Bleepedy Bloops

Weston

Rob_999

Same here - don't see what all the fuss is about.

Vancouver definitely lacks culturally (museums, art galleries, theatre etc) - think thats often confused with "multicultural" which most expats aren't really bothered about...

Novocastrian

No, that's quite different.

Rob_999

yes - thats my point

Alan2005

I think he knew that.

Novocastrian

The multicultural aspects of Toronto, Montreal etc are what make them nice places to live. Vancouver, in my limited experience, simply has a large chinese minority and a couple of indian enclaves in the Valley.

Other than that the place is rather uninteresting.

Rob_999

What multicultural aspects does TO have that make it interesting? I've only visited a couple of times and can't say I was impressed....

Agree about Van - its a typical north american city with an asia-light feel, but in a kick ass location.

Novocastrian

I'm sure others can comment with more authority, but in my view it is really refreshing that there are so many different ethnic communities in the city and the GTA. It's a cliche, but a true one, that we all live side by side with a remarkable degree of mutual respect. And the grub is fantastic!

I don't want to be too utopian, there are points of conflict, but they are IMHO, the exceptions.

As to Vancouver's location, it's more isolated than kick-ass. Some of the views are indeed pretty, but that's true of New Zealand as well, where I think Vancouver would be better off.

ExKiwilass

um, no. compared to NZ Van is practically the centre of it all. Nice try, middle of the continenter.

London Mike

I'm moving from London to Toronto in June if you want t o PM me for a chat.

Novocastrian

Perhaps I overstated the case a tad, but surely not on the beauty of the places?

Bleepedy Bloops

I think a lot of people who come here to visit expect Toronto to be a certain way, and they end up missing what makes it so great while they try and figure out what's so great about the place, if that makes any sense . Toronto is essentially a city of cultural neighbourhoods, very old and well established ones. So food, shopping, cultural holidays, parades, international music, art, theatre, cinema, books and authors...you name it, the city is a cultural hub. It's probably the same thing you have in Vancouver, just "supersized".

Rob_999

From my house in Van - North Shore mts 10 min drive, world class skiing 1.5hrs drive, beach 2 min walk, kayaking & sailing 2 min walk, decent size city with reasonable job opportunities, 20 min drive. International airport 40 min drive. Seattle 3 hrs drive. Hardly isolated....

You don't have that in NZ. Aucklands a dump, Wellington is nice enough but no mountains & miles from anywhere, Christchurch is even more isolated & more like a town than a city.

I guess they both have mountains & lakes, plus it rains a lot...

dboy

Very true. I've been here for years and never once thought of it as isolated at all. You also never mentioned the oregon coast which is kick ass.

It seems to have become a sport these days slamming Vancouver, while i tend to agree that it lacks things, such as museums and what have you, its still a very nice place to live. It does need to do a bit of growing up though.

I do like Toronto though, but for entirely different reasons than vancouver.

Alan2005

I don't feel that isolated ... at work yes cos I work with people in the UK and they've normally mostly gone home by the time I rock up to work. Outside work, nah, not really.

I think that a lot of the slamming of vancouver is a reaction to how up it's arse the city council and the media is. Can't they just let it be what it is without going on about world class this and that at every possible opportunity.