Long one of Vancouver's most vibrant neighbourhoods, Commercial Drive has been a bustling community for decades.
Originally a route for logs to make it down to the port, it grew around the turn of the century. The roadway was actually called Park Drive until 1911; the name came from the fact it was the route to Clark Park, the city's second oldest park. Yes, Stanley is the oldest.
Over those early years, it grew with commercial enterprises built along the drive and a neighbourhood growing around it. Many buildings and houses still in the area were built over 100 years ago. For example, most of the houses on Napier Street between Commercial and Salsbury Drive were built between 1905 and 1911, and the building Park Drive restaurant is in was built in 1911.
Commercial Drive doesn't last too long (physically speaking); going south it ends at East 16th Avenue. That's because that's where the city used to end and South Vancouver (a separate city, like West Vancouver and the North Vancouvers) began. Commercial Street was the South Vancouver version at the time.
A century ago it was a commercial centre, but it wasn't associated with the city's Italian community; that happened after WWII.
