[MonkeyRonin]

Commercial is probably Vancouver's most "complete" high street. If you live along the Drive you can really do any & all of your errands & shopping in small, local shops within a few blocks; and it's got a huge array of restaurants, bars, entertainment, etc. to keep one occupied - all in pleasantly dense, attractive, human-scaled environment. This is probably in part because the Drive exists as a bit of an island: it doesn't really link up with any other retail strips and is cut off from other core neighbourhoods by industrial areas & rail yards, and is otherwise surrounded by residential areas. It's almost like it's own little town - makes for a tight-knight, centralized neighbourhood though.

It's got a slightly-above-average-by-Vancouver-standards homeless presence, but otherwise it's never struck me as being a particularly rough place either - just a bit gritty. For me, it's a comfortable place and made for a pretty seamless transition coming from the west end of Toronto.