Coal Harbour has come a long way since it's beginnings as a more industrial waterfront operating area. It was no more than approximately 15 years ago that the community started to get planned out as the first residential community to be developed along the Burrard Inlet. Today Coal Harbour consists of concrete high-rise luxury condos and townhouses, offering close proximity to both Vancouver's Business District (think Robson Street & Denman Street; shopping galore, just blocks away!) and to the waterfront parks including Stanley Park, an 1,000 acre world-renowned Evergreen Oasis right at the edge of Downtown Vancouver.

Today, 23-acre Coal Harbour is one of Vancouver's most urban and desirable communities, and the refurbishing and redeveloping continues. The new convention centre is underway and is scheduled to be up and running for the 2010 Winter Olympics; Vancouver's first Shangri-la luxury Zen hotel/condo opened as recently as the 24th of January, 2009, in the tallest building in Vancouver at a whopping 61 stories, and new developments are always being planned for highrise condos. The 8-acre waterfront park on the Burrard Inlet is a great spot for a serene walk along the seawall with a cup of coffee, while enjoying views of the North Shore Mountains, Stanley Park and the Lions Gate Bridge, one of the bridges that connect Downtown to the North Shore.

The interesting thing about Coal Harbour is the serenity it offers to its residents while being so close to the Downtown core. You do have the heavy traffic on the main roads and you do have the nicely allocated commercial areas that blend in with the residential neighborhoods, but there's always something nice about having a view of something nice to look at every which way you turn.