List #19: Things I love about my neighbourhood

Walking home from Tea Swamp Park

Lest you think I'm a whiner, after my previous list, I'll add in a list of things in my 'hood that I like to brag about. Check out my list after the jump!

1. The area around Fraser & Kingsway (our closest commercial district) is really exploding in a way we love: single origin coffee roasters, french restaurant, kids' art studio, galleries, sewing lounge, two yoga studios, a Japanese restaurant, a salon, etc.
2. There are lots of parks within a five-minute walk of here & the closest one has four baby swings & a wading pool.
3. We're pretty close to the three newest community centres in Vancouver: Hillcrest, Creekside & Mount Pleasant. These three include two libraries, a pool, an ice rink & three fitness centres, plus drop-in baby gym seven days a week.
4. There are farmers markets year round within a twenty minute walk of our house (Nat Bailey, Main Street & Trout Lake)
5. There are lots of cyclists & quiet bike routes around here.
6. Carsharing is easy here: we have about a dozen Modo cars in our area, including two minivans, a light truck, various sedans & crossovers & a few compact cars.
7. Transit is awesome to & from our house: three major bus routes come within three blocks of us, plus we're only a ten minute walk from either the east-west lines on Broadway or King Edward.
8. The variety of options when eating out is stunning: we've got Japanese, Vietnamese, Philippino, Indian, Malaysian, Thai, Caribbean, Italian, French, diner food & tons of funky West Coast fusion type stuff. 
9. There are probably twenty cafes within a ten-minute walk of our house. Most have free wifi, some have toys for kids, some have better muffins, some have more tea, some are quiet, some are great for meeting people, some have great salads, some are awesome for people watching, some have fireplaces, some seem right out of a French village... 
10. Don't just take my word for it: our house's Walk Score is 93 (Walker's Paradise). Though a rough estimate based on data that is not up-to-date, I think the Walk Score site gives a good idea of how well you can live car-free. Just type in your address & it'll look up the amenities in your area, then give you a score based on how far you need to walk to access banks, cafes, shopping, etc. 

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Why Monday lists? Reading the lovely Chloe's blog, Tea Swamp Park, I found an idea I had to 'steal': a list of all her Halloween costumes, with quite a few photos. She got the idea from Hula Seventy's List Project. I've decided to do the weekly lists for a year that Hula Seventy is doing.