Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

A travel columnist with the Economist think's so anyhow.

I don't consider Vancouver a fun city, but I don't think its 'mind-numbingly boring either.


Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring,' Economist magazine says - British Columbia - CBC News

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Obviously just trying to provoke comment, i dont think anyone could accuse Vancouver of that, its a great city, expensive yes (not just real estate), but not boring!! I just enjoyed a wonderful few days out there, a friend of mine from the UK flew out to meet me, shes done a bit of travelling and she loved Vancouver, this columnist is purely out for a reaction....bit like some of the posters on here! :sneaky:

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Just read this.

To be honest the article shares the view that is shared and so often expressed by many on this forum.

Once you strip out the ability to do snow sports I have no idea why one would locate to Vancouver. Much better entertainment and work opportunities in other cities.

Most of the cities on these livability indices are sedate and boring.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

The plagiarizing cad of an author has probably been reading my posts as I've been making this assertion for ages.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Once I take out all the outdoor stuff which I do not enjoy, I am pretty hard pressed to find anything fun to do in Vancouver usually....lol

Suppose I am too used to So. California and having everything you need for fun within a 4 hour radius.....lol

Often times when I ask people what I can do for fun in Vancouver, its always outdoor stuff, hike here, fish there, ski here, people seem to struggle if you say I don't want any outdoor stuff, no sports, no hiking and such.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

oink could actually write a book - it would be hilarious. :thumbup:

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

[QUOTE=JamesM;11657201]

Once you strip out the ability to do snow sports I have no idea why one would locate to Vancouver. Much better entertainment and work opportunities in other cities.

QUOTE]

Such as Toronto, Calgary and Montreal..?

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Road testing umbrellas? :rofl:

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

So, if you don't like being outdoors what did you do in S.Cal for entertainment that you can't do in Vancouver?

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

[QUOTE=beckiwoo;11657274]Yes.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Toronto and Montreal certainly.

It's why I've never really made it over. I'd love to live there for a winter just to snowboard but having spent several weeks in Vancouver Downtown I actually prefer the nightlife of Guildford High street.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

For my line of work Toronto and Vancouver have the best options.

I think it depends on the job you do and the career area you are in as to what opportunities are available in the city.

After visiting Calgary, it is somewhere I would consider for the future as I don't think I would want to live in Vancouver if I became PR in years to come but it depends on if I can the work there and if I can cope with a very cold winter

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Vancouver nightlife is not great. I much preferred the good times I had in Toronto on two separate trips. I avoid Granville street on Friday and Saturdays

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

A friend in Vancouver took me on a pub crawl- including taxis/ public transit- and I was under the distinct impression we did all the good pubs in vangroovy in one night.

It is all about the outdoors.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

The press here is trying to make a big deal out of this, but his point was that the cities The Economist says are the most "livable" are really boring. Vancouver was one city he cited but he also said Geneva and Vienna.

Geneva is incredibly boring. Vienna is okay and I wouldn't say Vancouver is boring but you wouldn't say it is "exciting".

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Well I can confirm that Lagos is certainly exciting.... whether that's a good thing or not...

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

So true. I feel like I have to take up an active outdoor hobbies in order to enjoy myself as there is nothing else to do or it's just lame. May be I'm still winding down in my life after a 11 year stint in London where your spoilt for choice. I find to a bit like New Zealand where I was born and raised. Behind the times.

Vancouver is beautiful, but you can't polish a turd.

Everyone acts like its the only beautiful place in the world. May be those that think that have never left BC.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

I wonder if the author has ever read The Economist.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

We have a similar blissful ignorance from people in Toronto who have never lived anywhere but Ontario and seldom left North America.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Tell that to these three.

https://itctv.files.wordpress.com/20...onsopening.jpg

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

One of my daughters grew up and moved to Geneva. One grew up and moved to Vancouver. I'd die of vicarous boredom if it wasn't for the one who's contract in Bangui ended with her signing up for a stint in Kurdistan.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Theme parks (I don't mind being outdoors, just don't like outdoor sports, hiking etc)

Museums, San Diego has one of the most concentrated number of museums of any city in North America, Vancouver comes nowhere close to having what is offered there, and most are reasonably priced and offer 1 day per month where local residents are admitted free.

Awesome beaches that Vancouver cannot come close to beating.

World class Zoo, and Aquarium both far above what Vancouver offers.


There just isn't much to do in Vancouver area, BC compared to California is pretty damn boring.


Vancouver and parts of BC are visually stunning, however if not into the outdoor lifestyle, no much else to do here, pretty lacking in the fun department in my view.

Nothing I did in San Diego can be found in Vancouver or in BC at all. Probably one of the reasons I am always so bored, the things I like to do are not available to me.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Vancouver is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. I've been visiting Van since the early 70's (and previously several times on holidays with family) but the longest I've stayed continuously was 3 or 4 months in Kits in '83 and I don't think I was bored (gallery openings, music, pubs, new friends). I've gone nearly every year since but usually go for no more than a week now and 4 days is the norm. A lot of my friends there are originally from Saskatchewan, they used to remark on big city artificiality, the need for the latest fad and the constant stress of making a living but now I suppose they're all assimilated. I tease them a little about achieving West Coast Trendy even though they all saw this hipster thing coming 30 years ago.:lol: Nostalgia is part of it, and though the long hikes are out now I still like going to Chinatown and buying oysters so we can have a feed of oysters and going up and down Commercial and getting my sausage at JNnZ's, having lunch with my sister if she's in town and catching up. Vancouver is much larger than it was when I was exploring it in 1974 or 1983 but many great places that were there then have been lost over the years. At least my photographer friend has records of a lot of it.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Pardon me while I chuckle😜😜😜

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Everyone has their likes and dislikes, you have posted nothing as to why Vancouver is better, so other then being the usual prick, you have provided nothing of use.

I stated why I prefer So. California over Vancouver and BC and Vancouver cannot offer me those things.


Lets see:

World class zoo in Vancouver - No

Aquarium, Vancouvers is small and over priced and overall a C in my opinion.

Museums - Does Vancouver offer the amount and diversity of them, No.

Beaches- Vancouver has them, but are they on par with 70 miles of coastline of San Diego - No

Does Vancouver have any decent theme parks that So. California as a region offers - No.

Vancouver may work for some, but for me personally the things I enjoy are not offered in Vancouver or BC for that matter.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

I have a friend and neighbour who is in the final stage of MS. He contracted the condition some 30 years ago and will likely be dead within 18-24 months. He still has movement in one finger which fortunately allows him to drive his wheelchair, but not outside. His speech is rapidly deteriorating and will be undecipherable very soon.
Never, even once, in the many years I have known him have I ever heard him say "why me".
Every day he is cheerful, happy and smiling. He has a hole at his coccyx you can stick your fist through. Fortunately no pain because he has few nerve endings left but his brain is still very active.
I need to ask if there is anything at all in your life that is good. I understand that you have a mental condition but constantly complaining about virtually everything in your life achieves very little, IMO.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

But why does it affect you so strongly?

Surely, tolerance and respect are virtues you could, instead, promote here?

Mental illnesses are usually a mixed bag of bad genes, hormones, chemicals and biology gone a little out of balance (coupled with environmental effects)... it's not all about barrier beliefs and irrational thought processes that the user of the brain has full control over. Brains can also be badly wired.

Let's take the kind approach. Please?

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

I've been to conferences in San Diego a lot over the years and while it never struck me as a very vibrant place, the weather's great and it has delicious Mexican food, something Vancouver is sadly missing. :(

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

I agree with regards to work opportunities in Vancouver, there would be very little there for myself, thats why i chose Ontario, however i must say i did enjoy my visit there, its a lot smaller than Toronto, I think its the outdoor stuff that attracts me, but maybe that would wear thin after a while.

I do think the author of that article did try to push his point a little too far though, many people (except for Oink ;)) enjoy "nice" and "safe" as a place to live. Maybe the author should try one of the middle eastern hotbed locations if he enjoys living on the edge! :rofl:

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

My feelings exactly. Love the place. Voted the second most attractive city in the world to VISIT, the first being Cape Town.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

I don't find the place boring per se, it’s the people who live here that are the dullards but then that's indicative of Canada itself. That said, its a lot better being bored here than being bored while freezing or sweating your bollox off in the rest of the godforsaken place.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

I'd ask you both to re-read Site Rule 1 please. Either put each other on ignore, or take your squabbling to PM so the rest of us don't have to read it.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Not sure a place can be boring. It is inanimate. The problem is the people, those who are there, or those who visit. Some like what a location has to offer, some don't. Because one guy whines about it is no reason not to go visit and find out for oneself. I don't like any city, so I avoid them. There are places I have enjoyed and gone back to, places I disliked and would not go back to.

Those who find any place boring or unlikable, perhaps go somewhere else. I moved from one city at it no longer suited me (too many people moved in) to somewhere with less people. The buggers seem to keep following me, so I may have to move again soon.

Vancouver and surrounds for me is anything but boring from 8000 feet. Awe inspiring scenery that that a bar, restaurant, theatre, museum, man made attraction could not even get close to.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

I think you can term places boring. In Vancouver's case, I think perceptions of outsiders are sky high, because it does look stunning, and the city does have some innovation and industry. However, it lacks large corporate headquarters, and attracts those people more driven by lifestyle than career or ambition. It's also fairly isolated geographically, wedged between the Rockies and the Pacific, so feels insular. On the plus side, it's growing, and benefitting from Asian trade and investment. Another twenty years and it could well become world class.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Plus, it suffers from severe parochial and conservative north American attitudes, which doesn't help.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Must be changing a bit though, considering the immigration?

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

My Sinophobe friend in Vanvouver emailed me that he heard on the radio yesterday 75% of single family detached houses there have been purchased by Chinese speculators or by Chinese families already living there. I have a whole file stuffed full of links from him (The Economist mainly) in the same vein and I've told him time and again to move if he doesn't like it because he sure isn't going to change it.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Most of it is from India, China and south east Asia. None of which are noted for their socially progressive cultures.

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

As long as DFO strictly enforces the fishing regulations, limits and closures then fling open the immigrantion doors to everyone imo. :thumbup:

Re: Vancouver 'mind-numbingly boring?
 

Ironically, that's the point: socially progressive cultures can be a bit boring !