MOVING TO VANCOUVER

[greycat]

...childs play! Your eyelashes freeze, your skin freezes, your toes unless you are wearing wool socks and Sorels...its sickening cold like you have never felt before! Trust me.

[Cheese n' Ham]

greycat wrote:
...childs play! Your eyelashes freeze, your skin freezes, your toes unless you are wearing wool socks and Sorels...its sickening cold like you have never felt before! Trust me.
  You sound like a wuss!

[Cheese n' Ham]

 just kidding grey! its all personal preference...I hate heat and cold..Vancouver is nice and mild.

[Joe Sakic]

Purelife, I am 40 yrs old.  

 Just a note, many people try to move OUT of Vancouver once they are done with their single and partying stage. Once you get into your thirties in Vancouver, maybe sick of roomates, or struggling to get ahead, not caring about being part of a "scene" anymore..Vancouver isn't that great anymore if you want a house, kids and family. Who wants to raise their kids in an apartment or condo? The interior, Alberta, or many other parts of Canada or the USA look pretty sweet when you feel stuck in Vancouver and feel like you will never get ahead due to such an expensive living situation. (ok, maybe no Alberta anymore). Overall, even without the prices, Vancouver is not a "kid friendly" city.

 

[Lise]

I beg to differ when it comes to kid friendly places. Apart from the problems concerning housing prices, Vancouver is a great place to bring a kid up. There are tons of things to do with kids, eg. Granville Island, The Vancouver Aquarium, Greater Vancouver Zoo, The Art Gallery every 3rd Sunday... not to mention another great resource like the local community centres.

[Sportsdude]

if you look at housing prices today, Alberta has gone through the roof. Just ask CK. About the only 'cheap' place to live in the west is Winterpeg and who wants to live there?

[Joe Sakic]

Lise wrote:
 I beg to differ when it comes to kid friendly places. Apart from the problems concerning housing prices, Vancouver is a great place to bring a kid up. There are tons of things to do with kids, eg. Granville Island, The Vancouver Aquarium, Greater Vancouver Zoo, The Art Gallery every 3rd Sunday... not to mention another great resource like the local community centres. [/DIV]
 I guess we can agree to disagree..in a polite way..wow! not like DV at all! haha!

  Its not the worst place in the world for kids, but not the best either. So many gangs, drugs! OMG the drug scene in Van is huge! But, with good parenting and family values, you can raise kids there and they can turn out great!

[weird al]

Yep, we take drugs pretty seriously here.

[Lise]

Well, Joe... I've been in places where the drug/prostitute problems are a lot worst so I can say with certainty that Vancouver is not all that bad when it comes to that. We still need a lotta work but it's still safer than certain parts of the world.

[Paul]

I would agree that 1 or 2C is better than -20 to -25C- certain days it gets to be -35 with the windshield- damn it!!
For those who complain about Vancouver and all the rain etc- just think for a moment how those temps. must feel!
As far as I m concerned, it s NOT fit for human consumption- even if you re into winter sports!   Anything below
-10C is uncomfortable- who cares that we have the longest skating rink in the world.
As for the drug problem and homelessness- yes, I noticed that more than ever when I visited last summer.  It s true the problem has become quite serious now.  It s hard to imagine a city like Vancouver with all its positives having such a severe problem with drugs, poverty etc.  You would think the politicians would get serious about fixing it esp. as the city gears for 2010 Winter Olympics when the whole world will be watching.
I ve also heard there a huge car theft problem there and at some point you re sure to experience it!  So ya some of these things concern me and this is why I d like to get as much info from other people on here- weighing the pros and cons.
Keep your replies coming- I enjoy reading them

[Murmun Thurmun]

Paul wrote:
As far as I m concerned, it s NOT fit for human consumption- even if you re into winter sports!  

 I personally like winter between -10 and -25 for snowboarding, back country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, ice fishing. Its all about personal preference. I am sure Ottawa doesn't have decent mountains for true outdoor sports (winter) anyways, so I agree, winter would suck there. I love the seasons. Vancouver has 8 months of rain, then some cloudy periods and a 2 months of sun.. But if you like it, that is cool.

  Not sure whose chain Lise is trying to pull, but yes, Vancouver HAS A MAJOR DRUG PROBLEM! Maybe Lise closes the eyes and pretends it doesn't exist?? But who are you trying to fool?


Do a search on the drug problems Paul, you will be overloaded with information on Vancouver, and not just East Hastings.

  Yes Paul, you would think politicians would take "cleaning up a city" seriously. But its kind of like waiting for a tobacco company to take care of a lung cancer patient.

[kitten]

I think the car theft problem has been reduced with more bait vehicles on the road.  It still happens, but if you have adequate protection such as steering wheel or gas pedal locks the probability is much less.  They don't want to waste their time on something difficult when there are easier targets.  And it's just common sense to leave nothing of value in the car.  

  As for drug addicts and homelessness people, I think they are trying to come up with a solution.  The trouble is that when it starts getting colder in the rest of Canada a lot of them move here so there is no way to keep up.  When the government in its wisdom decided that the mentally ill would be better off in the community, there weren't enough workers to keep track of them and they fell between the cracks.  They weren't equipped mentally to cope with life outside an institution and a lot of them became homeless as a result.  This will continue to be a problem until they can find enough people to help them.  I still think this is the nicest place to live, and hope that you will enjoy it here, should you decide to move.  

[Try Seattle]

Have you thought about Seattle instead?

Better coffee shops, music scene, clubs, and sports.

[kitten]

But with the same problems as Vancouver.

[Sportsdude]

I've seen really bad. North Saint Louis man. Urban ghetto, urban decay. For entertainment you get gun fights in your backyard. Granted its no City of God in Rio but its the closest thing we've got.

Saint Louis I think prides itself in being the most dangerous city in the country. (no joke)