UBC - Endowment Lands
The University Endowment Lands have three distinct parts: the University of British Columbia, University Hill, and Pacific Spirit Park. The University Endowment Lands are not officially a part of the City of Vancouver, but are administered by the Provincial Government. The land was set aside in 1907 for the University's future development. The University of British Columbia ("UBC") is now home to 60,000 students, who are in programs including Arts, Commerce, Engineering, Forestry, Medicine, Music, and Science. The UBC campus is about 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver.
Pacific Spirit Park is a large forested area that is twice the size of Stanley Park. The park actually helps to isolate UBC from the rest of the city. It is full of old-growth trees and trails for nature lovers to enjoy. The trees here survived the earliest logging of BC's forests because of the abundance of knots. In 1989 1800 acres (728 hectares) were set aside for Pacific Spirit Park. The old logging skid roads are now trails through the forests.
Homes
The relatively concentrated University Hill community has approximately 2,800 residents in a suburban setting, mostly rent-controlled student accommodation, though some high-end condos and homes have been developed for private sale.
Shopping
The University of British Columbia campus has many shops and restaurant. Nearby West 10th Avenue has a more complete selection of stores and boutiques as well as restaurants and coffee shops.
Recreation
UBC has a number of outstanding facilities, including a Gym, a pool, and ice arena, Thunderbird Stadium, a library, the Museum of Anthropology, UBC Botanical Garden and Nitobe Memorial (Japanese) Garden. UBC's campus life is centered around the Student Union Building, or "SUB". There is also a Golf Course on campus, which is also home to the BC Golf House Museum.
Pacific Spirit Park has forests, beaches and other attractions. Of special interest is the 2,000 year old Camosun Bog , with an entrance to the Bog boardwalks (at Camosun and W 19th Ave). The campus is adjoining several beaches along English Bay including Acadia Beach and Spanish Banks, and the famous nude beach, Wreck Beach on the Strait of Georgia, to the southwest of the UBC campus.
Schools
There is an elementary school on campus, for the benefit of students and faculty with young children.
