Canadian Down Under

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Calling all Vancouverites

Okay, first off, congrats on being named the best city to live in.

Nuff said. (Come on! I'm from Toronto what do you want from me???? It's like getting blood from a stone sometimes...)

Today is a day of coincidence. I had lunch today with someone I used to work with who has put in his papers to immigrate to Canada - more specifically Vancouver. Lunch was because he wanted to get an idea what Canada - but more specifically, Vancouver - was all about.

As per previous statement - seeing as I'm from Toronto, I could only give informed feedback about Canada, and sketchy info about Vancouver (don't worry, I said it was great...) but promised to find out what I could. This is where you come in:

  • What does a person thinking of moving to Vancouver need to know about what it's like to live there?
  • What is the predominant industry? what is the job market like, etc?
  • What's the quality of living (I put it in because I was asked it - gave an answer, but never hurts to get another point of view)
  • What are the good things about the city? What are the bad? (It's important to have a balanced, realistic view if you're thinking of uprooting your family and moving them halfway across the world...)

Thanks in advance for any info you send my way!

posted by lala at 2:16 PM

5 Comments:

  • Ah, Vancouver as Number 1 - for a Torontonian it must be a little hard to admit... however, TO was also on the Top Ten, (along with Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane)

    Vancouver...so much to say, so little time.

    1. Vancouver is not a cheap city to live in, it can be grey and dreary in the winter and yes it does rain alot; but it rarely snows. Ski mountains including Whistler are a short drive away. Vancouver, however, is Quite far away from the rest of Canada (ie 5 hour flight to TO).

    2. Predominant industry in Vancouver, and BC is based on the forest industry, and natural resources, much like Australia - Sydney and Vancouver have much in common in terms of their lifestyles, amenities, and environment.

    3. The Job Market is hard to say, as I suppose its dependent on the type of job. There are lots of service jobs available here, but sometimes finding professional work can be a challenge. Some professional associations have reciprocal agreements with their international counterparts (ie Engineering or Planning associations) that give members a leg up in the search for work abroad.

    4. The Quality of Life here is great. Much like Sydney with a very active social, cultural, and athletic scene. Your friend will have to get used to Hockey being the primary sport as opposed to footy or rugby, though rugby is often shown on TV here.

    5. The Bad: Vancouver is a port for drugs, there's been a homelessness problem as of late, and Crystal Meth has become quite a significant problem. There's not much in the way of violent crime here, just petty crime associated with junkies trying to get a fix.

    So those are my answers to your questions... hope it helps your friend - feel free to give him my e-mail if he wants more information, glad to help.

    By Blogger Mitch, at 1:47 AM  

  • Vancouver is fabulous, and I have to agree with Mitch that it's pretty expensive. But thousands and thousands of UBC students manage it, and I'm sure your friend can too.

    What do people need to know or might want to know?

    1) Vancouver's a super healthy city. Folks walk, they bike, they do yoga, they drink fruit smoothies and eat prodigious amounts of organic produce. though organic is going out and eating local is coming into vogue.

    2) a lot of vancouverites are really into social and ecological sustainability - lots of supporting local businesses, local designers, and food producers; walmart's been successfully kept out. nuff said.

    3) vancouver's a huge food city. the eating is cheap, and it's damn good. unless you're going high end, i'd say you never need to go more than $13 for a dinner entree/$10 for lunch. avoid the $20 entree places - go less or more ($25-30). we also drink a *lot* of coffee, and somehow, the coffee shops are always full... do people work?

    4) as for the job market.. well, i'm an anthropologist! but folks make it.

    5) the visual arts are pretty good - there are some important small galleries. music is alright (classical) but there is a real dearth of live non-classical music venues. Media club downtown is, i think, the best, and the only one that has nightly live music programming? there's the commodore too, but i like to support the live acts.

    6) the suburbs aren't so nice. well, north van is pretty.

    7) Canucks Rule!

    8) awesome microbrews. there is no excuse, ever, in vancouver to drink anything but.

    By Blogger Lissa, at 3:21 AM  

  • at the end of #5, i meant the small acts (rather than live acts... silly me!)

    By Blogger Lissa, at 3:23 AM  

  • Lissa and Mitch - thanks for the info - will pass on to my friend - he'll be happy to have some of the good things I told him confirmed by Vancouver residents.

    Mitch - former Torontonian.... but yeah, Vancouver #1 doesn't slip easily from my lips... but at least we lost out to a Canadian city. It makes it easier...

    By Blogger lala, at 10:53 PM  

  • I don't have much else to add to the list, seeing as I am not from Vancouver. Whenever I have visited there, I have really enjoyed it though. I would love to move there (or to Victoria) but the high cost of living that I always hear about is a little offputting.

    The other thing that I *really* like about Vancouver, is that it is not too far from Seattle. In fact, when my husband lived in Seattle, I would just fly via WestJet to Vancouver and then drive down to Seattle. It was nice and cheap.

    Good luck to your friend. I am sure that he will manage.

    By Blogger Expat, at 2:26 AM  

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