2ndChancers

We are planning to do a trip to Vancouver in May/June 2013 to look at possible places to Rent/Buy.

Not Millionaires - but will have a little money to splash. What areas are recommended? Which ones to avoid.

How realistic is it to commute from somewhere like Coquitlam.

R

JonboyE

Just like the hotel, we need to know your budget to offer helpful advice.

I aasume you mean commute from Coquitlam to Downtown? It is certainly commutable. How long/esay will depend where in Coquitam you start from and your method of transport.

Look at http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Vancouver

foreigngirl

Where are you going to be working? We live in Coal Harbour and I love it. But it depends on what kind of thing you're after: quiet, village-like atmosphere, or bustling city, or bohemian or whatever else you fancy.
I love having the water on my doorstep, the harbour, boats. Love looking at the sea planes. love the view of the mountains. Just a few steps from Stanley Park, Robson st and anywhere else you want to go. And I don't mind the glass skyscrapers.

JonboyE

Also:

City/Suburb/Rural?
Detatched/Townhome/Apartment?
Couple/Family?
What do you like to do in your free time?
Do you want to be part of the "sceen" or do you want a quiet retreat?
Do you want to commute by public transit or by car?
How long a commute are you prepared to put up with?

Lychee

Reading that you're in the arts, what kind of culture do you hope to find in your neighbourhood? Places like Commercial Drive in East Van would probably appeal. It attracts a lot of the city's artists/performers and has a vibrant small arts scene. It's cheaper than downtown Vancouver but only a 10 minute drive (or a 5 minute Skytrain ride) and has a bohemian flavour and you don't require a car to get around. Shopping (for food) is also excellent and cheaper than downtown due to all the Italian/family-run supermarkets. Housing exists in the form of 100+ year old Victorian houses to ugly 1970s apartments to contemporary replicas of those Victorian houses, and everything in between. The gardens are often mature and lush.

Coquitlam is fine, but I've always considered it slightly more banal culturally. A great place to raise a family due to the quiet and large spaces, but very suburban (read: you'd likely be driving a lot). I don't know if it would be where I'd want to move to immediately without getting a sense of what Vancouver offers first, especially if you're in the arts.

2ndChancers

Thanks Guys - So ....

My partner grew up in Coquitlam and New Westminster. They love Mountain Views.

We both live in London, so we have had the busy city hype for 26 years - something quieter with access to busy would be great.

I personally would like a house rather than a condo.

The only place so far to catch my eyes on MLS on a brief search is in Surrey - which I know is a commute into Vancouver. Not sure how long - but sometimes in London it can take an hour door to door.

http://jhand.ca/7059-148A-Street-myl...11274.property

I imagine that my work will be somewhere in the centre of Van, my partner as a social worker could be anywhere.

Coal Harbour sounds great.

As far as past-times go, movies, theatre and eating out.

The accommodation would just be for my partner, me and our 2 dogs. Need room for friends.

Also as we are considering adoption, a family area would be good.

Thanks again

R

2ndChancers

The Drive area seems cool and us - is it family orientated ? As although a gay couple, not really immersed in that lifestyle any longer !

Lychee

Absolutely. There are many families there, and it has a strong sense of community. Britannia Communtiy Centre and Trout Lake Community Centre are hubs for that. There are also various schools in the area. Speak to The4BellsLondon who moved there, she's raising a family there I believe and can speak to those points.

Coming from London, I think you'll find Vancouver downright sleepy regardless of where you end up - you won't need to head out far to get peace and quiet. Downtown Vancouver is tiny, but that's where you'll find the skyscraper condo-tower living and any sense of hustle and bustle. Commercial Drive (or anywhere outside of downtown) feels downright suburban by comparison.

There's a journalist named Nicci Bayley who moved from London to Vancouver a few months ago. She's not on BE (that I'm aware of) but she blogs for Hello about life in Canada:

http://blog.helloonline.com/the-maple-life/

She originally moved to Kitsilano, but coming from London, she found it so quiet and sleepy that she's moving into the West End (of downtown Vancouver, coincidentally the other home of Vancouver's gay community).

Not sure if you use Twitter, but if you do, it would be worth reaching out to Nicci:

https://twitter.com/nikkibayley

Lychee

Re: the gay culture on the Drive. It exists (it's home to Vancouver's lesbian community), but it's not the sole focus of the neighbourhood. It's just one of its many identities.

JonboyE

It is certainly a family area and plenty of house for your money. You could easily pay two or three times that amount in some of the more sought after areas of Vancouver. The lot, however, is tiny so there will be no back yard (garden) to speak of. Hardly enough room for your dogs to do their business. You will be very close to your neighbours to the side and back. Still, if you don't like gardening (and given that the house is new) it will be very low maintenance living for quite a few years.

This is true suburbia. It is the sort of area that people buy into to raise a family. Typical householders will be 30 or 40 year old husbands and wives with two or three children. There will be a fairly healthy mix of white and non-white families.

It will be predominantly socially conservative. I don't expect you will experience any overt prejudice. However, the gay people I know who live in these types of sub-divisions (housing estates) live quiet lifestyles. You would be looked at if you held hands or kissed in public – something that would go unremarked in parts of Vancouver.

If you walk around the streets on a summer evening you are much more likely to hear Country and Western or Bollywood music drifting out of people's windows than Mozart or Verdi. There will be a surprising number of pickup trucks around that never seem to get muddy. Although Surrey is not devoid of "culture" (the Bell Performing Arts Centre is not far), high culture is not what makes Surrey tick.

There are plenty of restaurants around but Surrey it is not really a destination for eating out. However, it can be fun exploring and there are some surprises about. The Vietnamese community is centred in Vancouver yet the very best Vietnamese restaurant we have found is in a strip mall in Langley. If you enjoy a good curry you will be better placed than Vancouver residents. The nearest cinemas will be Strawberry Hill on 120th or The Colossus on 200th. Both 10/15 minutes’ drive away. They play predominantly mainstream movies. The Vancouver Film Festival in Fall is the time to get your fill of Art and foreign movies. That said, the Colosus in Langley shows live performances from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

If you do live there you will likely find your neighbours friendly and helpful. However, these sorts of sub-divisions are not always the best place to make friends as many people tend to be busy with their own lives - they have large mortgages to service and families to raise.

In short, and given the above is laced with my own preconceptions and assumptions, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the house or neighbourhood, it is just that it is not the first place I would think of if someone asked me to recommend an area for a gay couple interested in the arts. If your partner comes from Coquitlam they will know exactly what I mean, because Coquitlam would have been way down my list as well.

Alan2005

Excuse the cliche, but doesn't the west end tick all the op's boxes apart from the house thing?

ExKiwilass

That's what I was thinking.

But, no chance of a house there.

R I C H

6 bedrooms in 2,700 sq/ft?! I'd be taking a sledgehammer to some internal walls.

2ndChancers

This is more the style of house I would ideally like - starting to realise this as far and few in the centre of Vancouver !

ExKiwilass

It is a nice house...but brand new in Vancouver it's going to be a lot lot more than $589.