Pros and cons of Vancouver?

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cosmopolitan_nyc

I live in Vancouver and I personally think it's a great city.

Pros:
- There's lots to see and lots of things to do (sightseeing, shopping Downtown, Metrotown, etc.)
- The weather is nice and mild; usually not too hot summers and not too cold winters.
- There's diverse cultures. You got everything from Asians to Caucasians to blacks (sorry if that's rude).
- There's the city, the mountains, and the water--something you don't usually find in any city.
- The 2010 Olympics are gonna be here! It's a once in a lifetime thing.
- There's not too too many people living here. Not jampacked like Toronto or New York.
- You have many modes of transportation: SkyTrain, bus, car.

Cons:
- Real estate is shooting through the sky.
- There's drug problems on the Downtown Eastside. (I don't run into any problems with that though because I avoid that section of Downtown.)
- There can be panhandling.

Overall, Vancouver's a pretty good city. There are things you can avoid like the druggies and just be careful of any panhandling. If you have enough money, then getting an apartment or condo or house shouldn't be that big of a problem. You should definitely look more into moving here. You'll enjoy it a lot.

G'luck!!

tess

Overall I like Vancouver. However we moved from there to a smaller town 14 years ago. The reasons why...traffic is nuts, and getting worse all the time. Drove down 2 weekends ago, and took us over an hour to get from Langley to the bridge. This wasn't in rush hour traffic either. Our second reason was the rain...I was born & raised in Vancouver & never did get used to it. Now that we live in the Okanagan I would never go back.

Susan F

Pros:
- Beautiful. It's absolutely amazing to wake up and see the mountains covered in snow and then go sit by the beach and ponder those very same mountains.
- Weather. How many other cities in Canada have a lawn mowing season of March - October.
- Wilderness. I love the fact that within a short drive - or even a busride - you are brought to the edge of wilderness. It's scary for morons who insist on hiking unprepared or worse off of the trails, but it's something that few people in major cities can enjoy.
- Diversity. I absolutely love that within my kids' classes, there are a mixture of different ethnicities and nationalities. The kids grow up together, and happily grow up colour-blind and appreciating differences instead of scorning them. I also love the fact that we have access to such amazing restaurants, art and cultural events from so many different ethnicities. I'm sure this can be said for many cities in the world, but it is something I appreciate about Vancouver.

-Employment. If the copious amounts of "help wanted" signs and the media are correct, there are a lot of jobs out there. While I have this under pro, there is a possible con, and that's the wage levels of the jobs that are screaming for employees. Many are minimum-wage or slightly above. One can't get rich working at Tim Horton's.

Cons:
- E X P E N S I V E. Housing, gas, taxes, food, etc. etc is expensive. It's very very difficult to be able to afford to live.. while incomes may be higher in this region, the cost of living is that much higher.

- Traffic. It's nuts. The various politicians constantly pat themselves on the back for supporting a green-initiative and emphasising bike lanes, transit and HOV lanes, but meanwhile the traffic of the masses gets worse and worse, the bridges get more and more congested.. and quite frankly Transit isn't getting better. If you live in the burbs like Surrey, if you aren't on a major bus route, then buy a car. Translink has already said that until ridership goes up, they won't improve service..not realizing that until service is improved, ridership will not improve. no one wants to spend 2 hours a day on transit...

Grand pa

see tourismvancouver pro the Olympics are comming lots of jobs its scenic geat place to live transit resonable

Pros: Friendly people, lots of graffiti, beautiful city

Cons: HASTING ST, lots of drugs

for big city living i still recomend NY above all else, but i love Vancouver aswell great city!

:: Coast.al

Vancouver is great. I live on an Island off of the Main Land... and I cant complain. BC Living is great!

I live on an Island where I can surf and snowboard in the same months.

Luthyin

There are no pros..its Vancouver..only cons.

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