dboy

I think that was exactly what we were saying. We are here for the lovely garden as alan puts it. And it is the setting that makes the place special - if one can't see that they are truly blind. Vancouver is a very young city and has as much to offer as a city as does most comparable sized places.

- its not and never will be London or New york - thank god!

And while we are on the subject - there is lots that is great about the city - very walkable lots of interesting neighbourhoods, from point grey, to kerrisdale, to kits to fairview, cambie village, mount pleasant, main, commercial drive, to the west end - denman and its collection of ethnic restaurants and interesting stores, down to english bay, to coal harbour to gas town to the hertigage district to yaletown to robson street. I've wandered these streets for years, still enjoy doing it. Perhaps if you challenged yourself and took it for what it is and stopped trying to find the albert hall, you might appreciate it for what it is. It's not perfect but its home.

el_richo

Brighton for a beach walk, Surrey for hikes and mountain biking, Bushy / Richmond / Kew / Hyde / St James Parks............

Alan2005

I disagree that a city is a city is a city. Some cities have something about them (it's hard to define what this is) that makes living in them a joy to do. I like living in Vancouver as it's comfortable and clean, but it is kind of meh. Without the natural stuff around it, it wouldn't be any different to reading or nottingham. But here's the thing; it actually does have that natural beauty around it so it isn't like reading or nottingham. It's why I'm here at any rate.

dboy

a million dollars a day is spent on housing and services in the DTES alone. Policing, well we could always use more - but then i'm biased.

dboy

so true - i think that's strathcona - the blue house would be about 950,000 easily if not more.

Almost Canadian

I used to live in Reading. Reading with mountains and a beach would still be bloody awful. I have never been to Vancouver but if all it is is Reading with mountains and a beach, I am not too sure what the attraction is. Same could be said about Nottingham. Surely there must be more to Vancouver than that, if what others have to say about it is to be believed?

dboy

not been to either nottingham or reading - its a nicer city than manchester though!

Vancouver in some places has an overly built feel to it, almost like someone came in and buit it while we slept. So not much in terms of having grown as a city - there are parts that are not like this, but there is a feeling in the newer areas, such as coal harbour, that they are sort of sterile -

Not sure if that helps.

oicur0t

Brighton is dirty and the beach is terrible. It's become quite a stressful, overcrowded place. There are better places to hit the coast.

All those places are nice. But for us to get to Kew is about 1 hour minimum. To get to south of Croydon can take 40 mins on average. Anyway, I've done those things. While they're great, I feel it's time for something different and I think the cost (i.e. how much it costs to live here in London) is too great. London has a vibrant nightlife and interesting arts scene, etc. but we've lived here for years and don't feel like taking advantage of them so probably won't miss them. I'm not expecting Vancouver to be 'better' but I am expecting it to be different.

oicur0t

Like Docklands I'd imagine?

JonboyE

Lat year we went back to the UK for a visit and stayed a few days with some friends who live in Wapping Wall. We walked along to the Isle of Dogs where they proudly showed us around Canada Place. Great, I thought, just like downtown Vancouver without the scenery.

oicur0t

Yes, it was all funded by Canadian investment irrc.

el_richo

The cost of living in London i see no difference to Vancouver so at least it'll not be a shock. Certainly the outdoor and visual options (if you're into natural beauty) are greater than London but if you're living further afield than actual Downtown (Fraser Valley for example) then don't expect to be on the doorstep of the beach, skiiing, etc.

Just be aware of the Joni Mitchell syndrome that many on here seem to suffer from

Alan2005

It's hard to explain what I mean. Vancouver is pleasant and easy going and therefore it isn't exactly challenging to live here. I'm not inspired by Vancouver itself - but it's location is beyond compare. Maybe I picked bad examples, maybe it would be more like other small Canadian cities such as Edmonton - but I don't know as I've never been there. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can't really separate Vancouver from it's surroundings - for instance walking along burrard itself is much of a muchness, but then you get a view of the north shore mountains on a sunny winters days and it's actually really cool.

Alan2005

I quite like Canary Wharf. It's visually very striking.

dboy

ok what is joni mitchell syndrome.