Is Seattle a good "Vancouver substitute"? (Bellingham: sales, credit card)

[belmont22]

A lot of of Americans have expressed interest in moving to Vancouver on the Vancouver forum here, with the rebuttal that 1) Immigration rules and too strict and 2) It's too expensive. The former situation is changing because they are changing the rules, but the latter is still a major issue.

I do think living in Vancouver comfortably is doable if you have a decent job lined up, house ownership isn't that important to you, and you're open to living with roommates. I'd pay extra to live in somewhere so nice vs. say a cheap life in Texas but sometimes I feel like living in Vancouver is so ridiculously overpriced it doesn't justify the city's beauty and recreational opportunities.

Generally the suggestion for people interested in Vancouver is "move to Seattle". Personally I find that a little bit like saying Buffalo is a Toronto substitute.

Seattle is a decent Cascadian city and all, but I think it has a completely different vibe from Vancouver. For one thing, it's in the United States so you're not going to get the experience of living in a foreign country. Another thing, it doesn't have the intimate connection to its natural environment that Vancouver does, it's hard to explain exactly what I mean unless you've been to both cities and experienced it for yourself. Seattle has highways dividing the core city from its waterfront, you can't snowboard just outside the city limits like you can in Vancouver, it doesn't have Stanley Park -- it's nice in its own right, but it's definitely not going to satisfy someone who is set on living in BC.

Bellingham and Whatcom County definitely will not either. Despite their physical closeness to Canada, they feel deeply American and even a little bit hickish if I might say. Not to mention Whatcom County is quite rural and boring to live in, and crossing the border is a pain, I know for a fact because I've been turned away from it once and the border guards into BC are especially anal.

What do you think? Could Seattle satisfy an American who wants the Vancouver life but can't have it because they can't afford or don't qualify to immigrate?

[Hemlock140]

Seattle is about as close as it gets to being in Vancouver while remaining in the U.S.
We go up there 2-3 times a year to visit but I have no interest in moving there. We are just
45 minutes from snow, miles of forest trails withing 10 minutes and I work on the Seattle waterfront. Contrary to your experience, we have never had any trouble crossing the border into Canada, with more scrutiny returning to the U.S.

[Seacove]

You lost me when you compared Seattle to Buffalo. If you feel that way you should probably just set your sights on Vancouver and make whatever sacrifices you need to make to live there.

[tobester]

If you're gonna move to Seattle and constantly complain it's not like Vancouver, you should (as Seacove suggests) just do whatever you have to to move to Vancouver. Or move to Vancouver, Washington - at least you'll be comfortable knowing you live in Vancouver.

[suziq999]

Stanley Park? There are several parks here like Discovery and Magnuson that are actually better I think because you don't have all the car traffic through them.

I do love the Asian influence on Vancouver, but Seattle has quite a bit of that all on it's own.

And saying you don't get the experience of living in a foreign country is also a little... silly I think. If you want a foreign country experience you really need to move somewhere where they don't speak your language.

That said I do love Vancouver, and love that the mountains are even closer than Seattle. But Seattle is also a better place to LIVE in that it has neighborhoods where you can be part of a community and afford to live here. Vancouver might be a better place to visit, but Seattle is a better place to live IMHO. If Seattle had a reasonable rail system, I think it'd be almost perfect.

[Inkpoe]

Seacove, he didn't compare Buffalo to Seattle. He basically said Buffalo was a Toronto substitute. I personally doubt that, but then those 2 cities I haven't actually visited (just that on paper, they don't sound similar at all).

The fact that someone's looking for a city within USA that feels like a "foreign city" is odd to me. Why not actually just go to a foreign city for the actual experience, instead of trying to find something in USA?

So the answer to the question is No. Honestly and this is because I've visited Vancouver BC many times... They don't feel at all similar to me. If someone wants a Vancouver life... if they really want that-- they'll either accept they can't have it or do what they can to get it. Maybe move to Point Roberts if you have to, I don't know.

[Seacove]

Inkpoe the way I read it is "Seattle is to Vancouver what Buffalo is to Toronto". And my thought is while I love Vancouver, I don't see any need for Seattle to be Vancouver. The post reads as a "Seattle is a poor substitute for Vancouver, but could Seattle be a substitute for Vancouver?" I just think comparing them so disproportionally as Buffalo/Toronto is a little silly.

Seattle and Vancouver trade a lot of things back and forth, the Canadians shop here constantly (though I think you pointed out they also get favorable tax benefits with that) and we vacation there all the time. To say an American city is flawed because it doesn't feel foreign enough makes no sense.

I'm inclined to believe whenever you try to compromise by getting the lesser, you end up spending more because you still want what you really wanted all along and anything else is a poor substitute.

[Inkpoe]

Yes, Canadians are exempt from paying our sales tax. I know that our legislature was working on changing that (and they may have, I can't remember if they actually followed through).

Vancouver BC is ridiculously overpriced because there are people (from other countries) willing to pay those prices. I really don't want that to happen to Seattle, it's overpriced now as it is (though nowhere on the level of Vancouver BC). Seattle has a high COL as well. So I'm not sure if Seattle is that much more "affordable" as a substitute.

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

Yes, Canadians are exempt from paying our sales tax. I know that our legislature was working on changing that (and they may have, I can't remember if they actually followed through).

Vancouver BC is ridiculously overpriced because there are people (from other countries) willing to pay those prices. I really don't want that to happen to Seattle, it's overpriced now as it is (though nowhere on the level of Vancouver BC). Seattle has a high COL as well. So I'm not sure if Seattle is that much more "affordable" as a substitute.

Canadians from certain provinces are no longer exempt from paying our sales tax.

Sales to Nonresidents: Update, March 14, 2011 – Legislation signed into law permanently bars residents from the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, and Quebec. These provinces already are barred from using the exemption by a court injunction issued in July 2010. This legislation permanently disqualifies them from the tax exemption (SB 5763)

[Seacove]

I found that interesting, so when they make a purchase here, they maybe show their passport or their ATM/credit card recognizes that they are tax exempt? I'm sure the local retailers appreciate the money they spend here, just look at the roads and parking lots on any given weekend; Canadians are a strong presence.

Edit: seattlerain posted they are no longer tax exempt so the appeal must be our pricing being lower than BC.