[homeboy604]

Granville Island is a must.
its perfect date destination. go to the food market, get some yummy take out food and go to the dock area and take in some of the performances and the nice scenery.
then take a walk to some of the interesting shops in the area, then walk through the park area.

about the dangers of the main and hastings area: this place imo is not really dangerous at all to outsiders.
its sad seeing the people down here, but they wont really mess with you if you're just passing through. just ignore people if they try to talk to you down there. nothing good will ever come out of it.
places to be careful are surrey central skytrain, and some of the stations in S.Burnaby.
there have been many assaults recorded there lately.

I live on the fringes of the downtown core on seymour st. Its a good area because its so central to everything, and you wont get stuck in traffic trying to drive somewhere like you would living farther downtown.
commercial is another great area, as its less then 10 minutes from downtown by train, and the rent is pretty cheap.
N.Burnaby is nice too if you want to live in the suburbs.
very safe area, and very central to everything with lots of parks and great shops.