euler
Active Member
Off topic, but I would like to know what it's like to live in Vancouver.
Basically what newearthling said... In my experience, as a software developer, wages are less than you'd get in TO or NYC or SF or wherever. Cost of living is much higher - housing is ridiculously expensive, to an insane level, like a room in a nice house cost me $600/mo in the suburbs, and I was actually getting a pretty good deal. Forget about buying unless you're fabulously rich or enjoy the idea of being in debt til you die. People are COLD. Lots of people don't speak English, the people that do tend to be distrustful of outsiders, so unless you smoke a lot of weed and go on adventures, you're not going to find the general populace to be very nice to you. The downtown is boring... I mean, it's nice, but it's no Toronto, it's no Montreal. Granville becomes pedestrian-only sometimes and I guess that's cool, but unless the Canucks are in the playoffs again, everyone is cool. Instead of hot dog vendors they've got $1/slice pizza places. Those are awesome. We need those.
Public transit both sucks and doesn't suck. If you're anywhere near the SkyTrain, it's awesome. It's really never crowded, it's always on time, it never really breaks down, it's fantastic. And the new line to the airport is just so incredibly good for what an "elevated LRT" can do. Have to take surface transit? HAHAHAH. Good luck, fucker!
Oh, maybe you drive. Well, there are no highways through Vancouver. So you'll be stop and go the whole time. It probably has the worst drivers in Canada, so have fun with that. I didn't enjoy it one bit.
They don't have any Tim Hortons! Well, they have a FEW, but Starbucks and Blenz and whatever is what they like. Not that that's a big deal, it just doesn't feel like Ontario, you know?
Otherwise - it's actually a great city with amazing bike infrastructure and some fantastic people, all of the public servants I met there were incredibly nice and I loved everything about Vancouver. I loved going out into the mountains "for a day" - like, that's fucking POSSIBLE there. My friend and I drove out into the mountains "just for fun". YOU CAN DO THAT. There are so many great things to see and do, and cross the pond into Vancouver Island and there are infinitely more things to see and do. Sushi is CHEAP and PLENTIFUL and HIGH QUALITY.
It's a great place it's just that in general the people suck, the transit sucks, everything is expensive and there's no nightlife.