Vancouver is the nicest, but hardest place to live. Let's discuss this.

[Dirksteel]

Minor rant here, so bear with me.

Alright so we have an extremely difficult job market here in Vancouver, looking on craigslist for a job will 99% get you scammed. I have a friend who worked at IGA for 3 years and London Drugs for 2 years, and he can't even get a job at Safeway. I know people who have been searching for over 2 months to find a half-decent job. Perhaps that's why so many people turn to crime?

Now with gas prices TRIPLING in the span of my lifetime (mind you, I'm 19) the cost of everything else has gone up significantly as well. Thank god for our excellent transit system or I swear my family would be in the poor house.

Combine what I've already said BC has the LOWEST minimum wage, and the HIGHEST cost of living. It's no wonder our poverty rates are so high. Instead of trying to build affordable housing (which, is still a good move, yet only makes a small dent in the problem,) why can't the minimum wage be higher? It's still under 9/hr. I went to Alberta last year for an extended stay, walked past a Tim-fucking Hortons, and they were paying 14/hr for pretty easy work and albertans have low rent as well. Gah!

Alright, that's enough of me ranting, thanks for reading. Agree? Disagree? Think I'm an idiot? I'd love to hear your thoughts either way.

 

[ReluctantPooner]

Saying your buddy can't get a job at Safeway isnt saying much, their business is dropping like a wad of birdshit falling from the sky. This is from an ex-safeway assistant manager who jumped ship a couple of years ago, who still has lots of friends working there.

 

[klamkracker]

Reduce your costs. Get rid of your cell or home phone,call waiting,call display,voice mail,internet,cable and find the show on the internet (if you you do not get rid of it) You get the idea!

When I called Telus to Cancel the cell they said right away you can not do that you have to pay a pently. I told them I have no contrac,she was surprized and ask why. I told her Telus is offsetting the gas prices. I can live with out, all of the above. $200 on average saveings per month.

If you are young go to the place that have jobs and work all the hours you can and put away for your house a big down payment!

 

[InTheBum]

Reduce your costs. Get rid of your cell or home phone,call waiting,call display,voice mail,internet,cable and find the show on the internet (if you you do not get rid of it) You get the idea!

When I called Telus to Cancel the cell they said right away you can not do that you have to pay a pently. I told them I have no contrac,she was surprized and ask why. I told her Telus is offsetting the gas prices. I can live with out, all of the above. $200 on average saveings per month.

If you are young go to the place that have jobs and work all the hours you can and put away for your house a big down payment!

And where is this magically place?

 

[InTheBum]

Minor rant here, so bear with me.

Alright so we have an extremely difficult job market here in Vancouver, looking on craigslist for a job will 99% get you scammed. I have a friend who worked at IGA for 3 years and London Drugs for 2 years, and he can't even get a job at Safeway. I know people who have been searching for over 2 months to find a half-decent job. Perhaps that's why so many people turn to crime?

Now with gas prices TRIPLING in the span of my lifetime (mind you, I'm 19) the cost of everything else has gone up significantly as well. Thank god for our excellent transit system or I swear my family would be in the poor house.

Combine what I've already said BC has the LOWEST minimum wage, and the HIGHEST cost of living. It's no wonder our poverty rates are so high. Instead of trying to build affordable housing (which, is still a good move, yet only makes a small dent in the problem,) why can't the minimum wage be higher? It's still under 9/hr. I went to Alberta last year for an extended stay, walked past a Tim-fucking Hortons, and they were paying 14/hr for pretty easy work and albertans have low rent as well. Gah!

Alright, that's enough of me ranting, thanks for reading. Agree? Disagree? Think I'm an idiot? I'd love to hear your thoughts either way.

Vancouver is an absolute shithole...plain and simple.

I encourage everyone to pack up and tell this city to fuck off and die!! In fact, I hope the big one hits this city and hits it hard!!!! I sure as hell won't be helping out with the clean up!!

 

[BrokeBastard]

Vancouver is for the rich. Live here only if you plan to rent, never to have kids, or are going to inherit a lot of money/property.

It's really sad. Whenever we have sunshine people seem to forget how expensive it is to live here. Truly Vancouver is overrated.

 

[ReluctantPooner]

I wonder why is it so expensive in here. QUOTE]

Because alot of very wealthy people from mainland China, as well as Americans and Europeans, are buying up real estate here like a gambling addict buys up $1 scratch and win tickets.

 

[bcneil]

Combine what I've already said BC has the LOWEST minimum wage, and the HIGHEST cost of living. It's no wonder our poverty rates are so high. Instead of trying to build affordable housing (which, is still a good move, yet only makes a small dent in the problem,) why can't the minimum wage be higher? It's still under 9/hr. I went to Alberta last year for an extended stay, walked past a Tim-fucking Hortons, and they were paying 14/hr for pretty easy work and albertans have low rent as well. Gah!

Alright, that's enough of me ranting, thanks for reading. Agree? Disagree? Think I'm an idiot? I'd love to hear your thoughts either way.

So if Alberta has high paying crap jobs, and cheap rent, people who are able should move there.
It sucks, but you cant always live where you want to. I would love to live downtown NYC overlooking central park.

Vancouver will always be a very expensive city, and will get worse, not better.
If there somehow were magically plenty of $14 an hour jobs, and cheap rent. People would just move here in droves.
Who would build affordable housing, when they make more profit on higher end stuff?


People who wish for things like $14 per hour minimum wage dont always think things out.
You cant find a job as is, but are willing to compete with all the new people who would come here??

 

[mikey.g]

EuroSZabina 5-10 years then I'm moving to sunshine country. Can't wait.......


so your going to move to the sunny south okanagan. lol yeah but i don't think i can wait that long to see you jk

 

[princeofdarkness]

Perhaps you could dress in rags and pretend you are a homeless drug addict and they will provide you with a new condo at the athletes village!

Grrrrr. I hear you... another thorn in my side.

Peace.

 

[princeofdarkness]

Dirksteel,
I do agree with you for the most part. Part of it has to do with a little luck and a lot of (smart) hard work but yes, it can be tough for most.
When you find a job, take "ownership" and lead. Good luck.

Peace.

 

[87112]

You can tell about the wealth of a city by the casino limits, in Vancouver the pai gow tables are 25 bucks in Seattle its 5 bucks min. There you go Seattle is full of paycheck to paycheck people, I know I live in this city where learning to speak Spanish is going to be a requirement soon. But back to the topic, aside from the absolute glorious scenery Vancouver is rather boring and full of shit. I know people from other countries who have made it to Vancouver and than wham they go mentally nuts and think they never should have to work again. I dont get it, just cause you made it to a often rank # 1 city doesnt mean you dont have to work unless you hit the lottery. I still feel that psycho chick who wanted to retire at 27 should be deported back to China.

 

[AA_Train]

I agree with this sentiment. I will say the city has absolutely beautiful mountain and ocean scenery, but for the most part it is a pretentious, shithole wannabe city with no history. If you are an English speaking caucasian in this city, you are in the minority.

I always describe Vancouver like this: If Vancouver were a woman, She would be super hot but ultra bitchy gold digger with little to no substance or soul. I haven't traveled too much (planning to rectify that this summer) but I have been to Montreal twice and i can tell you there is more soul on one street corner there than in the entire city of Vancouver. Vancouver is sold as paradise but let me ask you this: Do you think any place that would be paradise would have the worst homeless drug use problem in all of North America? I think not.

Also, Vancouver is sold as an international city. It's not. It's an ASIAN PACIFIC city. There isn't a diversity of people here because many of the non-caucasian people are from Asia cultures. Using the Montreal example again, I met people from China, Algeria, Hungary as well as the French/English/Italian people who make up the majority of the people there. It is a truly international city with people from every corner of the globe, They also co-mingle with each other and are not ghettoized as they are here.

If I was a tourist visiting Vancouver, i think I would go away with this thought: Vancouver is a nice place to visit but I sure wouldn't want to live there.

 

[storm rider]

Minor rant here, so bear with me.

Alright so we have an extremely difficult job market here in Vancouver, looking on craigslist for a job will 99% get you scammed. I have a friend who worked at IGA for 3 years and London Drugs for 2 years, and he can't even get a job at Safeway. I know people who have been searching for over 2 months to find a half-decent job. Perhaps that's why so many people turn to crime?

Now with gas prices TRIPLING in the span of my lifetime (mind you, I'm 19) the cost of everything else has gone up significantly as well. Thank god for our excellent transit system or I swear my family would be in the poor house.

Combine what I've already said BC has the LOWEST minimum wage, and the HIGHEST cost of living. It's no wonder our poverty rates are so high. Instead of trying to build affordable housing (which, is still a good move, yet only makes a small dent in the problem,) why can't the minimum wage be higher? It's still under 9/hr. I went to Alberta last year for an extended stay, walked past a Tim-fucking Hortons, and they were paying 14/hr for pretty easy work and albertans have low rent as well. Gah!

Alright, that's enough of me ranting, thanks for reading. Agree? Disagree? Think I'm an idiot? I'd love to hear your thoughts either way.

Suck it up buttercup and get used to it.Yeah Vancouver sucks and I can say this from direct experience from living there and making less than $9 an hour and having a roomie who made more than me but still had the balls to consume my food.The moniker for BC is Bring Cash as you need lots of it...I have lived in Williams Lake/Revelstoke/Chilliwack/Mission/Abbottsford/North Vancouver/Nakusp......and the worst places were Revelstoke/Nakusp.....to shop for groceries there felt like being raped through the wallet....$3 for a small loaf of bread and currently a 1 bedroom apartment in Revelstoke will cost you $800 a month...want to buy a house there?....that will run you 300K+ thanks to the new ski-hill that went in (a backroom deal that benefitted 20-30 people) but 10 years ago you could have bought a 3 bedroom house for under 120K....you could allways roll on up to the fraser valley...a friend of mine lives in Chilliwack and works at a mill there...he makes $22 an hour but bitches and complains that he does not have a benefit plan...so it is all relative in the grand scheme of things...no matter how well you are doing somebody has a better lot in life....all you can do is knuckle down and work harder to get ahead and further your own prospects.

If you dont like Vancouver or the crappy wages then leave...I did that 15 years ago...since then I moved to Calgary and got in the game....I am on my 3rd house but had to hit the "reset" button because of a divorce....after 11 years at the same job I make a damn good living because of hard work and dedication(11 years without a sick day)...you are young enough and are not tied to anything so the world is your oyster....so get OFF your ass and grab that pearl you so desire and dont let go of it.

To be blunt though....Vancouver really sucks wet ass....the only things going for that city compared to Calgary are abundant golf for most of the year and cheap asian micros and that is all....try buying a house there...yeah you might get 1 for $700,000......do the math on the mortgage with the interest for the place and you are paying close to 2 million if you run the mortage to the full term.

Just my .02

SR

 

[Miss*Bijou]

Vancouver will always be a very expensive city, and will get worse, not better.
If there somehow were magically plenty of $14 an hour jobs, and cheap rent. People would just move here in droves.
Who would build affordable housing, when they make more profit on higher end stuff?


People who wish for things like $14 per hour minimum wage dont always think things out.
You cant find a job as is, but are willing to compete with all the new people who would come here??

BUt it still doesn't take away the fact that it's not realistic that a place where the cost of living is so high has such a low minimum wage. Especially if someone who works full time and making minimum wage isn't even able to keep up with the most basic costs of living. Then you are left with a city in which even people who are willing to work cannot even find affordable housing or support themselves through school or their families and children. That means people end up in shelters or on the street despite wanting to work.

Perhaps you could dress in rags and pretend you are a homeless drug addict and they will provide you with a new condo at the athletes village!

No offense Hatrick, but this comment is a cheap shot and it illustrates part of the point I'm making, you know!

For some reason, people here (not saying you personally) are often very unsympathetic to the problems of poverty and homelessness, despite it being disturbingly visible, very high and worse than everywhere else in Canada. Maybe it's due to being desensitized from having been exposed to it for a long time..? Not sure but it's always seemed odd to me that many people are so hostile in response to this type of discussion. Do you expect to be viewed as a great city to live and visit when visitors or newcomers actually see those things you choose to ignore? It's not exactly getting any better, only worse....and at a faster rate. Do you plan to continue to ignore the causes and the reasons and simply pretend it's all good because you've got what you need? And rationalize the problem as being someone else's fault, someone else's responsibility to take care of and a case of just lazy bums asking for handouts? That's really helped the situation so far, hasn't it...I'm sure it'll resolve it in no time. Yeah, sure it will....


Meanwhile, crime rates aren't likely to get any lower with the increase in poverty and homelessness.... so you can't breathe easy knowing that's not going to affect you personally, your safety or your property. Do people really think they're not affected from or responsible for dealing social problems like that? Do people really think it's ok to separate themselves from it? Sadly a lot of people in Vancouver seem to.


Then they just become easier to lump into one category: lazy bum who's own fault it is for not wanting to do anything with their life and who doesn't deserve anymore handouts from us...etc.. The problem with that oversimplified conclusion, even if it makes it more convenient for the person who believes it, is that it's inaccurate and unfairly ignores a large portion of people who don't fit that description. It also avoids considering their situation and the fact that they do want to work, probably are working hard but are still falling well below the poverty line. They may also very well have the potential to improve their situation and increase their children chances of avoiding the same... just by us simply providing them with the means to do it.


So does it make any sense at all not to do that now and pretty much ensure they remain poor and raise children who will more likely to also end up living in poverty....and raising their own kids into poverty as well...? It boggles my mind how cynical one has to be (no saying this is you personally) to truly believe that the huge numbers of families and individuals living in poverty WANT to be and remain poor! Do you not realize how absurd that is? Well fyi - very very few people actually WANT to stay poor, if you hadn't realized this! Just sayin'....

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http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/BC-Politics/2011/03/16/SinclairWage/index.html?commentsfilter=1

http://rebelyouth-magazine.blogspot.com/2011/04/bcs-minimum-wage-earners-still-working.html

http://ccapvancouver.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/pushed-out-ccaps-new-report-on-hotels-in-the-dtes/

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[Miss*Bijou]

I always describe Vancouver like this: If Vancouver were a woman, She would be super hot but ultra bitchy gold digger with little to no substance or soul. I haven't traveled too much (planning to rectify that this summer) but I have been to Montreal twice and i can tell you there is more soul on one street corner there than in the entire city of Vancouver. Vancouver is sold as paradise but let me ask you this: Do you think any place that would be paradise would have the worst homeless drug use problem in all of North America? I think not.

Also, Vancouver is sold as an international city. It's not. It's an ASIAN PACIFIC city. There isn't a diversity of people here because many of the non-caucasian people are from Asia cultures. Using the Montreal example again, I met people from China, Algeria, Hungary as well as the French/English/Italian people who make up the majority of the people there. It is a truly international city with people from every corner of the globe, They also co-mingle with each other and are not ghettoized as they are here.

Could not agree more.

 

[HankQuinlan]

If you dont like Vancouver or the crappy wages then leave...I did that 15 years ago...since then I moved to Calgary.
SR

Yeah, but then you have to live in Calgary ..... Sorry, but as a visitor only, it seems like the most soulless city on the planet.

 

[storm rider]

Vancouver has no soul and the people overall are heartless.....people would just as soon spit in your face on the street if you smile at them......cripes when I lived in Vancouver I actually read and could not believe it...but it did happen....that an aged senior had a heart attack at a skytrain station and he got trampled....he got trampled and stepped on/walked over and left to die on the platform as not 1 single person could give a flying fuck about him or the distress he was in...he died on the spot all because nobody could/would take 5 minutes out of their time......straight up that is fucking cold.....and that is all I have experienced in Vancouver....people are friendly there right up till they have what is owed to them...after they have exacted their pound of flesh...soon as they have what they want they dont give a flying fuck.....and if they have no vested interest they have no interest.

Call Calgary cold.....and it is in the winter...but I have never known somebody left to die because some selfish POS cant be bothered to care about the human condition if his dinner might get cold.......decency towards fellow human beings in Vancouver = FAIL

SR

 

[geek]

You think Vancouver is bad, try Victoria. Higher cost of living, less job opportunities and you are really beholden to BC ferries. If it wasn't for my madz computer skills I would have had to leave for elsewhere. Of course there are a lot of good things about Victoria, the weather is just awesome, less crowded, traffic is not anywhere as insane as Vancouver's and of course being an island means we aren't a suburb of Vancouver.

 

[deathreborn]

Suck it up buttercup and get used to it.Yeah Vancouver sucks and I can say this from direct experience from living there and making less than $9 an hour and having a roomie who made more than me but still had the balls to consume my food.The moniker for BC is Bring Cash as you need lots of it...I have lived in Williams Lake/Revelstoke/Chilliwack/Mission/Abbottsford/North Vancouver/Nakusp......and the worst places were Revelstoke/Nakusp.....to shop for groceries there felt like being raped through the wallet....$3 for a small loaf of bread and currently a 1 bedroom apartment in Revelstoke will cost you $800 a month...want to buy a house there?....that will run you 300K+ thanks to the new ski-hill that went in (a backroom deal that benefitted 20-30 people) but 10 years ago you could have bought a 3 bedroom house for under 120K....you could allways roll on up to the fraser valley...a friend of mine lives in Chilliwack and works at a mill there...he makes $22 an hour but bitches and complains that he does not have a benefit plan...so it is all relative in the grand scheme of things...no matter how well you are doing somebody has a better lot in life....all you can do is knuckle down and work harder to get ahead and further your own prospects.

If you dont like Vancouver or the crappy wages then leave...I did that 15 years ago...since then I moved to Calgary and got in the game....I am on my 3rd house but had to hit the "reset" button because of a divorce....after 11 years at the same job I make a damn good living because of hard work and dedication(11 years without a sick day)...you are young enough and are not tied to anything so the world is your oyster....so get OFF your ass and grab that pearl you so desire and dont let go of it.

To be blunt though....Vancouver really sucks wet ass....the only things going for that city compared to Calgary are abundant golf for most of the year and cheap asian micros and that is all....try buying a house there...yeah you might get 1 for $700,000......do the math on the mortgage with the interest for the place and you are paying close to 2 million if you run the mortage to the full term.

Just my .02

SR

wow someone else who lived in revelstoke. i lived there from like 84 to 87. and not much has changed really other then the much wanted mcdonalds finally got built. back in the day it was a&w and brownies chicken. groceries were a pain since all that was there was the coopers at alpine village, though back then of course gas was mega cheap so every weekend it was off to kamloops or kelowna to shop. the railway was far more prominent back then as the rogers pass project was going on and the revelstoke yard was booming. now it's basically just a crew change base. mt.mckenzie as it was called back then was a hidden little ski hill on a dirt road. it had two lifts, one little lodge and was basically unknown to anyone outside the city. i guess with the railway scaling back they had to stimulate local dollars somehow hence the expansion. guess my little shithole house on beruschi rd. in arrow heights (5 minutes from the hill) is way overpriced now.