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Rentals in Vancouver - Privately owned Apartments, Condos, Houses, Furnished Real Estate - Property Rentals Nestled in the southwest corner of the country, Vancouver is Canada’s third largest city. It is surrounded on three sides by water and on the fourth side by the Coast Range Mountains, which provides a beautiful backdrop to all that the city has to offer. Voted the “Best City in the Americas” for 2004 by Conde Nast Traveler magazine readers, Vancouver boasts an extensive range of recreation and entertainment for travelers. Take a stroll through Robson Street, the city’s premier shopping and entertainment district. Fashion boutiques and high-end restaurants provide a way to satisfy your taste for the finer things. Or for a charming look at Vancouver’s origins, visit Gastown. The cobbled streets, gaslights and historic buildings are a testament to Vancouver’s history, and you can enjoy the nightlife and shopping with a good helping of nostalgia. Archaeological evidence shows that coastal Indians had settled the Vancouver area by 500 B.C. British naval captain George Vancouver explored the area in 1792. Vancouver was founded as a sawmill settlement called Granville in the 1870s. The city was incorporated in 1886 and renamed after Captain Vancouver.
Vancouver is a major port and probably leads the world in grain exports. As the main western terminus of Canada's transcontinental highway and rail routes, it is the primary city of western Canada, as well as one of the nation's largest industrial centers. Vancouver's Central Area has 60% of the region's office space and is home to headquarters of forest products and mining companies as well as branches of national and international banks, accounting and law firms. In recent years, Vancouver has expanded as a centre for software development and biotechnology, while film studios and the streets provide a backdrop for the developing film industry. Two of the Port of Vancouver's container docks are located in the city. The Fraser River has barge and log traffic serving forestry and other water related industries. Around 1,800 acres of industrial land provide an important range of support services, manufacturing and wholesale premises for businesses throughout the city and region.
The best time to visit is from early June to early October, when there's less rain, temperatures are warm, daylight hours are long and the transportation routes are open. Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are good times for whale-watching. The winter ski season peaks in January and February, but at resorts like Whistler the slopes are open year-round. Vancouver and Whistler are the proud hosts of the Winter Olympic Games in 2010
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