Mount Pleasant is one of the largest areas in Vancouver and contains the most diverse collection of houses, townhomes, ½ duplexes and condos in all of Vancouver. It includes sections of both Vancouver East and Vancouver West. Mount Pleasant contains a number of diverse, well established communities each are unique and bring vibrancy to the neighbourhood. The communities within Mount Pleasant are Strathcona, Chinatown, Gastown, SoMa (South of Main at E Broadway & Main St) and Mount Pleasant Cedar Cottage, which is south of E Broadway to East 21th Avenue. There are a wide variety of housing options within these communities.
Mount Pleasant Cedar Cottage and Strathcona communities are where you will find the majority of Mount Pleasant houses for sale.
Strathcona Houses
Strathcona is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Vancouver. Some of the houses date back to the 1890’s and have been given heritage status by the City of Vancouver. In fact, the residents of Vancouver and Vancouver City Hall have worked hard to ensure that the neighbourhood retains its heritage in both existing houses and any new developments. This heritage feel and design makes the area popular with young professionals and artists.
The majority of the houses are on 25 x 125 foot lots as well as irregular corner lots. The smaller frontage lots gives the neighbourhood a charming a warm feel and a strong sense of community. The 25 foot frontage of the lots gives the neighbourhood a charming and warm feel and a strong sense of community.
I recommend taking an afternoon to walk the streets and visit MacLean Park and Strathcona Linear Park; you can also visit Union Street Market just off Linear Park at Union Street or Wilder Snail Café & Grocery at Keefer and Hawks Avenue.
When searching for Mount Pleasant homes for sale I encourage viewing houses in Strathcona. The floor plans consistently feature character and heritage architecture, high ceilings, wood burning fireplaces, 2 levels with basements and back lanes.
Cedar Cottage Houses
Mount Pleasant Cedar Cottage is East 10th Avenue to East 21st Avenue and Fraser Street east to Clark Drive. Some of the most beautiful streets in Vancouver are in this community. The area is very popular with young families and has one of the more popular school catchments for Charles Dickens School.
The majority of houses are on 33 x 122 foot lots and are zoned Rt-5, this zoning (2 family dwelling) means that Upper Mount Pleasant now has a mix of ½ duplexes neighbouring the single family houses. Vancouver City Hall is strict in retaining the character design of the new ½ duplexes that are being built – they fit right in with the older character and heritage designed houses that line the streets of the community.
The pocket from Fraser to Clark Drive and East 10th Avenue to East 12th Avenue have wonderful tree lined streets and if you like to commute by bicycle East 10th Avenue is the designated bike route. On the south side of East 12th Avenue to East 21st Avenue the character and heritage style houses continue with the larger lots mixed in with the more prominent 33 x 125 foot lots.
This area is very popular with young families and in the mornings the streets are busy with parents walking their children to the nearby Elementary schools. There are three great parks in the Cedar Cottage neighbourhood:
There have been recent openings of some popular restaurants in Upper Mount Pleasant that include Savio Volpe, Les Faux Bourgeois, Crowbar.
Mount Pleasant homes in this area will always be in demand due to the eclectic nature of the neighbour as it merges the contemporary with a character and heritage architecture, popular shops, restaurants, cafes, parks and a strong community.
Mount Pleasant Houses West Side
From Cambie Street East to Ontario Street and East 10th Avenue to East 16th Avenue the houses are situated among townhouse conversions (original house redeveloped in two to three attached units with a coach house) and apartment buildings. In fact there are fewer Mount Pleasant single family detached houses in the West Side of Mount Pleasant compared to attached townhouses.
The area from West 10th Avenue to West 11th Avenue and Yukon Street to Ontario Street has some beautiful heritage houses on tree lined streets but they rarely are offered for sale many have been converted to multi-family revenue houses that contain 3 to 4 rental suites.
Finding a single family house in this neighbourhood can be challenging. The multi-family RT & RM zoning makes it popular with local developers to purchase older detached houses and convert them into townhouses. I recommend extending your search to include the area south of West 16th Avenue if you want to stay in the Cambie corridor.