Do you have a pet name for your city?
Whether you love living in Vancouver or hate it — or even if the feeling is decidedly lukewarm — you likely have your own special relationship with the city.
If you're a pluviophile, you may dance in Vancouver's abundant showers with glee. In that case, a nickname such as "Raincover" may remind you that the city's wet weather brings forth childlike splashing and lush forests as far as the eye can see.
But not everyone dances in the rain.
For Vancouverites who begrudgingly meet the dreary weather as fall rolls in, the "Raincouver" moniker holds a negative connotation.
"The Couve" is not an appropriate title for Vancouver
In a recent Vancouver Is Awesome daily newsletter, we asked subscribers what they think Vancouver's nickname should be. We also mentioned that one of our first polls determined that "The Couve" is not an appropriate title for our portside city.
Reader Renata Zaleski tells us that she thinks the nickname should be "Vangroovy" — and she's not alone. John Rempel also liked the groovy name, adding that he "always loved 'Vangroovy' at select times."
Winston and Erin Soriano say they think "The Wet Coast" suits Vancouver but they didn't say whether or not they care for the plentiful precipitation.
Subscriber Christelle Hugron says she was "surprised" that people referred to Vancouver as "The Couve." She adds: "We have family and friends in Vancouver, [Washington] and they have been using The Couve for a while now. It would be inappropriate to use the same name. We can do better!"
"The City of Worlds"
Christopher James Katan tells V.I.A. that he's lived in Saskatchewan and Alberta but B.C. is his favourite province. "I'll take some refreshing rain to keep everything green [and] clean over seven months of mud [and] salt everything frozen [and] dead, dirty [and] finally when the rocks from the mud [and] aftermath are cleaned up you really have two-and-a-half months of summer."
Katan adds that there are also "endless activities" in Vancouver and that it could be referred to as the "City of Worlds because you have beauty, ocean, mountains [and] are able to do whatever you want with endless possibilities."
Sheila Humphrey says "Van" is the best nickname, as she has "no idea what else Vancouver would be shortened to" and it has been called that for as long as she can remember. She adds: "I remember 70 years."
And Humphrey isn't alone. Susan Russell says she is "a Vancouverite, born here 60 years ago, and I want Vancouver to own its shortened name: Van."
Judith Bratvold says "Vancity" makes her think "of that bank" and she is iffy on "Rainvan" or "Wetvan." While she was working at the Vancouver Aquarium she says several tourists called it "BeautifulCity."
Marty Walters says that he always calls it "Vancity," which he says "works [with] Vancity Is Awesome."
"I love everything about it [and] that’s my go-to term for my fave place in Canada," he explained.
