Vancouver is 'best city to live'

[troutman]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/10/04/eui.survey/

The Canadian city, nestled on the Pacific coast, was one of four locations in that country to rank at the top of the Economist Intelligence Unit's livability survey, which looked at conditions in 127 cities.

The other top-ranking Canadian cities were Toronto, Calgary and Montreal.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Art...National/Canada

Toronto and Calgary were ranked ninth and 10th. Australia's Melbourne was No. 2 on the list with Perth, Adelaide and Sydney also making it into the top 10. .

Vancouver is about the only place in Canada I would consider living in besides Calgary. I spent 5 years there in the early 90s and loved it. I did not even mind the rain. It is better than having -20C.

[Reaper]

Personally, I prefer sunshine and cold to cloudiness and moderate temperatures.

Even as bad as the humidity is here in Alberta I prefer it to the constant mist of the west coast. I like to be able to actually dry off after a shower as opposed to just using a towel as a squeegee.

I'm probably in the minority but Vancouver ranks low on my list with the crappy weather and high cost of living.

[Regulator75]

Originally posted by Reaper@Oct 5 2005, 10:14 AM
Even as bad as the humidity is here in Alberta I prefer it to the constant mist of the west coast. I like to be able to actually dry off after a shower as opposed to just using a towel as a squeegee.

Since when was no/low Humidity a bad thing?

[Reaper]

Originally posted by Regulator75@Oct 5 2005, 10:30 AM
Since when was no/low Humidity a bad thing?

No humidity is kinda crappy when your hands feel like leather in the middle of winter, your lips slpit when you have areally huge sneeze and your wife wakes up with a bloody nose at least once a week.

[Red_Baron]

Originally posted by Reaper@Oct 5 2005, 09:14 AM


I'm probably in the minority but Vancouver ranks low on my list with the crappy weather and high cost of living.

I hate the place as well. I lived there for 3 year while I went to UBC and since I couldn't afford $1500/month for rent I had to live in the south-central part (pretty much East Van). Vancouver is nice if you are downtown or west of oak street, the rest of it is a filthy rotting dump. There was so much garbage on the streets of the neighborhood that I lived in, needles and used condoms in every back alley, you can't park your car with anything in it or it'll get ripped off, and the drivers....Don't get me started. Some people like Kitsilano but those of us that aren't fond of moldy basement suites for $1200/month, it's pretty crappy. Buying a house is a pretty sad affair, you buy a $600,000 rotting shack and still have to have a basement suite in it so you can pay the mortgage-No Thanks! Or you buy a $400,000 900 square foot leaky condo that needs $100,000 in repairs. It would take a salary of at least $120,000 to get me to think of moving back to that area.

I'll stay in Kelowna but my second choice is Calgary.

[Cowperson]

I lived in downtown Vancouver for three months in mid-winter during a training thing many, many moons ago . . . . . I liked it in general but I wouldn't say it was a place I would be clamouring to go in exchange for the Calgary area.

Vancouver feels . . . . confining.

Cowperson

[Tron_fdc]

I lived in Perth for 3 months......loved it. Probably one of my fav cities in the world I've ever been besides Van and Calgary.

Van would be great to live in......15 years ago. Calgary is my pick right now, but in 15 years I might have to move to Nelson or Saskatoon.

[Mango]

Thanks for the link. It was a good read.

[Footscray]

I lived in Australia for a year too in another city on the list, Melbourne. It was a great place - amazing sports city (which I needed as a major sports junky) great location, relatively clean, and really nice people for such a big city. Have to say I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to Van city though I have liked it in my 2 or 3 brief visits.

[Tron_fdc]

Originally posted by Footscray@Oct 5 2005, 02:44 PM
I lived in Australia for a year too in another city on the list, Melbourne. It was a great place - amazing sports city (which I needed as a major sports junky) great location, relatively clean, and really nice people for such a big city. Have to say I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to Van city though I have liked it in my 2 or 3 brief visits.

Yeah, and a legal 2 plant per person limit.

Or was that Adelaide? I can't remember. Getting heroin on the street was SUPER easy there!!

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

When was that Footscray?

I was there for a year in the late 80s

[Footscray]

Originally posted by Bend it like Bourgeois@Oct 5 2005, 11:08 PM
When was that Footscray?

I was there for a year in the late 80s

It was about 5 years ago - i lived in the northern burbs around clifton hill but somehow I obviously ended up barracking western bulldogs. I just loved Aussie rules. The 7 dollar tickets and 100,000 seat stadium coupled with cheap beer and a physical game was too much for me. As for the plants thing - i never noticed or looked into it, I was there for school so it was obviously around lots but no more so than here in particular.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Until you live in Vancouver for an extended amount of time, you cannot say that vancouver is a bad place to live........

Now, Id be stupid to think that Im gonna come here and change peoples minds about vancouver being a better city than calgary. Having said that, Vancouver is an absolute beautiful city, year round, I cant think of a better place to live. Its never too cold, yes it rains a lot, but I dont see how someone would take ridiculous cold temperatures over a little water here and there. And when it doesnt rain, this place is so beautiful, where else can you golf in the winter, where else can you be on a mountain and at the beach within 10 minutes........Where else in canada does it never get below 5 degrees....So when some magazine says that Vancouver is the most liveable city in the world, I dont see how you could argue with that.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally posted by VANFLAMESFAN@Oct 5 2005, 08:08 PM
Until you live in Vancouver for an extended amount of time, you cannot say that vancouver is a bad place to live........

Now, Id be stupid to think that Im gonna come here and change peoples minds about vancouver being a better city than calgary. Having said that, Vancouver is an absolute beautiful city, year round, I cant think of a better place to live. Its never too cold, yes it rains a lot, but I dont see how someone would take ridiculous cold temperatures over a little water here and there. And when it doesnt rain, this place is so beautiful, where else can you golf in the winter, where else can you be on a mountain and at the beach within 10 minutes........Where else in canada does it never get below 5 degrees....So when some magazine says that Vancouver is the most liveable city in the world, I dont see how you could argue with that.

vancouver is a beautiful city... my favorite city. lived there from '95 - 2000, loved it.
calgary is number 2 to me.

[Reaper]

Originally posted by VANFLAMESFAN@Oct 5 2005, 09:08 PM
Until you live in Vancouver for an extended amount of time, you cannot say that vancouver is a bad place to live...

Well, I lived in the lower mainland for 13 years and I wouldn't want to live there again.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally posted by Reaper@Oct 5 2005, 08:23 PM
Well, I lived in the lower mainland for 13 years and I wouldn't want to live there again.

how come???

[Tyler]

I'm really liking living in Vancouver, and will probably live here after I'm done at UBC.

I just wish they would round up all the homeless people and ship them outta town. The downtown Eastside is disgusting, and a sore spot on a really beautiful city.

[Fuzzy McGillicuddy]

I'm a born-and-bred Calgarian and have lived here most of my life. I enjoy Calgary but there are few cities that are more beautiful than Vancouver on a sunny day. And like any other west coast community in Canada or the USA it sure has it's share of flakes. But there is also a different level of sophistication that Calgary either lacks or doesn't understand (I like to call it lack of pretention or a simpler way of life.)

My wife is from Lotusland (jeez I hope she doesn't think I'm suggesting she's a flake).

I agree about the humidity thing. Dry hands don't bother me, but I find it a lot easier to breathe on the coast.

I could do without the traffic congestion in Vancouver. Even in Calgary I'm fortunate to have a job that allows me to commute to work during off-peak hours.

I would still live in Vancouver under the right circumstances. I always have a good time when I'm there. But I would also miss Calgary a great deal.

[Fuzzy McGillicuddy]

Originally posted by Tyler@Oct 5 2005, 11:39 PM
I just wish they would round up all the homeless people and ship them outta town. The downtown Eastside is disgusting, and a sore spot on a really beautiful city.

You sound just like Dave Bronconnier .... "now if only we could do something about those unsightly homeless people. Maybe we could sweep them under the rug somewhere and they'd just go away."

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally posted by Fuzzy McGillicuddy@Oct 5 2005, 10:59 PM
but I find it a lot easier to breathe on the coast.

i agree. nothing like driving to vancouver and noticing the change of humidity in the air...its awesome, alot easier to breathe