from almost everywhere. Vancouver West and the UBC Endowment Lands, Richmond BC, and West Vancouver are directly on the Pacific Ocean, across the Georgia Strait from Vancouver Island. Other Greater Vancouver Cities such as North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Port Moody, and New Westminster are located along the north and south shores of the Burrard Inlet.
Greater Vancouver attractions are plentiful, and the business communities here have been hard at work developing things to do and see for decades. Not just the home of the 2010 Olympics, recreational venues such as Grouse Mountain on the north shore, the Vancouver Aquarium with 70,000 creatures and exhibits in world-famous Stanley Park, Science World, Granville Island, and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen classical chinese garden in the Chinatown portion of Downtown Vancouver will occupy your senses.
Vancouver shopping has everything you could desire! Burnaby's Metropolis at Metrotown Centre contains 450 shops of every variety for retail shopping and the Granville Island Public Market offers fresh-catch seafood as well as produce, baked goods, cafes and restaurants. Downtown Vancouver also offers an excellent retail variety of goods at Pacific Centre and Harbour Centre where you can catch the SeaBus to North Vancouver and the Greater Vancouver North Shore.
Bridges connecting both the North Shore and the Fraser Valley to Greater Vancouver, are a vital part of the region's infrastructure. Tens of thousands of commuters and shoppers travel Greater Vancouver's bridges everyday to work and back. West Vancouver is connected to Stanley Park, Coal Harbour and the City of Vancouver via the Lions Gate Bridge which underwent reconstruction in the last few years. Further up Burrard Inlet, Vancouver East, Burnaby and the Trans Canada Highway are connected to North Vancouver by the Second Narrows Bridge. Major connectors from Surrey and the Fraser Valley are the Port Mann (Iron Workers) Bridge which joins Surrey British Columbia to Coquitlam and the Tri-Cities, and the Patullo Bridge which links North Surrey with New Westminster British Columbia.
Vancouver's Skytrain rapid transit system is a shining glory in Greater Vancouver's bustling transportation infrastructure, and one of the greenest powered means of traveling in the Lower Mainland. Much like the Grouse Mountain Tramway, tourists and vacationers often take rides on the Skytrain as a way of sightseeing Vancouver and the other cities which the Skytrain serves. The Skytrain, operated by the Translink transportation authority, is comprised of multiple rapid transit lines connecting the Cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam and Pitt Meadows.
Vancouver Real Estate and Fraser Valley Real Estate are handled by two real estate boards with members following a strict code of ethics and professional real estate licensing through the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. Vancouver real estate agents help buyers and sellers with evaluating and transacting sales and purchases of Vancouver houses, Vancouver condos, oceanview apartments, and more. Greater Vancouver real estate is among the most sought after real property in Canada. Real estate in all cities connected directly with Vancouver British Columbia are at a premium because Greater Vancouver is a temperate and beautiful city with incredible opportunities in business, community and lifestyle choices.