Irri

I've wanted to move to Vancouver for a long time (I have a Canadian passport), but I've never been there so obviously I would like to visit first.

I don't think I will be able to get anyone to come with me for the visit so are there any good ways to get to know the city on your own?

How crazy is rental in Vancouver? I pay £350/month for a small one bedroom flat in one of the poorer boroughs of London. Is it worse than that?

Can you move further out and start to find more affordable houses, or does it just end?

Thanks in advance.

JonboyE

£350 is about $665. That will get you a room in a shared house in the Centre of Vancouver or a basement in the outer suburbs.

beckiwoo

I pay $575 for a room in a basement suite in East Van. Full rent is $1,150 per month but its quiet and spacious.

I know someone who pays $2000 for a small 2 bed apartment in an old building in the west end but then they are located right by English Bay (paying for the view and location)

Irri

Oops, I meant £350/week. So I'm paying just under 3000CAD/month.

I guess I should be okay then. Thanks for the answers so far.

R I C H

All depends on what you earn when you get here, doesn't it?

Irri

Indeed. Though for a short time, I can continue work remotely.

jandro

For $3000 a month you could get a pretty nice apartment almost anywhere in the city, I think, although I wouldn't want to spend that much on rent for a long time.

Irri

That's great to know. London rent in crippling so it's nice to know I could pay less.

Any thoughts on exploring the city solo?

Lychee

What do you want to know? It's a safe, walkable city. Public transit is good. Cycling infrastructure is good for North America. I wouldn't think twice about exploring the city solo. The downtown has a transient feel to it, but it has hundreds of condo towers - people live there year round, so it's vibrant unlike most North American downtowns, with all the infrastructure you would need to live your life (supermarkets, schools, community centres, hundreds of restaurants, cafes, doctors, dentists, parks etc.) as well as beaches and Stanley Park. The surrounding neighbourhoods (Kitsilano, Commercial Drive, Mount Pleasant, Riley Park, etc.) have more of an established community feel than downtown. As a general rule, the west side is more affluent and scenic with beaches and the university (UBC), but the east side is culturally more vibrant (at a small, local, indie grassroots level) - home to the city's artsy, hipster, bohemian urban culture. Note that I am only referring to the City of Vancouver, and not the surrounding suburb cities (Burnaby, North Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam, etc.).

Irri

Thanks for all that info. I'm not worried about walking around alone. It's more finding things to do while I'm there. To get a feel for the place and the people so I can decide if I want to make the move there.

Is there a citysocializer equivalent?