Not Vancouver Bashing

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Inferno

It rains out here alot but I was back and forth between Vancouver and North Vancouver alot last week as my parents were in for a visit and it was suppose to be pretty ####ty but was actually pretty nice other than some wicked wind.

I should clarify, I was just saying your post reminded me of that epic moment. I wasn't saying you were lying right now.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by AR_Six

That is a census from eight years ago Bunk, you can't be serious. The transit system in Vancouver bears no resemblance at all to 2006, the Canada Line and changes surrounding the olympics have completely altered it. In 2006, I lived in Richmond and Translink was an abomination of awfulness. Nowadays, if I lived basically anywhere in the lower mainland I would be using the Skytrain constantly - park & ride, 20 minutes to downtown.

EDIT: I completely agree with everything you had to say about the restaurant scene and core though.

Yes, problem with the Census, commuter data is old. No question TransLink is a very good transit agency and has improved in recent years. Canada line and other infrastructure has come on line.

However, in Calgary a lot of infrastructure has come online as well in that time-frame - including WRLT and substantial extensions to the NW and NE legs. Calgary has also see transit ridership increase faster than population.

Nonetheless, Calgary is very competitive with Vancouver for per capita ridership - current ridership data:http://www.apta.com/resources/statis...rship-APTA.pdf

Vancouver's Translink System sees a total of 1,176,500 trips daily - serves the entire Greater Vancouver area. With a population of 2,463,700, that's about 0.477 trips per resident per day.

Calgary's system (pre WRLT - Q4 2013 sees a total of) 548,100 trips daily - serves a Calgary metro area (although only Airdrie has commuter service, not counted in these numbers) of 1,309,200, that's about 0.418 trips per resident per day.

In terms of LRT and Skytrain, Calgary, with WRLT open now has about 315,000 trips per day (0.24 trips per person per day - 43 stations, 56km track) vs. Vancouver's SkyTrain, which gets 396,500 per day (0.16 trips per person per day - 47 stations, 68.6km track)

It shows Vancouver has a more utilized bus system (I'd argue a much better bus system - more high frequency all day service), Calgary has a better utilized rail system per capita but fairly similar overall transit usage (Vancouver slightly higher) amongst its citizens.

[burnin_vernon]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Haha, that reminds of one of my all time favorite CP moments. It was back when VANFLAMESFAN would defend Vancouver tooth and nail. Then one day in some Vancouver related thread, someone made a quip about it always being rainy.

VFF responded snippily, saying something like "Really, cause I'm in Vancouver, looking out my window right now and the sun's shining bright" Then someone (MMF I think) posted a link to a live webcam of downtown Vancouver, and it was an absolute downpour. Like so rainy that you couldn't even pretend it wasn't downpouring anywhere within half an hour of this camera.

To be fair, the weather can change drastically in short distances apart. Just last Friday, in North Van, it went from moderately sunny to big flakes of snow/rain 5km later.

[Vulcan]

Around here now

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Around here now

Where's "around here"?

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Where's "around here"?

Highway 101

[burnin_vernon]

Downtown Vancouver. I live right beside the building in the bottom right hand corner

http://www.katkam.ca/

[jayswin]

God damn, it's beautiful out there, today. Seriously, f-ing jealous.

[MrMastodonFarm]

You know, out of all the gut busting, totally inappropriate and hilarious things fotze has said over the years, a simple well placed Counting Crows reference may be my favorite.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Around here now

You know what I just noticed, the photo I just posted updates every couple of minutes. Not just on the sight I got it from but here also. Just refresh the page.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by peter12

Most beautiful city in Canada, but as a place for anyone but established professionals, or people willing to substitute wages for lifestyle, it is just a really gorgeous place to visit.

Vancouver isn't as insanely expensive as people make it out to be, but definitely a big basic cost of living hump to get over. Once you're over that hump (IE you make north of 50k/year), things get considerably easier. In Calgary, that hump might be closer to 40k.

The job market in Vancouver isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be either. If anything, Calgary during a "boom" is the anomaly. There are very few places in the world where you can just slot into a 50k+ job relatively easily, and Calgary is one of them. Calgary also pays a premium for labour other places don't.

The economy in Vancouver, in general, is more service orientated, and there are a ton of opportunities in that industry. Also, if you have a skill (ex. ticketed trades person, film industry, computer design, etc..), there are quite a few opportunities in Vancouver. If you are a general labourer or looking for random office work, you're going to have it tough in Vancouver. There is quite a bit of admin work to be found if you know a specific industry though.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by fotze

I can't believe their downtown has no skyscrapers, just a little park.

That's the view shooting away from downtown.

A view into the condo area:

http://former.vancouver.ca/engsvcs/s...mbiebridge.htm

A list of more random cams:

http://www.gvrd.com/webcams/index.html

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

You know what I just noticed, the photo I just posted updates every couple of minutes. Not just on the sight I got it from but here also. Just refresh the page.

Haha, that's how weather/trafiic webcams work.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Haha, that's how weather/trafiic webcams work.

Yeah but I never thought copying a pasting a picture would also do that. Hey don't spoil my minor miracles of understanding. and hey look there's a car now as you can tell i don't get out much.

[flylock shox]

On sunny days like today, Vancouver's a hard city to compete with in terms of just about anything.

In comparison to Calgary, it's got a lot of things going for it, primarily liveability (if you can afford the cost of living, of course). You can commute just about anywhere in Vancouver proper very easily by bike, bus or skytrain. I can get from East Van to work by each of those methods in about 20 minutes (heck, I could just run there in 30 for that matter). That's pretty standard commuting for anyone who doesn't live in the downtown core itself. Calgary, by contrast, is definitely a car city. I don't know how one would get by in cowtown without a car, unless maybe they lived on 17th or in Kensington.

Vancouver's also got the added benefit of loads of off-the-street dining like Calgary has in limited amounts in Kensington and 17th, but Vancouver's is spread out across at least 5-10 defined neighbourhoods in the city. If you live in one of those, you really don't have to leave it for just about anything you like - most specifically great restaurants. I heard tons of stuff before I went to New York about how awesome its restaurants are, but was seriously underwhelmed when I got there - which I guess means Vancouver's must be world-class too (unless you're looking at blowing over a hundred bucks a meal or something, then I'm sure New York must have more and better options).

The two major downsides for Van, and they are big ones are (1) the rain; and (2) the culture. The latter may in part be caused by the former, but Vancouver has always been an unfriendly city. It didn't even have a nightlife until about 5-6 years ago. I remember being stunned that the entertainment district (Granville Street) in a city this size could be so lame. That's gotten better though.

All said, I still complain about those two things after 10 years here, and particularly the rain. Vancouver gets about 100 fewer sunny days a year than Calgary, and it hurts.

[AR_Six]

Originally Posted by Bunk

It shows Vancouver has a more utilized bus system (I'd argue a much better bus system - more high frequency all day service), Calgary has a better utilized rail system per capita but fairly similar overall transit usage (Vancouver slightly higher) amongst its citizens.

To be honest, if so, I really can't fathom why. The issue with the CTrain is that it doesn't really go anywhere. It goes somewhat near places, but not actually to them. This being Calgary, where it is cold, I am dissuaded from using the train to travel somewhere like Chinook, which requires either waiting for a shuttle or walking 10 minutes to get to the actual mall. Same applies to basically every station to some degree or other. Compare to the Vancouver LRT lines that actually go inside Pacific Centre and Oakridge and Rogers Arena and the Seabus terminal. It's so bloody convenient to use those things that there's no possible reason not to - it's actually a significantly lesser hassle than driving to those locations and parking.

From my purely subjective point of view, the Vancouver transit system is light years better than ours. That with the context that in my opinion the bus service is purely ancillary to the LRT service - it is more or less only useful to get you from your origin point to the LRT and from the LRT to your destination, if either of those additional bus trips are necessary (i.e. the LRT is out of walking distance from either your origin or destination point).

[AR_Six]

Originally Posted by blankall

The economy in Vancouver, in general, is more service orientated, and there are a ton of opportunities in that industry. Also, if you have a skill (ex. ticketed trades person, film industry, computer design, etc..), there are quite a few opportunities in Vancouver. If you are a general labourer or looking for random office work, you're going to have it tough in Vancouver. There is quite a bit of admin work to be found if you know a specific industry though.

Speaking as a lawyer, the difference in pay for us is actually rather insane. I.e., as a 7th year call in Vancouver you are making literally 50% of what you are making in Calgary at the same firm (in terms of national firms with offices in both cities and their comparables).

Originally Posted by fotze

I can't believe their downtown has no skyscrapers, just a little park.

Que?

[peter12]

I've got background in stakeholder management/public affairs, and through some interviews, and industry hear-say, I would say that the wage difference is about the same for corporate jobs in both cities.

[MrMastodonFarm]

For a city as well known and as populated as Vancouver I've never been blown away by their skyline. They have one building over 200ft and a bunch of wannabes after that.

Mind you, that could be as a Calgarian we are spoiled in big towers for our size.

[_Q_]

I think people way over rate the cold here in Calgary. I used to be one of those people as well actually, but this winter I decided to actually get decent enough winter gear. So I got waterproof boots, a decent jacket, leather gloves and a light scarf. Honestly, it made a world of difference. Other than the odd days where it was below -20 this winter, I never stopped myself from leaving the house because it was "too cold outside". After this winter I realized, that you can give me -10 or -15 +sunshine any day of the week over just about any temperature +clouds and darkness.