The Great Beginnings Program was an initiative developed by the City of Vancouver in 2008 to celebrate British Columbia’s 150th anniversary. The provincial government supports this initiative through an investment of $10 million over three years to celebrate the history, heritage, and culture of Vancouver’s first urban areas, including the neighbourhoods of Gastown, Chinatown, Japantown, and Strathcona.

The provincial investment has been used to attract other supporters over the project’s three-year lifespan with the aim of creating a genuine legacy of improved physical, social, and economic conditions, as well as seeding future opportunities in these neighbourhoods.

The program restores the founding neighbourhoods’ original public appeal by creating attractive and welcoming physical environments through improvements to streets, buildings, public spaces, and public safety. It also establishes a foundation for improvements to the social environment through facilitating arts and cultural activities, celebrations, and street festivals for residents, business owners, and visitors alike.

There are four Eastside Mural Tours organized by geographic locations. Tour A, Tour B, Tour C and Tour D. If you are walking each tour takes approximately 30 to 60 minutes.  For each tour their is downloadable map. Since we initiated this project many murals have either been removed or destroyed. We attempt to keep it as up-to-date as possible.