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Happily in Van with 25-30K?? I guess if you rent only one room inside a condo or a house...or if you commute everyday from Hope.....
You can totally make it with that money...if you are living in a bachelor or 1bedroom apt. They're not even that expensive in say, Burnaby. Maybe like $600-$800/m and fairly nice. If you can take public transport, and don't have all these crazy hobbies, you're left with a pretty decent margin of disposable income.
I moved to vancouver and im counting the days until my contract is over.
Every single reliable source of info i have read sets edmonton and calgary as one of the best places to have families while vancouver is not even close to the best. (actually more like place 50 out of 100)
Vancouver is a transient city, is easy for immigrants to come here and find a quick job ($12-15/hr) while they wait to get immigration papers. Once they're set, they leave to other parts of canada (usually east coast). THe other part that stays living in vancouver, stays for reasons that (for me) do not justify the premium.
- beauty - extremely overrated. only pretty the first days you're here. after a while this is like any other place to me. I went to alaska/yukon the other day and got yaw dropping scenaries. Move some place else, you can save and take a yearly trip with your family.
- cleanness - Yes... if you compared it to New York or other nasty cities
- People is not friendly AT ALL.
- Traffic is the second worst of North america (only second to LA, California) i commute 5miles (approx 8km) takes me 30 minutes!. When i take the bus takes me more than 40!!!!!
- Transit coverage is excellent. but the system has so many stops that is a headache to use! seriously stops every 100-150 meters! sometimes 2 stops within 30 meters of each other. Makes transit SLOOOOOOOOW as hell!
- Real state/ rent is over valuated (a 700sq feet condo for more than half a million? oh please wake up)
Yes, vancouver has beach, hiking trails, close skiing, many restaurants. I know lot of people that LOVE IT HERE. Those same people have a house in the end of the world and commute 1hr and 30min EACH WAY, EVERY DAY in stop and go traffic. (please wake up)
however, I pay 1400/mo rent for a 500sq ft apartment and having lived in many states, in many countries, IS NOT WORTH IT (for me). One thing that the OP mentioned is that the average price of a home is 700K. What you dont know is that for Vancouver standards that is a house with virtually no yard, most likely street parking (not even a garage) and 1000 sqare feet of space!
The average vancouver LOCAL resident (not asian multimillionaire) pays rent for pretty much their entire life as they cannot afford the cost of house. the average person can only afford a room, a basement rent, etc.
Something that shocked me when i moved here is that the average quality of apartments is quite low... For example, a $1200 apartment can easily be 40 years old, with 10 year old appliances with squeaky floors, doors. Which is why I pay 1400 today... i mean, the $1200/mo look like $500 month elsewhere (and yes i knnow because i have been a college student eating noodles for dinner so I KNOW what a cheap place look like).
bottom line is that cost of living in vancouver vs edmonton is not $$ vs $$... for example quality of what you get in Vancouver for 700k is less than what you get in edmonton for 300k.
Maybe people are really friendly in Edmonton or something, but one of my most enduring impression of Vancouver has been how incredibly friendly everyone seems to be, like you actually end up having conversations with strangers on public transit or at bus stops and strangers are really approachable. Maybe Alberta is like the mecca of friendly city dwellers, but Vancouver is definitely the friendliest place I've ever been to, with the exception of Portland, Oregon.
Vancouver is definitely the friendliest place I've ever been to, with the exception of Portland, Oregon.
sorry to hear that vancouver is the friendliest place you've been.
friendly seems to be interpret different. At least I can see that friendly for you is random people talking with you. Yes, i also consider that friendly... but having been in real FRIENDLY places, i know it can be light years better. However, I have to admit that these other super friendly places have been smaller cities than vancouver.
Me and my wife desisted of trying to be nice to people here. We actually tried being as nice as we were were we used to live. The last thing we did was to bake cookies for our neighbors (not a single person opened their door)
For me friendly is not random people talking to you on the bus. Yes, i have found people talk to me on the bus (i take the bus every single day to work and back home) is people that would actually mean their smile.
but, to be honest, friendly or not is not is not the main reason I am counting my days.
as i explained in my previous post, is just not worth it. I feel most people try hard to convince themselves that "this is the best place to live" and accept to overpay for everything.
Maybe people are really friendly in Edmonton or something, but one of my most enduring impression of Vancouver has been how incredibly friendly everyone seems to be, like you actually end up having conversations with strangers on public transit or at bus stops and strangers are really approachable. Maybe Alberta is like the mecca of friendly city dwellers, but Vancouver is definitely the friendliest place I've ever been to, with the exception of Portland, Oregon.
My impression is that Vancouverites are more likely to be superficially friendly. Maybe that's not the right call, though. It's a busy, stressful place to live, so maybe people are more frazzled. I don't know.
Edmontonians are incredibly friendly, though. I can attest to that.
My experience in Vancouver has been similar to the above, Vancouver has an abnormally high amount of aloof people. It's a mystery. There are nice people here, and you can chit chat with strangers. If you smile and look happy you won't have a hard time meeting people. Not everyone here is bad. I think more people struggle here than in other parts of North America.
I see you mentioned St Albert, it is a lovely little community and not really Edmonton, very friendly and supportive community...
I lived in Vancouver and if I hadn't a full time job I would have never known any people, I didn't mind the rain, love Japanese food (new to me then) but did find it hard to save on my salary and it was decent but I ended up taking in a roomie and that worked well for both of us. I now llive in Alberta and love the area I am in, lower south... sunshine almost all and every day and not too much snow, sadly Edmonton to Calgary areas have a lot, but that is where the $$ is I guess.
You will love the Chinooks that warm the winter days from a minus temp to a plus temp in just a few hours and I do mean warm! You can see the mountains and have wonderful vacations just hours away in Banff and Lake Louise...
I like both places for different things but prefer Alberta ... if for nothing else than there is only GST... (we get a lot of BC cars in the Costso parking lot!!
If snow is not an issue for you, go to St Albert.... it is a lovely community. $$ are relevant only if that is what makes you happy. I would rather be content with less and happy,... than stressed with more and miserable JMHO
having lived in both cities...I have to say Vancouver is far far far nicer than Edmonton is or will be for the next few years...but it is still much more expensive...
Edmonton has a better road/highway system but a worse transit system.
If you can handle the cold and eventually thaw out for more than 1 week...in terms of cost...Edmonton...
Every single reliable source of info i have read sets edmonton and calgary as one of the best places to have families while vancouver is not even close to the best.
Vancouver has consistently been rated as one of the most livible cities in the world. Edmonton is affordable. That's it. It's not a city known for it's high quality of life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrc_cool
beauty - extremely overrated. only pretty the first days you're here. after a while this is like any other place to me. I went to alaska/yukon the other day and got yaw dropping scenaries. Move some place else, you can save and take a yearly trip with your family.
Yeah but Alaska is ALOT LESS urban than Vancouver so of course there's more natural beauty. Greater Vancouver has 2.3 million people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrc_cool
Yes, vancouver has beach, hiking trails, close skiing, many restaurants. I know lot of people that LOVE IT HERE. Those same people have a house in the end of the world and commute 1hr and 30min EACH WAY, EVERY DAY in stop and go traffic. (please wake up)
Give me a break. You make it sound like everyone that enjoys living in this city commutes from either Surrey or the Tri-Cities. I live in a house and my commute to work is only 15 minutes (I don't live Downtown either) You are forgetting about all the people that live in West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Kitsalano, Point Grey, East Vancouver etc. People live there to you know! alot them live in houses as well!
That being said OP would not be able to purchase a desirable property in Vancouver with a 115k salary. It's true that his best option would be renting. Regardless you shouldn't bash an entire city just because it doesn't fit your budget. I'm tired of people trying to make Vancouver seem like a horrible city simply because they can't afford to live here comfortably! It's childish behaviour.
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My thoughts
