Today's Throwback Thursday captures two strikingly different views of SW Marine Drive, just east of Cambie St, at the present-day site of the W1 towers now under construction. Soon to be complete, Concord Pacific's W1 will soon join a host of other residential high-rise projects that have come to define this busy corridor in South Vancouver in recent years. 

West on SW Marine Drive towards Cambie St, September, 2011, image via Google Street View

Viewed above back in 2011, SW Marine Drive was once a sleepy suburban stretch of roadway in South Vancouver defined primarily by low-rise business (left) and nondescript townhouses (barely visible on the right). 

445 SW Marine Dr, W1 towers (right) and shopping centre (left), image by Forum contributor City of Rain

Fast-forward to 2018, and the same vantage point above has changed dramatically, the recent addition of W1 (right) only serving to add even more density and height to the rapidly evolving urban landscape. Joining a large shopping centre and cineplex, W1 and its immediate high-rise neighbours have now transformed this once sleepy stretch of road into a vibrant, pedestrian friendly neighbourhood. 

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