The University
Endowment Lands (also known as University Hill or the UEL,
and colloquially referred to as UBC) is an unincorporated community
immediately west of Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada.
While not within Vancouver city limits and not
controlled by the City of Vancouver, it is commonly
referred to as part of Vancouver
in casual conversation.
Residents of the University Endowment Lands are considered to reside in neither the University of British Columbia (because that land is separately owned) nor Vancouver. The area is administered directly by the province and residents pay their taxes directly to the Provincial Government (this does not apply to those living on university-owned land). There was a referendum in the mid 1990s, in which the residents chose to have no municipal governing body.
Geography
The University Endowment Lands are located immediately west of the City of Vancouver. About half of the UEL is made up of Pacific Spirit Regional Park, a mostly forested land that was originally set aside for development which never materialized. Located on Point Grey, the UEL also boasts tall cliffs near the water, with steep drops of approximately 70 metres down to the beaches below.
Schools In The Area
Schools include University Hill High School, which serves students from the neighbourhood, along with University Hill Elementary School and the private K-12 school West Point Grey Academy nearby.
History
The creation of the University Endowment Lands was first proposed after the passing of the University Endowment Act of 1907, in which the British Columbia provincial government agreed to set aside two million acres (8,000 km²) of British Columbia Crown land to be sold or leased to fund the creation of a university. This land was to be in the Cariboo region of the province's interior, which consisted of mostly agricultural land. This idea was changed in 1911 when the provincial government passed the University Site Act, which set aside 175 acres in Point Grey for the university. This is where the UEL is located today.
By 1920, it was realized that the Cariboo land did not have a high enough market value to generate the income needed for the university, so that idea was abandoned. This led to the British Columbia University Loan Act, which allowed the Lieutenant-Governor to sell 30 km² of Crown land on Point Grey for residential development. The money from the auction was put in the University Endowment Account for the university.
"The Gates" monument at University
Boulevard and Blanca Street, the intersection that
straddles the border between Vancouver and the UEL.
However, a lot of the development that was planned was halted due to economic hardships stemming from the Great Depression. The university could not afford to prepare the land for development or to clear the forest land for development. In the 1930s, the university returned control of the land to the government. By the mid-1950s, over half of the undeveloped land in the UEL remained undeveloped due to the Depression and war shortages in the 1940s.
There have been many attempts to develop this land, which was then opposed by environmentally-aware residents in the area. In 1988, the creation of Pacific Spirit Park was announced by the provincial Premier Bill Vander Zalm. The park currently makes up of over half of the UEL, acting as a greenbelt between the developed areas and the City of Vancouver. Development, in large part, is very limited -- for any proposed developments in the UEL by the Greater Vancouver Regional District or the University of British Columbia, the following groups must be consulted beforehand: university students, university staff, university faculty, environmental groups, businesses, residents and the general public.
These pages are designed to provide information about the community, as well as real esate statistics about home sales in the University Endowment Lands and all UEL Listings, updated daily.
Considering selling or buying a home in the University Endowment Lands? I've been helping buyers and sellers with property in this area for since 1979 and would be pleased to assist you. Don't hesitate to email me, or give me a call at 604-732-1336.