milly_m

Tell me how you really feel

I've only visited Vancouver once, but never got the impression of smugness and I wasn't force fed tofu, but maybe we were just lucky! Maybe we'll have to visit both cities before we make a proper decision.

Novocastrian

You've done Vancouver once, I would suggest that's all you need to know.

Montreal is actually interesting.

Souvy

Let me refine my earlier post. When I said "two Europeans", what I really meant was a guy from Sussex who lived in France for a couple of years and now lives in QC with a Franco missus, and a Geordie who now lives in France.

No potential for bias there!

Still don't like the west-coast muesli-munchers, though.

Novocastrian

If I may step out of character for a moment and be pedantic, I'd like to point out that although I am in France at the moment and have been for some weeks, we don't officially live here.

Muesli-munchers are OK in their place. Long live Vancouver.

Souvy

Bloody illegal immigrants! Line 'em up up against a wall, I say.

"Vancouver" and "long". I can live with that.

dbd33

I have a child who lives in, and likes, Vancouver. I don't understand liking it but each to their own. She's looking at moving on, reluctantly; a house there costs $1000/sq. ft. and, at that money, one could buy in a big income city such as San Francisco or NYC and have a big income to support the house. I don't think Vancouver is a good option if you have to earn your income in Canada, the gap between property prices and potential earnings is just too great.

scilly

As a longtime Vancouverite, I beg to differ!!

I wouldn't even know where to buy tofu

Vancouver has excellent areas to live, fantastic restaurants from almost every cuisine you can imagine. Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Southeast Asian restaurants, in particular, are probably better and cheaper than you can find in most other parts of Canada.


I speak as another Brit, one who loves Canada and has honestly never wanted to return to the UK ......... we left in 1967, and have lived in Vancouver since 1968.

Having said all that ............ yes, Vancouver is an expensive place to rent or buy, especially if you want to be downtown. But as I have explained several times, that is partly because Vancouver has no room to expand in any direction ........... there is water on 3 sides and another city on the fourth, so the only land available for building is what is already within the city limits.

Housing has always been more expensive here because of that simple explanation .............. even when we bought our house in 1972, we could have bought a larger one for less money in one of the suburbs!

scilly

I've never seen smugness here, and you certainly wouldn't be force fed tofu ......... unless you decided to visit one of the vegan restaurants dotted here and there.


You possibly should visit both cities, and for a decent length of time, not just a day or two.


I love Vancouver, always have.

But there is no doubt that housing (rental and buying) is expensive, always has been, always will be ............ and that is despite the current flood of high prices being paid for houses due to who knows what factors.

BristolUK

Tofus-are-us.
Tofu-U-Like

Don't you read Oink's posts?

Souvy

The last time I went to Vancouver, I had a meeting with a Vancouverite who had lived in the US before moving back. He described them as smug. I used the phrase "up themselves" but we were pretty much reading from the same page.

Engineer_abroad

And if your looking to buy and do not have PR or citizenship there is now a new 15% property transfer tax for foreign buyers.

JonboyE

No, it is more like tolerant condescension, though it is hard not to let the mask slip every now and again. They think they are so special, bless 'em.

I can understand why they think it is smugness, on the way to the airport on a lovely Vancouver spring day faced with the prospect of endless weeks of winter in a frozen wasteland. I would feel a little bitter too.

dbd33

I agree with this, to an extent. "wtf would you go to Vancouver if you could go to Montreal?" I wondered, on seeing the thread header. "Winter" I then thought "if you expect to be homeless or to have to work outside then Montreal's a bit intimidating".

milly_m

Neither of us work outside and (hopefully!) wouldnt be homeless but having limited French could be a real problem for me being able to work. Thats pretty much the only downside I can see but its a biggie, if not insurmountable.

Souvy

Maybe you should talk to some recruitment consultants in Montreal and get their views?