Vancouver BC vs Seattle WA vs Portland OR (place, quality, cons)
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Those quality of life rankings that usually have Vancouver at #1 are overwhelmingly in favor of cities in countries with universal health care. Take away that one factor and those list would be completely different.
Call me crazy, but I think Portland has the best nightlife of the three. It's a bar town in the same vein as Chicago - feels like 3 bars on every block, highest per capita of strips clubs in the country (if you're into that kind of thing), and people are laid back and less uptight.
I also absolutely love Portland's streetscape Downtown and in the adjacent neighborhoods. It's compact, cohesive, built for pedestrians, and offers a lot of great bars, restaurants, shopping, and food carts.
Seattle's downtown is much bigger and offers more of a big city feel, but it's harder to navigate, more disjointed and in certain areas more sterile.
No, because they were just bought by rich foreign(mostly Chinese) investors. Even when the inevitable real estate bust occurs in Vancouver--the price on those high end downtown condos won't drop far enough that some middle class family is suddenly going to want to pay $750,000 for a 900 square foot condo. Despite the claims of urban planners, building dense towers with luxury condos and expensive smaller studios does little to bring down the home prices for middle-class families(who actually are looking for a home with some space). Vancouver just went along the route of Miami and Panama City, Panama in building a gleaming center of shiney high rise condos that were basically sold mostly to wealthy out of country real estate speculators and second home buyers.
The average cost of a home in Vancouver is higher than Seattle and much higher than Portland--yet Seattle and Portland have far lower vacancy rates for real estate. And Vancouver has among the highest home prices in Canada-yet the median income is over $20,000 lower than much-maligned Edmonton--which is booming due to oil production in Alberta.
I think you have explained the situation precisely. Thank you for that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Loney
My only real knock on Vancouver, other than the idiotic drivers, are the endless ugly condos. Way too many. Of course the views from them are spectacular. But they are ugly as a mud fence.
Superficially, perhaps yes, including the transit system, yes. But only in those domains.
Dig deeper unter Seattle's surface, and there is enormously more culture, music, an economy that moves.......
Portland may not be Seattle economically, but it has a big town/small town charm of its own, and an equally good transit system to Seattle.
Note that it's mostly detached house prices in Vancouver that are extremely expensive. Buying condos is high but as outrageously high except in the most high-demand neighborhoods. And rentals are no more expensive than Seattle, maybe even cheaper.
Those quality of life rankings that usually have Vancouver at #1 are overwhelmingly in favor of cities in countries with universal health care. Take away that one factor and those list would be completely different.
That makes total sense,because IMO universal Health Care is the best health care option there is!
Originally Posted by by Bill Loney
Quote:
My only real knock on Vancouver, other than the idiotic drivers, are the endless ugly condos. Way too many. Of course the views from them are spectacular. But they are ugly as a mud fence.
That is sad to hear,because who wants 'UGLY', or to have to live in 'UGLY'?
Originally Posted by Deezus
Quote:
No, because they were just bought by rich foreign(mostly Chinese) investors. Even when the inevitable real estate bust occurs in Vancouver--the price on those high end downtown condos won't drop far enough that some middle class family is suddenly going to want to pay $750,000 for a 900 square foot condo. Despite the claims of urban planners, building dense towers with luxury condos and expensive smaller studios does little to bring down the home prices for middle-class families(who actually are looking for a home with some space). Vancouver just went along the route of Miami and Panama City, Panama in building a gleaming center of shiney high rise condos that were basically sold mostly to wealthy out of country real estate speculators and second home buyers.
The average cost of a home in Vancouver is higher than Seattle and much higher than Portland--yet Seattle and Portland have far lower vacancy rates for real estate. And Vancouver has among the highest home prices in Canada-yet the median income is over $20,000 lower than much-maligned Edmonton--which is booming due to oil production in Alberta.
Very West Coast to me. Did you know they put a VW bus on the moon?
Seattle from the ferry:
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my 2 cents worth
