Many benefits that we derive from urban forests are proportional to the leaf area or  "green cover" of the cities. Information about existing and the potential to increase green cover is crucial in management and enhancement of urban forest resources. Measurable criteria such as Leaf Area Density (LAD) and Potential Leaf Area Density (PLAD) are developed to quantify such information. The focus of this project is on the latter (PLAD), which is the upper limit of LAD. In North America, assessment of PLAD has been done in several cities. Here, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is used to lay out ground level assessment of PLAD. The sampling plots were randomly assigned to the zoning districts of the City of Vancouver according to a stratified random sampling plan. A total of 200 plots were selected for East Side which together with their geographic coordinates can be used to assist the ground survey. The usability of these plots to include additional variables to study in relation to urban green cover was demonstrated using Census Canada 2006 socioeconomic data. For the subset of the plots in residential areas, family income per dissemination area showed a significant p < 0.01 difference with Vancouver West Side.