I've lived on and off, in different areas of the lower mainland (white rock, aldergrove, surrey, kitsilano - my fav, north van at lynn canyon as well as on north lonsdale. I love all the places. Oh yes, in gibson's too.
Now being in toronto, i get homesick/nostalgic for vancouver, so i open the web cam in this link to get a nice view over the burrard str bridge and english bay... you have to scroll down a bit to see it.
http://www.katkam.ca/