Vancouver Streets You’ve Seen on TV Without Realizing It

If a street in a show looked like New York, Seattle or San Francisco but felt oddly familiar, there’s a good chance it was here. The City of Vancouver issued 1,922 filming permits in 2018, 90% more than in 2014. It now permits about 2,000 days of filming a year, and its own film office says much of that happens in Gastown and Chinatown.

The work is big business. Creative BC estimates B.C. film and TV production spending at $3.56B in 2024, across 372 projects. Some locations get so much use that the City stops issuing permits there for a while.

This guide covers the real streets behind the shows. It starts with the downtown blocks that keep standing in for American cities. Then it heads out to the main streets in Richmond, Langley, New Westminster and Surrey that played Storybrooke, Riverdale and Smallville. Every one is free to walk, and each section covers what you’ll see, why crews keep coming back and what to know before you go.

12. Georgia Viaduct (Downtown to Strathcona)

The Georgia Viaduct runs between downtown and Strathcona, above False Creek. Destination Vancouver says it and the Dunsmuir Viaduct are a favourite backdrop for filmmakers, with views of Science World, Rogers Arena and BC Place. Its big international moment was the opening action sequence in Deadpool.

It may not be around forever. The City plans to remove both viaducts under the Northeast False Creek Plan. It also says the removal timeline is still uncertain, so maintenance continues.

Right now that maintenance is heavy. The City says crews are replacing expansion joints on the deck and ramps until spring 2027, with lane reductions and delays. The Main Street exit ramp is closed for about three months from Oct 2, 2026. The City advises pedestrians to use the Dunsmuir Viaduct sidewalk while work is on. It says the westbound Dunsmuir Viaduct is not affected. Updates are on the Georgia Viaduct rehabilitation page.

Don’t stop or take photos from traffic lanes. The Dunsmuir sidewalk gets you the view without standing in traffic.

11. 176 Street (Cloverdale, Surrey)

Cloverdale played Smallville. The Cloverdale BIA calls it one of the area’s most famous and longest-running screen roles. It says the historic downtown has also hosted Supernatural, Prison Break and The Impastor, among others.

The Surrey History walking tour says Cloverdale Town Centre has been used for several sets, including Smallville. It lists the Clova Theatre at 5732 176 St. In 2020, the City of Surrey approved turning the Cloverdale Fairgrounds into Smallville again for the Superman & Lois series. That backlot is not a public attraction.

The Cloverdale BIA says local businesses work with crews to keep disruption low, so you may walk into an active shoot. Follow crew directions and stay off the set. There’s no official drive time from downtown Vancouver.

How far the out-of-town sets are

Place	Distance or travel time	Detail
Steveston (Richmond)	About 35 min by transit, about 25 min by car	From Bridgeport Station on the Canada Line, 407 Gilbert bus
New Westminster	20 km east of Vancouver, about 20 min	Travel mode not specified
Fort Langley	Not verified	No official drive time posted
Cloverdale (Surrey)	Not verified	No official drive time posted

10. Glover Road (Fort Langley)

The Fort Langley Community Hall on Glover Road has played more than one small town. Destination Vancouver says Once Upon a Time filmed there. Its Riverdale itinerary says the hall was the set for the Jubilee in the season one finale.

Destination BC says Fort Langley has also appeared in Bates Motel and Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

The yellow hall is the shot fans want. The Fort Langley National Historic Site is nearby, so pair the two. Hall and shop hours weren’t verified, and there’s no official drive time from downtown Vancouver, so plan your own route.

9. Moncton Street (Steveston, Richmond)

From 2011 to 2017, Steveston played Storybrooke in Once Upon a Time. Tourism Richmond says you can still spot local businesses and landmarks in the background. Much of the filming happened on Moncton Street, where many shops took on Storybrooke alter egos.

Destination Vancouver’s itinerary matches the real shops to their on-screen names. The Steveston Museum & Post Office at 3811 Moncton St is among the most popular stops. It played the Storybrooke Post Office.

Destination Vancouver suggests starting at Tourism Richmond’s Visitor Centre in Steveston. Its hours weren’t verified. Tourism Richmond’s Storybrooke guide covers more stops along the street.

Tourism Richmond’s directions start at Bridgeport Station on the Canada Line. From there, take the 407 Gilbert bus toward Steveston, about 35 minutes by transit, or drive about 25 minutes. There’s no verified travel time from downtown Vancouver.

Steveston’s Storybrooke stand-ins

Real place in Steveston	Storybrooke name
Steveston Museum & Post Office (3811 Moncton St)	Storybrooke Post Office
Steveston Coffee Co.	Storybrooke Coffee Co.
Romania Country Bread	Storybrooke Country Bread

8. Columbia Street (Downtown New Westminster)

New Westminster’s film office says its downtown has stood in for New York, Seattle, California, Alaska, Montreal and San Francisco. It credits heritage buildings, gritty streetscapes and riverfront locations, all within a 10-block radius. That density is the draw. A crew can get several looks without moving far.

Tourism New Westminster says the intersection of Columbia and Sixth was turned into San Francisco for Godzilla. The City says fans of Once Upon a Time, Supergirl, Riverdale and Supernatural come to watch filming or find locations.

Tourism New Westminster’s self-guided walk suggests going up and down Columbia, Clarkson and Carnarvon streets and counting what you recognise. Creative BC puts New Westminster 20 km east of Vancouver. Tourism New Westminster calls it 20 minutes from Vancouver without saying how, so treat that as approximate.

7. The Orpheum (Granville and Smithe)

Destination Vancouver says the Orpheum was a filming location for The Last of Us Season 2 (episode 5). The building has had a few careers already. It opened in 1927 as Vancouver’s biggest vaudeville house, became a movie palace and is now a concert hall. Vancouver Civic Theatres says it regularly hosts classical music performances, film viewings and live shows.

Vancouver Civic Theatres says its grand staircases and arches survived extensive renovations. Those are the parts you’d recognise from the screen, and they’re inside.

From the street you get the frontage and sign on Granville at any hour. Guided tours ran in past years, but 2026 tour dates weren’t verified. A ticket to a symphony or film night is the only sure way to see the interior.

6. Coal Harbour and Harbour Green Park (Downtown waterfront)

Coal Harbour was another Seattle stand-in for The Last of Us Season 2. Destination Vancouver names Harbour Green Park and the Vancouver Aquarium as filming spots for the season finale. Stanley Park’s conifer forests covered scenes set outside Seattle.

The public waterfront is open year-round, though park hours weren’t verified. Aquarium admission wasn’t verified either. Coal Harbour sits west of Canada Place, close to the Marine Building, so walk the two together.

5. The Marine Building (Burrard Street)

The Marine Building at 355 Burrard opened in 1930 as the city’s tallest skyscraper. Destination Vancouver calls it one of the most notable Art Deco landmarks in the world. It lists the building in Smallville, The Flash and Fantastic Four.

Smallville fans usually point to it as the Daily Planet. Destination Vancouver confirms Smallville but doesn’t name the role, so treat that part as fan lore.

The terracotta outside is covered in sea life and transportation designs, which Destination Vancouver says were inspired by New York’s Chrysler Building. Look up at the reliefs above the entrance. They hold up much better in person than on screen. Lobby access and hours weren’t verified, so plan on seeing it from the sidewalk.

4. Vancouver Art Gallery plaza (Hornby, Robson and Georgia)

The Vancouver Art Gallery is in the former law courts building, and Destination Vancouver says it appears in many films and shows. Inside, it became the museum in Night at the Museum. The plaza around it is prominent in The Interview and X-Men: The Last Stand.

Destination Vancouver calls it a popular spot with visitors and locals. It also sits right next to the Robson shopping strip, so it’s easy to fold into a day downtown.

Gallery hours and admission weren’t verified, but the plaza is free and you can walk it any time. Pair it with Library Square and the Marine Building for a downtown loop of screen locations on foot.

3. Pender and Keefer Streets (Chinatown)

Chinatown is the other historic district the City’s film office names, and it gets its own filming page. The City says the area offers a wide array of authentic-looking locations. Destination Vancouver lists Chinatown among the neighbourhoods dressed as Seattle for The Last of Us Season 2.

Parks Canada designated Vancouver’s Chinatown a national historic site in 2011. It describes it as one of the oldest and largest Chinatowns in Canada. Look up as you walk. The buildings mix recessed balconies, decorative cornices and mezzanines in a hybrid style. The City puts the core of today’s Chinatown between Keefer and East Hastings, from Carrall to Gore.

If you want the streets without crews, time your visit for the three periods when the City says most merchants turn down filming requests. Those are Chinese New Year (mid-January to the end of February), Mid-Autumn Festival (second and third weeks of September) and the Winter Festival (third and fourth weeks of December). The same City film page says weekends are especially busy in Chinatown.

The City’s page calls Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden the first full-sized classical Chinese garden built outside China. It’s an easy add-on stop. The garden charges admission, so check its own site for the price.

2. Library Square (West Georgia and Homer)

VPL says its Central Branch has appeared in The Flash, Supergirl, iZombie, Altered Carbon, Travelers and Battlestar Galactica. It’s also a regular for commercials and photo shoots. Destination Vancouver says the plaza is used often for filming and public events. The building’s Colosseum-inspired design shows up in films such as The 6th Day and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

VPL lets crews film outside during the day. Inside, they can only shoot when the library is closed. So the interior you see on screen is the same one you can walk into on a regular afternoon.

Most people stop at the plaza. Take the elevator to Level 9 for the rooftop garden, with terraces on Level 8. VPL says both are open year-round during library hours, and the garden is free with limited exceptions for special events. Hours weren’t verified for this story, so check the VPL outdoor spaces page before you go.

1. Water Street and the Steam Clock (Gastown)

Walk Water Street from the Steam Clock and you’re on the set Vancouver lends out most. Destination Vancouver says nearly every production shooting in the city ends up in Gastown at some point. It has shown up in Arrow, Once Upon a Time, The Magicians and Supernatural. It was also a backdrop for MacGyver in the 1980s.

The reason is the buildings. Gastown became a National Historic Site in 2009, and Parks Canada says most of its buildings date from 1886 to 1914. That intact run of brick and stone passes easily for older American cities, from New York brownstones to 1940s film-noir streets. Crews like the lights here after dark, so night shoots are common.

The Steam Clock at Water and Cambie looks Victorian, but it was built in 1977. It’s one of only a few steam clocks in the world. In April 2026, news reports quoted City staff saying its hands had shown the wrong time since 2025 because of a mechanical problem. The whistles still played. We couldn’t confirm a repair as of Oct 23, 2026, so come for the whistle and check your phone for the time.

Step off Water Street into Blood Alley Square and Trounce Alley. The City finished resurfacing a section of Trounce Alley in May 2026, according to its Gastown public spaces page. Water Street ran as a car-free Sunday pedestrian zone from noon to 8pm between July 5 and September 6, 2026. That season is over, and 2027 dates aren’t posted yet.

When crews can film on Vancouver streets

Day	Hours
Monday–Thursday	7am–11pm
Friday	7am–midnight
Saturday	8am–midnight
Sunday	8am–11pm
Holiday (day of)	8am–11pm

The street, the show, the role

Street	Seen in	Played
Gastown (Water St)	Arrow, Once Upon a Time, The Magicians, Supernatural	various cities
Chinatown / Coal Harbour / Orpheum	The Last of Us S2	Seattle
Moncton St, Steveston	Once Upon a Time	Storybrooke, Maine
Glover Rd, Fort Langley	Once Upon a Time, Riverdale	Storybrooke / Riverdale
Columbia St, New Westminster	Godzilla (film)	San Francisco
Cloverdale	Smallville	Smallville
Marine Building, Burrard St	Smallville	Daily Planet (role named by fans; not stated by Destination Vancouver)

When to go

• Every street here is free to walk year-round.
• Gastown sees a lot of night shoots, so an evening walk is your best shot at catching a crew at work.
• For Chinatown without crews, aim for Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival or the Winter Festival, when the City says most merchants turn down filming. Weekends are especially busy there.
• The Water Street Sunday pedestrian zone ended Sept 6, 2026. 2027 dates aren’t posted yet.
• Library, gallery, hall and visitor centre hours weren’t verified. Check the official sites before you go.

When film crews are allowed to work in Vancouver

The City sets the hours for all filming activity, including move-ins and wrap-ups. The table in this article lays them out by day. Friday and Saturday run latest, to midnight. Crews can only work outside those hours after polling residents and businesses, and some neighbourhoods have tighter limits. The full rules are on the City’s filming page.

Why some streets go quiet for a while

The City limits how often filming can happen at high-demand locations it calls hot or sensitive. The goal is to cut disruption for residents and businesses. A hot location gets no new permits until staff decide otherwise. So a favourite set can go a stretch without crews. Details are on the City’s location scouting page.

What a street shoot costs a production

The City’s daily film permit for streets, sidewalks and plazas is $1,300 per filming day, before tax. Working outside standard hours costs extra. The full schedule is on the filming fees page.

If you walk into a shoot

• Treat crew parking, cones and signs as real road controls.
• Follow crew directions.
• Don’t step into a shot or onto a dressed set.
• Shops near a set stay open, so give them your business.
• On the Georgia Viaduct, never stop or take photos from traffic lanes.
• Using the Fort Langley smartphone tour? Charge your phone before you leave.

Current advisories (as of Oct 23, 2026)

• Georgia Viaduct repairs run until spring 2027. The Main Street exit ramp is closed for about three months from Oct 2, 2026. Pedestrians should use the Dunsmuir Viaduct sidewalk. See the City’s viaduct notice.
• The Gastown Steam Clock’s hands were reported showing the wrong time in April 2026. A repair hasn’t been confirmed.
• The 2026 Water Street Sunday pedestrian zone ended Sept 6.

Most of these sets are places you already pass. Gastown, Chinatown and the downtown blocks fill an afternoon on foot. Steveston, Fort Langley, New Westminster and Cloverdale each make their own trip. The next time a show puts its characters in New York or Seattle, look at the brick and the street signs. There’s a fair chance you’ve walked that block.

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Photo credits

• Fraser at Dusk 02.jpg by Laol12, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Steveston-pano.jpg by Arnold C (User:Buchanan-Hermit), Attribution (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver-RIchmond Steveson 6.jpg by Rayxz, CC BY-SA 3.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Gastown-14.JPG by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• View up West Pender Street, including the Entrance to Chinatown and the Sun Tower. – panoramio.jpg by Shane Smith, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver Public Library – Central Library.jpg by Vince.varona, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Marine Building, Vancouver (2013) – 11.JPG by Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver Art Gallery Robson Square from third floor.jpg by unknown, Public domain (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Orpheum Theatre Vancouver View From Stage.jpg by MichaelThoeny, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver from the viaduct.jpg by User:Jason Vanderhill, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Harbour Green Park, Vancouver (2012) – 3.JPG by Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Steveston Museum 2016.jpg by Jeff Hitchcock from Seattle, WA, USA, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Fort Langley Community Hall.jpg by Sunray, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• 668 Columbia Street (33367737861).jpg by Jeff Hitchcock from Seattle, WA, USA, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Clova-front2.jpg by Arnold C, Attribution (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.