Opps, I ended up binge watching all of About Here's videos before returning to this video to complete it. I hope you understand, his content was really good. :)
Vancouver is like one of those Japanese sports car icons, amazing and underrated achievement, budget friendly but as soon as everyone realized how good they are, the price rose by 400%, and they kept in sterile garages and never driven. Vancouver is so good, that it has become priceless and unattainable. The ironies of this world i swear.
Yup, but you can also reframe it as an unavoidable negative consequence of an otherwise positive global change. *Aside from ruining the environment* Technological improvements and the pace of innovation has yielded a better quality of life to more people. That means that sure it is unfortunate that many people have become disproportionately rich and have priced out working class people for the most sought after real estate, goods and services, the quality of life for all classes has raised dramatically. Who knows where we'll be globally in 50 years but I don't think making the most wanted real estate cheap is the most important issue facing our country and world.
Central Planning assumes that people can't figure things out for themselves; only Geniuses in some extraterrestrial level can handle it . . . there's a lot of wasted intelligence. I would'nt want to select Tijuana as a model for urban planning, but it was built rather in a Piecemeal style, at grassroots level; perhaps students of city planning should give it a visit.
Funnily enough, one of my favorite automotive RUclips channels, Roads Untravelled, are from Vancouver! Apparently there's a big JDM scene there, and lots of importers due to proximity to the Pacific and the US West Coast.
As a Vancouverite, I love how this video became a gathering place for other Vancouverites to come to the comment section to go “ehhh well actually…” and reveals the actual truth.
If you like not being able to own a condone, because they're are close to a million dollars...(let alone a house) and pay $2000 in rent because the population quadrupled and there is a zero % occupancy rate that makes it a landlords paradise....than Vancouver is for you!!!
Calgary is a way better city to live for multiple reasons, I lived 30 minutes from the coast my entire life and never bothered me the slightest living in Calgary without it
Totally true, i HATE what this city has become. It is truly a story of what happens when the 1% of a population hides their faces in sand as the 99 run to anywhere they can afford
Isn’t that the whole premise???? I don’t think every single place in the world gets that auto feeling like he mentioned the beginning of the video if it’s considered one of the best places to live gonna cost a bit LOL why do all of you seem so shocked?
Diane Mangiavillano nobody is shocked more like frustrated. The neighbourhood I grew up in has turned from affordable family homes to a bunch of houses that all look alike with no one living in them. I love my city but it’s become unrealistic for most average families to live here.
I lived in downtown Vancouver, drawn by the misleading headlines of the world's most beautiful city. Everything felt amazing for 3 months. Later I realized that everyday life is expensive, half of the condos are stupidly empty while everyone struggles to pay their rent. Neighborhood life is non-existent, the majority of stores are large luxury chains, small merchants have fled the city, Vancouver feels soulless and cultural spaces are scarce (except the cult of sport and the wearing of leggings as only clothing). More than a year later, I have moved to Montreal, and I feel it is a much better city in North America.
I agree 100. Vancouver is a nice city to visit, but Montreal is amazing. We live in NYC go to Montreal for our cultural fix every year. It's such a great city to explore any time of year, great food, nightlife, multicultural with a french twist, great public transportation that's easy to navigate, interesting neighborhoods and suburbs. Montreal has it all. I wish I had discovered it when I was younger. It's great from NYC it's just a short flight. We used to stay at big hotels in the center of the city, now prefer Air B and Bs in neighborhoods. They really know how to live up there and the people are gorgeous.
That's actually an interesting perspective. We don't think about that as visitors having fun for a few days. I live in Manhattan, which is a similar experience around Midtown and the East Side. I find I hang out in Brooklyn and Queens more and more as time passes.
@@markrichards6863 Thank you for the kind words on my city, Montréal. Though, I sure hope that the French part of it is more than just a twist. I hope the city greets you well again in the future. Merci :)
@@hagron5702 The French Language is one of the best parts. It's a completely different culture set in an awesome North American city. It's the best if both worlds. My fiancee speaks French proficiently. I don't speak much French at all, but never found that to be a barrier in Montreal. Montreal is the most hospitable city I've ever been to. Now Quebec City on the other hand could take hospitality lessons from Montreal. I don't always feel welcome in QC, especially outside of the central tourist area. In Montreal, I get on the Metro and go out to outlying neighborhoods and always feel welcome and safe.
As a resident, I'll tell you if you like mild weather and love being out in nature it's great. But socially it's a black hole and if you don't have tonnes of cash you won't have much fun.
@@katyroseable Different in Vancouver. Part of the problem is the demographic living there (rich upper class business families), your social circle is generally these types of people if you are in Vancouver or Richmond, and their leisure activities are usually out of your price range if you are middle class.
The endless days of dark clouds and rain make it really depressing in winter. Although the temperature doesn't get that cold, the humidity is so high, that you get chilled right to the bone. While the rest of Canada is blanketed in snow, it's very bright outside, never completely dark at night, and the dry cold is very tolerable, even if it's -20 outside.
@@reeckoyoshi5887 Oh, Hong Kong's looking like a lovely choice these days, especially if you like the smell of tear gas and would like to really get to know what it's like to live in a small prison cell, or a work camp :)
i mean if you want brand new and right by central vancouver yes, 2 million. my friend just got a townhouse for around 800k but in burnaby so if you're willing to live 20 minutes from central vancouver..greater vancouver is a bit better cost wise.
After watching this glowing video I can't help but think that some cities look amazing on paper but fail to truly serve the needs of its citizens. As a Canadian social worker, I know it as a place with poor mental health supports, egregious addictions services and high overdose fatality rates, and unaffordable housing. It is unfortunate that all the positives are overshadowed by its lack of affordability for the average Canadian, leading to a lack of true community feel.
@@supermash1 fucking true. druggies get 1500 a month on welfare + mental welfare, 1500. fucking 1500. my father volunteers downtown and says how the government refuses to give food stamps in exchange for a few hundred dollars of welfare because they want the homeless to be independent... lol meanwhile they are dependant on drugs. what a joke.
It's because of geography. Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island are the only places in Canada that offer a different option from freezing Arctic weather. 1. It attracts people with money from all over Canada, and foreigners who are not used to cold weather. It's impossible for it to be affordable to everyone with all that competition. 2. It attracts the homeless from all over Canada, again it's possible to survive in the streets. Not sure if it's true, but I heard other provinces give their homeless free one-way ticket to Vancouver. You can't expect Vancouver to be able to handle all of those without some federal help.
You have to understand that Vancouver's beauty relies on shoving out people who are not super wealthy. That is a major, major flaw because it produces a giant inner-city ghetto like in the United States and forces many people to live far away. It is beautiful, but a better design would encourage mixed income residents.
It's like in SimCity by in real life, where most cities are built for wealthy or upper-middle-class sims. It's honestly absurd that this happening to a whole city downtown, and no one saw the lack of affordable (low income) housing, many different things have to happen before a building is built. I bet at least a few dozen people knew the plans lacked low-income housing, just didn't bring up the issue in fear of standing out.
85% Employer unwilly to pay is Employee a Fair hourly Waged. Earn $27/Hr @ 40 hours a week just to be on the Line. Earn below $20/Hr Stuck in Low Income Housing or Work to you are dead to pay Rent a place you sleep for 4 - 6 hours a Night.
A big issue is the acioring building permits and the massive lag time involved. Agordible housing projects can't afford the cost of getting there plans approved in a timframd that would make them viable leaving only luxury projects that can afford to great the weeks or even just pay someone to stand in line at City hall and badger them for updates.
I think we can appreciate the amazing cities in Canada while also acknowledging the biggest problem in Canada in the 2020's and that is affordability. It is crazy and sad.
And really only the Vancouver district is "beautiful". Everything outside looks like a dump (except for coquitlam where all the rich retirees live). It's literally a shiny billboard for outsiders.
Vancouver's problem isn't due to its housing policy. Its because lack of good-weather places with ocean and mountain-views in Canada. 99% places in Canada are freaking cold. Sounds bold to imagine for a massive nation like Canada, but it is what it is
The sad part about living in Vancouver is those very long periods of time where all you do is work and don’t really get to enjoy the beautiful scenery cuz you’re so stressed :)
Zo Kay i would rather live in a different place and be able to have a 3 story home with a huge backyard and be able to afford trips to Vancouver and even better places. Much better than living in Vancouver but putting all your money into living and food rather than being able to travel and have extra money.
People in Vancouver move by walking, bike and public transit not because it's good but because they don't have money for anything else. Also by 1969 metro Vancouver reached a population of 1M people, in 2002 metro Vancouver got 2M and right now in 2021 Vancouver have 2.6M. The city growth so late it did benefit from seeing how other city around the USA/Canada and Europe growth and understood that huge sprawl is bad but they still fucked up so bad that you're typical family can't afford to live in that city. I seriously fail to see why some magazine/news article say Vancouver is a great place to live. Sure design wise it's pretty good except everyone is living in a huge concrete box and housing is ridiculously expansive. Montreal is probably the North American city with the most green space and the old part of the city is dense with mid-rise & good coverage of public transit & is cheaper than pretty much any city of it's size.
@@Boby9333 as some one who lived in Vancouver for 20 years I agreed. It’s so Unaffordable now, it’s so ridiculous. It was great 10 years ago when things are still manageable but not now
5dastral I think Singapore would be the best in my humble opinion. They were able to provide enough social housing to increase housing affordability to countless people, yet not disturbing the free market of real estate investment. It’s amazing how 90% of the population own homes, and 80% of 5.7 million population live in social housing. I guess they’ve successfully made social housing safe, high quality, affordable, and available for everyone rich and poor. They’re able to allow capitalism run free together with good welfare for their citizens. It still wows me to this day, they have such low taxes, such free market, yet they have such low unemployment, poverty, and very good welfare. It truly is a model city I should say. Where the free market doesn’t affect their citizen’s welfare. But I guess Vancouver would be better compared to many American cities.
I live in Toronto and, while it's not as byootiful as Vancouver, it's not a bad place to live. The city fronts on Lake Ontario which is easily accessible by public transit. There is water -- it's only Lake Ontario, but still it's water and unpolluted (mostly). The city has been replacing what were old industrial buildings with cycling paths, residential towers and green space. Sadly, there are no mountains to provide a backdrop, so Van wins on that score. If Van gets a score of 10/10, I'd give Toronto an 8/10. Then there's Montreal -- but that's "autre chose."
VanCOUver does a lot of things really well, but has some serious issues. The insane price of real estate is just one issue of many. Vancouver is rapidly becoming a playground for the wealthy with a dirt-poor underclass cleaning rich peoples' bathrooms. I'm one of the few who was actually born in Vancouver. In early 2019 I left.
Hey Laura! I'm curious - did you leave because of the housing crisis? I have a few friends (well educated, well-paid professionals in their mid-thirties) who had to move out because they just couldn't afford it anymore.
Got it. Multiculturalism is probably the one thing I love about Vancouver and big cities in Canada in general. I find it fascinating to go for a walk in Toronto and hear all the different languages.
In mid 19 I left too. Born and Raised also.. it's a beautiful city in summer and from a drone camera overhead but in the streets its ugly..overpriced, drugs and fairly dull.
Jacob Sweedler-Luke yeap... I've lived in Vancouver for 28 years now, and here it is 2019 and I'm moving away just like the rest of us. Vancouver is a great city to visit but you don't really wanna live there and try to make a go of it. It's really no different than almost any city in the world if you have lots of money then it's a great place to be
You could definitely name a bajillion small-midsize cities in Western Europe. Vancouver gets a tonne of hype because it's a lovely city in North America, and North American cities suck for the most part.
@Yandri Susanto Yes but its not the best since early 2000. It has been ups and downs on the list, and that's why it happens in other cities around the world that holds the title sometimes
@Yandri Susanto So why asians buy so many apartments in NYC, London, Toronto? Weather helps but it's not the main factor. They buy in hot markets, often in cities with this title
Found one of the many californians that moved to the northwest. It's water. People in the northwest don't care about rain. It doesn't even get that cold.
@@CityBeautiful if it's cold or raining, you just need to get an adequate coat. However if it's unbearably hot you can't have an AC on your bicycle. That's why a climate like the one in Vancouver is more suitable for riding bicycles than let's say Los Angeles.
I just came from visiting Vancouver. It’s a beautiful city, but the people are not very friendly and walking down Hastings street and Chinatown area seeing all the homelessness and open drug use was one on the saddest sights I’ve ever seen in my life!
Toronto is the same as VAncouver .... homeless, high crime city , no soul, USA car culture , no identity with copprupred mayors and Doug Ford (PM) . Toronto is becoming India . 10 most dangerous cities in CAnada are in Toronto ( Statistics CAnada ) . Toronto has a fake time square ... so creative @@globaljobs1855
I've never heard anyone emphasize any part of the word, it's just a smooth flow of phonemes. That said, emphasizing the COUV isn't too bad, but VANcouver is just awkward and sounds almost intentional.
Yeah, that's how most Canadians pronounce it. vanCOUver. Calgary is a more interesting case, because I've heard (some) people FROM that city call it calGARy. That just sounds weird to me.
Thanks for pointing it out. There's also a difference in the pronunciation between the Vancouver in the State of Washington and the Vancouver in the Province of British Columbia. Both place the stress on the middle syllable but that syllable is slightly different in pronunciation [but not always]. So complicated.
@@maxkauffman6289 It's a subtle difference and isn't said by all Canadians. Like I said, it's complicated, like everything else in the English language.
Great analysis of Vancouver, where I was born and lived for 50 years. I don’t miss the traffic and commercialism (I now live in Switzerland in the beautiful countryside), but Vancouver still hold a lot of great memories for me. One thing you forgot that Switzerland doesn’t have: a lot of great, but inexpensive restaurants!
It is really expensive though ... and this is something that really matters when picking a city to live .. Vancouver sure is pretty and well planned... but if you have to struggle so much just to survive in it , is it really worth it? It looks like it is a gentrified city ...
really it isn't. You have a large amount of opportunity job-wise yet become so far behind financially that most people just get further and further into debt. News outlets have been taking notice at Vancouver's rising median debt level. So no, it's not, unless you are some of the lucky few that are able to afford such living.
For me the transit and lack of car dependence really goes a long way. Same with the accessible green spaces. I remember reading a study mentioning that Vancouver's residents were the healthiest in Canada as the green spaces and higher use of active transportation led to more active lifestyles. So if you can ditch the car, gas, insurance and parking payments, as well as a gym membership and amortized medical fees, it's still expensive but it's way more doable if that lifestyle is the kind that you want.
I think its a city for people who have decent income from something that they love. If it wasn't for that I'd stay in cold ass Calgary. Soon enough I'll make enough I think. Till then..... I wouldn't want to live in a vancouver suburb.
It's expensive because 1) the reasons explained in this video, 2) low interest rates cause asset price inflation (same reason the stock market is so high), 3) supply and demand, 4) money laundering, 5) over regulation causing higher development costs and slower development speed reduce supply and improve quality, which also increases material and construction cost, 6) BC's feud with Alberta is increasing cost of fuel by preventing increased production to allow for an economy of scale to reduce unit price while simultaneously biting the hand that feeds and encouraging retribution, 7) the Canadian urban economy has shifted from low wage low skill manufacturing to high wage high skill tech jobs, meaning you have more people with more money, causing inflation, 8) immigration has exceeded construction, meaning we are running out of empty units. There's more reasons, but the point is, it's a complicated issue.
That's correct. It's awesome but expensive. Home prices are crazy! If you want to leave in one of those fancy buildings downtown featured in the video, you better sell one kidney or an eye.... LOL
I live in Vancouver. There’s lots of unique and beautiful traits the city has to offer like the breathtaking nature backdrop. All that said, the place is utterly up its own arse. It’s wrought with corrupt politicians and it’s desirability is heavily based on the fact it’s the only city in Canada that doesn’t get much winter.
Hey Dave, love your content however, I have a critique about your "Vancouverism" video. As a born and raised Vancouverite I'd like to respectfully point out that focusing on downtown is by no mean a representation of Vancouver city design. Sure DOWNTOWN is nice blah blah blah, but that's a small part of the city. Im actually surprised you didn't even touch on the Vancouver Special or hwo traffic is restricted to say ~10 major streets in the city. While here did you manage to go to Main st, Commercial st, UBC, Hastings st, or East Van? The City of Vancouver, as I describe it, is like NY city in the downtown and then a giant suburb surrounding that peninsula. Very spread out, grid-like, and suburban with islands of highrises spotted throughout. This is the Vancouver 95% of peopel live in. I was hoping for your thoughts on the city as a whole because, as you pointed out, whenever you search Van up you'll get results such as "the best... etc" and that does not raise issue with the city as a whole, the real Vancouver. Thoughts and your professional opinion?? P.S. Vancouver is pronunced with the stress on the second sylable VanCOUver.
I have to agree with you Norman, I too have lived here my entire life, 39 years, This video heavily glosses over the main parts of Vancouver, what is described in this video is the ritzy tourist attraction parts of van, due to poor city planning the areas most desirable to live in van are overpriced rentals and Airbnb with tourists coming off of Cruzes ships, many of the locals who live and work here are slowly being forced out of city proper to find more liveable homes, many of those towers have units so small that only a single person could comfortably live in them.
Yeah. Richmond and south Vancouver are well connected by transit. However the other areas that are not expensive are not well connected to the city center. They probably need to expand there commuter rail system to service the suburban areas where people live.
Surely just not allowing foreign investors that don't have ties to the city such as a business or family to purchase property would be a big step into changing it for the better. I don't think it's too late, but I'm not sure how it would be possible to do this quickly. In order for my idea to be a resolution, current foreign owners would have to be bought out or forced out which isn't likely to happen. It's a shame but it's like that in every city, Vancouver, London and New York are other examples but Vancouver is prominent, especially with thr high interest from wealthy Chinese individuals... It was definitely an oversight by the city officials and might be too late, i hope not but most likely is.
I think that you were surprised by the children walking around without parents shows that there is a big Problem in the US. In Germany Children start go playing outside and on the streets without their parents when they are 7 or 8 years old and in my opinion this is an important step to grant that your children can take care of themselves.
That's not exactly their fault though. Foreign wealthy parking their wealth in property (and the realtors and developers who marketed to them) had a lot to do with it.
@@lozoft9 yes, that's their fault. Damn neoliberals. You don't have to allow foreigners to buy up your whole city, and you can also build or promote building more affordable housing so the locals can live there. These are all policy and budget decisions. They didn't just randomly happen.
@@trol4889 yeah, well thankfully Vancouver was planned before neoliberalism took hold, so that's where the good planning came from. Neoliberals then got to privatize and use that substantial public investment and planning to sell off the city to the highest bidders from all around the world, making it one of the world's most expensive cities and unaffordable to most of the actual inhabitants. That's not a good thing, especially in a city that doesn't have a very good job market, unlike its larger sister city to the south (Seattle). Additionally, while there are a lot of similarities and overlaps between them, liberal neoliberals and conservative ones are a bit different.
"Affluent, cookie cutter, and exclusive". An excellent description of what is just not quite right about false creek, I've always had that feeling about it. Great video, I feel like this was an excellent quick overview of the city.
Alas, that happens anyplace worth living: people flock there from various backwaters looking to make their fortune, so a) unless housing is well-regulated, speculators drive prices up up up, and b) one way or another, a number of the newcomers either flame out or were a little unstable to begin with, and homelessness goes up up up. In Caracas in the ‘70s, we could see whole shanty towns spring up on the mountainside across the valley literally overnight!
What a coincidence. When you googled “Vancouver is the” I paused to see what my city was. I’m from Memphis so I google “Memphis is the” just before you did.
"Boston is the best city in America." Also, "Boston is the city of" and "Boston is the new Boston sign." Whatever that's supposed to mean. Thanks autocomplete.
Fellow Memphian here. Yes, Memphis is the most dangerous city. Recently, there were two teens shot to death on the sidewalk on my block. Also, the song "Walking In Memphis" is garbage written by a New Yorker in New York City.
It's the best city in North America according to researchers. But to me, as an ordinary citizen with income of less than 100k, I'd take Calgary, Sarasota or even Houston over Vancouver any day.
I only got to spend a few days in Vancouver when I was traveling to Nanaimo for work. But I thought it was really really cool and would love to go again. I see all the complaints about housing prices. That is really sad that it isn't affordable to live there. I spend a lot of time in Seattle, and I thought Vancouver was a much nicer city overall.
I remember staying in Vancouver for 2 days before going on a larger trip, and I didn’t expect it to become such a big part of the trip. It was one of the most fun parts on that trip.
@@xboxrules8472 vancouver fucking sucks. Weather sucks, gas sucks, car insurance sucks, east hastings sucks, education sucks, and food sucks because of how expensive it is.
I really appreciate your highlighting of the cons of Vancouverism. It's easy to glamourize what planners have successfully done here, but we have to remember that for a huge portion of people, it's not beneficial or viable. And the ripple effect is felt for renters and middle-class folks. And now, cities all over the province are feeling the effects, as those markets become more popular for people fleeing the expensive big city. It's a very complicated issue here, and I'm glad you didn't ignore it.
I settled in Vancouver when I moved to Canada and lived in east Vancouver, the city itself is really beautiful and there is so much to explore but I haven’t really felt home. Apart from that the rent is through the roof even in Burnaby and surrey far away from actual downtown Vancouver. Idk it just felt sterile and way too good I would say. I then moved to Calgary after 5 months, where rent is like half and it’s still a fairly beautiful city with the Rocky Mountains in view.
@@xboxrules8472 I'm not talking about gdp (which I find a false evaluation) - I'm talking about culturally and progressivley, and the evolution from cowtown, which both cities started as.
I recently moved out of BC after living in Vancouver for about 20 years. Sure, the city is nice, but the people not so much. It has changed so much since I was a kid. The place is way too expensive, and so cluttered, that I had to leave. I miss the parks and the ocean, though I am glad I left.
@Mustafa Alam Why is not great? i do not live there but i suppose that rent prices are one fact since there is a lot of people, i find people very friendly and open in Canada and the country is way more safe comparing to Europe for example and ask yourself why Europe is not safe as it was before. And multiculturalism is okay but at some point is not, is full of immigration, immigration is okay but when it is too much quality of life decrease for both local people and immigrants that are looking for a better life.
I moved to Edmonton from Vancouver when I was 19 and I have lived here 13 years now. I miss some things like the ocean and the mountains. But overall I think my quality of life here is just better. I own a house and I have a good paying job plus I live close to a river valley which is a green belt running through the city. Most of my friends still there are struggling and the ones who are not there parents died and left them a house to live in. I don't think there is going to be much of a future for average families there.
I lived in Edmonton between 2015 and 2019. I struggle to find positive things to say other than: NAIT is a great school with fantastic instructors and I never thought donuts could taste this good. Overall, Edmonton feels boring and sprawled out. The downtown doesn't have much other than offices, a mall, a casino and a hockey stadium. White Ave. is definitely feels a little bit like Montreal (if only the Chevy dealership didn't take up half the street). The rich don't even live near Edmonton, but rather in the suburbs like St. Albert and Sherwood Park (and that says a lot about Edmonton). The River Valley is nice, for like 3 months in the year when it doesn't freeze. I'll concede that my experience of Edmonton was tainted by the oil recession. It was impossible for me to find regular work, and Edmonton is expensive AF. Moving to Paris (France) for work was the best decision I have ever made. And c'mon! Paris is cool
My company has offices pretty much everywhere in Canada, including Montréal (where I'm at right now), Toronto (head office), Edmonton, and Vancouver. Even though I'm sick and tired of cold snowy winters, Edmonton would be my first choice if I had to switch offices.
Vancouver has better summers as well as warmer and very wet winters when compared to cities in Alberta, it also has better scenery. Alberta has advantages like a much, much lower cost of living that will allow opportunities to save money for toys and/or visits to your choice of beautiful destinations local or international.
Adding to the chorus of former Vancouverites who have left the city. Every time I go back there I wonder, “wow, why did I leave?,” but it’s a mirage. Great place to visit, but it’s extremely hard to meet people and make friends, I think in part because everyone is working so hard to afford being there. The social scene and nightlife is pretty lacklustre, especially because most music acts play West Coast American cities Friday, Saturday, and then by the time they play Vancouver it’s a Sunday or Wednesday or maybe a Thursday if you’re lucky. It feels like you’re close to nature, but if you go anywhere on a weekend it’s insanely busy, especially Whistler on Saturdays. I much prefer living in smaller ski towns where everyone is more chilled out, friendly, and not struggling so much. It’s a shame because it is a beautiful city, but they need to do a lot more work to make it livable.
In Germany it is common that kids up from the age of 8 or 10 years are up for there own outside. Best cities are often expensive. + In Hamburg a 1.5 Million ciites in Germany with compareble Density there is although come kind of this issue . But every new projekt with more then 12 units for residential use hat to inculde a a share of 25% of affordable social housing.
Haha, yeah the 99B-line carries the ridership of what more normally expected on a subway line.... They really should have done the skytrain extension a while back.
I live in Southern California and I've been wanting to visit Vancouver since I was 12 years old and I was planning on doing a road trip to Vancouver but then the pandemic hit and it delayed my plans. Still determined even though it is extremely expensive to live there I can't help how beautiful that city is. Los Angeles would be cool at first but it you would get bored. Seen it once seen it all. Vancouver is just one of those cities I've been obsessed over and I always been so fascinated with the Pacific Northwest.
"extremely narrow" residential streets of only 66 feet (20 meters) had to listen to that 3 times to make sure I heard it right, how is that considered narrow?
@Damir H. Jesus. Remind me to leave the driving to the locals when I visit after the pandemic calms down (Main reason I wanna go is because of this Bosnian deli near my old apartment, food was insanely good and the old ladies who ran it were sweet as pie)
@@redditstop1653 Our Avenues in Montreal are 12m/39-40 feet from sidewalk to sidewalk. Those are among the largest street/roads with housing on them. The closer you get to downtown/old town the narrower the street are, even in west Island the street are narrower than that etc. The only exception are boulevard/collector roads but if we're talking about residential street than 12m is about as big as you need. I usually like his video but this one is just bad.
Townhouses on Cordova, the ones shown that are "great for families" cost between 4 million for a 2 bedroom, and up to 12 million for a 3 bedroom. And don't for get to add your property tax and strata fees totalling $4500 or more, per month on top of that mortgage.
Shaan Well, yeah- thing is that Downton became a prototype that every other municipality in Vancouver (aside from a few) tries to emulate to an extent with their town centres. People DO have families in Vancouver Downtown, same as they do in Manhattan, but it just isn’t for the vast majority of people who need them.
I have lived in Iowa for all my life except the 2 years I went to university in Vancouver. And yes, Vancouver, and particularly North Vancouver is North America's best city. I just visited last week, last November, and I will visit again very soon!!!
I would agree with everything that is said in this video. I live in the Greater Vancouver area and have spent a lot of time in Vancouver proper. The city is beautiful but it's insanely expensive, my family as well as the families of many of my friends can't afford to live in Vancouver proper because of the insane price, meaning we live out in the cities surrounding like Surrey, Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, etc. The construction in Vancouver is insane and it's expanding outwards as the value of land skyrockets. The house my parents bought in the late 2000s has nearly tripled in value since they've bought it. The amount of homeless people on some streets is horrific, something needs to be done but I really can't think quite what. Really the only other major complaint I have for Vancouver is the horrible traffic when trying to get to BC Place on the night of a Lions game lol.
Top 3: Rent control, purpose built rental buildings, and a government run rent registry. (Quebec city has that last, the land and building are assessed and so that landlords can't renovict to jack up the price, because it's external to greedy whims.) Many problems are removed if we prevent the rents from spiraling up out of reach, make sure there are always a healthy number of places to rent, and make sure that the person who is setting the price isn't the same person who can benefit from unfairly increasing it. (Seriously, landlords having power and being corrupted to take advantage of it-- it's almost like we have sayings about power and corruption and could have seen that coming. 😒)
There are a lot of other things we can do though. Starting with building and increasing public safety nets. New Westminster is implementing an emergency fund to be used by renters to stop themself becoming homeless if something dire happens, and then pay back after the crisis has ended. Every city should have one. More projects should be done with habitat for humanity, to give otherwise low or middle income people a chance at housing. More public housing to give seniors, disabled, and otherwise low income people, stable long term housing. Increasing pensions and disability rates to above, because both are below the poverty line and are insufficient to make rent, making both groups at risk for homelessness right now. -- People who literally can't work shouldn't be ending up on our streets because of it. Also, directly related to that more temporary housing for those experiencing medical distress. My cousin went homeless because he broke his leg, even though he didn't lose his job, he just didn't get paid enough while on leave. I feel like that shouldn't even be possible in Canada.
@@purpleghost106 all your ideas are bad and require far too much government involvement and bureaucracy, maybe we just defend out local real estate from rich foreign money launderes and work to establish a urban plan that isnt functionally crippled by the fact it's all planned on a peninsula. Why didnt they build in Fairview in the 80s?
If you want to do something about all the bums on the streets you'll need to start by making toronto, montreal, calgary, ottawa, edmonton , winnepeg, saskatoon warmer in the winter, so good luck with that!
Fundamentally you need jobs (that pay above poverty line wages and aren't government), with those most people cam support themselves and the local government will have enough money to pay the social programs needed for the rest. Admittedly its much easier said than done to create jobs that pay and affordable housing options. And if Vancouver is the only Canadian city that has a survivable winter for the homeless then all Canadian cities need to work on their homeless creation problem and provide sufficient shelters so they aren't forced to move to Vancouver or litterally die to the Canadian Winter.
Just avoid the giant part of downtown with people casually shooting heroin in the street... Also, super duper expensive.... I do love the city though. One of the best for sure
How can I like this comment more than once.. jesus.. Last year, my family and I went on a trip to Vancouver. We were walking what was officially downtown Vancouver and never felt more scared in my life (take in mind we are coming from EAST EUROPE, which westerners think it`s shit.. ah the irony). It was literally like the Walking dead. Oh an these beautiful mornings, when we were casually grabbing coffee in Starbucks.. with ten other shaking drug addicts!! ....
ArmchirWarrior - Good on you for clarifying that - I live in East Vancouver on Commercial Drive, a GREAT neighbourhood - tons of ethnic restaurants, good music & people - and it's safe. The dangerous part of town to avoid if you come for a visit is referred to as the downtown East Side.
but without that part of downtown, they would have to shut down many of the government-funded "non-profits" that so many people work for in Vancouver which are supposed to help those people.
I live in Vancouver, and I've lived in LA. We're spoiled. Downtown LA empties and night, downtown Vancouver is still thriving because people live there. But the big problem with the rest of Vancouver is the same as anywhere else: single family housing. The city of Vancouver proper has way to much single family housing even if the lots are much denser than the typical American house. For all of the highrise density, city of Vancouver actually needs much more medium density housing, which the suburbs in the larger greater Vancouver area do better.
A century ago people said you have completely lost your mind by saying all the people living in the lowest dirt 'billionaire'.They couldn't even count to billion !!!!
I love Vancouver, it's a beautiful place to be but because of that it's so insanely expensive to live. You have people trying to rent closets for 1500 per month, ICBC insurance that has rates through the roof, foreign buyers scooping up property like crazy. Like I said I love Vancouver but even the best places have their issues.
I've visited Vancouver a few times recently, and my experiences pretty closely match what you've outlined. My favorite part was definitely the easy transition between residential and commercial spaces; countless eating and shopping options were always a block or two away. But I could never quite shake a bit of claustrophobia, feeling boxed in by the ubiquitous glass midrises even in the city's green spaces. I suppose the latter is a reasonable tradeoff for the former, and I'd certainly consider moving there if I could afford it. But the housing prices there are comically out of reach.
Like other cities, Vancouver became a victim of its own success. We are now over-crowded, over-priced and over-regulated. Our bridges and roads are horribly inadequate for our bursting population - and still more people come here. And we now don't go to other parts of the city such as Stanley Park or concert venues due to traffic, endless construction detours and draconian parking regulations. If there were a major poem about my hometown it would be Paradise Lost.
Its like Hong Kong, except instead of rich British colonizers on chinese soil, you have rich Chinese colonizers AND rich British colonizers on aborignal soil!! Lol Also I said it on another comment, Vancouver seems like a place that's prebuilt for the future economy of alternative workers, people who work on the internet and own their own businesses etc and also make enough money..... RUclipsrs even! World's changing fast and not many cities have the structure this new class of people are looking for. I subscribed to you a while ago, really nice to see you do my favourite city!
nothing like feeling like a foreigner in the country you were born in....lots of street signs in north van are not even in English!! whole city has a dirty feel to it, all of the hong kong $$$$ money laundering
I live in Athens. Google says it is the new Berlin. I assume it means immediate post 1945. I used to live in Moscow, which Google thinks is the 3rd Rome. I assume it means immediately post fall.
Google says Vancouver is the most liveable city. its fucking cap lmfao. People really beleive these news sites that get paid off for saying stupid shit like this.
I spent two years of my high school years in Vancouver, but I had to moved to Calgary in 2006 because of family reason. Back then I cried because I didn't want to leave the city. Looking back now, moving to Calgary was a blessing in disguise. My high school best friend also moved out to Saskatoon for job, and when we talk, we are both happy that we left the city we once loved, we had no desire to visit it anymore, too much problem with drugs, gangs, and problems with Vancouver. sad thing is, Calgary is slowly following Vancouver footsteps.
@Yu Kay have you even been to Toronto? It's got more mix of different cultures population then Vancouver does. Vancouver is heavily based on huge Chineese heritage population, while Toronto is more mixed of many different countries.
Toronto is the same way. There was a huge house boom in early 2010's that eventually led to the surrounding citys near Toronto also going through a boom. Houses had almost doubled in value over a few years.
@@DevinHeida I read somewhere that Toronto was the fourth most expensive city to live in, although I'm not sure if that includes the GTA or not. Either way yeah screw living in a metropolis.
$1.1M is the current price for an ok 2 bedroom condo in Vancouver. A detached home at $1.1M would be very rare within the city limits, certainly be a tear down, and nowhere near any of the amenities outlined in this video (just as a heads up).
This is a very charming city, I hope I can return to visit sometime in the future when all this is over. Seeing and sharing places like this is why I love traveling and make videos so much!
Welcome to Vancouver, we only have 2 seasons: rainy season and wildfire season. In rainy season it drizzles all day every day, and in wildfire season the sun burns down the rainforest until smog fills the sky.
Ironically, as person from Memphis, we are actually facing almost the same problems you highlighted regarding trying to bring the suburban folk that fled during the white flights of the 40s-80s, so it's interesting to see similar problems from not exactly, but similar, origins for two different cities. I'm new to urban planning but I'm a GIS student with an undergrad and MA in anthropology and getting to learn more about urban planning the way you share things with particular interest in how these planning decisions are affecting people's lives has helped motivate me through the more grueling material I'm trying to learn, so, thanks!
Great review of the pros and cons. Thank you for mentioning the high expense, rich foreign speculators, and homelessness that makes living in Vancouver a struggle. I have friends there who love their lifestyle, but had to work hella hard to make ends meet. Yes! We need a Van 2.0!
I've lived and worked in Vancouver, have family there, and I've also lived in a few other cities in Canada and in Japan. Visited Hong Kong, Bangkok and several other major cities. Vancouver is quite expensive and if you can afford to live there, you might say its a great city. However, there is high crime and drug addicts wander the downtown East side like zombies. The weather is ok and there are many activities to do around the city in every season. Traffic can be a nightmare sometimes and the Skytrain needs expansion. The surrounding areas like Langley, Surrey, Richmond are cheaper to live in. I don't think its the best city in the world.
@@BMF604 Saigon, Taipei are world class cities with better food and much, much cheaper. if you can make a Western salary abroad, it's pointless to live in Vancouver. Most likely, if you live in Vancouver you already are working remotely as there are few good jobs in Vancouver. I find it completely pointless to live in Vancouver. Its a foreign investor city, thats it
Ktownie city see that’s the problem tho for me I won’t work remotely although I do make quite a large salary 120k a year I could probbaly work half the year and live somewhere else the other half
@@iroxursoxwithjello even if thats accurate,60% is not very high. By your numbers, 4 out of 10 homeless in Van are from elsewhere which is extremely high. Its a known fact other provinces give homeless one way bus tickets to Vancouver.. its warm here in the winter so they stay.
![Twenty One Pilots - The Line (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XCz7WUotXs8/mqdefault.jpg)
One of my favorite About Here videos on Vancouver is: When Do We Get a Skytrain to UBC: ruclips.net/video/accrf6-vLJU/видео.html
Do you watch Michael Beach's videos? I'd like to know what you think of his stuff from a planner's perspective
Aw shucks thank you for the opportunity to let me and my messy hair make a cameo on your video City Beautiful :)
Opps, I ended up binge watching all of About Here's videos before returning to this video to complete it. I hope you understand, his content was really good. :)
About Here is a great channel, so happy to have discovered it!
@@steevf His content is EXCELLENT. So happy to have people discover his channel.
Vancouver is like one of those Japanese sports car icons, amazing and underrated achievement, budget friendly but as soon as everyone realized how good they are, the price rose by 400%, and they kept in sterile garages and never driven. Vancouver is so good, that it has become priceless and unattainable. The ironies of this world i swear.
Yup, but you can also reframe it as an unavoidable negative consequence of an otherwise positive global change. *Aside from ruining the environment* Technological improvements and the pace of innovation has yielded a better quality of life to more people. That means that sure it is unfortunate that many people have become disproportionately rich and have priced out working class people for the most sought after real estate, goods and services, the quality of life for all classes has raised dramatically. Who knows where we'll be globally in 50 years but I don't think making the most wanted real estate cheap is the most important issue facing our country and world.
Actually, Vancouver is actually a shitty Kia for the price of a Bugatti that people try to delude themselves to believe is a Bugatti
Central Planning assumes that people can't figure things out for themselves; only Geniuses in some extraterrestrial level can handle it . . . there's a lot of wasted intelligence.
I would'nt want to select Tijuana as a model for urban planning, but it was built rather in a Piecemeal style, at grassroots level; perhaps students of city planning should give it a visit.
Funnily enough, one of my favorite automotive RUclips channels, Roads Untravelled, are from Vancouver! Apparently there's a big JDM scene there, and lots of importers due to proximity to the Pacific and the US West Coast.
As a Vancouverite, I love how this video became a gathering place for other Vancouverites to come to the comment section to go “ehhh well actually…” and reveals the actual truth.
If you like not being able to own a condone, because they're are close to a million dollars...(let alone a house) and pay $2000 in rent because the population quadrupled and there is a zero % occupancy rate that makes it a landlords paradise....than Vancouver is for you!!!
Calgary is a way better city to live for multiple reasons, I lived 30 minutes from the coast my entire life and never bothered me the slightest living in Calgary without it
Totally true, i HATE what this city has become. It is truly a story of what happens when the 1% of a population hides their faces in sand as the 99 run to anywhere they can afford
I came here exactly for that comment lol
@@22mrwright you wild
I did 6 month's in Calgary and got homesick
Vancouver is no longer affordable for the average family.
Neither is its twin Seattle
Isn’t that the whole premise???? I don’t think every single place in the world gets that auto feeling like he mentioned the beginning of the video if it’s considered one of the best places to live gonna cost a bit LOL why do all of you seem so shocked?
Diane Mangiavillano nobody is shocked more like frustrated. The neighbourhood I grew up in has turned from affordable family homes to a bunch of houses that all look alike with no one living in them. I love my city but it’s become unrealistic for most average families to live here.
True
@@AthenaCannon Sorry to break your bubble that diversity includes rich foreigners who do not assimilate and buy up the property.
I lived in downtown Vancouver, drawn by the misleading headlines of the world's most beautiful city.
Everything felt amazing for 3 months. Later I realized that everyday life is expensive, half of the condos are stupidly empty while everyone struggles to pay their rent. Neighborhood life is non-existent, the majority of stores are large luxury chains, small merchants have fled the city, Vancouver feels soulless and cultural spaces are scarce (except the cult of sport and the wearing of leggings as only clothing). More than a year later, I have moved to Montreal, and I feel it is a much better city in North America.
I agree 100. Vancouver is a nice city to visit, but Montreal is amazing. We live in NYC go to Montreal for our cultural fix every year. It's such a great city to explore any time of year, great food, nightlife, multicultural with a french twist, great public transportation that's easy to navigate, interesting neighborhoods and suburbs. Montreal has it all. I wish I had discovered it when I was younger. It's great from NYC it's just a short flight. We used to stay at big hotels in the center of the city, now prefer Air B and Bs in neighborhoods. They really know how to live up there and the people are gorgeous.
“The cult of sport”. Someone hate fun 😂
That's actually an interesting perspective. We don't think about that as visitors having fun for a few days. I live in Manhattan, which is a similar experience around Midtown and the East Side. I find I hang out in Brooklyn and Queens more and more as time passes.
@@markrichards6863 Thank you for the kind words on my city, Montréal. Though, I sure hope that the French part of it is more than just a twist. I hope the city greets you well again in the future. Merci :)
@@hagron5702 The French Language is one of the best parts. It's a completely different culture set in an awesome North American city. It's the best if both worlds. My fiancee speaks French proficiently. I don't speak much French at all, but never found that to be a barrier in Montreal. Montreal is the most hospitable city I've ever been to. Now Quebec City on the other hand could take hospitality lessons from Montreal. I don't always feel welcome in QC, especially outside of the central tourist area. In Montreal, I get on the Metro and go out to outlying neighborhoods and always feel welcome and safe.
As a resident, I'll tell you if you like mild weather and love being out in nature it's great. But socially it's a black hole and if you don't have tonnes of cash you won't have much fun.
I don't have tons of cash and still have fun, not everything in life costs money.
@@katyroseable Different in Vancouver. Part of the problem is the demographic living there (rich upper class business families), your social circle is generally these types of people if you are in Vancouver or Richmond, and their leisure activities are usually out of your price range if you are middle class.
The endless days of dark clouds and rain make it really depressing in winter. Although the temperature doesn't get that cold, the humidity is so high, that you get chilled right to the bone. While the rest of Canada is blanketed in snow, it's very bright outside, never completely dark at night, and the dry cold is very tolerable, even if it's -20 outside.
Except for East Hastings!
Mild weather !!!!! Canadians....😁🤣😂
Those "family" townhouses cost about 2 Million dollars. Ideal if you have a few kids and are just starting out.
“Just starting out” with a 2 million dollar inheritance
Might as well move to Singapore or Hong Kong.
@@reeckoyoshi5887 Oh, Hong Kong's looking like a lovely choice these days, especially if you like the smell of tear gas and would like to really get to know what it's like to live in a small prison cell, or a work camp :)
i mean if you want brand new and right by central vancouver yes, 2 million. my friend just got a townhouse for around 800k but in burnaby so if you're willing to live 20 minutes from central vancouver..greater vancouver is a bit better cost wise.
@@tataatthedisco Yea, the ones he showed were in Yaletown. 800K is a bargain! Good grief, what is this guy's mortgage?
another comment about the pronunciation..it's "vanCOUver" not "VANcouver"
It's "leviOHHHHHsa" not "levioSAAAAA"
It’s leviosaaaaaaaaaaaa😫😷🥴😖🙏🏿🍑💦💦💦💦
It’s leviosaaaaaaaaaaaa😫😷🥴😖🙏🏿🍑💦💦💦💦
Every time he put the accent on the wrong SYL-able, I cringed.
It's actually Hongcouver 😂😂
@@GeoNiSiBaNyeon go back home
After watching this glowing video I can't help but think that some cities look amazing on paper but fail to truly serve the needs of its citizens. As a Canadian social worker, I know it as a place with poor mental health supports, egregious addictions services and high overdose fatality rates, and unaffordable housing. It is unfortunate that all the positives are overshadowed by its lack of affordability for the average Canadian, leading to a lack of true community feel.
The number of drug addicts in Vancouver only grows with increasing social supports for them. Time to admit this policy is a complete failure.
Vancouver is totally over-hyped
well fucking said
@@supermash1 fucking true. druggies get 1500 a month on welfare + mental welfare, 1500. fucking 1500.
my father volunteers downtown and says how the government refuses to give food stamps in exchange for a few hundred dollars of welfare because they want the homeless to be independent... lol meanwhile they are dependant on drugs.
what a joke.
It's because of geography. Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island are the only places in Canada that offer a different option from freezing Arctic weather.
1. It attracts people with money from all over Canada, and foreigners who are not used to cold weather. It's impossible for it to be affordable to everyone with all that competition.
2. It attracts the homeless from all over Canada, again it's possible to survive in the streets. Not sure if it's true, but I heard other provinces give their homeless free one-way ticket to Vancouver. You can't expect Vancouver to be able to handle all of those without some federal help.
VAAAAN-couver
HONGcouver!
Faccs
I noticed that too
*VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN*
The pronunciation is killing me
Sorry!
+1 from Seattle
I'm glad I'm not the only one! VanCouver not VANcouver haha
(edit to fix my rhotics... right-side-up Spanish-style r vs. upside-down English-style ɹ is hard to remember)
Locals say it Vang-couver
You have to understand that Vancouver's beauty relies on shoving out people who are not super wealthy. That is a major, major flaw because it produces a giant inner-city ghetto like in the United States and forces many people to live far away. It is beautiful, but a better design would encourage mixed income residents.
It's like in SimCity by in real life, where most cities are built for wealthy or upper-middle-class sims. It's honestly absurd that this happening to a whole city downtown, and no one saw the lack of affordable (low income) housing, many different things have to happen before a building is built. I bet at least a few dozen people knew the plans lacked low-income housing, just didn't bring up the issue in fear of standing out.
85% Employer unwilly to pay is Employee a Fair hourly Waged. Earn $27/Hr @ 40 hours a week just to be on the Line. Earn below $20/Hr Stuck in Low Income Housing or Work to you are dead to pay Rent a place you sleep for 4 - 6 hours a Night.
hastings street
A big issue is the acioring building permits and the massive lag time involved. Agordible housing projects can't afford the cost of getting there plans approved in a timframd that would make them viable leaving only luxury projects that can afford to great the weeks or even just pay someone to stand in line at City hall and badger them for updates.
No one needs poor fuckers in their area. they can do dope somewhere else.
I think we can appreciate the amazing cities in Canada while also acknowledging the biggest problem in Canada in the 2020's and that is affordability. It is crazy and sad.
Yep, as a student in Southern Ontario, I've stressed myself more over working to make rent than my studies
Keep voting Liberal lol
And this garbage country loves milking covid
@@kobeb2413 what?
And really only the Vancouver district is "beautiful". Everything outside looks like a dump (except for coquitlam where all the rich retirees live).
It's literally a shiny billboard for outsiders.
If a city isn't affordable for at least the median person or family, it's NOT a livable city, it's a livable city for only certain types of people
And we're okay with that. For everyone else there is winterpeg or cowgary.
I believe you, I passed through one summer and it was -7C , not a temperature one associates with summer.
just say Chinese and white rich people...
@@xboxrules8472 Or Europe very soon...
Vancouver's problem isn't due to its housing policy. Its because lack of good-weather places with ocean and mountain-views in Canada. 99% places in Canada are freaking cold. Sounds bold to imagine for a massive nation like Canada, but it is what it is
I grew up in Vancouver(van-COO-vr), your pronunciation is killing me, as well as foreign buyers.
Oh god I’m from the west coast and the way he’s putting the emphasis on the Affix is killling me
Yeah, as a Canadian: I took that personally.
I’m from Toronto and he’s pronouncing it like everyone else. Idk maybe locals pronounce it differently.
Same
@@damdog74 I’m from Vancouver and he is saying it weirdly
It's the best city to launder Chinese money.
You got the right you don't even have to put your Name on it, You can just put it in a Number company.
Toronto is a close second
D.M. Wayne land of junkies
Yeah, and guess where the fentanyl comes from
True thing, Canada wont ask for more information where your money came from
The sad part about living in Vancouver is those very long periods of time where all you do is work and don’t really get to enjoy the beautiful scenery cuz you’re so stressed :)
,because it rains from october to april
Vancouver is great but I'd never in a million years want to live there because of how absurdly expensive it is
Zo Kay i would rather live in a different place and be able to have a 3 story home with a huge backyard and be able to afford trips to Vancouver and even better places. Much better than living in Vancouver but putting all your money into living and food rather than being able to travel and have extra money.
Zo Kay Sacrifice some money on living expenses, 40% of your income, two fingers, and your firstborn son. All for a squalid hut. Yea, T-bone 😂
@@brooke4608 This is the way.
People in Vancouver move by walking, bike and public transit not because it's good but because they don't have money for anything else. Also by 1969 metro Vancouver reached a population of 1M people, in 2002 metro Vancouver got 2M and right now in 2021 Vancouver have 2.6M. The city growth so late it did benefit from seeing how other city around the USA/Canada and Europe growth and understood that huge sprawl is bad but they still fucked up so bad that you're typical family can't afford to live in that city.
I seriously fail to see why some magazine/news article say Vancouver is a great place to live. Sure design wise it's pretty good except everyone is living in a huge concrete box and housing is ridiculously expansive. Montreal is probably the North American city with the most green space and the old part of the city is dense with mid-rise & good coverage of public transit & is cheaper than pretty much any city of it's size.
@@Boby9333 as some one who lived in Vancouver for 20 years I agreed. It’s so Unaffordable now, it’s so ridiculous. It was great 10 years ago when things are still manageable but not now
Vancouver is the best Cities: Skylines project on Earth.
I know look at the buildings it has a cs vibe
Scenery yes
Cities in the United States look like slums compared to cities in Canada.
Only because it’s compared to other North American cities... but it is good
5dastral I think Singapore would be the best in my humble opinion. They were able to provide enough social housing to increase housing affordability to countless people, yet not disturbing the free market of real estate investment. It’s amazing how 90% of the population own homes, and 80% of 5.7 million population live in social housing. I guess they’ve successfully made social housing safe, high quality, affordable, and available for everyone rich and poor. They’re able to allow capitalism run free together with good welfare for their citizens. It still wows me to this day, they have such low taxes, such free market, yet they have such low unemployment, poverty, and very good welfare. It truly is a model city I should say. Where the free market doesn’t affect their citizen’s welfare. But I guess Vancouver would be better compared to many American cities.
Lived here 10 years without the need of a car. Saves SOOO much money I instantly lost on rent...
Tyson power tru
I live in Toronto and, while it's not as byootiful as Vancouver, it's not a bad place to live. The city fronts on Lake Ontario which is easily accessible by public transit. There is water -- it's only Lake Ontario, but still it's water and unpolluted (mostly). The city has been replacing what were old industrial buildings with cycling paths, residential towers and green space. Sadly, there are no mountains to provide a backdrop, so Van wins on that score. If Van gets a score of 10/10, I'd give Toronto an 8/10. Then there's Montreal -- but that's "autre chose."
Hahahaha so accurate.
But I think that goes for every major city depending on the block
Try Pittsburgh, house 50K, 10 miles from downtown.
I'm riding an e-bike I bought to uni everyday (in gas town from hastings sunrise) and I'm saving 1500 this year on parking fees so (y)
Honestly, the best city in North America is the one that people don't know about yet. Like Seattle 20 years ago or Salt Lake City 5 years ago.
My choice would be a city of up to 100 000 somewhere in Tennessee or Florida.
SLC has been a shithole for a while longer than 5 years though.
My choice would be Victoria BC for best place to live , modern , lots of lakes , ocean front ,golfing, Great fishing
VanCOUver does a lot of things really well, but has some serious issues. The insane price of real estate is just one issue of many. Vancouver is rapidly becoming a playground for the wealthy with a dirt-poor underclass cleaning rich peoples' bathrooms.
I'm one of the few who was actually born in Vancouver. In early 2019 I left.
Hey Laura! I'm curious - did you leave because of the housing crisis? I have a few friends (well educated, well-paid professionals in their mid-thirties) who had to move out because they just couldn't afford it anymore.
Got it. Multiculturalism is probably the one thing I love about Vancouver and big cities in Canada in general. I find it fascinating to go for a walk in Toronto and hear all the different languages.
I would rather have a peaceful life than staying in the rat race of Vancouver
In mid 19 I left too. Born and Raised also.. it's a beautiful city in summer and from a drone camera overhead but in the streets its ugly..overpriced, drugs and fairly dull.
Jacob Sweedler-Luke yeap... I've lived in Vancouver for 28 years now, and here it is 2019 and I'm moving away just like the rest of us. Vancouver is a great city to visit but you don't really wanna live there and try to make a go of it. It's really no different than almost any city in the world if you have lots of money then it's a great place to be
New best city in the world: exists
International buyers: Here we go
You could definitely name a bajillion small-midsize cities in Western Europe. Vancouver gets a tonne of hype because it's a lovely city in North America, and North American cities suck for the most part.
@Yandri Susanto Yes but its not the best since early 2000. It has been ups and downs on the list, and that's why it happens in other cities around the world that holds the title sometimes
@Yandri Susanto So why asians buy so many apartments in NYC, London, Toronto? Weather helps but it's not the main factor. They buy in hot markets, often in cities with this title
??? That doesn't even make sense. How long have you been trying to communicate in English?
Summer: "VANCOUVER IS BEAUTIFUL! OMG LETS GRAB OUR BIKES AND GO OUT!"
Every other season: (inaudible grumbling)
It's so true
Found one of the many californians that moved to the northwest. It's water. People in the northwest don't care about rain. It doesn't even get that cold.
Yep, I love the Cascadian climate!
@@CityBeautiful if it's cold or raining, you just need to get an adequate coat. However if it's unbearably hot you can't have an AC on your bicycle. That's why a climate like the one in Vancouver is more suitable for riding bicycles than let's say Los Angeles.
@@Jarekthegamingdragon am a local, literally everyone jokingly complain about the weather.
I just came from visiting Vancouver. It’s a beautiful city, but the people are not very friendly and walking down Hastings street and Chinatown area seeing all the homelessness and open drug use was one on the saddest sights I’ve ever seen in my life!
Did you visit Toronto as well?I d like your opinion
Toronto is the same as VAncouver .... homeless, high crime city , no soul, USA car culture , no identity with copprupred mayors and Doug Ford (PM) . Toronto is becoming India . 10 most dangerous cities in CAnada are in Toronto ( Statistics CAnada ) . Toronto has a fake time square ... so creative @@globaljobs1855
0:24 Ignores "most expensive city"
VOKZEL 8:57 he doesnt ignore it
Expensive compared to what? Detroit?
Gregory Thompson it’s 1mil cad for a shitty run down 2 bedroom house with a puny backyard and a shite driveway
Double Ton it’s literally more than 1 million 😭
@@Ahmed-un4up I've seen literal shacks on less than a quarter acre go for over $1m in Richmond.
my tiny pet peeve is that i’ve always emphasized the “couv” syllable rather than the “van” syllable
I've never heard anyone emphasize any part of the word, it's just a smooth flow of phonemes. That said, emphasizing the COUV isn't too bad, but VANcouver is just awkward and sounds almost intentional.
Yeah, that's how most Canadians pronounce it. vanCOUver. Calgary is a more interesting case, because I've heard (some) people FROM that city call it calGARy. That just sounds weird to me.
Thanks for pointing it out. There's also a difference in the pronunciation between the Vancouver in the State of Washington and the Vancouver in the Province of British Columbia. Both place the stress on the middle syllable but that syllable is slightly different in pronunciation [but not always]. So complicated.
Zeyev wow i’ve never noticed that! as a seattleite i’ve always pronounced them the same
@@maxkauffman6289 It's a subtle difference and isn't said by all Canadians. Like I said, it's complicated, like everything else in the English language.
Why do you keep emphasizing “Van” when you say Vancouver.. as someone born here that annoyed the crap out of me.
He's from California, different accent.
it annoyed the crap out of me and im from seattle lmao
@@littlemittromney same, and English isn't even my native language
I’m from Ontario and it hurt
I’m from VANcouver and it’s killing ne
Great analysis of Vancouver, where I was born and lived for 50 years. I don’t miss the traffic and commercialism (I now live in Switzerland in the beautiful countryside), but Vancouver still hold a lot of great memories for me. One thing you forgot that Switzerland doesn’t have: a lot of great, but inexpensive restaurants!
Honestly, Vancouver is one of my favorite cities in the world. Too bad it's so expensive nowadays...
Vancouver, San Francisco, Edinburgh and Istanbul are the best cities in the world.
@@ahrlj24 All of them are expensive.
@@paxundpeace9970 That's why its expensive! people want to live there
@@ahrlj24 nope. The most livable cities are Vienna, Melbourne & Tokyo
@@person9366 vancouver is top 5 for quality of life
It is really expensive though ... and this is something that really matters when picking a city to live .. Vancouver sure is pretty and well planned... but if you have to struggle so much just to survive in it , is it really worth it? It looks like it is a gentrified city ...
really it isn't. You have a large amount of opportunity job-wise yet become so far behind financially that most people just get further and further into debt. News outlets have been taking notice at Vancouver's rising median debt level. So no, it's not, unless you are some of the lucky few that are able to afford such living.
For me the transit and lack of car dependence really goes a long way. Same with the accessible green spaces. I remember reading a study mentioning that Vancouver's residents were the healthiest in Canada as the green spaces and higher use of active transportation led to more active lifestyles. So if you can ditch the car, gas, insurance and parking payments, as well as a gym membership and amortized medical fees, it's still expensive but it's way more doable if that lifestyle is the kind that you want.
I think its a city for people who have decent income from something that they love. If it wasn't for that I'd stay in cold ass Calgary. Soon enough I'll make enough I think. Till then..... I wouldn't want to live in a vancouver suburb.
It's expensive because 1) the reasons explained in this video, 2) low interest rates cause asset price inflation (same reason the stock market is so high), 3) supply and demand, 4) money laundering, 5) over regulation causing higher development costs and slower development speed reduce supply and improve quality, which also increases material and construction cost, 6) BC's feud with Alberta is increasing cost of fuel by preventing increased production to allow for an economy of scale to reduce unit price while simultaneously biting the hand that feeds and encouraging retribution, 7) the Canadian urban economy has shifted from low wage low skill manufacturing to high wage high skill tech jobs, meaning you have more people with more money, causing inflation, 8) immigration has exceeded construction, meaning we are running out of empty units. There's more reasons, but the point is, it's a complicated issue.
That's correct. It's awesome but expensive. Home prices are crazy! If you want to leave in one of those fancy buildings downtown featured in the video, you better sell one kidney or an eye.... LOL
Not sure you're putting the emphasis on the right syllable there.
vanCOUver
Also I'm pretty sure City beautiful labelled Richmond as "VANcouver" though I might be remembering wrong.
Every time he says Vancouver I cringe 😂 good video besides that though
Seriously? Half the people who live here can't pronounce it properly! XD
@@woahfarout8793 brother moved there a couple years ago and always calls it Vanc, ugh I don't know what is worse that or VANcouver.
I live in Vancouver. There’s lots of unique and beautiful traits the city has to offer like the breathtaking nature backdrop. All that said, the place is utterly up its own arse. It’s wrought with corrupt politicians and it’s desirability is heavily based on the fact it’s the only city in Canada that doesn’t get much winter.
But depressing .... 7 months of rains, no sense of community , no soul ... The rocky mountain is also in the USA not unique to VAncouver .
Hey Dave, love your content however, I have a critique about your "Vancouverism" video.
As a born and raised Vancouverite I'd like to respectfully point out that focusing on downtown is by no mean a representation of Vancouver city design. Sure DOWNTOWN is nice blah blah blah, but that's a small part of the city. Im actually surprised you didn't even touch on the Vancouver Special or hwo traffic is restricted to say ~10 major streets in the city.
While here did you manage to go to Main st, Commercial st, UBC, Hastings st, or East Van?
The City of Vancouver, as I describe it, is like NY city in the downtown and then a giant suburb surrounding that peninsula. Very spread out, grid-like, and suburban with islands of highrises spotted throughout. This is the Vancouver 95% of peopel live in.
I was hoping for your thoughts on the city as a whole because, as you pointed out, whenever you search Van up you'll get results such as "the best... etc" and that does not raise issue with the city as a whole, the real Vancouver.
Thoughts and your professional opinion??
P.S. Vancouver is pronunced with the stress on the second sylable VanCOUver.
I have to agree with you Norman, I too have lived here my entire life, 39 years, This video heavily glosses over the main parts of Vancouver, what is described in this video is the ritzy tourist attraction parts of van, due to poor city planning the areas most desirable to live in van are overpriced rentals and Airbnb with tourists coming off of Cruzes ships, many of the locals who live and work here are slowly being forced out of city proper to find more liveable homes, many of those towers have units so small that only a single person could comfortably live in them.
Yeah. Richmond and south Vancouver are well connected by transit. However the other areas that are not expensive are not well connected to the city center. They probably need to expand there commuter rail system to service the suburban areas where people live.
Hello fellow Vancouverites, I think Coquitlam isn't getting enough representation because, well yeah, I also know that that is the right syllable
This guy must have bin paid by the City/ government
If you don't have a car go luck getting to work on time.
Norman Galimski Metrotown, Coquitlam Central, and Richmond aren’t suburbs.
"vancouver has a lot of foriegn buyers"
Richmond: *observe*
Chinese-Jew bought UP Richmond
@@raymond289 chinese jews. Really?? Really??
Surely just not allowing foreign investors that don't have ties to the city such as a business or family to purchase property would be a big step into changing it for the better. I don't think it's too late, but I'm not sure how it would be possible to do this quickly. In order for my idea to be a resolution, current foreign owners would have to be bought out or forced out which isn't likely to happen. It's a shame but it's like that in every city, Vancouver, London and New York are other examples but Vancouver is prominent, especially with thr high interest from wealthy Chinese individuals... It was definitely an oversight by the city officials and might be too late, i hope not but most likely is.
@@casey9559
Should have been done 10 years ago. Let only Canadian citizens buy residential property.
Richmond is 74 percent Asian
Well I’ll probably have to move out of the city in a few years because I can’t even afford a studio for 700k
you can get a studio half hour away in surrey for less than 300k
I went to Vancouver for a 2 week visit and ender up staying for 15 years. I love Vancouver 🇨🇦
I think that you were surprised by the children walking around without parents shows that there is a big Problem in the US. In Germany Children start go playing outside and on the streets without their parents when they are 7 or 8 years old and in my opinion this is an important step to grant that your children can take care of themselves.
Vancouverism: thought of the urban design, but never of the demographic design.
That's not exactly their fault though. Foreign wealthy parking their wealth in property (and the realtors and developers who marketed to them) had a lot to do with it.
@@lozoft9 yes, that's their fault. Damn neoliberals. You don't have to allow foreigners to buy up your whole city, and you can also build or promote building more affordable housing so the locals can live there. These are all policy and budget decisions. They didn't just randomly happen.
@@trol4889 yeah, well thankfully Vancouver was planned before neoliberalism took hold, so that's where the good planning came from. Neoliberals then got to privatize and use that substantial public investment and planning to sell off the city to the highest bidders from all around the world, making it one of the world's most expensive cities and unaffordable to most of the actual inhabitants. That's not a good thing, especially in a city that doesn't have a very good job market, unlike its larger sister city to the south (Seattle).
Additionally, while there are a lot of similarities and overlaps between them, liberal neoliberals and conservative ones are a bit different.
It's the new China. 60% of Vancouver is Chinese origins and barely 30% is white
"Affluent, cookie cutter, and exclusive". An excellent description of what is just not quite right about false creek, I've always had that feeling about it. Great video, I feel like this was an excellent quick overview of the city.
As a Canadian, the concept Vancouver as a the best city to live in is odd to me. They're notoriously known as the most expensive city in Canada.
And a haven for out-of-province junkies.
It is expensive to live in places that everyone wants to live
yeah and i thought that title was given to calgary?
Stunning city full of homeless people 💔
Alas, that happens anyplace worth living: people flock there from various backwaters looking to make their fortune, so a) unless housing is well-regulated, speculators drive prices up up up, and b) one way or another, a number of the newcomers either flame out or were a little unstable to begin with, and homelessness goes up up up. In Caracas in the ‘70s, we could see whole shanty towns spring up on the mountainside across the valley literally overnight!
@@danopticon its mostly that almost no one can afford a one bedroom arpartment
@@danopticon no, you've missed the point, vancouver has the largest tent city in the entirety of canada
@@interrobangings *had, the gov tore it up i think
@@monotonexylophone1623 damn, really? it was still there in 2019 when i went on an Alaskan cruise
poor folks... :(
What a coincidence.
When you googled “Vancouver is the” I paused to see what my city was.
I’m from Memphis so I google “Memphis is the” just before you did.
All I get is "Madison is the capitol of which state" 🙄
"Boston is the best city in America." Also, "Boston is the city of" and "Boston is the new Boston sign." Whatever that's supposed to mean. Thanks autocomplete.
Yu Wish I got “Milwaukee is the new Portland,” seems like a much more fitting title for Madison to be honest haha.
Fellow Memphian here. Yes, Memphis is the most dangerous city. Recently, there were two teens shot to death on the sidewalk on my block. Also, the song "Walking In Memphis" is garbage written by a New Yorker in New York City.
@@howtubeable st louis is actually the most dangerous city
If Vancouver is the best city in North America, that’s really depressing
Needs to be a major earthquake there to clean up all the filth and overdevelopment!
It's the best city in North America according to researchers. But to me, as an ordinary citizen with income of less than 100k, I'd take Calgary, Sarasota or even Houston over Vancouver any day.
@@diegoperez2090 Calgary is boring as hell. Montreal is the most affordable, lively city in Canada
@@lillianfletcher5022 u r sick, bad karma for u
Maybe u expect too much??
I only got to spend a few days in Vancouver when I was traveling to Nanaimo for work. But I thought it was really really cool and would love to go again. I see all the complaints about housing prices. That is really sad that it isn't affordable to live there. I spend a lot of time in Seattle, and I thought Vancouver was a much nicer city overall.
your "Vancouver" is basically only downtown area, the most expensive area. If you want to live instagram worthy places, be prepared to pay high price.
If you want to live anywhere in Vancouver it's super expensive.
It’s all fun and games until you have to pay almost six thousand dollars a year in car insurance as a new driver
Yes... and in a city with a LOT of rain.
Blame the NDP for that monopoly which is illegal in Canada.
I did that in Ohio after getting into two at fault accidents at 19. Not exclusive to Vancouver lol
They don't have public transportation in Vancouver?
Asians....🙄🙄if you know what i mean....
I remember staying in Vancouver for 2 days before going on a larger trip, and I didn’t expect it to become such a big part of the trip. It was one of the most fun parts on that trip.
If by “best” you mean unaffordable, then yes, Vancouver is the best North American city.
just google, it is one of the most livable cities in the World
Well, when you're rich enough to (comfortably) live in Vancouver, you can get yourself a nice lifestyle in a lot a places lol
Me as a vancouverite seeing this title: laughs uncontrollably
Easily the best city in NA, easily.
@@xboxrules8472 hell no
@@xboxrules8472 vancouver fucking sucks. Weather sucks, gas sucks, car insurance sucks, east hastings sucks, education sucks, and food sucks because of how expensive it is.
@@stevejeffrey11 It is and Brian Burke even said it himself, kid.
You're a Vancouverite? So you're a sensitive little snowflake with no character? lol cause that's basically what you're saying when you say this.
I really appreciate your highlighting of the cons of Vancouverism. It's easy to glamourize what planners have successfully done here, but we have to remember that for a huge portion of people, it's not beneficial or viable. And the ripple effect is felt for renters and middle-class folks. And now, cities all over the province are feeling the effects, as those markets become more popular for people fleeing the expensive big city. It's a very complicated issue here, and I'm glad you didn't ignore it.
I settled in Vancouver when I moved to Canada and lived in east Vancouver, the city itself is really beautiful and there is so much to explore but I haven’t really felt home. Apart from that the rent is through the roof even in Burnaby and surrey far away from actual downtown Vancouver. Idk it just felt sterile and way too good I would say. I then moved to Calgary after 5 months, where rent is like half and it’s still a fairly beautiful city with the Rocky Mountains in view.
I passed through calgary one summer and it was -7C, no thanks.
To me, Calgary is like a poor man's Kansas City. At least KC has great art museums and amazing sculptural fountains.
@@d.rabbitwhite
kansas city GDP: $142,503 USD
calgary GDP : $110,470,000,000 CAN
Yikes, calgary's GDP was over 775,000 times that of kansas city.
@@xboxrules8472 lol. I was about to say the same thing! Its be a better comparison to say Calgary is a poor man's Dubai.
@@xboxrules8472 I'm not talking about gdp (which I find a false evaluation) - I'm talking about culturally and progressivley, and the evolution from cowtown, which both cities started as.
"It's van-COU-ver, not VAN-cou-ver" - Hermione Granger
That's right!
Proper name can have multiple pronunciations. Easy peezy
This is what I came for. Thank you, kind stranger.
YES i love this
I was looking for this comment. Even VANcouverism, I can't even say it, not even a proparoxytone anymore!
I recently moved out of BC after living in Vancouver for about 20 years. Sure, the city is nice, but the people not so much. It has changed so much since I was a kid. The place is way too expensive, and so cluttered, that I had to leave. I miss the parks and the ocean, though I am glad I left.
@Mustafa Alam Why is not great? i do not live there but i suppose that rent prices are one fact since there is a lot of people, i find people very friendly and open in Canada and the country is way more safe comparing to Europe for example and ask yourself why Europe is not safe as it was before. And multiculturalism is okay but at some point is not, is full of immigration, immigration is okay but when it is too much quality of life decrease for both local people and immigrants that are looking for a better life.
Thanks for leaving, good start
Metro Vancouver and the San Francisco Bay area will look like a huge Detroit in a few decades.
I moved to Edmonton from Vancouver when I was 19 and I have lived here 13 years now. I miss some things like the ocean and the mountains. But overall I think my quality of life here is just better. I own a house and I have a good paying job plus I live close to a river valley which is a green belt running through the city.
Most of my friends still there are struggling and the ones who are not there parents died and left them a house to live in. I don't think there is going to be much of a future for average families there.
Smart
I lived in Edmonton between 2015 and 2019. I struggle to find positive things to say other than: NAIT is a great school with fantastic instructors and I never thought donuts could taste this good. Overall, Edmonton feels boring and sprawled out. The downtown doesn't have much other than offices, a mall, a casino and a hockey stadium. White Ave. is definitely feels a little bit like Montreal (if only the Chevy dealership didn't take up half the street). The rich don't even live near Edmonton, but rather in the suburbs like St. Albert and Sherwood Park (and that says a lot about Edmonton). The River Valley is nice, for like 3 months in the year when it doesn't freeze. I'll concede that my experience of Edmonton was tainted by the oil recession. It was impossible for me to find regular work, and Edmonton is expensive AF. Moving to Paris (France) for work was the best decision I have ever made. And c'mon! Paris is cool
Edmonton is a surprisingly green city.
My company has offices pretty much everywhere in Canada, including Montréal (where I'm at right now), Toronto (head office), Edmonton, and Vancouver. Even though I'm sick and tired of cold snowy winters, Edmonton would be my first choice if I had to switch offices.
Vancouver has better summers as well as warmer and very wet winters when compared to cities in Alberta, it also has better scenery. Alberta has advantages like a much, much lower cost of living that will allow opportunities to save money for toys and/or visits to your choice of beautiful destinations local or international.
Adding to the chorus of former Vancouverites who have left the city. Every time I go back there I wonder, “wow, why did I leave?,” but it’s a mirage. Great place to visit, but it’s extremely hard to meet people and make friends, I think in part because everyone is working so hard to afford being there. The social scene and nightlife is pretty lacklustre, especially because most music acts play West Coast American cities Friday, Saturday, and then by the time they play Vancouver it’s a Sunday or Wednesday or maybe a Thursday if you’re lucky. It feels like you’re close to nature, but if you go anywhere on a weekend it’s insanely busy, especially Whistler on Saturdays. I much prefer living in smaller ski towns where everyone is more chilled out, friendly, and not struggling so much. It’s a shame because it is a beautiful city, but they need to do a lot more work to make it livable.
I lived in Vancouver for a year and it was the greatest year of my life
HONGcouver.
They have the busiest bus line in Canada and the US, and hosted Expo 86 and the 2010 Winter Olympics. It looks nice but expensive
Looking is all you’re going to do unless you have several million dollars going spare. 🤷♂️
In Germany it is common that kids up from the age of 8 or 10 years are up for there own outside. Best cities are often expensive. + In Hamburg a 1.5 Million ciites in Germany with compareble Density there is although come kind of this issue . But every new projekt with more then 12 units for residential use hat to inculde a a share of 25% of affordable social housing.
Zveebo A bit hyperbole, more like half a million and a job.
The roads are not nice, we aren't either
Haha, yeah the 99B-line carries the ridership of what more normally expected on a subway line.... They really should have done the skytrain extension a while back.
As a native born Vancouverite from many, many years ago I will say that Vancouver falls under the “used to be” category.
Agreed. 45 years in Vancouver. It stopped being Vancouver 20 years ago. Getting out was the best decision I made in a long time.
TKP Sadly, me also. Moved out to the Fraser Valley. Now it’s getting bad too.
Ugh! Another tourist oppinion of our city.
@MARKO Have you seen what's been going on in Canada lately? Pfft.
@MARKO You need to "edumacate" yourself there paley!
I live in Southern California and I've been wanting to visit Vancouver since I was 12 years old and I was planning on doing a road trip to Vancouver but then the pandemic hit and it delayed my plans. Still determined even though it is extremely expensive to live there I can't help how beautiful that city is. Los Angeles would be cool at first but it you would get bored. Seen it once seen it all. Vancouver is just one of those cities I've been obsessed over and I always been so fascinated with the Pacific Northwest.
Have you visited yet?
Imagine Downtown LA/Skid Row expanding to the whole city, but with the views of San Francisco. That's Vancouver. It's not worth it.
Title: How GREAT Vancouver is!
Comments of people who live there: About that....
"extremely narrow" residential streets of only 66 feet (20 meters)
had to listen to that 3 times to make sure I heard it right, how is that considered narrow?
North American definition amirite
You cannot imagine living in Southern Italy. I will not explain.
@Damir H. Jesus. Remind me to leave the driving to the locals when I visit after the pandemic calms down
(Main reason I wanna go is because of this Bosnian deli near my old apartment, food was insanely good and the old ladies who ran it were sweet as pie)
Streets in chicago are around 50 feet. Vancouver's streets are not narrow
@@redditstop1653 Our Avenues in Montreal are 12m/39-40 feet from sidewalk to sidewalk. Those are among the largest street/roads with housing on them. The closer you get to downtown/old town the narrower the street are, even in west Island the street are narrower than that etc. The only exception are boulevard/collector roads but if we're talking about residential street than 12m is about as big as you need. I usually like his video but this one is just bad.
Townhouses on Cordova, the ones shown that are "great for families" cost between 4 million for a 2 bedroom, and up to 12 million for a 3 bedroom. And don't for get to add your property tax and strata fees totalling $4500 or more, per month on top of that mortgage.
And all the ridiculous bylaws about every single thing you own too. Can't forget that.
That moment when some irrelevant crackhole far leftist undeveloped town is more expensive than Monaco
Shaan Simple. You don’t buy townhouses in Downtown. You can’t buy cheap townhouses in downtowns in general. What did you expect?
Fredinno That’s my point. Nice that you agree. Too bad the video is so misleading.
Shaan Well, yeah- thing is that Downton became a prototype that every other municipality in Vancouver (aside from a few) tries to emulate to an extent with their town centres.
People DO have families in Vancouver Downtown, same as they do in Manhattan, but it just isn’t for the vast majority of people who need them.
I have lived in Iowa for all my life except the 2 years I went to university in Vancouver. And yes, Vancouver, and particularly North Vancouver is North America's best city.
I just visited last week, last November, and I will visit again very soon!!!
I would agree with everything that is said in this video. I live in the Greater Vancouver area and have spent a lot of time in Vancouver proper. The city is beautiful but it's insanely expensive, my family as well as the families of many of my friends can't afford to live in Vancouver proper because of the insane price, meaning we live out in the cities surrounding like Surrey, Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, etc. The construction in Vancouver is insane and it's expanding outwards as the value of land skyrockets. The house my parents bought in the late 2000s has nearly tripled in value since they've bought it. The amount of homeless people on some streets is horrific, something needs to be done but I really can't think quite what. Really the only other major complaint I have for Vancouver is the horrible traffic when trying to get to BC Place on the night of a Lions game lol.
Top 3: Rent control, purpose built rental buildings, and a government run rent registry.
(Quebec city has that last, the land and building are assessed and so that landlords can't renovict to jack up the price, because it's external to greedy whims.)
Many problems are removed if we prevent the rents from spiraling up out of reach, make sure there are always a healthy number of places to rent, and make sure that the person who is setting the price isn't the same person who can benefit from unfairly increasing it.
(Seriously, landlords having power and being corrupted to take advantage of it-- it's almost like we have sayings about power and corruption and could have seen that coming. 😒)
There are a lot of other things we can do though. Starting with building and increasing public safety nets.
New Westminster is implementing an emergency fund to be used by renters to stop themself becoming homeless if something dire happens, and then pay back after the crisis has ended. Every city should have one.
More projects should be done with habitat for humanity, to give otherwise low or middle income people a chance at housing. More public housing to give seniors, disabled, and otherwise low income people, stable long term housing.
Increasing pensions and disability rates to above, because both are below the poverty line and are insufficient to make rent, making both groups at risk for homelessness right now. -- People who literally can't work shouldn't be ending up on our streets because of it.
Also, directly related to that more temporary housing for those experiencing medical distress. My cousin went homeless because he broke his leg, even though he didn't lose his job, he just didn't get paid enough while on leave. I feel like that shouldn't even be possible in Canada.
@@purpleghost106 all your ideas are bad and require far too much government involvement and bureaucracy, maybe we just defend out local real estate from rich foreign money launderes and work to establish a urban plan that isnt functionally crippled by the fact it's all planned on a peninsula. Why didnt they build in Fairview in the 80s?
If you want to do something about all the bums on the streets you'll need to start by making toronto, montreal, calgary, ottawa, edmonton , winnepeg, saskatoon warmer in the winter, so good luck with that!
Fundamentally you need jobs (that pay above poverty line wages and aren't government), with those most people cam support themselves and the local government will have enough money to pay the social programs needed for the rest.
Admittedly its much easier said than done to create jobs that pay and affordable housing options.
And if Vancouver is the only Canadian city that has a survivable winter for the homeless then all Canadian cities need to work on their homeless creation problem and provide sufficient shelters so they aren't forced to move to Vancouver or litterally die to the Canadian Winter.
Just avoid the giant part of downtown with people casually shooting heroin in the street...
Also, super duper expensive.... I do love the city though. One of the best for sure
Heroin is the healthy alternative to alcohol or nicotine 🤔
Yeah, as a Vancouverite, overdose is a every day thing, when I visit east side, China town, I avoid Hastings at Main at all cots
How can I like this comment more than once.. jesus.. Last year, my family and I went on a trip to Vancouver. We were walking what was officially downtown Vancouver and never felt more scared in my life (take in mind we are coming from EAST EUROPE, which westerners think it`s shit.. ah the irony). It was literally like the Walking dead. Oh an these beautiful mornings, when we were casually grabbing coffee in Starbucks.. with ten other shaking drug addicts!! ....
ArmchirWarrior - Good on you for clarifying that - I live in East Vancouver on Commercial Drive, a GREAT neighbourhood - tons of ethnic restaurants, good music & people - and it's safe. The dangerous part of town to avoid if you come for a visit is referred to as the downtown East Side.
but without that part of downtown, they would have to shut down many of the government-funded "non-profits" that so many people work for in Vancouver which are supposed to help those people.
After I move here I finally realize they only mean “Vancouver” is the best city to live not “ Greater Vancouver”
Lmao yeah
Surrey ganggg
north shore :D
Yeah suburbs suck
@@redditstop1653 north shore is actually so nice though
@@Joraultechy *Car dependent suburbs
I live in Vancouver, and I've lived in LA. We're spoiled. Downtown LA empties and night, downtown Vancouver is still thriving because people live there. But the big problem with the rest of Vancouver is the same as anywhere else: single family housing. The city of Vancouver proper has way to much single family housing even if the lots are much denser than the typical American house. For all of the highrise density, city of Vancouver actually needs much more medium density housing, which the suburbs in the larger greater Vancouver area do better.
If you’re a fentanyl addict or a Chinese billionaire, I suppose it’s the best.
Welcome to the future. True
A century ago people said you have completely lost your mind by saying all the people living in the lowest dirt 'billionaire'.They couldn't even count to billion !!!!
As someone who is neither, and lives in Vancouver, I disagree. There isn’t a city I would want to live in more.
Fantastic Future 😂😂
highdough only because you DON’T live here. The tourist view quickly fades in the reality of shameful homelessness and unaffordable basics.
Awe man you covered my hometown! So cool!
I love Vancouver, it's a beautiful place to be but because of that it's so insanely expensive to live. You have people trying to rent closets for 1500 per month, ICBC insurance that has rates through the roof, foreign buyers scooping up property like crazy. Like I said I love Vancouver but even the best places have their issues.
I love Vancouver. I live in Seattle and Vancouver just feels like the amazing Aunty city that spoils you when you visit.
It's an awesome place to live, provided you have an awesome bank account.
Or speak Cantonese
Don’t be so cynical. An awesome job will do, too.
I've visited Vancouver a few times recently, and my experiences pretty closely match what you've outlined. My favorite part was definitely the easy transition between residential and commercial spaces; countless eating and shopping options were always a block or two away. But I could never quite shake a bit of claustrophobia, feeling boxed in by the ubiquitous glass midrises even in the city's green spaces. I suppose the latter is a reasonable tradeoff for the former, and I'd certainly consider moving there if I could afford it. But the housing prices there are comically out of reach.
its awesome, its my 4th city that I've lived and gone to school in and its definitely my favorite, also housing is doable if you rent
it's an amazing place to live if you show up there already minted.
@@djdevyn1967 If you rent? Like if you split renting cost with two or more people you mean!?!
Like other cities, Vancouver became a victim of its own success. We are now over-crowded, over-priced and over-regulated. Our bridges and roads are horribly inadequate for our bursting population - and still more people come here. And we now don't go to other parts of the city such as Stanley Park or concert venues due to traffic, endless construction detours and draconian parking regulations.
If there were a major poem about my hometown it would be Paradise Lost.
Its like Hong Kong, except instead of rich British colonizers on chinese soil, you have rich Chinese colonizers AND rich British colonizers on aborignal soil!! Lol
Also I said it on another comment, Vancouver seems like a place that's prebuilt for the future economy of alternative workers, people who work on the internet and own their own businesses etc and also make enough money..... RUclipsrs even! World's changing fast and not many cities have the structure this new class of people are looking for.
I subscribed to you a while ago, really nice to see you do my favourite city!
There's no british people now in Vancouver. It's almost all just chinese. It's the new China
nothing like feeling like a foreigner in the country you were born in....lots of street signs in north van are not even in English!!
whole city has a dirty feel to it, all of the hong kong $$$$ money laundering
Its all nice and cool till you have to pay 1700 for a small ass apartment in east Vancouver
My daughter lived downtown Seattle 3000 a month for a studio.
vsedai canadian dollars are slightly less than american dollars, so to him, that may end up being near $3700 for rent
I live in Athens.
Google says it is the new Berlin.
I assume it means immediate post 1945.
I used to live in Moscow, which Google thinks is the 3rd Rome.
I assume it means immediately post fall.
Ag3nt0fCha0s athens is shit
Ag3nt0fCha0s sorry but this is truth
@@Drannn54 r/woosh
Google says Vancouver is the most liveable city.
its fucking cap lmfao.
People really beleive these news sites that get paid off for saying stupid shit like this.
I spent two years of my high school years in Vancouver, but I had to moved to Calgary in 2006 because of family reason. Back then I cried because I didn't want to leave the city.
Looking back now, moving to Calgary was a blessing in disguise. My high school best friend also moved out to Saskatoon for job, and when we talk, we are both happy that we left the city we once loved, we had no desire to visit it anymore, too much problem with drugs, gangs, and problems with Vancouver.
sad thing is, Calgary is slowly following Vancouver footsteps.
Surrey has gang problems not vancouver
I love Vancouver, I’m from Mexico almost every year I go to Canada, my brother lives in Alberta
te encanta Vancouver
Go to Toronto, it's way better
@Yu Kay have you even been to Toronto? It's got more mix of different cultures population then Vancouver does.
Vancouver is heavily based on huge Chineese heritage population, while Toronto is more mixed of many different countries.
@@jameschampken770 no stop lying there is only white people in toronto.
@@NationalismDjazair yeah, you havent lived in Toronto then. 😂
Before I watch the video: No, because the cost of the average house is like $1.1 Million CAD
After: yep lol rip van city
Toronto is the same way. There was a huge house boom in early 2010's that eventually led to the surrounding citys near Toronto also going through a boom. Houses had almost doubled in value over a few years.
@Dunn123 The average cost of a house in the province of New Brunswick, Canada is like 187K CAD supposedly but yeah, Vancouver is messed.
@@DevinHeida I read somewhere that Toronto was the fourth most expensive city to live in, although I'm not sure if that includes the GTA or not. Either way yeah screw living in a metropolis.
@@IndiumInk I'm not even in the GTA though, that housing boom extended all the way to the other side of the lake and almost to Niagara falls.
$1.1M is the current price for an ok 2 bedroom condo in Vancouver. A detached home at $1.1M would be very rare within the city limits, certainly be a tear down, and nowhere near any of the amenities outlined in this video (just as a heads up).
As someone who lives in bc Canadian I can say city of Vancouver is awesome. The people are... not so awesome.
Lol why u say that?
@@kbtitan2464 the people are assholes really uppity clicky and everyone's a homeless druggie downtown
Borna Arabi I live in new west and I would say it’s better than most of Vancouver
@@BAR475 That's like every major city on the West Coast lol
@ Toronto is the best city in Canada
"What makes this city full of wealthy Canadians such a great place to live?"
This is a very charming city, I hope I can return to visit sometime in the future when all this is over. Seeing and sharing places like this is why I love traveling and make videos so much!
you want a charming city go to Montreal, seriously beats Vancouver .
I’m from Ohio lmao and I’ve been to numerous states and throughout Canada and Vancouver has something majestic to it that I’ve found in no other city.
@Lee Judd probably the abundance of homeless people.
mountains
Vancouver traps you! Visiting and living there are two different things. I love to go back to visit but living there was misery
Thanks for SUCH a thoughtful and nuanced take on Vancouver!
Impressive and great Video productions. Thank you.
Love your videos. Can’t wait for the next one!
Welcome to Vancouver, we only have 2 seasons: rainy season and wildfire season. In rainy season it drizzles all day every day, and in wildfire season the sun burns down the rainforest until smog fills the sky.
Ironically, as person from Memphis, we are actually facing almost the same problems you highlighted regarding trying to bring the suburban folk that fled during the white flights of the 40s-80s, so it's interesting to see similar problems from not exactly, but similar, origins for two different cities. I'm new to urban planning but I'm a GIS student with an undergrad and MA in anthropology and getting to learn more about urban planning the way you share things with particular interest in how these planning decisions are affecting people's lives has helped motivate me through the more grueling material I'm trying to learn, so, thanks!
Vancouver: exists
Concord Pacific: its free real estate
yeah that was a modern example of buying manhattan for $20. Just like the manhattan, the developers still had to develop it into what it is.
1626, the Dutch brought Manhattan for 60 guilders(amounts $1,100 in 2012 dollars)
Great review of the pros and cons. Thank you for mentioning the high expense, rich foreign speculators, and homelessness that makes living in Vancouver a struggle. I have friends there who love their lifestyle, but had to work hella hard to make ends meet.
Yes! We need a Van 2.0!
I treated myself for my 44th birthday by going to visit my friends in Vancouver. I loved it there!!!
“The skyline could be urban designed as public art” if only every major city was able to do that.
I've lived and worked in Vancouver, have family there, and I've also lived in a few other cities in Canada and in Japan. Visited Hong Kong, Bangkok and several other major cities. Vancouver is quite expensive and if you can afford to live there, you might say its a great city. However, there is high crime and drug addicts wander the downtown East side like zombies. The weather is ok and there are many activities to do around the city in every season. Traffic can be a nightmare sometimes and the Skytrain needs expansion. The surrounding areas like Langley, Surrey, Richmond are cheaper to live in. I don't think its the best city in the world.
What city’s do you prefer
@@BMF604 Saigon, Taipei are world class cities with better food and much, much cheaper. if you can make a Western salary abroad, it's pointless to live in Vancouver. Most likely, if you live in Vancouver you already are working remotely as there are few good jobs in Vancouver. I find it completely pointless to live in Vancouver. Its a foreign investor city, thats it
Ktownie city see that’s the problem tho for me I won’t work remotely although I do make quite a large salary 120k a year I could probbaly work half the year and live somewhere else the other half
Every city has crime and drug addicts. There is always going to be the bottom rung no matter where you go.
man i never knew i would be seeing my home in this channel.
That city breaks my heart ...
You can't truly settle down there because it's just SO bloody expensive 😭.
People like calling the US a shithole, while Canada out here being california on steroids.
@@honkhonk8009 canada is a bit better but generally north america is pretty shite
@@sander9951 still better than brazil tho lol
@@honkhonk8009 America and Canada have there pros and cons. To be fair every state in the U.S is different and province in Canada is different
And there’s tons of homeless near downtown east side near Chinatown
I lived in Vancouver from 2007 to 2010. I still miss it. I lived on the heart of the city Hornby Street and Nelson
come back. the canucks are about to make another run
@@feifeijay lol
I literally couldn’t get through the whole video because of how you say Vancouver 😂
VAN!!!!! -couver
Me too. Funny how these trivial things can be so irritating.
His pronunciation is absolutely horrible!!!
I could only watch two minutes before being completely annoyed!
Absolutely unwatchable. I muted and read the closed captioning. -___-
In America I believe that’s how it’s pronounced. I literally don’t know any way else to pronounce it
You can fit Vancouver and all other major North American cities on one block in New York, and still have the rest of New York to overwhelm the senses.
With untold thousands of homeless people everywhere and apparent wealth everywhere. More like a pretty cesspool.
Jealous much lol, too obvious man got to hide your jealousy better
@Zo Kay that's dumb propaganda, studies show 60% are from bc. Maybe try dealing w ur problems
@@iroxursoxwithjello even if thats accurate,60% is not very high. By your numbers, 4 out of 10 homeless in Van are from elsewhere which is extremely high.
Its a known fact other provinces give homeless one way bus tickets to Vancouver.. its warm here in the winter so they stay.
@Private Author: The heartbreak of central planning.
Vancouver is a rathole joke!