Vancouver is a beautiful city. But I second the caution about going anywhere near the Downtown Eastside area. Unfortunately, it probably has the highest concentration of drug addicts/mentally ill folks anywhere in North America. All of these folks seem to be jammed into this area. I was in Vancouver about three years ago and went on a double-decker tour bus through the neighborhood. Had two crazed people try to climb up the back of the bus to steal stuff from the
bus' upper deck and throwing glass bottles at the bus in broad daylight. Definitely would not walk around the area on foot with any valuables (or even without any valuables) and would make sure not to accidentally wander into the neighborhood from surrounding areas (which are pretty safe). I am from NYC and lived through the bad times in the late 1970's through the 1980's when crime was high. It was never like what I saw in Downtown Eastside.
To be fair, I am quite sure that most of the folks living there are merely poor or troubled and are not dangerous. However, there are some folks that definitely can be quite crazed and violent.
