Quote:
Originally Posted by burn_this_city
Are people with children overly concerned with walkability, entertainment, culture, and restaurants? I have a 2.5 year old and basically none of those rate highly on my pyramid of needs. People have different priorities at different phases of life. Even a multi bedroom inner city townhouse would be mediocre to raise my kid in compared to the lifestyle I grew up with. Small yard, traffic, constant supervision required.
Part of the reason condos have done so poorly here. They are primarily purchased or rented by younger adults without children. After oil crashed we shed a ton of young professionals and those who had their kept jobs moved on to the next phase in life, which meant trading upwards if possible to a SFH.
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I have a newborn. Commuting is a massive concern for me. As is free time, generally. I'm quite willing to pay a premium and live in a smaller place to not spend an extra hour of the day in a car. You're correct, I don't walk to bars as much as I used to. However, having amenities like gyms, grocery stores, daycare, all close is a massive priority.
I have a detached property, but really only because it's a good investment. I don't really care for the yard work. The maintenance on the house is crazy expensive and time consuming. If I could I would definitely buy a 3 bedroom townhouse close to the core, but Vancouver doesn't really have any of those.
As for the child's lifestyle, a major bonus of living in a densely populated area is the people. Kids love other people above all else. There are lots of parks in the area too. Once kids get to be 12+, the advantage of having entertainment options for them close becomes a massive thing.