Vancouver Heights

With a convenient location, three schools, and two parks, Vancouver Heights is already one of central Vancouver's most popular neighborhoods. And it's about to get even better thanks to an ambitious redevelopment project aimed at making it a 20-minute community, where everything from public transit to medical care is a 20-minute walk from home.

Two- and three-bedroom ranch-style houses built for families who decided to stay in Vancouver after working at its port in World War II line this neighborhood's streets. These houses, which fetch $350,000 to $550,000, sit atop 7,000 to 10,000-square-foot lots with enough space for a driveway, a well-manicured front lawn, and a fenced backyard where you could set up a small above-ground pool, a raised bed garden. They're shaded by towering Douglas fir trees the neighborhood's original developers left intact when they built out the area 60 or 70 years ago.

Neighborhood residents have added to this tree cover when they planted 150 trees after Vancouver Heights was named the "The Neighborhood of the 150th" as part of the city's sesquicentennial celebration in 2007. Since then, the neighborhood association has planted trees on a small triangle of open space at the intersection of Garrison and Morrison roads. It also plans to do a second tree planting to memorialize loved ones lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sidewalks and protected bike lanes are limited to the neighborhood's major streets – MacArthur Boulevard, Mill Plain Boulevard, Southeast 98th Avenue, and South Lieser Street – so it's possible to get around without a car.

The city's Heights District Plan will only add to the places you can walk to from your house in Vancouver Heights. Launched. Launched in 2018, his long-term initiative plans to turn 63 acres of land around the old Tower Mall at the neighborhood's western corner into a mixed-use development with 1,340 housing units, 121,000 square feet of commercial and office space, and a 156-room hotel. The city will kick start the project's construction phase when it starts updating the MacArthur Boulevard-Mill Plain Boulevard intersection in the fall of 2024. It will bid out the actual development projects at the end of next year.

As part of the Heights District, the city plans to build a 6-acre park with a dog park and an open field at the center of its proposed development. This park will fit nicely with Vancouver Heights' two other parks -- Carl Gustafson Park and Lieser Crest Park – where you'll find a basic playground and an open field where children can run. Those looking for more structured opportunities for recreation should visit the Swift Tennis Courts, the public swimming pool at the Propstra Aquatic Center, or the Vanco Golf Range, where former PGA Head Professional Jack Young will be happy to help you with your swing. These three facilities surround George C. Marshall Elementary School and McGlothlin Middle School, which will serve the neighborhood's children from kindergarten through the eighth grade. Students at the schools will move on to Fort Vancouver High School, where they can focus their studies on global issues and how they can make the world a better place through its school-wide Center for International Studies program.

And while it will be another 15 to 20 years before neighborhood residents can benefit from the Heights District's proposed commercial developments, they can already head to the Heights Shopping Center on Mill Plain Boulevard, where you'll find a Safeway grocery store, a used book store, and the Los Alambres Taqueria Mexican Restaurant. This restaurant's signature dish, the Alambre, includes Mexican sausage, asada, bell peppers, onions, ham, and melted cheese. You might also want to try pairing the 20 pizzas on the menu at The Heavy Metal Pizza and Brewing Company with the 22 beers it has on tap. Conscientious eaters should visit The Diner Vancouver, where servers who enjoy a living wage, benefits, and a consistent schedule will be happy to serve you an eggs benedict made with cage-free eggs, farm-raised ham, and locally raised potatoes.

Even without the Heights District Project, residents of Vancouver Heights live in an area where they can walk to schools, parks, and restaurants that serve tasty food. That's what makes this neighborhood in central Vancouver a great place to call home.

Written By

Mac Mclean

Photography Contributed By

John Othic

Video By

Luke Mancari