What makes a city "FUN"?

[festealth]

I remember all the talks about how Vancouver is such a boring place to live and that the weather is always rainy and grey. All there is to do is Vancouver is clubbing, dining, miscellanous recreational activities.

But how does other cities differ from Vancouver? People in Paris claim to be the most boring city to live in. You might say, "What? But there's the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Montparnasse! Think about all that history and culture!" All that is true, but as an average Parisan, you're gonna be playing pretend tourist everyday and visit all the sites when you're bored.

Hong Kong... "All that nightlife, the bright city lights and lots and lots of shopping!" Once again, it's not like Vancouver doesn't have a nightlife, and shopping mall opening until 12am isn't what I consider as making a city "fun".

The same goes to NYC as well. What is there to do that is actually different from Vancouver and is "you can only do it here in New York"? If you're not a tourist or enjoy sightseeing, I fail to see the appeal.

Am I just saying all this because I've never been to some of the cities I listed above? Or it's true that we always perceive that the "grass is greener on the other side"?

 

[moi]

I've been to all the cities you mentioned except Paris and I think each and every one of them is amazing. Funny I was just having this conversation with someone last night about Vancouver.

I described Vancouver as being like HK but not as ugly. Meaning, we actually have trees, parks, clean air and nice clear views of the skies. I also said Van is like NYC in that they try to have parks etc in urban areas.

I can tell you that Edmonton has a river (though frozen half the yr), a bus system that doesn't work and very dirty air in the city. A nice mountain near enough to driver to, (Jasper) and of course, Banff
Vancouver has Stanley Park, the Seawall, Burnaby Mountain, and Whistler. Let's not forget the nice and humid air, the wonderful traffic and the very experienced chinese drivers.

Every place is good and bad, it really depends on what each person values and their personal experience there.
Our 'home' cities are not fun because we experience the grind of life there. More often than not cities we visit for holidays are more fun because we just got to relax there, so associate it with being a "good place".

 

[InTheBum]

Lots of things...

For a city to be fun in my books, I look for the following:

1. An easy going, party attitude among the people
2. Lots of women/SP's to be had at a very reason price
3. Clean and safe surroundings
4. Lots of places to eat...with great food that won't give you the shits!
5. Nice weather and hopefully beautiful beaches (eg. Bahamas or Phuket) or at least lots of pools
6. Relaxed laws when it comes to partying...ie...bars don't shut down at 1 am
7. Economical food and hotels
8. Law enforcement that isn't corrupt
9. Gambling
10. Lots of sporting activities to do...mostly water based for me...

 

[LittleAsianGuy]

Just having theatres,more restaurants, etc open past 11pm. Seems like people in Vancouver love sleeping early cause of the rainy and depressing weather in Vancouver. So probably unrealistic for these places to open up later.

 

[InTheBum]

Just having theatres,more restaurants, etc open past 11pm. Seems like people in Vancouver love sleeping early cause of the rainy and depressing weather in Vancouver. So probably unrealistic for these places to open up later.

Theatres and restaurants open late...isn't want I call mind blowing excitement...

You need to go out and get LAID LAG!

 

[LittleAsianGuy]

For me it seems like the entire city shuts down very early. I think most starbucks in this city shuts down at 10pm? The malls over here are the same shutting down very early.

 

[melissa.in.abby]

For me it seems like the entire city shuts down very early. I think most starbucks in this city shuts down at 10pm? The malls over here are the same shutting down very early.

Try living in Abbotsford! No strip clubs, no night clubs, no stores open late... yet I don't move ... very strange, lol

 

[LittleAsianGuy]

lol you stayed home during your weekend for christ sake and did nothing

You need to go out and get LAID LAG!

 

[LittleAsianGuy]

You should visit hong kong cause i remember going to a huge mall and it was open at 1am. Everybody in hong kong seemed wide awake unlike bc people

Try living in Abbotsford! No strip clubs, no night clubs, no stores open late... yet I don't move ... very strange, lol

 

[schizo_man]

Theatres and restaurants open late...isn't want I call mind blowing excitement...

You need to go out and get LAID LAG!

well, some people's moms let them stay out past 8pm

 

[Miss*Bijou]

Am I just saying all this because I've never been to some of the cities I listed above? Or it's true that we always perceive that the "grass is greener on the other side"?

It is the vibe of a city that makes it fun.


The vibe and the people.


Unfortunately that is where Vancouver falls short, as it has no vibe (yet?).


'Tis the truth.

 

[mclovin76]

1) weather
2) the people
3) stores open late , and imean everything in europe shoe stores close at midnight for example, and beer store is in every corner and clubs dont close till 4 am.
4) thriving economy
5) ocean view

 

[Holly Taylor]

For me, as one of those people that complains about Vancouver, the problem is the winter weather.

I love Vancouver in the summer. Every day I will go for a hike, or go to the beach, or have a picnic, or walk along the seawall, or rent a bike, or do something active. It's beautiful and wonderful. It's the perfect city.

In the winter, I am cooped up inside, because I don't like winter sports, and I don't like walking around in the rain. I don't like clubbing, so for the most part I just hang out with my friends, and we all run out of ideas for things to do (when it's cold and rainy). We pine away for summer.

As for the comment about NYC- you can pretty much get whatever you want at any time of day. The public transportation system is incredible. Those are two big reasons that people will view NYC as better than Vancouver (I'm not saying that I do- I could not live in such a big city personally- although it's great to visit and I hope to go again in the next year or two).

 

[FortunateOne]

Just having theatres,more restaurants, etc open past 11pm. Seems like people in Vancouver love sleeping early cause of the rainy and depressing weather in Vancouver. So probably unrealistic for these places to open up later.

It's cuz everyone who is outdoorsy-loving moves here (you've seen them in their shorts and hiking boots in December sitting outside having a coffee). They need to get up early to hike up the side of a mountain, or go skiing, or extreme biking or whatever.

I'm here for the food: selection, flavours, freshness, availability, & quality.

 

[wolverine]

What makes a city fun depends on what your definition of "fun" is.

If you're heavily into sports and recreation then you're going to look at the ski hills, golf courses, bike trails, hiking trails, the weather, rec leagues and whatnot. Music lover? Bars with live bands, concerts, symphonies and music festivals. Urbane singles will seek out the lounges, nightclubs, trendy restaurants, shopping, and the single male/single female ratio. It's the people - attitudes, multicultural makeup, amount of hustle & bustle. It's the type of city - is it a white collar town, a blue collar town, a college/university town or a mixture? Does it have cool neighborhoods? And finally, for us PERBerts, there's the pooning (of course)!

 

[InTheBum]

Just having theatres,more restaurants, etc open past 11pm. Seems like people in Vancouver love sleeping early cause of the rainy and depressing weather in Vancouver. So probably unrealistic for these places to open up later.

You sound like some negative boring fruit on this thread...

 

[wilde]

I have lived in Hong Kong and Montreal. I would not describe Hong Kong as a tonne of fun (because it is overcrowded) but it definitely has a metropolitan feel to it even though the place is barely a dot on the world map. There is a mall there that opens 24 hrs now and it has one of the best public transit system in the world.

Montreal, IMHO, is a fun city. It has the fun vibe, if you will, that is sorely lacking in Vancouver. I also find that people in Montreal tends to be more liberal in their thinking. Great hockey team, very decent pooning choices and prices, world class Jazz festival, F1 racing, bars and clubs that close @ 3am, high mileage strip clubs........ Come to think of it, when I first moved here I was depressed for about a year. If it wasn't for the snow and my crappy French, I'd moved back there in a heartbeat.

.

 

[MrPeterNorth]

Vancouver reminds of that Gerry Rafferty song : "it's got so many people, but it's got no soul". That's exactly how I describe Vancouver.

No matter what activities there are in any city, to me a "FUN" city has to have some sort of drinking atmosphere. I would describe Vancouver as 'tolerant' in this regard. There are just as many people who want bars to close at midnight as there people who want them open late. It took how many decades to get bars to open until 3am? The problem with Vancouver is its passive-agressive NIMBY nature. We all want great things, but as soon as push comes to shove, all of a sudden people come out of the wood-works to protest any change. I love using the Stanley Park/Lions Gate lane-expansion to the north shore as an example. Remember all the bitching and whining over cutting down a few 'sacred' trees? - Well, it's funny because they all fell down due to the massive windstorm we had last winter anyway. All that wasted Pro-Green energy.

The first thing you need is public drinking. I'm not a booze-hound by any means. But it's nice to crack open a cold one and walk the streets without having to worry about some over-zealous cop handing out a stupid ticket because you're minding your own business with a beverage that just so happens to have 5%/per volume of alcohol.

Next thing you need is public transit that operates at least one hour AFTER bars close, not 2 hours prior. I will never understand this aspect of Vancouver. And we wonder how we can cut down on drinking and driving? Hmmmm. I wonder.

It's true - Vancouver seems to shine for 3 months of the year - but is that really worth it? You'd have to be pretty sadistic I think to enjoy freezing rain pellets hitting your face in the dead of winter.

We don't have nearly enough artsy cafes that are open late, or art galleries for that matter.

You want cities that are "FUN"? Rio de Janeiro. Sao Paulo. Hell, even Porto Alegre fosters more nightlife and action on a Tuesday night than Vancouver does on a busy summer Friday night on Granville St. Another great city is Montreal during F1. Now that's fun. What does Vancouver have? Put it this way, I'm a bit of a night owl myself. Not once in Sao Paulo would I think to myself at 2 or 3am on a Thursday night, man... I'm bored, what is there to do at this hour.

In the end, I always ask myself and my friends this simple question - if Vancouver didn't have the ocean or the mountains, what the fuck would this place have? Honestly, now. Think about it. "fun" would be the last thing that comes to mind.

 

[Pantherdash]

The first thing you need is public drinking. I'm not a booze-hound by any means. But it's nice to crack open a cold one and walk the streets without having to worry about some over-zealous cop handing out a stupid ticket because you're minding your own business with a beverage that just so happens to have 5%/per volume of alcohol.

Way too many people in this city who don't know how to drink responsibly or respectfully. They get stupid, loud and violent in public. Best to keep that indoors in a somewhat controlled environment as much as possible. So no, I don't think drinking in public should be allowed.

I live in the West End close to the beach and I see the leftovers from the bars, the people who don't want to go home and it's not pretty, and now you want to let them drink in public to their heart's content? Not in my house!

Panther

 

[festealth]

Next thing you need is public transit that operates at least one hour AFTER bars close, not 2 hours prior. I will never understand this aspect of Vancouver. And we wonder how we can cut down on drinking and driving? Hmmmm. I wonder.

Another great city is Montreal during F1. Now that's fun. What does Vancouver have?

Yeah, I've always found it odd that the public transit in this city isn't 24/7. Doesn't the buses also stop at around 3am or something? I mean... how much money are they saving by not having the system run all night? As far as I'm concerned, it should be a public infrastructure that serves the public regardless of the cost. If it's all about money, maybe the skytrains should only run from 5am-9am and 2pm-5pm since that's when it's used most

Since you mentioned the F1 that was in Montreal (it's cancelled now), the Molson Indy in Vancouver was somewhat of a big attraction. It's a shame that the people in power took it away

Way too many people in this city who don't know how to drink responsibly or respectfully. They get stupid, loud and violent in public. Best to keep that indoors in a somewhat controlled environment as much as possible. So no, I don't think drinking in public should be allowed.

I live in the West End close to the beach and I see the leftovers from the bars, the people who don't want to go home and it's not pretty, and now you want to let them drink in public to their heart's content? Not in my house!

Panther

You're right, there are too many morons in this city that is ruining it for everyone else. It seems like anytime there's any large event happening, there's always a few hooligans attacking/stabbing/etc someone and then the whole event is re-considered for next year and then cancelled due to "safety reasons"

I mean, isn't it the reason Vancouver cancelled the Canada Day fireworks? Also, I used to remember there were more activities during New Year Eve, but they were also cancelled. There's probably more event like them, but probably before my time.

Among a lot of other things already mentioned, I LOVE Wreck Beach!

I don't think Vancouver is boring at all. I think when you're bored, it's because you, yourself, are boring!

Needing something super sparkly fresh and hyper excitedly extreme to keep your interest reminds me of a spoiled child who can't see the beauty and wonderfulness of simple things.

xoxo
Nina

I don't think Wreck Beach is for everyone.... I'm always afraid that if I ever go there, it'll be flooded with 50+ men/women who has more resemblance to seal rather than people

And how dare you call me boring! Just because I like to play World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons, and staying at home to watch TV instead of going outside!
lol, j/k

As for needing something new, exciting, extremely fresh to keep our attention, I think it wouldn't be an issue if there's something that's actually new. I love summer in Vancouver, but having a schedule like...
[Monday - Beach, Tuesday, Grouse Grind, Wednesday - Movies, Thursday - Beach again, Friday - Bowling, Saturday - Clubbing, Sunday - Geek activities listed above] for everyweek, it sounds repetitive and repetitive = boring.
I can't seem to recall any new events/festivals/extravaganzas that's happening in Vancouver (albiet it's currently winter).