Richmond

Richmond lies immediately south of Vancouver across the Fraser River. It is home to the Vancouver International Airport which welcomes 18 million passengers a year and over 20,000 employees each day.

The community has a strict building height restriction due to the airport. Although not one building is more than 18 stories high there are nonetheless dozens of hotel, office and apartment towers between 10 and 18 floors including the new Hilton and Marriott. Richmond is an island and its topography is flat as a pancake.

The city is surrounded by an extensive dyke system since overall it is 2 feet below sea level. Richmond is the most asian city in Canada (over 40% of its population) resulting in buildings and signage everywhere reflecting its citizens origins. In fact, the city is home to the largest "Asian" shopping centre outside of Asia.