THE TALK OF THE TOWN

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First, A Message From The Editor

WILL YOU SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY MEDIA?

Well folks, we all made it through another year, and we’re here to wish you all a great 2026 and to ask for your support for the only independent media outlet exclusively serving The West End-Coal Harbour community.

The West End Journal has been covering our neighbourhood’s stories since January of 2017, and we hope to continue to do so for many years to come. TWEJ has been my personal post-retirement project after a 40+ year career in journalism and media relations. We have had a modest amount of advertising , and the support of about 40 monthly members of our “Faithful Readers Circle” over the years, but have never really promoted either of those revenue options.

In 2026 that has to change, and so here I am starting the New Year by asking for your support. As a reader, please consider joining the Faithful Readers Circle by making a monthly donation (as little as $5 per month) via our Patreon account here. If you own or manage a business in the West End-Coal Harbour area, consider advertising with us. Our rates are reasonable and can be found here.

Thank you for considering this appeal.

Y’rs,
Kevin Dale McKeown
Editor & Publisher
editor@thewestendjournal.ca / 604.345.2548

What Do We Have For You This Month?

Welcome to “The Talk of The Town” for January, 2026. Click on the following links to find:

  • West End News & Notes: Two grassroots campaigns push back against zoning and rent increase issues, the West End loses a beloved entertainer, the school under construction at Coal Harbour has a name, a rare bird sighting has local birders all a-flutter, and a Dubai prince sells off a couple of Coal Harbour penthouses.

  • West End Moments: Our community has many talented photographers, and we share their images that capture our lives and time.

  • West End Street & Lane Names: Vancouver’s streets and lanes each has their own history. Here’s the story of Jepson-Young Lane.

  • Hidden Treasure Hunt: Be the first to email us identifying the location of this West End “Hidden Treasure” and win your choice of a $50 coffee shop gift card.

  • West End / Coal Harbour In The News: In case you missed it, here’s a round-up of news stories from our community.

West End News & Notes

THE LOCALS ARE RESTLESS
West Ender’s Campaigns Pushing Back

Two grassroots campaigns are underway in the West End, one to stop plans for a 27-story hotel at 2030 Barclay and the other demanding the repeal of a provincial rule that allows landlords to increase tenants’ rents to recoup capital cost expenses.

STOP 2030 …The campaign to stop the hotel and restaurant at 2030 Barclay has serious momentum. The latest tactic is this lapel button, which you can pick up at the Blenz on the corner of Denman and Barclay.

Organizers of the campaign note “The City of Vancouver has received an application to rezone the 2030 address of Barclay Street, in the heart of the West End. Introducing a mid-block 27-storey hotel tower with 270 rooms in a quiet residential neighbourhood.

“The hotel, with its traffic, noisy street-level outdoor restaurant patio, and rooftop party pool offering food and liquor service, will be very noisy and disruptive to the quiet enjoyment of West End residences.”

The group working to stop this development has an active petition online, hold a weekly information table on Sundays at Denman and Nelson, and have an informative website here.

REPEAL ARI-C … The other campaign is also gathering steam.

An ARI-C (Additonal Rent Increase for Capital Expenditures) is a process that allows a landlord to increase the rent of their current tenants, over and above the normal annual increase, to cover the costs of maintaining and renovating the property.

“The rent increases never go away, they compound year after year,” according to the organizers of the campaign, “and there is often no way to appeal the decision.”

Organizers note that these rent increases pose yet another threat to affordable rental housing, most strongly impacting long-term tenants, families, immigrants, and seniors.

You’ll find the campaign website here.

The Vancouver Tenants Union posted an overview of the ARI-C here.

The West End Journal will be following both these campaigns into the New Year, so stay tuned.

𝗔 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗟
Downtown Julie Brown

The West End Journal is sad to report that on December 16 we lost a friend and supporter of TWEJ, longtime West Ender, Vancouver broadcast and music legend, and dear friend to many, known from her early days on radio as Downtown Julie Brown.

Two West End legands, Julie Brown and joe average.

From the early '70s as an on-air radio host to her years with the popular singing ensemble The Hot Mammas, entertaining regularly at the Sylvia Lounge, Julie Brown was a beacon of positivity, joy, and love.

We'll leave the last words to another West End legend, gone too soon, Julie's good friend Joe Average, pictured here with Julie, who last year wrote ...

"Julie Brown, former radio broadcaster and performer with the Vancouver swing trio The Hot Mammas, was diagnosed with ALS in April of 2024. She immediately began planning a concert to support PROJECT HOPE. She has received overwhelming support from the Vancouver music community. Everyone performing is donating their time in support of our mission. Julie is a beloved figure in Vancouver, especially in the gay community. This lady has yelled, stamped, marched, laughed, and cried with me for many decades."

𝗔 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗟
Coal Harbour School To Open late ‘26.

(Albert Stoynov Photo)

The new school currently under construction in Coal Harbour, at the north foot of Broughton Street, finally has a name. Last month the Vancouver School Board announced that the school will be called Seaside Elementary.

The three-story school will accommodate up to 317 students, 69 spaces for before and after-school care, 65 child-care spaces for children up to age five, and 60 affordable rental homes.

In October the Vancouver School Board advised The West End Journal that “the City’s goal is for the school to be complete and ready for students for the start of the 2026-2027 school year, while aiming for construction completion in the spring.”

See TWEJ's story in our November issue here.

The taiga flycatcher.

THE BIRD’S THE WORD!
Rare Sighting in West End

Yes, the bird’s the word this winter (apologies to The Trashmen circa 1963 - look it up!) as birders flock to English Bay shores to catch a glimpse, and maybe a photo, of a tiny, drab coloured bird spotted near the Vancouver Aquatic Centre.

Birder Ethan Moon first reported seeing a taiga flycatcher foraging through leaf litter near the Aquatic Centre on Christmas Day and word quickly spread.

The migratory bird, native to the boreal forests of Siberia and Mongolia, has never been seen in Canada before, and only once before in North America outside of Alaska, in 2006 near Winters, California. Experts say that it ought to be currently wintering in Southeast Asia.

According to Melissa Hafting, the moderator of the Dare To Bird blog, Moon’s finding was “a mega-mega rare bird. It is far from home and is probably young, lost, and may have been blown off course by a typhoon during migration.”

To stay up to date on possible future sightings, check out Dare To Bird here.

CROWN PRINCE OF DUBAI SELLS COAL HARBOUR PENTHOUSES

the main penthouse at the fairmont pacific rim residences. (Southeby’s international realty)

Leemar Investments FZE, whose beneficial owner is the crown prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has sold two of four penthouse units atop the Fairmont Pacific Rim Resdiences at 1011 West Cordova.

The two penthouses, and four others at the same address, were listed for sale last January. Two of the four were recenlyt sold to separate owners, while the prince is keeping the most expensive of the two remaining units, which has now been taken off the market.

Leemar purchased the four units in 2013 for $15 million, and the prince has taken quite a loss with the resales While one of the sold units was purchased in 2013 for $3.9 million and sold last May for $5 million, the second unit was purchased for $15 million and sold for $9.5 million and the remaining unit still on the market was purchsed for $9.7 million and is listed at $8 million.

You win a few, you lose a few. Care to make an offer?

West End Moments

Our community is blessed with many avid photographers, documenting moments that alarm, amuse, and inform. Click on each photo to see the full image and story. Send your latest photos to editor@thewestendjournal.ca.

West End Street & Lane Names

West End street names were established when Lauchlan Hamilton laid out the street grid in the late 1800s, and — while some are contemporarily contentious — they have remained. In 2017 the City started naming eight of the lane ways that run east and west through the West End in honour of notable Vancouver citizens, recognizing their achievements and contributions to our community.

JJepson-Young Lane.

Jepson-Young Lane
Named For AIDS Awareness Pioneer

Located between Comox and Pendrell streets, Jepson-Young Lane runs from Thurlow to Cardero, and from Bidwell to Stanley Park. 

Peter Jepson-Young (1957-1992) was a doctor in Vancouver who became famous for promoting AIDS and HIV awareness in the early 1990s. He appeared regularly on CBC-TV with a series called The Dr. Peter Diaries, in which he documented his own life as a person living with AIDS, becoming the face of the tragic epidemic in the eyes of the public.

Ultimately best known simply as Dr. Peter, the Doctor Peter Centre on Thurlow is also named in his honour.

For more information about Dr. Peter, see TWEJ’s 2023 “West End Street Names” feature here.

Hidden Treasure Hunt

IDENTIFY THIS PHOTO …
And Win A $50 Coffee Shop Gift Card

Have you seen this unique water feature? Tell us where! (click image to enlarge)

The first reader to contact editor@thewestendjournal.ca and correctly identify the location of this image will win a $50 gift card to their choice of Blenz, Delaney’s, Melriche’s, Waves, J.J. Bean, or Greenhorn Cafe.

So if you recognize this unique piece of art write in now! Only the winning response will be notified.

The answer, and the clue to the next contest, will appear in our February issue.

The photos and the information in the answers were originally published in TWEJ several years ago as part of our “Hidden Treasures” series by Vancouver author Dianne Maguire.

the Lions guarding the entrance to 1128 West Georgia.

LAST MONTH’S WINNER IS …
Congratulations Kent Stoltz!

Two lions guard the entrance to 1128 West Georgia. Previously formerly the Shangri-La, curently the Hyatt Vancouver Downtown Albernil, and after planned renovations to be known as the Park Hyatt.

During the ownership transition in mid-2025 the lions were removed, so in reality they are no longer “Hidden Treasures” but former treasures.

No word on where the lions are now hidden, or whether there are plans to restore them as part of the renovations.

West End / Coal Harbour In The News