Is Vancouver The Best City In The World??? (crime, buying)

[Drowningintherain2]

Originally Posted by VanHa

You can walk outside at night in Vancouver in all areas...including the east side...try that in some of areas in NY...

I guess you could, however, I have talked to many people that have said that they would be far too scared to walk along Hastings St in the downtown eastside at night. Some people wouldn't even go there during the day. My wife worked at Inisight(she's a nurse) down there for a while and came home on the bus on a Friday night and everybody she knew thought she was nuts. She did not feel unsafe, just made sure to stay aware of her surroundings.

[evanusc]

Outrageous real estate price for a city of its size; limited work opportunities and mediocre wages; gloomy raining winter. Vancouver is a very nice city, but no, it is definitely not the best, unless maybe you inherited $10million, don't have to worry about making a living and love the rain.
I also want to comment that the city's natural setting is exaggerated. There are tons of cities in this world that are blessed with similar features. Be aware guys that there is a world out there outside North America.

[mishigas73]

Originally Posted by XXclimberX

The difference in temp between NY and Vancouver/Seattle is really not very different. Cept NY city may be prone to more severe heat waves/humidity and more severe cold spells. In the end it averages out. Vancouver is more mild in the winter, but cooler then NY in the summer.

It doesn't really "average out" in my mind if the weather out here is much more livable year round than in NY. I've never lived in a place where the vast majority of homes don't have air conditioning. Give me a 90 degree day here in August over the same one in NY. There's something about choking humidity that doesn't turn me on.

[mishigas73]

Originally Posted by VanHa

How can it average out? Have you seen the cime stats of NY vs. Vancouver...! Folks come on...please lets get a little objectivity here. You can walk outside at night in Vancouver in all areas...including the east side...try that in some of areas in NY...

Hmmm...something about the gang wars going on in the Vancouver area right now comes to mind in response to this...

It's interesting though. I lived almost half of my life in NY, and I learned from a young age that you simply do not go into places at night that are dark and sparsely populated. In my mind, walking through Stanley Park at night would be equivalent to walking through Central Park. Something you simply do NOT do, unless you want to make yourself a victim.

The same would go with walking around the downtown East Side. While the vast majority of the time, nothing is going to happen, why would you want to open yourself up to it anyway?

I guess, in thinking about it, that my criteria regarding "liveability" of cities doesn't include being able to walk outside a night in the "worst" areas. Because, the fact of the matter is, for me, that I can live my life, quite happily and fully, without having to take a walk through places like the downtown East Side or the South Bronx at night.

[Drowningintherain2]

Originally Posted by evanusc

Outrageous real estate price for a city of its size; limited work opportunities and mediocre wages; gloomy raining winter. Vancouver is a very nice city, but no, it is definitely not the best, unless maybe you inherited $10million, don't have to worry about making a living and love the rain.
I also want to comment that the city's natural setting is exaggerated. There are tons of cities in this world that are blessed with similar features. Be aware guys that there is a world out there outside North America.

agreed!

[Atticman]

Using the parameters you listed, Vancouver is not even the best city in Canada, let alone the world.

[Jonotastic]

1. Beauty: YES (one of the top - others San Francisco, Hong Kong, Monte Carlo etc)
2. Weather: NO
3. Safety: NO
4. Economy: NO
5. Cost of living: NO
6. Culture: NO
7. Sports: NO

Grade based on those parameters:
YES 14.3%
NO 85.7%

[VanHa]

Originally Posted by Jonotastic

1. Beauty: YES (one of the top - others San Francisco, Hong Kong, Monte Carlo etc)
2. Weather: NO
3. Safety: NO
4. Economy: NO
5. Cost of living: NO
6. Culture: NO
7. Sports: NO

Grade based on those parameters:
YES 14.3%
NO 85.7%

I see that some folks disagee that Vancouver is the best major city to live in...I respect those openions...after all I did ask for them, BUT... I see that most have failed to say what their choice for the best city would be, to give us all a fair chance to reflect on their answer.

[smihaila]

btw, I'd be very interested to know how Vancouver/British Columbia and Dublin/Ireland compare weather-wise. I couldn't find out clear enough opinions on how wet Dublin is. Thanks.

[White Chocolate]

Originally Posted by VanHa

Is Vancouver the best city in the world....if the answer is NO....then what would you say the best city in the world is to live year round???

The parameters would be:

1. Beauty
2. Weather
3. Safety
4. Economy
5. Cost of living
6. Culture
7. Sports

NO, not for me. But this is a question of aesthetic.

Beauty: Some of the most profoundly ugly architecture I have ever seen. The natural surrounding is pretty, but that's not really the city, is it? Anyhow, glass towers block most of the view.

Weather: Vancouver doesn't have very interesting weather. No wind, no cold, no heat, no storms. Just a constant spittle in your face for half the year under a gloomy, overcast sky.

Safety: If you're wealthy, great. If you're homeless or an Indian, pretty bad. Not bad compared to the US, but not good compared to much of Canada.

Economy: What gets produced in Vancouver? Bad Hollywood flicks and . . . . The economy provides for low-paying service sector jobs, overpaid real estate work, and almost nothing that pays a middle class wage outside of government. In this respect, Vancouver is an exaggerated instance of the general trends of the North American economy that produces nothing of material value, but does a lot of "consulting" and IT.

Cost of Living: Rip off. That should disqualify Vancouver as a "liveable" city from the get go.

Culture: There are pockets of traditional communal activity in Vancouver, but to the casual observer, there's a lot more jogging along the Sea Wall with headphones over ears. This may be true of other cities to the same extent, in which case Vancouver is not exceptional. But why does Vancouver feel so sterile, then? Why so little outward expression of personality from people on the street?

Sports: I don't care for professional sports. I must say, however, that the culture of pick-up sports in Vancouver is admirable. For all that I would mock the city's obsession with fitness, people do seem to have fun playing hockey, rowing, kayaking, and doing whatever else they do. I commend the city for this.