Talk:Little Italy, Vancouver

Schism?

I attempted to bring this article up-to-date, but am not entirely happy with it. In particular, the "schism" is still a contentious issue 30 years later.

In the 1970s there was an acrimonious dispute between long-settled ethnic Italians in Grandview-Woodlands, called the Confratellanza Italio, and more recent immigrants who were allied with the Italian Consul. The former group's concern was to benefit themselves and their children in Canada, while the latter wanted to form an enclave for political change in Italy. I was not around at the time, and am unsure how much emphasis to place on this split. -- Corvus 03:05, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

North Burnaby

As my family is extremely active in the Italian community, I have come to discover that North Burnaby has a hub of Italian businesses and residences on Hastings Street in a neighbourhood called "The Heights." My decision to edit the article to reflect this was based on the fact that Italians living in all the suburbs and Vancouver proper do come to Burnaby to shop for groceries, clothes, etc. Also, Italians living in Burnaby have concentrated themselves around this area to the extent that Italian masses are offered at both Catholic churches in the neighbourhood, Italian classes are offered after school at a few schools in the area, and Confederation Park's Bocce courts are always in use by older Italians. Lotusland 11:53, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Little Italy no more?

I was surprised to read that Little Italy no longer exists. I came to Vancouver in 1993 and have since that time heard Little Italy to be another name for the Drive area. Italians may not be as concentrated there as back in the day, but that character remains strong. Nothing says Italian like sipping espresso in the back room of Napoli watching the Sopranos with all the local tough guys. Okay, stereotypes aside... I guess to me it's a similar situation as Chinatown. To many, Richmond is the new Chinatown, and certainly there's numerically more Chinese people there, but Chinatown's still Chinatown. And the Downtown Eastside and to a lesser extent, Strathcona both encompass Chinatown same as the Drive and Grandview-Woodlands encompass Little Italy. Thoughts?...Bobanny 06:49, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Its a shame that like most everything in Vancouver, distinct ethnic enclaves also survive on the basis of race rather than culture. Chinatown, Punjabi market etc. are all well-known and are valued for their unique ethnic flavour, but Little Italy and Greektown are in decline. This is in strike contrast to Toronto and Montreal where these enclaves not only thrive but are major gathering palces and venues of street festivals related to these cultures that the whole city celebrates. An example being the remarkable success of Taste of Danforth in Toronto's greektown. 04:50, 12 March, 2007 (UTC)

"in decline as ethnic enclaves" you mean; both areas are thriving commercially and are without the ethnic discrimination towards new businesses/outsiders that are found in Punjabi Market and Chinatown, i.e. "anyone belongs". There was never any effort to create "us-only" enclaves by Greeks and Italians in Vancouver - it's one reason the Portuguese are present on the Driver, in fact; "Greektown" is rarely heard in Vancouver, it seems to be a transplanted term from Toronto; "West Broadway" is jsut West Broadway, I can't think of anywhere but Wikipedia I've heard it referred to as Greektown.Skookum1 (talk) 13:06, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Having recently visited the Commercial Drive area several times, I can say there are a few shops with Italian names and products, etc.- but no longer a significant concentration. In fact, it looks like there were also a sizeable waves of Portuguese and other influences (including "counter-culture"). The shops that are there seem to serve the population at large, and not an "Italian" community. The Italian language is rarely heard (It is heard more readily on Hastings Street in Burnaby- but also this is sporadic). To me, Vancouver's Little Italy is reminiscent of North Beach in San Francisco- except there are more remnants of the Italian legacy in North Beach (perhaps it was a much larger population, even tho' it was earlier). Mariokempes 18:24, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Italian Cultural Centre on Grandview

I notice in passing that the Italian Cultural Centre (Vancouver) is not yet mentioned in the article; I know little about when it was built and wouldn't know what citations to provide, but it seems an important aspect of the Italian presence in the city - Bobanny can you add smoething?Skookum1 (talk) 13:03, 21 October 2009 (UTC)