Davie Street is located in the heart of the West End and is home to Vancouver’s gay and lesbian community. With the street spanning from False Creek to English Bay, Davie Street has become a major thoroughfare in the West End for automobiles and buses, however, ample sidewalks are available for pedestrians. Each year, the Vancouver Gay Pride Parade comes together in the heart of the Davie Street Community.

The street was named after the eight Premier of British Columbia, A.E.B. Davie.

With a wide variety of shops, hotels, nightlife and bars, restaurants, and grocery stores, Davie Street offers an abundance of things to do on any given day. Most of the stores down Davie Street display rainbows on the doors, showing their pride and respect for Vancouver’s gay community. As well, lamp posts down the streets are adorned with rainbow flags and a sun-design, which was commissioned by a local artist. Another tell-tale sign of being on Davie Street is the bus stops and trash cans along the street being painted bright pink.

Davie Village

The businesses down Davie Street are overseen by the Davie Street Business Improvement Association. This group also came up with the phrase ‘Davie Village’ back in 1999, to help bring together the local community, and help change the perception of Davie Street to more of a close-knit community. Davie Village, for the large part, is centered between Burrard Street and Jervis Street, and contains much of the gay night life and gay-oriented shops and stores.

Located within Davie Village are several gay-community staples, including:

• Xtra! West, a bi-weekly Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered newspaper
• The Center (formerly the Gay and Lesbian Centre), a community center offering a wide variety of resources for the Gay, Lesbian, Transgendered and Bisexual residents
• Little Sister’s Book and Art Emporium, a lesbian and gay bookstore which has received national notoriety over continuous legal battles with the Canadian Customs