Mount Pleasant is a vibrant and eclectic area known for its unusual stores, heritage buildings, artistic residents, and arts-focused festivals. The area is popular with first-time homebuyers, urban professionals, and families. The proximity to the business district of Vancouver and the availability of a quality water supply Brewery Creek made the area an ideal place for early industry and settlement.
Early expectations were that Mount Pleasant would develop as Vancouver's fashionable "uptown. Edmonds, clerk of the municipal council in New Westminster, was the original owner of much of Mount Pleasant. By , Mount Pleasant was home to a tannery, two slaughter houses, four breweries, and a train station.
Industrial expansion brought residential development. By , Mount Pleasant had a thriving residential population and community facilities such as an elementary school the Kingsgate Mail site , a firehall, a first run theatre, and Vancouver's first skyscraper the Lee Building.
Mount Pleasant was also a terminus for the streetcar network. As a result, half of Mount Pleasant's waterfront was lost and the mouth of Brewery Creek was filled in. By , the character of the community was already established with block after block of houses on small lots, and a mix of residential and industrial uses. The s brought changes to Mount Pleasant. Industrial expansion north of Broadway between Main and Cambie Streets resulted in the demolition of many homes.
These changes transformed Mount Pleasant and it began to lose its residential prestige. Throughout the s and s the remaining houses in the industrial area disappeared and more industries, low-rise offices and warehouses moved in.
