Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»has seen massive growth since it was founded in 1886.
Compared with many other cities worldwide it's quite young; luckily that means there are photos that document the city's growth over the decades, many of which are with the City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»archives.
While Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»doesn't have an intersection that can definitively be named the centre of the city, the meeting of Robson and Granville has as good a case as any, with Robson's shopping and Granville's entertainment districts meeting.
It's also just a block or two away from the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Art Gallery (which also has an argument for it, though it's not an intersection), the central library, major music venues (the Orpheum and Commodore Ballroom, among others), and a SkyTrain station.
Over the years it has been central to the growth of the city. Initially, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»was based around Gastown, but that shifted west to what is now considered downtown Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»in the city's early days.
Major buildings were built in the area soon after the city was founded. The first Hotel Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»was built at Granville and Georgia, and the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Opera House was built on Granville between Robson and Georgia.
Granville and Robson both continued to grow, with streetcars operating on both of them. A bridge was built at the south end of Granville into Fairview, turning it into a major route into the city for the growing suburbs, including the wealthy Shaughnessy neighbourhood.
Robson was also one of the first major streets in Vancouver; it's been a shopping destination since 1895, and now it has shops and restaurants almost its entire length from BC Place to Stanley Park.