And not forgetting High River AB, where we have Heartland, Fargo and a new Brit TV series Tin Star filmed here.

I was going to say I thought Heartland was much further south, then I realised, High River is a smidge different from High Level

Vancouver is often referred to as the Hollywood of the North. The falling value of the CAD against the USD has made it much more attractive to film and TV. I cycle to work daily and I probably see some sort of set up for a TV/film on a monthly basis at the Concord Pacific land in False Creek. My wife serves the guy who plays Lucifer in Supernatural at her Starbucks on a monthly basis.

What have you heard about the city? It is easier to respond to specific concerns than scare you with ones you might not heard of which are nothing to worry about.

Thought you might appreciate the video below which always makes me laugh.

Love that video. Especially the shot of the bus from "The Simpsons" - Discouver Vancouver.

A couple of observations for the OP (based on my reasonably frequent visits to the city, and as it will be my home too in the not to distant future):

- the drug problem is common to big cities (and in Australia, not so big cities). Obviously physical evidence in Vancouver is largely confined to one downtown area. Every city has its sketchy areas. Vancouver is no different.

- housing is an issue. Cheap / value for money housing is hard to come by. The housing market is experiencing something common to all "paradise" cities (eg, Sydney, Melbourne, Vancouver, Toronto, London, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Geneva to name a few. These are cities in stable democracies, with stable property systems, largely stable banking systems and some other attraction factor). The "paradise" elements of Vancouver (Pacific Rim; reasonable flight connections to Asia and elsewhere; stunning scenery and proximity to beautiful nature and recreational activities; great country; stable common law; rule of contract and property respected and free market so property easy to acquire) create a demand for real estate and push up real estate values out of sync with eg local incomes and access to (mortgage) credit.

- if the "paradise" elements of Vancouver are really of interest to you, then Vancouver will be a good place for you. If they're not really of any interest, you would be paying a premium for things that aren't of any value to you. That will likely produce resentment and disenchantment.

- others have commented that Toronto is also a media/film-making centre. I've spent some time there, combination of business and recreation. The city is multicultural, vibrant and interesting. The climate is different to Vancouver's (Vancouver not as cold as Toronto, but can get pretty moist and grey for longish periods; Toronto has extremes of cold (and heat to some extent, but I'm from Australia, so Canadian "heat" is a bit of joke to me - I was in Melbourne the day we hit 45.6 degrees celsius) and the views aren't as spectacular. But there is a great deal of physical beauty near to Toronto (eg, cottage country); it's just different to Vancouver's.

If you can, spend some time in both cities, at different times of the year and covering weekdays and weekends so you can get a sense of traffic, what it's like on the streets etc. This will give you a better idea of how those cities compare. I like them both, but my +1 won't live in Toronto again because of the winters (such a slacker, for a Canadian!) and wants to be in Vancouver because of family (and the paradise elements). The paradise elements of Vancouver really appeal to me, so I'm confident I will be happy there.

Good luck!

London is not a paradise. In truth, it's basically a hell hole. The cost of living vs the quality of life in London is terrible and the general quality of the housing is probably some of the worst in the developed world.

It offers opportunities that are unrivaled by pretty much anywhere outside of the United States but pursuing those opportunities comes at a huge cost and it's a personal cost as well as a financial one.

San Francisco has a lot of similar problems related to cost of living, poor quality housing and limited quality of life but at least with San Francisco you have the rest of Northern California pretty much on your doorstep.

I've said this before but what annoys me most about London isn't the general crappiness of the tube, how overpriced everything is or how generally snooty, arrogant and unfriendly a lot of the locals can be. It is the extend to which land is wasted. It should look like Manhattan, Singapore or Tokyo at this point with huge sky scrapers and modern apartment complexes everywhere but it doesn't.

Most people are still living in crappy old ex-council properties and houses that were built pre-Jack the Ripper because so many people are making a fortune out of property investments and don't want to disembark that gravy train.

Having lived in London, and going there regularly for work and leisure, I would not describe it as a hell hole. It has provided and continues to provide good business opportunities for me. The cultural life is superb. I enjoyed living there (and yes, living there has its challenges, I agree) and continue to enjoy spending time there. I like that London does not look like New York or Singapore, and I like the "old" stuff.

The "paradise" concept is a basket of items. Each of the "paradise" cities has different strengths and weaknesses. The main point though is that many people live in those cities, want to live in those cities, and actively move to/invest in those cities.

But as with any place, it will be horses for courses. Some people don't like any big cities. Others only like modern big cities. Others only like certain big cities. It comes down to what you are looking for in the place in which you are living and working. Sometimes compromises have to be made between working and living. Anyone who has lived in more than one place, of their own accord, has worked through those compromises.

And ergo that is why so many people tolerate it. I think it is the similar situation with Hong Kong a lot of the time.

I'm one of those people.

If I'm going to pay 2 grand a month for a flat then I want that to be ultra modern and come with access to a swimming pool, gym, onsite concierge etc. I don't want it to come with mice, windows that were installed during the reign of Queen Victoria and terrible heating insulation.

Different strokes for different folks and all that - give me the old windows and a bit of character anyway over a modern box! Although I wouldn't consider paying £2k a month to live in London anyway, if I had that to spend on housing I'd commute and get an awful lot more for my money instead.

That's the key quote for anyone asking other people for opinions on any city/village/province/state/country to live in. Different people want different things, and there's no substitute for personal experience to find out what you individually prioritise, seek, or will put up with.

In my case, I can't imagine how much you'd need to pay me to live in London again; to my mind, it was so unpleasant a place to be that it should have been cheap to compensate for them, rather than awful *and* expensive. Other people love it, and I have family members who wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I adore Vancouver, and would put up with a lot to live there again; others don't see it as worthwhile, certainly not worth the cost.

But I'm still curious what on earth OP meant by 'is it as bad as everyone says it is' !

Sadly, I'm not even sure if you can do that with London anymore. My uncle relocated to London a few years ago after a couple of decades as an expat and ended up living a 90 minute commute away from work just because anything closer that met his requirements was too expensive.

I mean don't get me wrong, as a city I love it. It has a vibe all of its own and some amazing culture, shopping and restaurants to offer. It's just that when I look at what £1k per month will get you in London compared with the likes of Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow or cities in a lot of other first-world countries, it makes me really sad.

Yep, you can. We're 30 mins by fast train and don't pay anywhere near that for our house. I'm a country bumpkin though so wouldn't live in London even if I had £4k a month to spend on housing! I do like being able to pop in to London easily though, we quite often go in as a family on a Sunday and do the park for free/free museum thing as a nice cheap day out. I just wouldn't want to live there!

Maybe he was looking in the wrong places then I suppose.

To be fair though, this was only a few years ago (~2012) and property prices around London tend to fluctuate over time.

Unless one plans to use drugs even the DTES isn't all that unsafe for the average person, it looks scarier then it is. I routinely have to transfer buses on transit in the DTES and I have never felt unsafe, nor has anyone ever bothered me, occasionally someone may ask for money, but that is about it, even at 11pm/midnight I never felt unsafe.

I had my bike stolen from there on Saturday (from inside the Vancouver Fire and Rescue services training Centre). Not unsafe but not a pleasant place where crime is to be expected.