moving to vancouver

[Bob]

Has ICBC gotten any better? I know my car insurance rates initially doubled when I moved to Surrey in 2006 (on a fairly new car), then dropped a bit to "only" 40% higher than Calgary. I had a perfect driving record, so I think that was only due to my relatively few years of driving experience (I recall some sort of grid system where they gave you a certain discount based on various factors). I did appreciate the fact that Autoplan offices were everywhere, which came in handy on more than a few occasions. Higher rates might just be one of those unavoidable things ...

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by Bob

Has ICBC gotten any better? I know my car insurance rates initially doubled when I moved to Surrey in 2006 (on a fairly new car), then dropped a bit to "only" 40% higher than Calgary. I had a perfect driving record, so I think that was only due to my relatively few years of driving experience (I recall some sort of grid system where they gave you a certain discount based on various factors). I did appreciate the fact that Autoplan offices were everywhere, which came in handy on more than a few occasions. Higher rates might just be one of those unavoidable things ...

Can't speak to other places, all I know is what I pay.

I've got a pretty clean driving record, no accidents or claims in 15 years, I pay $130 a month on my Ford Escape. Is that good? I have no idea.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Bob

Has ICBC gotten any better? I know my car insurance rates initially doubled when I moved to Surrey in 2006 (on a fairly new car), then dropped a bit to "only" 40% higher than Calgary. I had a perfect driving record, so I think that was only due to my relatively few years of driving experience (I recall some sort of grid system where they gave you a certain discount based on various factors). I did appreciate the fact that Autoplan offices were everywhere, which came in handy on more than a few occasions. Higher rates might just be one of those unavoidable things ...

No.

My car in Calgary costs me $800 for the year. My one in Vancouver cost about $1,400 for the year for the same car. My insurance went up in BC one year, even though my car's value depreciated after 12 more months of driving. I asked why it would go up, since I didn't have an accident, didn't get a ticket and my car is worth less now than it was a year ago. They said many others are having accidents driving similar vehicles, so I have to pay more for mine. This is after they announced their profits were above expectations. Every year in Alberta since 2002 my insurance cost has gone down.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by feartheflames

wow, that's a bit disheartening. I'm quite a shy individual so I guess I'll have to be out of my element for a bit.

As for the earlier comments about the commute, My work would be located downtown- so I take it the extra dollars in rent is more favorable than battling the traffic...

I did the same thing as you back in 2005. I moved back to Calgary last year though.

Plenty of good advice in this thread. I wouldn't be too scared of the anti-social Vancouver phenomenon but it certainly is a little more insular in the way people interact with eachother. As has been said, join some teams or clubs you're interested in and you should meet some people.

And yes, be prepared for the grey winters. As someone who grew up in Calgary you are going to miss the sun. I'm not sure I ever got completely used to the weather when I lived in Vancouver.

Transit there is amazing if you live in Vancouver proper. Enjoy the freedom of not having to rely on your car.

And take advantage of the good restaurants. Food in Vancouver is amazing.

Best part is, laugh at the Canucks and revel in their misery at every chance you get.

[The Reverend]

Just a few things:

- ICBC totally sucks as does the driving culture. If you let people cut in front of you, don't expect a wave of thanks. I agree with many of the other posters, if you don't have to drive in BC, it's your best option. Getting around Vancouver without a car is a lot easier than getting around Calgary without one
- Prepare to pay twice as much for a bottle of wine or any other liquor for that matter. BC has a far poorer selection for wine and heaven forbid that the liquor stores are open on Sunday. That used to be a bigger issue in the past but still...
- Kits is an ok area if you live and work in Kits. Getting anywhere from Kits is a pain unless you are going further west.
- Downtown is ok to live but be prepared for noise, lots of noise
- Gastown has lots of great pubs and food but the DTES is still very depressing
- Yaletown is akin to that bar in Calgary, the Mercury. Only it's two or three streets of the Mercury.
- Commercial Drive is ok too, lots of dirty hippies and bull dykes but eclectic nevertheless

Vancouver has a ton of great places to eat and hang out and if you are into music, it's far superior to Calgary. Bands from all over come here and the venues to play at are also fantastic.

Any other info, let me know, I hope this post wasn't too cynical, it can be a great place to live, it really depends what you make of it. Which, I suppose, is true of anywhere.

[trew]

North Van is the only really decent place to live in Vancouver. The Sea Bus is not a bad commute to get downtown, and it's the best neighbourhood for getting away from it all. (Hiking, biking, skiing, kyaking, access to Ferries, Whistler, etc.)

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by trew

North Van is the only really decent place to live in Vancouver. The Sea Bus is not a bad commute to get downtown, and it's the best neighbourhood for getting away from it all. (Hiking, biking, skiing, kyaking, access to Ferries, Whistler, etc.)

A few things.

1. North Van is not in Vancouver. That's like saying Airdrie is in Calgary.

2. Although North Van has some good things going for it, it sucks to get to and from because of the bridges. It's way too separated from Vancouver.

3. It's very inconvenient to get to the airport.

4. North Van, Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Richmond all have their own highlights to live there. To say North Van is the only really decent place to live is stupid. It depends what you do. I live in Fairview, which is just west of the Cambie bridge. I can bike to work in 15 minutes, or drive in five. I can walk to multiple grocery stores and Granville Island. It's a 20 minute drive to my golf course and there are endless biking trails. The Canada line is right around the corner should I want to take it to the airport. If I lived in North Van my commute would be so much longer and I would be much further from my friends. Since I fly frequently, I would have to spend a ton on either cabs or parking if I lived on the North Shore.

5. You may love North Van, but to say there are no other decent places to live is dumb, and would be contested by over one million people out here. The only thing it has over Vancouver , Burnaby, etc. is it is quicker to get to and from Whistler and the ferries. I've never been on the ferries and I'm not sure how often people go to Whistler. I go maybe 6 times a year and the worst part is always getting back across the bridge.

[scotty2hotty]

Originally Posted by The Reverend

Just a few things:


- Commercial Drive is ok too, lots of dirty hippies and bull dykes but eclectic nevertheless

YOU'RE a bull dyke!!

[puckluck]

I hope you don't get the disease that causes you to disappear from CP on days the Canucks lose that is spreading rapidly in Vancouver.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

Can't speak to other places, all I know is what I pay.

I've got a pretty clean driving record, no accidents or claims in 15 years, I pay $130 a month on my Ford Escape. Is that good? I have no idea.

It's not good. I also have a clean driving record and pay $868 (full coverage) a year on my Escape. Move to Alberta where the rates are cheaper

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

A few things.

1. North Van is not in Vancouver. That's like saying Airdrie is in Calgary.

2. Although North Van has some good things going for it, it sucks to get to and from because of the bridges. It's way too separated from Vancouver.

3. It's very inconvenient to get to the airport.

4. North Van, Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Richmond all have their own highlights to live there. To say North Van is the only really decent place to live is stupid. It depends what you do. I live in Fairview, which is just west of the Cambie bridge. I can bike to work in 15 minutes, or drive in five. I can walk to multiple grocery stores and Granville Island. It's a 20 minute drive to my golf course and there are endless biking trails. The Canada line is right around the corner should I want to take it to the airport. If I lived in North Van my commute would be so much longer and I would be much further from my friends. Since I fly frequently, I would have to spend a ton on either cabs or parking if I lived on the North Shore.

5. You may love North Van, but to say there are no other decent places to live is dumb, and would be contested by over one million people out here. The only thing it has over Vancouver , Burnaby, etc. is it is quicker to get to and from Whistler and the ferries. I've never been on the ferries and I'm not sure how often people go to Whistler. I go maybe 6 times a year and the worst part is always getting back across the bridge.

I lived in North Vancouver all my life up until 3 years ago and I loved it. Can't find too many bad things to say about it. It had a smaller city feel but still had everything you'd find in a bigger city. The traffic within the city was great. But yes, the commutes over the bridge weren't great, but hell, I'll take a North Van to downtown commute over a Surrey to downtown commute any day.

But yes, the guy saying North Van is the only good place to live in Vancouver is ridiculous and narrow minded. You can find great places to live all over the place, within reason of course. It's all about lifestyle.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by Dion

It's not good. I also have a clean driving record and pay $868 (full coverage) a year on my Escape. Move to Alberta where the rates are cheaper

Good to know there's one good thing if I ever moved East.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

3. It's very inconvenient to get to the airport.

I don't know. How convenient it is to get to the airport is one of the things I'm going to like about living in North Vancouver. Hope on the Seabus, and take the Skytrain to the airport. But I'm also going to be living on 5th Street so for someone living further north it might be more of an inconvenience.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Inferno

I don't know. How convenient it is to get to the airport is one of the things I'm going to like about living in North Vancouver. Hope on the Seabus, and take the Skytrain to the airport. But I'm also going to be living on 5th Street so for someone living further north it might be more of an inconvenience.

Your trip is an extra 30-45 minutes. Potentially an hour or more.

He walks onto a train and is at the airport into 30 minutes from the time he leaves his house. That's pretty good.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Your trip is an extra 30-45 minutes. Potentially an hour or more.

He walks onto a train and is at the airport into 30 minutes from the time he leaves his house. That's pretty good.

It was pretty fast when I was there at the end of November. But I also maybe missed rush hour.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Your trip is an extra 30-45 minutes. Potentially an hour or more.

He walks onto a train and is at the airport into 30 minutes from the time he leaves his house. That's pretty good.

I left my house, walked to the Canada Line - Olympic Village station, got through security and had boarded a plane in 44 minutes the other day. Because I have transit tickets, it cost me $1.90 for the trip. Especially when taking 8:00 am flights, I really value the short commute time to YVR.

Getting to YYC from Mackenzie Towne makes me want to jab my eyeballs out. When I was articling at KPMG I had a client at YVR and had to go there every morning in January. I had to leave at 6:00 am if I wanted the drive to take less than an hour. One day it took 2.5 hours to drive because I left at 7:30 am. Although North Van has much better transit to YVR than Calgary to YYC, I still wouldn't want to tack on an extra 30-60 minutes each way. It's more expensive to live where I do, but to me it's worth it.

[Super Nintendo Chalmers]

Originally Posted by feartheflames

As for the earlier comments about the commute, My work would be located downtown- so I take it the extra dollars in rent is more favorable than battling the traffic...

Distance is one thing to consider with your commute but the bigger factor are the bridges, imo. Those are the bottlenecks. If you don't want to live in Vancouver (costly) then you should look at Burnaby or New West first.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Super Nintendo Chalmers

Distance is one thing to consider with your commute but the bigger factor are the bridges, imo. Those are the bottlenecks. If you don't want to live in Vancouver (costly) then you should look at Burnaby or New West first.

The trip from Surrey is about to get a lot better. Construction on the new bridge is flying ahead.

That being said, if you are a young person moving to Vancouver, I'd definitely try and live in Vancouver proper. Preferably a place that you can access downtoan easily from. If you are working downtown, I'd look into the West End. Lots of affordable appartments in the West End.

[pylon]

I lived in Vancouver for 9 months. Most depressing 9 months of my life.

- Get ready for the most segregated society you have ever seen. All cities have their issues, but every race sticks to their little corner in Vancouver, and have no interest in mingling. Where Canada is typically a melting pot, Vancouver is a pot of oil and vinegar dressing.

- Got escorted out of a Safeway by security for telling a cashier she had really pretty eyes. She was fat, but had nice eyes, and thought I was just being a nice guy by paying a compliment.

- Had a photocopier at a workplace taped up in yellow tape for a week, because I made a photo copy for a meeting, not the unionized rep, hired to make copies. I had to sit through two hearings with the union, because I made 1 photocopy.

- Went on a lot of dates when I was there, and was asked how much money I make by about 30% of the gold digging women there. Never once has that happened in Calgary or anywhere else I have been.

- With sitting with a fellow Jewish buddy in a pub in Kitsalano, using our stereotypical Yiddish jew voices making stupid self deprecating jokes. Cops were called and we were escorted out because apparently, we were hardcore racists.

The place is hell on earth, with the most hypersensitive f'd up people on the planet. Deny the promotion, and save yourself the heartache. If you are used to the typical Prairie, not so PC, happy go lucky type of attitude, you will feel so out of place in Vancouver. Absolutely beautiful place to look at, but the ugliest, most unfriendly people you will ever encounter.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by blankall

The trip from Surrey is about to get a lot better. Construction on the new bridge is flying ahead.

That being said, if you are a young person moving to Vancouver, I'd definitely try and live in Vancouver proper. Preferably a place that you can access downtoan easily from. If you are working downtown, I'd look into the West End. Lots of affordable appartments in the West End.

Yeah, couldn't agree more.