While searching for a parking spot at Costco, right before Christmas, I turned into a parking lane with an empty spot only to see a car waiting, blinker on, on the other side. I looked up to see a woman who was yelling at me: “I SEE YOU!” and pointing at me, obviously angry. I smiled and decided to go back home in peace.
This encounter made me reflect on how much Vancouver has changed since I moved here in 1998. Vancouver is currently growing at a rate of 9.4 percent and has a 2023 population of 194,384. Back in 1998, Vancouver’s population was 115,736. I am horrible at math but even I can tell that’s a lot more Vancouverites in the Costco parking lot.
Yes, Vancouver has grown exponentially since I moved here in 1998. Sometimes its unrecognizable, even to me. There are places that have closed down we thought would never leave us. There are new places, like The Waterfront Vancouver area that we never imagined would be so hip in Vancouver… like, “What? Vancouver HIP?? No, that’s Portland.”
However, Vancouver is also where we all know the roads like they were in our living rooms. Vancouver is a part of all of us and the truth is, no matter how much traffic is on the I-5 Bridge or how long the wait is for just a parking spot at Costco, we will always call Vancouver our home.
