reference to the left-leaning nature of the community and its labour history. There are frequent displays of social and political activism like various protests and the Commercial Drive Car Free Festival.