Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Aaaaah Brits and their weather :thumbsup:

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

We had monsoon conditions Saturday. Glad to say it's been 28 here today. A pleasant change from what is so far a wettish Summer.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

For the first twenty days of June we only had four days with no measurable rain. :ohmy: The weather office seems to have quite recording anything after the 20th, I wonder if there is a message of sorts there. :blink:

It's a nice sunny 22C today. :)

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Vancouver is a very varied City if you include the suburbs. I used to really want to live downtown but the novelty has worn off and I'm happy out in the burbs, and despite Surrey's bad rap I think it's a fairly acceptable City and has all the facilities you come to expect, and many new housing developments at affordable prices.

I can understand the reasons people dislike the place, nowhere is perfect after all, but there is just some things here I really enjoy, like the selection of restaurants, the laid back west-coast culture, the style of government (ignoring BCRail and the HST). I think my main gripe is that I wish things were a bit neat and tidier, it seems like many immigrants set up very cheap and shabby looking stores down roads like Hastings and Kingsway. In terms of that and classiness, Seattle blows Vancouver out the water.

Vancouver is definitely a city which won't just be awesome for you automatically, you have to make an effort and keep focussed on what you want to achieve. You might have to start small but I still think it's worth it.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

What is the definition of City in Canada? Everywhere I go seems to be a city, notwithstanding the fact that, for the most party, they are towns and, by UK standards, small ones at that.

Any ideas? It is size of population?

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

I like Hastings :(

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

I like the area between Hastings and Alexander between Main and Princess :thumbsup:

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

It has some nice Art Deco hotels and a sole kitchen DTES allotment.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Thanks Steve. Not very big then;)

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

And the hookers wave as you drive by. I also ate at the Carnegie Centre recently with a friend and was pleasantly surprised at the food. Bargain!!!!

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

me too. I live off Hastings and me likey.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Do they start heading for the curb thinking you're a customer, if you flash your headlights?

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

I have permanent LED running lights so maybe that's the confusion :unsure:

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

No I meant if you flashed you high beams on and off.

I ask because a number of years ago I was to pick up Mrs_P in downtown Calgary. As I approached the location I could see her standing back against a store front, so I flashed my high beams on and off to get her attention. However one of the ladies of the night also saw my signal and started heading toward my car at the same time as my wife. She wasn't at all happy when Mrs_P got in ahead of her. :eek:

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

As long as you were... ;)

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Sod off then. :p

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

It just rained today as I was walking to work in DT Vancouver. When I said it rains "all the time", I don't mean it literally that it rains 365 days/year. To me it sure seems like it rains all the time: Sept - April: rain, it's June now, still rains. Maybe only Jul-Sept is nice and sunny here. Not arguing with your stats, my perception is it rains all the time here

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

not until i have bled Canada dry then im taking it all back to the UK

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Gosh you are such a pheasant plucker! :blink:

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

This is very worrying. We live in Cornwall, have a relatively good life here, but are about to sign contracts on the sale of our house with a plan to relocate to Vancouver at the beginning of August. We hoped there would be more oppoortunity for our two teenagers than Cornwall can offer, but reading all these negative comments are setting alarm bells ringing! Anyone willing to tell us what they really think they would do in our situation??

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Only you can decide that. Don't base your decisions on pixels. Research, reccie and experience are the only things to really rely on.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Whoa......the reviews are pretty scary....especially for people like me and others who are leaving behind not so cushy but stable life and explore the city which has been regarded as one of 5 best cities to live in world for last few years.

I am very much interested to find out that why is the city ranked so high despite all the problems/issues mentioned in this thread and www.topix.com.

May be someone from the forum should encounter these with their positive experiences which will give a soothing effect....

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Compared to Cornwall? I would think so. No foreign country is the land of milk and honey though, be realistic about it.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Well we are talking Cornwall here..now even i would prefer Vancouver to Cornwall..in fact i think Tripoli would be more preferable to be honest.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

oh for crying out loud - are you people seriously going to reconsider your move based on what a bunch of anonymous people say on the interwebz?

That's just sad.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

If you're looking for guarantees that Vancouver is the right move for you, you're not going to find them.

No where is Utopia, thinking otherwise is delusional.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

I agree with Tangram. You have to see and decide for yourselves.

One of the problems with internet forums (fora?) for research is that you can't tell the difference between genuine people who try to share their experiences and opinionated arses who take pleasure in p*ss*ig on other people's parades. BE.com is better than most but it is not immune. Hang around a while and you will work out who is who, and work out what is "Britsh Humour' and what is serious.

We came to Vancouver twelve years ago. For Mrs. JonboyE and myself it has worked out as well as it possibly could. We earn as much as we need, have great friends, always have plenty to do and live in and amongst some of the most stunningly beautiful natural surroundings it is possible to imagine. Day-to-day living is hassle free and we feel that we have the opportunity to do pretty much what we want, when we want.

Junior was keen enough to come as well but now, aged 23, he thinks Vancouver is small, parochial, and boring. He thinks London/NYC/San Francisco are cool places to live. I don't blame him. We lived in London in our twenties and it is a fun place when you are young.

He went back to the UK last year to try and establish a life. Within a couple of days he was in hospital because his Asthma, that had been dormant since our move to Canada, flared up again. He shared flats in Bethnal Green and Seven Sisters and found both places depressing, dirty. intimidating and occasionally violent. Despite enjoying London's music scene he is back. He still says that Vancouver is small, parochial, and boring but despite our encouragement to leave he doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

You keep saying things like this. Your points are somewhat undermined by the fact you live in Edmonton. Personally I think Cornwall is a beautiful part of the UK - especially along the coast.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

ha ha I was having the exact same thought

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

He really is a cheeky monkey.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

I didnt actively seek out Edmonton i was offered wads of cash to come here..and really apart from some nice beaches and some good surfing Cornwall hasnt got anything going for it.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Pubs, pasties and clotted cream. :thumbup:

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

you can get that anywhere in the UK..plus Devon clotted cream is far superior:p

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

One's experience of London depends on one's funding, dunnit? My daughter who moved to Tower Hamlets from Toronto finds it exciting and gets her occasional violence at the boxing club. But then she has an apartment with a concierge and a view of the river, it's not the same as a flat share somewhere less fashionable*.

She'd say that her sister, who lives in Vancouver, has become parochial and boring and I have to say that there's something in that. She was the bohemian but now seems happy peddling between a steady job and what seems to be the genteel respectibility of Kitsilano. She's slowed to the pace of the place.


* and yes, I find it gobsmacking that the Isle of Dogs is now expensive. I remember, blah, blah, blah

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Well I'd live in cornwall over Edmonton. No amount of cash wads could get me to live there.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

Vancouver's a perfectly nice city, but one who's reputation is a bit over-inflated and reliant on the lovely scenery.

For me, it is a relaxed city for it's size with great access to the outdoors, if you like skiing, sailing, walking etc. Generally it's clean, relatively safe and chav-free, with some good restaurants etc.

But housing is very expensive. Good jobs are scarce and hard to find. It does rain a lot. It is a very bland looking city. It's nice, but too plastic for me. Little culture and no sense of history. Fine if you're independently rich and like sailing/skiing, but everything just seems too much of struggle, just to live here. It also seems quite a remote, paraochial place at times. I miss going to other places on a regular basis. People are friendly on the surface, but hard to get to know in depth. Most people seem to be from elsewhere, a lot barely speak english.

I can certainly see why people do like it here. It is a nice place, but very over-rated IMO.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

i wouldnt..but then if you offered me wads of cash.....:p

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

I can see where those peoples' viewpoint is coming from. I came here begrudgingly with my OH. It was a struggle to find decent work but now that I'm more settled I can see some of the positive things about the city. My commute is very short. For sure you should not come here without significant savings and a plan for finding work, housing etc. There's a temendous amount of poverty. I doubt this city is 'the best place on earth' for all those struggling to get by. To be honest I'd move back to the UK if I had more money.

Re: do you hate vancouver this much?
 

We moved to West Vancouver 7 years ago. We spent six years living in West Vancouver and we are currently living in Squamish (between Vancouver and Whistler). We came here to give our children a better life. We moved away from West Vancouver as we found it to too "clicky" expecially amongst the old generations of Vancouverites that lived there. The house prices are ridiculously too high, most of them over $1m and for that you would probably buy a wooden shack that needs to be knocked down and rebuilt. I didn't like the school the kids were in. My kids are competitive and that was frowned upon (strange), the school was very relaxed, the parents were friendly but only on a superficial level. I never felt like I could have a deep meaningful conversation with anyone. When the constuction industry started to cool down about 2/3 years ago, it really affected us financially. My husband was being undercut left, right and centre. We know lots of Brits in the same situation. People are selling their houses and then living off of their savings as they cannot afford to live here. B.C. does in fact stand for BRING CASH. Or as someone else told me Chinese Columbia. I am not racist but it is true that the Vancouver housing market is being bought up by the Chinese. If you are rich you can have a wonderful life here. It is beautiful, there is lots for your kids to do but it all comes at a cost. If you cannot afford to live here it is miserable. We moved to Squamish as it is more affordable. An average house can cost between $500-600k. The only downside for me is that becuase we are living up in the mountains you are more likely to see bears or a cougar (son saw one last week). This does worry me. As far as politness goes, I have found Vancouvites to be very friendly and the kids are polite.

Somedays I really think about moving back to the UK. I really miss all my family and I miss all the choice the UK has. Food, clothing, accessibility to places, restaurants, pubs, humour. I am going back to the UK for the summer, if i can get my passports back in time, so maybe I just need a dose of Englishness, I guess we'll see.

My advise to anyone thinking of moving out here would be to come live here for one year first before you totally committ to this new life because it is very different to the UK.