gone west Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4306936.stm Vancouver is the world's best place to live, a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has found. I'll get the sofa bed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VHB Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Are you so sure? Check out the condo prices in Vancouver: <a href="http://van-housing.blogspot.com/2005/10/you-are-here.html">link</a> The style of the graph should be familiar to you here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone west Posted October 4, 2005 Author Share Posted October 4, 2005 No worries. Plenty of room in the chicken coop or the woodshed. I'm sure the landlord won't mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 No worries. Plenty of room in the chicken coop or the woodshed. I'm sure the landlord won't mind. hmmmmm. I was there for a major conference last year in the place down in the harbour (can't remember the name - the one with the funky roof), and whilst the setting of the city was undoubtably very beautiful, framed as it was by the BC mountains - I have the say the place was not that impressive: the level of homelessness was absolutely shocking...stinking (and I mean STINKING) winos were hassling us for money I would say on average 6 or 7 times a day (and this is after we were wise to it, avoided them, walked quickly etc.).....and these homeless people were scuttling around between gleaming office blocks. There was quite a bit of aggression around as well, and a starbucks on every bloody corner...in short, it seemed a lot like America! i.e. not really what I expected or was led to believe by all the 'Vancouver is the best place in the world' etc. etc......yawn. Must be a different Vancouver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VHB Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 (edited) Yeah Marko, I agree the 'best' stuff is a bit overdone at times. Canadians suffer from a massive inferiority complex vis our Southern neighbours. Worse, BCers have a massive complex about people from Toronto - I don't know how so much skiing and hiking is done by people here given the massive chips they carry on their shoulders. These complexes explain why the 'best' stuff is trumpeted all over the place here. We really worry *way* too much what others think of us. You were at Canada Place for your convention, and likely had the misfortune of spendig some time in Gastown, which is right next to the most drug-infested neighbourhood in Canada, if not North America. That explains the stinking aggressive winos. Canadians take the 'live and let live' mindset so far that it is considered gauche to complain about aggressive panhandlers. If you were to p1ss on a Canadian's foot, he would likely say, "Oh, I'm sorry, I got in your way." Not that I'm a self-hating Canadian or anything, I just think we need a reality check now and then. Vancouver is actually a great place to live, but it's not utopia. VHB Edited October 4, 2005 by VHB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van hoogstraten Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Im surpised Adelaide is up there - listen to Ross Noble Goes Global's - according to Adeliade people I know he captures the essence of the place http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/ross_global.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warwickshire Lad Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 The style of the graph should be familiar to you here Sure is (if you visit the site in my sig, the original You Are Here graph was my creation ) -- and may I say I visited Vancouver for the first time on my holidays just a few weeks ago ! With regards to it being the "best" city in the world, well - I haven't visited any of the other cities in the top ten, but to be honest whilst I think Vancouver was "OK", to me it was just a city like any other city which has it's problems (such as prostitutes and drug dealers) as well as it's good points. Also this is just IMHO but I thought the diversity of tourist attractions, such as history/heritage museums weren't there which makes London a better city in those respects. It does have a nice scenic backdrop with the mountains, no doubt about it, and just about everyone I came into contact with were friendly enough ... but could I live and work there ? Temporarily perhaps, but not permanently - and that's assuming I could even afford the ridiculous house prices. I'm city-phobic these days, anyway. Looks like Vancouver is well and truly in a bubble and other places I went to in BC and Alberta didn't exactly look cheap either. I visited a Real Estate agent in Banff and asked about prices, and said they're all going up because of lumber prices in the South! Different country, different lame excuse! I couldn't see anything particularly special about the apartments/flats around the Vancouver harbour area. Many of them looked fairly shabby and grimy to me, and I bet they cost CAD $1m each. No thanks ! I must admit, when I chose a holiday to Canada, I did take notice of the fact that Canada and it's cities always seem to be voted top in these types of "quality of life" polls, so I wanted to see why. I agree with the previous poster that "best" can be overdone. Sure, it's OK and yes the terrorist threat is going to be very little, but at the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SittingBull Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 It must be due to all those commission that I pay to my stock brokers in V. DrBubb, where were you in the late 90's when I was taking a bath on my mining juniors? It was a lonely time for metalheads here in Vancouver. My comments on Vancouver...hmmm...ask me after the crash, I'll be in a much better mood then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodCrosby Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Visited Vancouver in April. Marvellous experience! The food, the friendliness, the funkiness. Some extraordinarily hot, cultured and intelligent women reside in this town! Are they up for it? Let's just say I didn't get much sleep while I was there. I too was initially put off by the winos, my approach to downtown was via E. Hastings street, and my heart sank. Staying in the business district, I was actually "acosted" by a very well-dressed pan-handler who could have been staying in my hotel from the cut off his cloth. Very funny. I was told by a Brit ex-pat that the reason there was so many vagrants in town was because it's the only Canadian city where the temperature doesn't fall to -40 in winter. Don't know how true that is.... I found them amusing rather than threatening. A place of breathtaking natural beauty... Paris on the Pacific. Grouse Mountain, Stanley Park, Granville Island, Capilano, Lynn Valley, English Bay.... Ah... memories. Also only a seaplane ride away from the Gulf Islands, magical. Check-out an R&B club called The Yale. If you can't score in there, you must have two heads.... Must say I didn't rate the BC-bud though! I've had stronger tea-bags!!!! Only 100 miles south is a shithole called Seattle. Total contrast. Felt very threatened in Pioneer Square. And as for women....zero. Seriously thinking of emigrating to Vancouver. Buying property may be expensive, but rents are reasonble. Check out craigs-list vancouver. Mind you I was getting nearly C$2.40 to the pound then. Nearer C$2 now... Liked Calgary also, but being a Scouser I die if I'm not close to water..... Vancouver ROCKS! Errol Flynn loved the place. He keeled-over there in 1959 in the arms of a 15 year old starlet, after one final bender...but, as they say, that is another story...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberta Tatlock Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 I visited a Real Estate agent in Banff and asked about prices, and said they're all going up because of lumber prices in the South! Unless you have a business or work in Banff you can't buy property there as it's in the National Park. The town nearest the park boundary on the Alberta side is Canmore and there's a place with wacky prices (Think of a number). I've seen adverts with prices crossed through two or three times (upwards and downwards). We thought of living in Canmore but decided that it was becoming a dormitory town for riich folk from Calgary. As for the "best city" thing. I like Vancouver but it's way too expensive for us. (We'll probably move to BC to retire though) Calgary is in there too, which is expected as it's reasonably clean, efficient, affordable and has a relatively low crime rate (if you exclude the gang members who seem to be hell bent on shooting each other). Calgary real estate prices are rocketing too though, 25% in the last year in the inner city areas. It depends what you are looking for, but I think Canada/Calgary is a good place to bring up children. Okay, it doesn't have the tourist attractions of London, we'll have to wait for a European holiday to do those again. But the sports and general facilties here are excellent and if you like the outdoors (skiing, hiking, biking) it's great to be less than an hour's drive from the mountains. I miss certain things about London, but I don't miss the 1.5 hour each commute on dirty trains and tubes to a job I didn't like but needed to do to pay the school fees/high housing costs etc. I'll take semi-retirement and a 20 min cycle to a job I enjoy with a wife who works part-time and is around each day when the children arrive home from school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tentpeg Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Never been to Canada, but if i were to emigrate, BC would be at the top of the list, with the Vancouver area as favourite. I've heard that Victoria (just over the water on Vancouver Island) is a decent place, anyone been there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodCrosby Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Never been to Canada, but if i were to emigrate, BC would be at the top of the list, with the Vancouver area as favourite. I've heard that Victoria (just over the water on Vancouver Island) is a decent place, anyone been there? Yes decent, but boorriinngg in comparison to Van. Lots of Yanks go there(ugh!) and Victoria cosequently hams it up as a kind of "Olde London Towne." Tea at the Empress was nice though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warwickshire Lad Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Visited Vancouver in April. Marvellous experience! The food, the friendliness, the funkiness. Some extraordinarily hot, cultured and intelligent women reside in this town! Are they up for it? Let's just say I didn't get much sleep while I was there. Several of my cohorts visited the Buffalo Club, where apparently several women ended the night trying to ride the mechanical bull in the buff ! Unfortunately I wasn't there for that one myself, but at least I did get some action though..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone west Posted October 4, 2005 Author Share Posted October 4, 2005 Never been to Canada, but if i were to emigrate, BC would be at the top of the list, with the Vancouver area as favourite. I've heard that Victoria (just over the water on Vancouver Island) is a decent place, anyone been there? Victoria - City of Newlyweds and Nearly Deads. Expensive, crowded and has the feel of being a giant Surbiton. Takes a certain personality to live in a tourist trap. Spent a "good few" years there. Thing about these lists is that they are loaded with subjective data and even then the top 20 cities are so close together as to make no difference. I think they are produced more for marketing purposes. Still got a few spaces left in the coop. Fresh eggs for breakfast anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VHB Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 "Also this is just IMHO but I thought the diversity of tourist attractions, such as history/heritage museums weren't there which makes London a better city in those respects." Yeah, the museums here are not good. I don't know really what to tell visitors to do on a rainy day. The Anthropology Museum at UBC is pretty good, but that's about it. Nothing remotely even close to in the league with the British Museum, or even the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto or all the museums in Ottawa. For hiking, skiing, and camping, however, we can't be beat. I live downtown and I can be hiking in the mountains in 15 minutes. Not many cities for which you can say that. VHB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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