What everyone else has said.
Peronally, I find Olympic Village too claustraphobic, buildings too close together and yes, lots of negative feedback, pour construction, etc.
I like the co-ops around Granville Island, not exactly sure of the addresses, but one on Lamey's Mill Rd and think Amber Place? .. both in the Kits area.
The bigger one on Amber .. has 4 buildings, closer together than I'd like, but still enough space for good air flow and gorgeous gardens and walkways everywhere. It's actually on the seawall walkway that you can walk or bike all the way to UBC. Lots of activity oing on.
I'm familiar with the one of Lamey's .. seems well run, and always friendly. Unlike an apt, it definitley has a real community feel to it where everyone looks out for each other. Whenever something needs fixing, it gets fixed. Also keep up on maintenance well, replace hot water heaters, cupboard and rug upgrades, that kind of thing.
Joining a co-op means putting a certain amount down, which you are supposed to get back if and when you leave providing the place is in good condition. Back when I joined a co-op twenty years ago, the amount was either $1,000 or $1,200. Not sure of today's prices?
Like Dwight mentioned, they try to keep a co-op balanced with people on subsidy and people working who are making decent money. There's a ceiling, high and low, how it's balanced financially. It makes it so it's affordable for everyone involved .. the people paying the most still find it's lower than normal rent, and it enables elderly retirees to afford it also.
Suggest that you get your names on the lists asap. There may be a long wait list, but again, pretty sure they pick and choose accordingly, to balance financially. The place I eventually got into after only six months of waiting, had a three or four year wait-list. They go down the list and if little or no response, they carry on to the next one. You could get chosen earlier than anticipated.
Being a co-op means the members all help out in various ways, ie gardening committee, secretarial, maintenance, etc. This one in particular, everyone must take a turn vacuuming the hallways, but it comes up very seldom .. unless you're disabled or elderly. Same on the committees.
The co-op usually likes at least ten hrs a month of your time on whatever committee you choose to be on. Five was a little frowned upon. Found that certain meetings would arise .. the general, then the committee meeting, and maybe some other impromptu meeting.
I worked an early, physically demanding job and the last thing I felt like when I got home was pushing the lawn mower around. and I'm not a meeting type person. but it was a nice place to live (north vancouver - long ways from UBC). I was single at the time and it always had a safe environment - feel to it. Great for families.
In the end, figured if I put $10/hr to the ten hours they'd like volunteered, then you could actually put $100 extra to somewhere more to your liking .. so for the lower rent, you make up for it in time is where I'm going.
I like the co-op feel of community, any that I've had experience with have had a nice mix of people, young and old and friendly.
Important for sure, where you look. If you can find anything around the Granville Island to UBC area, sounds like where you'd like to live.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
