If it takes a village to raise a child; it takes entrepreneurship to raise a community.
The Richmond News salutes some of those individuals who have gone the extra mile to make Richmond one of the bestserved cities around.
This is the 16th year we have asked readers to tell us their top picks in three categories: Best Shopping, Best Services, and Best Food and Fun.
Hundreds of readers sent in their ballots telling us where to buy shoes, where to go for manicures and who serves the best fish and chips.
These are businesses that have put their customers first, offering them the extras that have, in turn, won them that most valued commodity - loyalty.
So hats off to our Readers' Choice Award winners of 2012. You have done an outstanding job of serving the people of Richmond and making this the vibrant city it has become.
Richmond has long lost its reputation as a "bedroom community," a place where people sleep but don't work or shop, and that is largely thanks to local businesses that provide jobs, facilities, services and more.
And, of course, we can't forget play. To that end, we also asked readers about their favourite places to go and things to do in Richmond that are not necessarily business related; things like best picnic area or dog walking park.
In the following pages we have run photos of just some of those suggestions, such as kite flying at Garry Point Park, buying fish at the Steveston docks, biking along Dyke Road past Finn Slough, or taking in the Harvest Moon Festival at the Ling
Yen Mountain
Temple on the Highway to Heaven.
Richmond truly is a city to celebrate with its mix of urban sophistication and natural charm.
