What started off as a neighbourhood home to only the wealthiest of families in the 1900s, later on became a neighbourhood home to tens of thousands of everyday people. When the Canadian Pacific Railway finally came to Vancouver, the Three Greenhorns suddenly had many wealthy families of CPR executives offering to buy parts of their land. The West End neighbourhood was soon home to the wealthiest and most socially prominent families in Vancouver. Georgia Street quickly became the most desirable address and was nicknamed “Blueblood Alley” for all the extravagant mansions built there. While CPR officials were the first to settle in the West End, other important business and professional families soon came as well to establish their big homes with their expensive gardens. The wealthy families of the West End lived in their grand Victorian, Queen Anne, and Edwardian-builder style homes in the late 19th and early 20th century. But just like how they flocked to the West End, the wealthy followed each other like migrating animals all the way to Shaughnessy Heights by the year of 1910. They began moving to Shaughnessy because the West End was rapidly changing and they soon felt their neighbourhood for the elite was being invaded by those of lower social standings. This feeling of invasion was because apartments and businesses meant for those with less money than them were starting to pop up in the West End.
When they all left, many of their mansions were torn down for the construction of new plain apartments for lower-income families. Some of their mansions, however, still stand today, such as the Gabriola House and the Abbott House. Today, the West End is very noticeably different from the time wealthy families lived there. There are now around 44,560 people living in the West End, a huge difference from the once sparsely populated rich neighbourhood the West End used to be. The area is now one of the most densely populated areas in Canada. Instead of grand mansions, 99% of West End residences are apartments. There is great diversity of ethnicities as well, including French, British, European, Chinese, Korean, Persian, and German. Written by Emily L.