What is the State of Downtown Vancouver?

Downtown Van unveiled the 2026 State of Downtown report on April 8 at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, bringing together business leaders, community partners, government officials, and members. The event offered a data-driven look at the current state of downtown Vancouver, highlighting key trends, ongoing challenges, and opportunities shaping the district’s future.

Speakers this year included:

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We are grateful to Destination Vancouver for their support as our Supporting Sponsor, and to MNP and KingSett Capital for their contributions as Community Sponsors.

Jane Talbot’s State of Downtown Address

Downtown Van’s President & CEO opened the event with a comprehensive assessment of the report’s findings. Talbot emphasized that comparing today’s downtown to its pre-pandemic state is the wrong approach. Instead, she pointed to several positive indicators to measure progress by instead, including a strong office market, thriving tourism and hotel sectors, increased visitor numbers, and the lowest storefront vacancy rates in three years.

She noted that while progress is real, significant issues persist, particularly for the businesses and people who work and live in the district every day. Ongoing challenges include inflation and the high cost of operations, street disorder and crime, and an increased need for the Community Safety team.

In fact, last year alone, Downtown Van invested over $340,000 in additional power washing, graffiti removal, and contract security. She says, “imagine what we could do with $340,000 if we didn’t have to spend it just to hold on to what we have. More placemaking activations, more festivals and events, more arts and culture — more of what we know brings people downtown.”

In her presentation, Jane also shared four lessons that the Downtown Van team has learned along the way, though the success drawn from the success of our own events, initiatives we’ve supported, and a deeper understanding of the interconnected challenges facing the downtown core. While outlined below, there is one main takeaway, and it’s that we must all work together. Only by working together, businesses, community and the government can we create a safer, more welcoming and vibrant downtown core.

Jon Scholes on the State of Downtown Seattle

We also heard from the President & CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, representing Vancouver’s “city twin.” In his presentation, he provided a snapshot of where Seattle stands today, along with key similarities and differences between the two downtowns. Scholes emphasized that the work required to make downtowns thrive has never been more challenging: “the future belongs to downtowns that can deliver experiences that are “consistent, predictable, and delightful” — things you simply cannot get on a couch or a screen.”

Tracy Hadden Loh on Downtown’s Value Proposition

Tracy Hadden Loh from the Brookings Institution brought a data-driven lens to the event, drawing on years of fieldwork across cities in North America. She stated that Vancouver is what many downtowns should aspire to become. “When I was walking around Vancouver yesterday, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this is what all cities of the future are going to want to look like. The future is here now. But that is also why you have a very unique challenge in figuring out your future going forward”,  she says.

She compared downtown Vancouver to cities like Calgary and Seattle to demonstrate how far ahead Vancouver already is in terms of downtown land use mix, with a healthy balance of residential and office uses. Her recommendation was to lean further into “play”—including entertainment, arts, culture, and third spaces that help create an 18-hour city.

Panel Discussion

Following the three presentations, all speakers participated in a panel discussion moderated by Chuck We of Hudson Pacific Properties. The discussion focused on how the role of downtown has evolved, what a successful downtown might look like, and which features the speakers would like to see in their cities, as well as questions from the audience submitted via Slido.

Closing Remarks

City of Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim closed the event with remarks focused on the city’s direction, noting that “downtown Vancouver is the economic engine of our city. When downtown succeeds, the entire region succeeds” he says.

Learn More
  • Download the 2026 State of Downtown.
  • For the latest data, check out our Economic Dashboard (updated monthly).
  • If you missed our event and for more information, contact Ingrid Valou, Manager, Economic Development (ingrid@dtvan.ca) who would be happy to present the key highlights directly to your team.
  • To stay up to date with what’s going on in downtown Vancouver, follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and TikTok, @downtownvan or listen to our podcast, “Hey, Downtown Van!”.