Lychee

I was referring to the City of Vancouver proper, not Metro Vancouver. I agree that driving between suburbs can be hellish, which is why I never recommend a commuting lifestyle if you're going to live somewhere like Surrey, Coquitlam, Langley, North Van, etc. Driving from one neighbourhood within the city limits of Vancouver to another, in my opinion, has been no big deal.

Alan2005

The problem with public transport in Vancouver is that it's full of smelly tramps and people in fedoras or flat caps. I don't know which is worse to be honest.

JamesM

Back of Alan2005!

Oink has to get around somehow.

tornbetween

Like others have said, it really depends how you want to live. After nine years living in Alberta, I am shocked by the expenditure of the average, young Albertan. My wife's cousin says he struggles to get by on less than $7000 per month. He works in the Oil Industry and is single. My point being, the more people earn, the more they spend. True the world over of course, but I find it especially true in Alberta. If you can come here with a fairly frugal mindset, 57k is plenty imo. If you come here and start getting into all the toys, the financed quad, the oversized trucks, 57k won't cut it.

scrubbedexpat091

Congestion within the city of Vancouver is really not any better in my opinion, still a frustrating experience, transportation in the entire region is poorly planned.

januarymix

How can he not live on $7K a month, that's crazy! (Not get what you want maybe, but not live on sounds a stretch )

januarymix

Lychee, so you think North Van would be difficult? I will be working in the city .. but partner likes hills and mountains so I was considering living closer to nature.
But YES I detest transporting, I usually live close to train lines and refuse to change trains etc

Maybe we would try around Main Street first anyway.

Would you have any ideas for the partner deal?

scrubbedexpat091

If you want to live in North Vancouver, find a place that has easy access to the sea bus terminal, and take the sea bus across the harbor to water front station which there you can walk to area's of downtown, or catch the sky train and Canada Line both of which stop at several downtown locations.

The sea bus isn't bad, 15 minutes or so to get across.

JamesM

+1

Steve_

One of my neighbours had a Ford GT which I thought must have been worth as much as his house, then he got rid of it and bought a Lamborghini, which definitely is worth more than his house.

Not exactly the rule though.

I used to see some guy in a Ferrari 458 Italia tootling around the ring road at some insane speed before they finished the SE section because there was no traffic really on the NE section.

And there are loads of people tooling around in F-350s who don't really need them, must cost a fortune in gas.

AnneMarieC

I would LOVE to get $57K ... $7K/month is way plenty for a single person. Hell, even $32K is plenty!

I earn $35K and am sole provider for myself, hubbie and child. It's tight but we work on a budget. If I was single I'd be laughing!

Ultimately totally depends on what you're going to be spending your money on ... but yeah, anything over $30K and you're just fine to cover all your basic overheads and have some leftover.

BristolUK

This is the first income thread I can remember with so many people saying they manage okay on much less than the usual "$60k is do-able" responses.

januarymix

Nods.

Reminds me:
My good friend's boyfriend at the time got a Porsche first year out of uni. Whatever floats their boat I guess

januarymix

Yes. I remember when I first joined reading a thread about living in Van and most were saying 100 up was important, but I guess this thread is about managing, whereas the other was living it up. I guess a lot also depends on housing cost.

Lychee

I don't know if "difficult" is the term to use, but having to commute over the Lion's Gate Bridge or the Iron Worker's Memorial Bridge during rush hour twice a day is not my idea of fun. Living in Lower Lonsdale around the Sea Bus would be better, as long as you recognize that your commute now involves a 2 zone transit fare, and the Sea Bus doesn't run late into the night.

I currently live in East Vancouver and I have friends who live in North Vancouver by Lynn Canyon. We visit them on weekends and the drive is a piece of cake - we're there in 20 minutes.

By living in Vancouver, you still have hills and you can see the mountains, which you can drive to in 20 minutes (when it's not rush hour). I personally don't think it's necessary to live in the mountains. It's the sacrifice. Is the need to live in the mountains more important than the need to live a commute-free day to day existence?