Seattle vs Vancouver(BC) (Bellevue, Redmond: fit in, neighborhoods, movies)

[aek11]

So I already posted a similar topic in the Canada forum, but I also wanted the Seattle perspective because I know Seattle people take trips to Vancouver BC all the time! I've lived in Seattle almost all my life, have visited Vancouver many times but clearly visiting is different than living. I live somewhere else right now, but I really miss the weather in Seattle. I want to live in a place that has the same type of weather, but not Seattle...So I thought Vancouver might be a good match maybe?

So for those of you who are familiar with and have an opinion about both cities, what do you think are the similarities and differences. Here are some categories that you can comment on:
1. Restaurants
2. People - cultural differences, personality differences
3. Nightlife
4. Jobs (especially software industry)
5. Lifestyle
And etc.

[allforcats]

Yes, well, much more important than those topics is whether the Canadian government would or would not find you worthy of residing in their country and taking one of their jobs. So Canada's immigration policies and laws would be your first informational stop:
Welcome to Citizenship and Immigration Canada

[movingwiththewind]

Originally Posted by allforcats

Yes, well, much more important than those topics is whether the Canadian government would or would not find you worthy of residing in their country and taking one of their jobs. So Canada's immigration policies and laws would be your first informational stop:
Welcome to Citizenship and Immigration Canada

'Cats, assuming Aek11 already secured Canadian PR and can freely move with the wind whether it blows north or south, what advice/opinion would you give Aek11 in this case? And you, other Quattlites, what do you think? Let's help Aek with Seattle vs Vancouver, BC dilemma a little bit!

[509]

Originally Posted by allforcats

Yes, well, much more important than those topics is whether the Canadian government would or would not find you worthy of residing in their country and taking one of their jobs. So Canada's immigration policies and laws would be your first informational stop:
Welcome to Citizenship and Immigration Canada

They will find you worthy if you bring $320,000 US into the country!! See part about businessmen.

I lived in Canada for a year and hated it. Canada is a nice country. It is very conservative and corporate in its outlook. There is a reason all the creative Canadians head to the USA first chance.

It is like living in a country of accountants and hall monitors. If you fit into that cultural mode those people really like it.

I was 23 and in graduate school in Canada. The only problem was that it felt like an old folks home!!

A Canadian told me that most American's think Canada is liberal because they do not have an army and socialized medicine. What most Americans don't realize is that Canada does have an army, it just flies the stars and stripes and they don't have to pay for it. And socialized medicine is not a political statement, but more viewed in the context of a corporate benefit.

Canada was one of the few countries in the world founded by a corporation and run by it for years. The Hudson Bay Company.

Nice flag, nice boring people, a good country for old folks.

That said. And since this is a thread about Seattle and Vancouver. There is no comparison between the two cities. Vancouver is a world city. Seattle is a collection of American suburbs in search of a city.

I am not a city type guy. But if your gonna be in a city, might as well be in a real city.

[movingwiththewind]

Originally Posted by 509

Vancouver is a world city. Seattle is a collection of American suburbs in search of a city.

I don't agree with both of your statements. I would say, Vancouver is in search of a world class city. Seattle is a collection of neighborhoods that are not in search of a city. An interesting view of Canada, though.

[Ira500]

Seattle might have more folks in the suburbs, but Vancouver has a larger population within it's city limits than Seattle does. It feels more urban, and has taller buildings. More people live in high rises.
It's got a tremendous amount of cultural diversity, with some distinct ethnic neighborhoods, something Seattle doesn't have a lot of....Part of the Main St area in Vancouver is predominantly Indian, part of the Commercial drive area is mostly Italian, and the area around 41st and Oak is mainly Jewish...Vancouver also has a huge Asian population...With all these ethnicities, Vancouver also has some absolutely awesome restaurants...
On the flip side, being a large, urban city, Vancouver also has some really nasty neighborhoods, complete with strung out junkies and winos....But Vancouver does seem more cosmopolitan than Seattle, I think there is a more active nightlife...Vancouver has it's own stock exchange, with a lot of risky, speculative mining and biotech stocks traded on it..
People from Seattle consider it fun to go up to Vancouver, and I've met Vancouverites who like to travel down to Seattle for a visit.

[texastrigirl]

I love Seattle...but I just made my first visit to Whistler! Wow! And since Vancouver is much closer to Whistler, that might do it for me. Love the European feel of BC too and the added flair of all the Aussies that flock there. We were wondering if Vancouver sees more sun than Seattle?

[Ira500]

Victoria BC sees more sun than Seattle, and is in that same rain shadow as Sequim, etc, but I think Vancouver's weather is very similar to Seattle's.

[jr75]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Seattle might have more folks in the suburbs, but Vancouver has a larger population within it's city limits than Seattle does. It feels more urban, and has taller buildings. More people live in high rises.
It's got a tremendous amount of cultural diversity, with some distinct ethnic neighborhoods, something Seattle doesn't have a lot of....Part of the Main St area in Vancouver is predominantly Indian, part of the Commercial drive area is mostly Italian, and the area around 41st and Oak is mainly Jewish...Vancouver also has a huge Asian population...With all these ethnicities, Vancouver also has some absolutely awesome restaurants...
On the flip side, being a large, urban city, Vancouver also has some really nasty neighborhoods, complete with strung out junkies and winos....But Vancouver does seem more cosmopolitan than Seattle, I think there is a more active nightlife...Vancouver has it's own stock exchange, with a lot of risky, speculative mining and biotech stocks traded on it..
People from Seattle consider it fun to go up to Vancouver, and I've met Vancouverites who like to travel down to Seattle for a visit.

Vancouver is the current "it" girl of PNW cities. It is mostly centered around the fact that many cities are trying to densify their downtowns, make them more walkable etc.. and Vancouver is the common example of having done many things right in regards to urban planning that began in the eighties. While Vancouver deserves props for this, I definitely think it has a way overhyped reputation that comes with magazine articles rating the city as one of the most livable in the world. When you actually look at and compare what each city has to offer however, you find that Seattle, while trying to emulate Vancouver's downtown successes is the more well rounded and has a deeper well of creativity and vibrance.
Vancouver to me is like the pretty younger sister who gets all the attention but has no brains or creativity to back up her looks. Seattle is the older, maybe more physically flawed sibling, who is smarter, and has more innate talent. Vancouver relies on tourism and the attention garnered from large events like the Olympics to keep the limelight focused,while Seattle continues to bring the world innovation in technology, philanthropy via the Gates foundation etc. Seattle actually creates "homegrown" things. We build airplanes, we start movements in music culture and support them with attendance and funding. KEXP, a Seattle radio station is listened to nation wide and keeps local music a major focus.
While both cities are located in the PNW or in Canada's SW, they identify themselves differently. Vancouver thinks of itself as the warmest spot in Canada, almost as Canada's L.A.-the fact that many Hollywood movies are filmed there just strengthens this mind set. With that, comes the vainness and self aggrandizing view of itself. Seattle is okay with being a city in the cold, grey corner of its respective country and has let our surrondings define the culture of our city. Seattle's coffee culture, another export to the rest of North America is an example.
Vancouver is definetely multicultural and you can see it everywhere but you can't really feel it so much. Each culture while represented in a small enclave, seem disjointed and don't seem interested in the other. This makes the difference for me. While downtown living is great ,as are the restaurants that come with the many differing nationalities, it is what a city can offer culturally in the arts as well as how a city can create it's own identity that makes it more "livable" to me.

[wsugrad03]

I've only been to Vancouver a few times, but I loved every visit. It's a great city. I'm sure the taxes are steep though, but you do get the socialized medicine, low cost drugs, and a beautiful world class city.

In regards to jobs (software related), Seattle is vastly better. No comparison really. Microsoft has roughly 40K employees in PS. Boeing has has roughly 6K local software engineers. Amazon has several thousand I think? Google has a small presence. Then there's a barrage of medium/small tech start-ups all over Seattle/Bellevue/Redmond. The only city you might to better for software is Silicon Valley. However, for the level of income and cost of living, Seattle is probably the best place to be if you want to build a good career in software.