I bought a house Wednesday...

[Evil Chris]

Originally Posted by rhetorical

I live on the beach in Vancouver and I went to an open house last week. A detached house that reeked of oil, beat up really badly (it had been some kind of frat house) on an irregular lot of a decent size. Certainly a tear down. It was 1.2 million dollars. Kinda sucks if you are starting out in Vancouver. Best you can do is a 500 sq ft studio/den kinda thing for about 400 K. Its pretty bad....or good depending on what rung of the ladder you are on. Oh and sorry I overlooked saying congratulations.

For some reason, people like it in Vancouver. I'll admit it's a nice place to visit but would I live there? No way.

I just got back from spending a week there and it was cold and raining the entire week. Pretty much the status quo year-round in Vancouver. Couple the shitty weather with an over-inflated real estate market, and you've got a location where it's hard to understand what the attraction is. The mountains?

[rhetorical]

Originally Posted by Evil Chris

For some reason, people like it in Vancouver. I'll admit it's a nice place to visit but would I live there? No way.

I just got back from spending a week there and it was cold and raining the entire week. Pretty much the status quo year-round in Vancouver. Couple the shitty weather with an over-inflated real estate market, and you've got a location where it's hard to understand what the attraction is. The mountains?

I moved here from Toronto 3 and a half years ago. But I did grow up in Vancouver. I lived in Toronto for 15 years so got a pretty good feel for the place and loved it. I used to like driving to Montreal and hooking up with DannyC and watching the wrestling, I loved the bars and communities in Toronto. I lived in the beach and everyone knows everyone. Then I moved out here. It took awhile. Folks in Vancouver are certainly not as friendly, but you take the good with the bad. Weather doesn't bother me, because I travel. This winter I was in South East Asia. But I do like access to good food. I love not having to drive through heavy traffic to get every little thing done. I love the markets. But most of all I like where I live. Over the years, I invested well and managed to get a place that I overlook English Bay and can watch all the boating activity from freighters to cruise ships. I walk in the mountains three or four times a week....way up high. In snow shoes at the moment. Its perfect winter, with clean snow and christmas trees everywhere and very few people around. The silence in the snow can be deafening. Its ironic that I drive half an hour to get into winter to escape winter. That overcomes the the rain issues for me. The climate is actually pretty benign and easy to take. I have lived in big cities like London and Moscow and Manila, and even moving to Toronto, I felt like I had moved to a small town. In Vancouver, I have moved to a small city and it suits me. Its also a pretty easy place to do our business with enough talent and locations to keep me happy.
Long post, but that is the Cole's notes version on why I like living here.