Dunbar - Southlands
These neighbourhoods are adjacent to the UBC Endowment Lands and Pacific Spirit Park, and run along the length of Dunbar Street. Dunbar lies north of West 41st Avenue, and has large single family homes on tree lined avenues. Dunbar Street itself has apartments nestled amongst the shops and services. Southlands is the southern portion, sloping down to the Strait of Georgia and is home to very big and expensive homes, including some significant estates, some dating back to when the area was still farmland. The area is adjacent to three private golf courses. Along the shores of Southlands are many nice places to watch the mighty Fraser River flow into the ocean, and look south to the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) on Sea Island.
Homes
The area has mostly large single family homes - some dating to the early 1900's, with some rental apartments along Dunbar Street. You can identify homes built in the 1920's since zoning in those days required that houses be built well back on their lots. The Southland area has large homes and estates - many on former rural farmland with stables for horses. In the west side of Southland are single family homes built on lots ranging from 33 ft or 66 ft wide.
Unique to Southlands there are homes on lands that are part of the Musqueam Indian Reserve, where non-native homes have been built on native controlled federally owned land encumbered with long term leases.
Shopping
There is an abundance of shopping and restaurants along Dunbar Street (from West 16th Avenue to West 31st Avenue) and along West 41st Avenue around Dunbar.
Recreation
There are also many parks in the area, the largest being Memorial Park West on Dunbar Street, and Musqueam Park, south of Southwest Marine Drive. The community's prize park is the very rugged Pacific Spirit Regional Park to the west. The area is also home to the 2,000 year old Camosun Bog with an entrance to the Bog boardwalks (Camosun and West 19th Ave). Along the Southland Fraser River floodplains are several horseback riding operations that are open year round.
Schools
The neighbourhood is served by eight Elementary Schools, and by Lord Byng Secondary School to the north and Prince of Wales Secondary School to the south. There is a public library on Dunbar Street. The community is close to the UBC campus and Langara College is three kilometers to the east.
