NEIGHBOURHOOD

​Kensington-Cedar Cottage combines two historic neighbourhoods: Cedar Cottage, located north of Kingsway to Broadway, between Clark and Knight Streets and Nanaimo Street; and Kensington, located south of Kingsway to 41st Avenue, between Fraser and Nanaimo Streets.                                                                         -- source: City of Vancouver​

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No matter where you live in Kensington-Cedar Cottage, there is a park within walking distance to your home. You can find 12 parks in this neighbourhood including the John Hendry Parks where you can walk around Vancouver city's only lake, Trout Lake.

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The historic and highly credited Gladstone Secondary and Charles Dickens Elementary schools are only two of the 12 schools in Kensington-Cedar Cottage and are responsible for educating some of the finest members of our community.

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Community and cultural centers are a fact of life here. The newly built Trout Lake Community Centre, a state of the art Lead Gold Facility includes: ice rink, gymnasium, 4000 square foot fitness centre, training room, dance studio, 2 large multipurpose rooms, art studio, pottery studio, teen/seniors centre, mat room, music room, licensed preschool, meeting rooms, cafe and an outdoor performance plaza.

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Finally, if you desire a night out with your family, you are only a 5 minute drive or 20 minute walk away from Vancouver's famous Commercial Drive where you will find a large number of local ethnic stores and community groups, Edwardian-style heritage buildings, European-style cafes, bars, restaurants, and alternative shops and entertainment venues. There are over 90 restaurants on Commercial Drive between Venables and Broadway, of which almost 20 are coffee bars.

 

 

HISTORY

​The area remained unsettled until 1888 when Arthur Wilson bought 16 hectares (43 acres) of land that cornered on Knight and Westminster Highway (Kingsway) and began the Cedar Cottage Nursery. Within a few years, others bought large tracts of land around Trout Lake for farming. The interurban line built to link Vancouver with New Westminster in 1891 opened up the Kensington-Cedar Cottage area, drawing merchants who opened shops around the tram stop at 18th and Commercial, and more farmers.

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In 1894, a bank and a two-room schoolhouse opened on 20th Avenue between Clark Drive and Inverness Street. By 1910, a small but independent village with a post office, 40 stores and a two-storey school (Lord Selkirk which still stands today) had sprung up around the 3500-3600 blocks of Commercial Drive. However, as the automobile became more popular during the 1910s and 20s, Kingsway became a major thoroughfare drawing the businesses south, away from the old village centre.

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By the beginning of World War 1, Cedar Cottage was no longer rural. Small wooden and stucco houses lined the streets. Workers spent ten hours a day in the factories, either riding the tram to the mills that lined False Creek or walking to one of Cedar Cottage's growing number of industries: Nanaimo Foundry, Bader's Biscuits, Marston's Sash and Door, Tait Pipe and Fletcher's Meats, to name a few.

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After World War II, Gladstone High School was built on what once had been a dairy farm. The community was also the beneficiary of over $4 million through the federal government's Neighbourhood Improvement Program in the late 1970s. Local citizens working with City staff brought about a wide range of improvements to the neighbourhood including: the city's first storefront library near Kingsway and Knight, the Trout Lake Community Centre, Brewers, Clark and Cedar Cottage Parks, and beautification of Commercial Street.                             -- source: City of Vancouver​

COMMUNITY LINKS

Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House              : www.cedarcottage.org

City of Vancouver Community Webpage          : www.vancouver.ca/community_profiles/kensington-cedar

Trout Lake Community Center                           : www.troutlakecc.com

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