looking for info on the best family areas in BC, preferably around Vancouver.
Visited Vancouver a few times, really liked it, but would prefer something a little out of the city for family but close enough to commute.
Heard White Rock, Victoria, West Vancouver, & Yaletown are all good?
Are there any areas with a strong Greek community?
Thanks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greektown,_Vancouver

If money were no object, I'd live in North or West Vancouver.

If money were no object i wouldn't be in such a dilemma all the time!
Appreciate your view so thanks for that.
We would quite like to be near the coast, hence the reason we thought of White Rock, but have also heard that it is more suitable for older people (fine for us, but we have a 12 year old!).

Whereabouts will be you be working or need to commute to?

We dont have jobs arranged, or anything like that, still at the researching stage. Need to find out if there is any demand for our line of work (social care, youth work, motorcycle mechanic, nursery nurse). Once we find that out we can start looking at best areas to stay.
Other option is to come over for 6 months as visitors to get a better idea.

Do you have a visa?

yaletown is downtown and not a family area

white rock is nice (also check out south surrey which is essentially the same area) bit of a commute though, we came very close to moving there but decided not as my oh works right downtown. we settled on north van instead.

As for a strong greek community, the area very west on west broadway certainly has greek infuence not sure if its strong or not, sadly amongst the more expensive areas, also very close to the ocean and beach.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greektown,_Vancouver

I love victoria

west vancouver is nice but is dead and very expensive - average house a million plus.

One area often overlooked here is steveston in richmond. nice little town right on the water, very good for families. Bit cheaper.

No, nothing like that yet.
We had thought about immigrating 5 years ago but were put off by the very long processing times, i think things have changed now, trying to get up to date info.
We are also in a better position to think about it again (3 of our 4 children have finished school & are working).
Open to suggestions on suitable(safe,friendly) areas to live with a 12 year old, who loves motocross riding!

Do they have motocross tracks in Canada?!?!

OK, in which case I think you're putting the cart before the horse so to speak! Visa processing times have reduced dramatically since they changed the system in 2008, but they're also tightened things up considerably - it used to be that anybody with 67 points or more qualified for PR as a Skilled Worker, but now you also need either a job on 'the list' of occupations in demand, or a job offer approved by HRSDC. From what you've said, none of the occupations you've mentioned are on 'the list' so you're going to need a job offer to get a visa.

And that job offer may well not even be in BC! So no point worrying about exactly where to live in Vancouver just yet. You'll need to job search as widely as possible to give yourself the best possible chance of finding an approved job offer, so don't worry about the finer details just yet. A job offer and visa really need to be your first step, and then once you've got that all important job offer you can figure out where you want to live based on where you'll be working.

Good luck.

Edit: you mention that 3 of your children have finished school and are working, how old are they??

So if you had started it 5 years ago you could have a residency permit by now or even living in Canada!

Unless your budget is unlimited, you may also be well advised to look in areas that fit your budget. West Van is some of the most expensive real estate in the country. Water front property around Vancouver don't expect to pay under $1m and often well over.

thanks for that guys - you have no idea how many times we have kicked ourselves over the years for not pursuing our first application!!

But, i am a great believer that things happen for a reason & things were more complicated 5 years ago. Now our older children are independent(financially as well), we are less restricted in looking for a suitable area as we do not need to look for primary schools & high schools etc. (they are 23, 21 & 17)

My husband went for loads of interviews the last time & there was a lot of interest in the service he provides, teaching/training vunerable young people motocycle mechanics allowing them to gain a qualification or go into further education. So any ideas on where we should be looking would be great.
Where should we look for jobs for those living outside Canada?

A laudable occuptation, but not one that is likely to enable you to live in a $1m house I'dve thought?

yeh, kind of thought that myself!!
Okay..... so where is affordable for us lowly paid souls?!?
Should we come over for a few months, check it out then see about starting application process...again!

Check out the Fraser Valley, commutable to Vancouver, South Surrey, affordable away from the coast, Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge. Rent for a while, you might be surprised how things change from your initial plans and perceptions once you are here. Renting gives more flexibility and mobility.

White Rock is fine for kids.