Oakridge

The Vancouver neighbourhood of Oakridge is a multicultural residential and commercial district. The area had an estimated population of 12,000 in 2001. 50 percent of these people claimed Chinese as their first language.

The neighbourhood of Oakridge is a rectangle section which is bordered by a major thoroughfare on the west, the Main Street to the east. The border in the north is marked by West 41st Avenue and Oakridge's southern end is marked by West 57th. Oak Street and Cambie Street are two of the busiest roads within the city of Vancouver and they also run north-south through Oakridge. This allots for numerous amounts of traffic during evening and morning rush hours. Oakridge consists of a total of 401 hectares.

One of Vancouver's lasts places to be left in its natural state was the area which is now the Oakridge area. The exceptions comprise some boarding schools and hospitals constructed prior to the second World War and a golf course built near Cambie and West 49th in 1926.

Development started to expand into the wooded places of Oakridge after the war. The Jewish community of the city moved south along Oak Street. The Jewish Community Centre was built at the junction of West 41st and Oak Street during the post-war years. In the 1950s, the CPR or Canadian Pacific Railway opened its lands within the area to development. Homes for single families inhabited much of the location. In 1959, the Oakridge Centre shopping mall was built at West 41st and Cambie. This offered a centre point for the ensuing residential boom.

Oakridge is considered to be a fairly young community. It is always evolving and growing in terms of its features and makeup. The Oakridge Center Mall, the premier shopping center in the city of Vancouver, is one of the largest draws bringing individuals into the area.