Neighbourhood Overview
Located at the southwestern edge of Vancouver’s downtown peninsula, Yaletown offers a colourful mix of food and shopping, with trendy restaurants, sunny patios and boutique shops set along heritage brick walkways.
Yaletown is one of the few BIAs in Vancouver to support a strong office market, with more than 1.6 million sq. ft. of office space where tech businesses, movie production, and advertising companies create world-famous shows, ads and software above the thriving ground floor commercial space.
The residential catchment area comprises residents bordered by Robson Street (north), False Creek (south and east) and Granville Street (west).
People
Population by Age
An estimated 27,381 people live in the Yaletown BIA residential catchment area, which saw 11.6% growth between 2011 and 2016, higher than Vancouver (4.6%) and Metro Vancouver (6.5%). Yaletown area residents are younger as compared to the city and region, with a significantly higher share of people aged 20 to 44.
Language & Ethnic Origins
English is the dominant household language (74%), higher than Vancouver (66%) and Metro Vancouver (67%). Yaletown has a significantly higher representation of Farsi speakers (3.4%) than city (0.7%) and region (1.1%). 70% of market area residents reported Western European origins.
Family Structure
Of the 15,910 households in Yaletown, 51% are single-person households, higher than Vancouver (39%) and Metro Vancouver (19%). As a result, average number of persons per household (1.8) is below Vancouver (2.5) and Metro Vancouver (2.2).
Education & Occupation
The dominant education level for Yaletown area residents is a Bachelor’s Degree (35%). Additionally, 21% of residents have achieved postgraduate education, significantly higher than Vancouver and Metro Vancouver. The most common occupations for residents are in business, finance and administration (20%).
Income & Spending
Yaletown is a wealthy neighbourhood, with much higher median household incomes ($80,873) than Vancouver ($65,327) and Metro Vancouver ($72,662). The dominant household income bracket is over $200,000, higher than the city and region (both $100,000 to $124,999).
Place
Zoning
96% of zoning in the Yaletown BIA is HA-3, a special zoning designed to encourage the conversion and renovation of existing warehouse buildings. A large majority of commercial buildings have been renovated of redeveloped to maintain historical charm.
Housing
Unsurprisingly, almost all dwellings in the Yaletown market area are apartments (97%), which is significantly higher than Vancouver (80%) and Metro Vancouver (58%). The majority of these homes are new, with 57% being built after 2001. Just over half of residents (54%) are home owners.
Community
Yaletown is home to the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, as well as 28 heritage buildings. It’s close to the seawall, several parks and designated cycling areas. Each winter, Mainland Street is transformed into a winter wonderland for CandyTown.
Doing Business Here
Business Mix
842 businesses operate in the Yaletown BIA, a growth of 3% from 2011 to 2016. Retail (16%), professional, scientific & technical services (16%) and accommodation & food service (11%) and information and cultural industries (10%) are the dominant business types.
Commercial Business Size
84% of all Yaletown BIA businesses have 20 or less employees. The largest industries in the BIA are video, film and animation production services.
Opportunities
Commercial vacancy rates are low (4.2%) making Yaletown a competitive real estate market for service businesses. Lease rates for ground commercial are very high ($52-$62 per sq. ft.) for ground floor commercial, and significantly lower for office/second level ($11-$24 per sq. ft.).
