Main Street in the community of Mount Pleasant is perhaps our favourite place to flaneur in Vancouver – about 20 blocks of mom and pop. I am on record as saying Jane Jacobs, who wrote the book on how to create vibrant pedestrian streets and neighbourhoods (The Life And Death of Great American Cities, 1960), would love Mount Pleasant.
It is full of vintage shops, consignment shops, used book stores and record shops as well as – you guessed it – a Salvation Army thrift store. One of the larger thrift stores, there is lots of clothing, household items, books and collectables to sift through. There is also a Still Fabulous thrift store (4355 Main Street). I can’t recall any major chain stores along Main Street. There is one Starbucks but it is located on a side street.
Hot tips:
There is pretty much a café on every block of Main Street. We lunched at Trafiq Café and Bakery (4216 Main Street), and while the sandwiches and coffee were good, the highlight was the walnut coffee cake.
If you are into books and records, I recommend Carson’s (4340 Main Street). You can easily miss it as it is small, but the place is packed with books and records from floor to ceiling. Owner Tim Carson was quick to tell me he had no Calgary history books, but when I asked about cities and architecture he knew exactly where I should look and I found “Arthur Erickson: An Architect’s Life” waiting for me. I easily could have bought more but I already had 10 books to take home.