Robson
Street is a major southeast-northwest thoroughfare in downtown and West
End of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Its core commercial blocks
from Burrard Street to Jervis were also known as Robsonstrasse. Its name
honours John Robson, a major figure in British Columbia's entry into
the Canadian Confederation, and Premier of the province from 1889 to
1892. Robson Street starts at BC Place Stadium near the north shore of
False Creek, then runs northwest past Vancouver Library Square, Robson
Square and the Vancouver Art Gallery, coming to an end at Lost Lagoon in
Stanley Park.
As of 2006, the city of Vancouver overall had the fifth most expensive
retail rental rates in the world, averaging US$135 per square foot per
year, citywide. Robson Street tops Vancouver with its most expensive
locations renting for up to US$200 per square foot per year. In 2006,
both Robson Street and the Mink Mile on Bloor Street in Toronto were the
22nd most expensive streets in the world, with rents of $208 per square
feet. In 2007, the Mink Mile and Robson slipped to 25th in the world
with an average of $198 per square feet. The price of each continues to
grow with Vancouver being Burberry's first Canadian location and
Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood (which is bounded on the south side by
Bloor) now commanding rents of $300 per square foot.
In 1895, train tracks were laid down the street, supporting a
concentration of shops and restaurants. From the early to middle-late
20th century, and especially after significant immigration from postwar
Germany, the northwest end of Robson Street was known as a centre of
German culture and commerce in Vancouver, earning the nickname
Robsonstrasse, even among non-Germans (this name lives on in the
Robsonstrasse Hotel on the street). At one time, the city had placed
streetsigns reading "Robsonstrasse" though these were placed after the
German presence in the area had largely vanished.
Robson Street was featured on an old edition of the Canadian Monopoly board as one of the two most expensive properties.
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