[JohnnyB]

I'm late to the party on this one, but can't believe I was missing out on a thread to talk about hating living in Vancouver. I don't think I have any greater regret in life than moving back here, and I don't think I can possibly handle another winter here. It's so dark, so boring and so depressing. Living in Vancouver feels like living in a damp, mouldy basement, but one that's full of people who believe it's the best place on earth. It's really phenomenally disappointing.

Also, I feel like a lot of people living in Vancouver don't even understand what the city is. It's basically a retirement villa for the world's rich, with a large class of working quasi poor who service them. That is the reason Vancouver real estate will always go up. It's not because Vancouver is actually an amazing city, or because of Vancouver's local economy. It's just a place the new money of the world can move children and assets to for safekeeping and investment, and Canada's dependence on immigration for growth will continue fueling this for the foreseeable future.

There is remarkable cognitive dissonance locally among people who think this is some sort of enlightened city leading in social conscience when there is an obvious massive wealth gap, slums, huge issues with drugs, and the worst ratio of wages to cost of living in North America. But, mountains and water, so... what more could you want?