Main Street: The 20-something

Credit: Hilary Henegar

Vancouver transplant Cherisse Dye found a home, and an extended family, in Mount Pleasant’s indie community

When Cherisse left her hometown of Calgary and came to Vancouver, she never imagined she would find a vibrant neighbourhood that she could call home. But after a year and a half of living along Main Street, this twenty-something can’t imagine living anywhere else.

“I just love the overall feel of the community,” exclaims Dye. “People are passionate about where we live and it shows. Just look at the community outcry to things like the Mount Pleasant Pool closure, the fires around Main and Broadway, and The Little Mountain Housing Project closure.”

During her free time, Dye likes shopping at Ark, where, she explains, “their stuff is really reasonably priced, but still trendy and comfy.” (Ark also tries to balance the use of vinyl in their line of retro-inspired bags by using recycled materials wherever possible.)

She also enjoys renting movies from Happy Bat Cinema, which she feels is “by far the best video store I have ever been to.”

And she spends her warm spring and summer days sitting on the grass at Tea Swamp Park (at 15th and Sophia), watching people as they mingle, kids playing and gardeners tending to the community garden.

When it comes down to it, Dye is all about the community feeling of her Mt. Pleasant neighbourhood. “I have never taken so much pride in the area I live in or felt so involved in a community until moving to Main Street. I just love it, and hope I never have to leave.”

Heather Lochner is a stay-at-home mother and a freelance writer. She loves combing the neighbourhoods of Vancouver to find locally owned shops and restaurants. Together with her two children, husband and dog, she lives aboard her sailboat in Vancouver. When not at work or school, the Lochners are out cruising the BC coast.