American moving to Vancouver ? (real estate, cliquey, 2009)

[blackcoral]

Does anybody knows a site where I can find the legal requirements for an American who wants to move to Vancouver ?
Any suggestions about the social, personal, human implications ?
I would like to live in a human and walking friendly city, where people look each other in the eye(it is more or less a metaphor, of course).
Is this the case with Vancouver, or is just an illusion made up by the press ?

[Cornerguy1]

Originally Posted by blackcoral

Does anybody knows a site where I can find the legal requirements for an American who wants to move to Vancouver ?
Any suggestions about the social, personal, human implications ?
I would like to live in a human and walking friendly city, where people look each other in the eye(it is more or less a metaphor, of course).
Is this the case with Vancouver, or is just an illusion made up by the press ?

All immigration to Canada is under the rules of Citizenship and Immigration Canada Welcome Page | Page d'accueil

You'll find all the legal niceties on that site.

[mini_cute]

Hi Blackcoral,

My fiancee and I are possibly going to move to Vancouver. One of our reasons is like yours- to live in a walking friendly city. While there are some walking cities in the U.S., we like Vancouver more and think it is the easiest to get around and of course it is a very beautiful city.

We have visited there a couple of times and the illusion you have about where people look each other in the eye and it being walkable is not just an illusion. That was our perception while we were there as well.

Our experience there was that we had no car but were able to easily get around downtown and even out to Richmond with the public transit. We rode the buses which were clean and not too crowded most of the time. We also rode the Canada Line aka Sky Train which was also clean and had stops near all the places we needed to go. The people are friendly, they do look you in the eye when talking to you. Of course there will always be a small percentage of jerks, but the majority of people are nice including the service workers and bus drivers.

As for the legal requirements, I would visit the site that Cornerguy1 referred you to.

Good luck!

[Robynator]

Just a note - experiencing Vancouver as a visitor or tourist, and experiencing Vancouver as a resident are two different things. A lot of visitors comment on how friendly people in Vancouver are, but the reality is that people are superficially polite, especially in the service industry. People will always look you in the eye if you're at a service counter, but people typically avoid eye contact while walking down the street. And making small talk on the street? It depends on the individual, but it's not something Vancouver's particularly known for. Vancouver has a large homeless population and panhandlers have certainly jaded a lot of locals. Try to approach somebody on the street for a legitimate reason, and they'll probably ignore you, thinking you're looking for a handout.

Vancouver can be very, very cliquey socially and difficult to make friendships beyond superficial small talk. Be aware of this. Vancouver's a very transient city - people coming and going all the time. Social dynamics are always in a state of flux.

Of course, it's all relative.

But a popular consensus amongst Vancouver residents, especially those who have moved here from somewhere else, many would agree that Vancouver's a difficult place to make friends. They won't naturally come to you - you'll have to work hard to meet them and cultivate them, that's all.

But even saying that, Vancouver's a small enough city that if you have a particular interest or hobby, you'll be able to easily break into the local social circles. They're often small enough that you'll see the same people over and over. That'll help immensely if you ever decide to move here as it's a major part of why Vancouver at times feels like a smaller city... the social circles are small enough that it's easy to become a part of a certain scene if you're seeking them out.

So in the end, I guess what I'm saying is that Vancouver's a very accessible city in one way - you can walk everywhere, ride public transit easily to get around, and enjoy all kinds of communities, neighbourhoods and public spaces... but don't expect to easily obtain a social circle without putting out a lot of effort on your part.

[rifleman]

Select your home location carefully. The traffic is stupifying, making Seattle or Los Angeles (I've lived in all three places) look like a holiday! A lot of immigrant drivers who have not absorbed the rules, and the B.C. govenment is currently vastly expanding the local so-called freeway system (more like a fourlane road in my experience. verything, even the sun, slows down to a crawl in rush hour there.).

I'd pick an apartment downtown near Kits Beach or above Granville Island market,

http://www.granvilleisland.com/en/node

which are, IMHO, two of the nicest areas to be in if you like: diverse ethnic (Asian especially, and Greek, and, oh heck; everything!) restaurants, great shopping down in the Market if you enjoy hugely fresh foods, and comfy little bistro restaurants.

Of course all this comes at a rather high price; downtown apartments, owned not rented, come sorta dearly. My BF is in The Verona of Portico, for instance, a concrete high rise, and he's on the 14th floor overlooking a vast view of the mountains, the city and the ocean. 2 BdRms, 2 bath, storage & very secure parking [much needed in YVR due to spectacularly high property crime rates driven by big-time drug-gang issues.

http://www.veronaofportico.org/main....ge=home&path=1

Cost?

Are you sitting down?

$1M and rising, esp. as we gain on the upcoming Winter Olympics when everything will go up in anticipation of the crowds. of course that may not happen as much as they hope for...

If you choose to go east, to the more residential suburbs, you should still stay close to a SkyTrain so you can commute on that rather than having to go downtown in your car (No. No. Be very much afraid!) The Skytrain is v. nice.

You can go even further east, via the West Coast Exprss I think it's called, that uses the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline out as far as Mission, B.C., which is about 45 minutes east, and about what, guys? 50 miles east of downtown? It's a full-fledged train, with onboard cafe, ($5 lattes, anyone?) internet, cell phones, etc. dDon't know what it would cost per day, but it would still be a big savings over doing it by car, which would also take you, no lie, about 2 hours during rush hour, each way from Mission or Maple Ridge.. And a nice used home out in Mission or surrounds would be around $400k. These prices are all Canadian, which is probably abut .90c US$ right now. I could be wrong.

Expect significantly higher taxes, but also so-called free health care. It's considered by unexperienced, untravelled Canadians to be good, as I've honestly said before, only because the patients got to "survive", and it cannot begin to compare to the level of techical medical systems in the US. They literally have no Mayo level of technical standards.

(Several years ago, the Canadian Federal Minister off Health Systems flew down to Rochester, NY, to the Mayo Clinic, to have his cardiac quadruple bypass. And he's the head honcho of all medical systems up there! Nice!)

But you'll never have to cough up any co-pays, and if you can get past the massive crowding the emergency rooms, filled with immigrants who also bought their entire family with them for the "free health care", you'll be treated by a slightly tired, overworked and somewhat underpaid doc, but he will stitch up the big gash in your hand or schedule your MRI for some time in two or three weeks.

Still and all, if you really like the outdoors, and don't mind the incessant rain, (between 200 inches/yr on the North Shore to about 80 inches/yr out in Richmond), and can avoid the traffic by staying CLOSE, really CLOSE to the SkyTrain,

http://www.skytrain.info/

...you'll probably enjoy it. It is a walking city, by and large. Just get off the roads at about 3:00pm. and plan to go into "the Interior" whenever the raing gets to you; it's very much drier about 200 miles up the Fraser River on the old TransCanada Highway.(We used to go camp at Lytton, where it was almost always sunny, even in the winter, and even when it was raining most everywhere else!)

http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure...es/canyons.htm

(this website is worth exploring if, again, you are adventurous and like to go on neat roadtrips into relatively uncrowded country. Just don't expect too much in the way of quaint little roadhouse cafes. The only province where we ever found really good roadfood was Nova Scotia & New Brunswick. Maybe Quebec if they aren't on a political rant. A lot of Eastern US tourists in NS and NB. Oh, and PEI also. In B.C. you should probably pack a lunch...)

Feel free to DM me for more down to earth info. I promise, no punches pulled, but I have found that a lot of Canadians don't like to hear criticisms from Americans. Even if they're also Canadians like me!

[footguy]

Move to Victoria, it is everything you want.

[happyaura]

I'm sorry BlackCoral, but the Vancouver that you are hoping for is an illusion. I am an American who recently moved to Quebec. My husband lived in Vancouver for 15 years and due to personal reasons we've been looking to move back. We've made many house hunting trips and we always come back saying "we can't move there!" Reasons:

1. Culture - I describe it as a mini LA with rainy weather. The city is also "liberal" with prostitution and drugs. Drugs is a HUGE problem...just drive down East Hastings. Asian drug imports and marijuana grow farms. Step out into the suburbs and you're in big truck and big born-again christian land. Remember, 20 years ago Vancouver's main industries were timber and fishing. It's the same people, but now they're rich from real estate.

2. Cost of living - Houses are at least $1M in Vancouver. Taxes are much higher than the US and everything is taxed. You could try the eastern suburbs, but not Surrey, Chilliwack, Abbotsford...the list goes on. Those are dangerous areas. And the commute is terrible because right now there is only one freeway into the city. At least rent until the housing bubble bursts after the Winter Olympics.

3. Crime rate - Check this out <http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/03/04/the-most-dangerous-cities-in-canada-overall-crime-score%E2%80%94by-rank/> Notice that most of the cities are in B.C. And most of those B.C. cities are Vancouver, suburbs of Vancouver, or the Vancouver Islands. Watch the news when you visit there. There is LOTS of crime for a city that is only 2.3 million. Reminds me of NYC or LA, but they have 5-10 times the population.

I am a city person who loves the outdoors. You'd think I'd love Vancouver, but I don't. The people are image-based like LA. (Nothing against LA...two of my best friends live there.) They are very clique-y according to my husband. He was a very popular guy, who had a very successful business there. But he can't bring himself to move back. Too expensive, too superficial and too dangerous.

Sorry to be the Debbie Downer. But Vancouver left a big impression on me that I have to share.