BC Lags Behind Other Provinces in Life Satisfaction

[blankall]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Vancouver's diversity is pretty overrated.

49% of the population is European, about 45% Asian (23% East Asian, 22% South Asian), with Middle Eastern, Latino, African, and Indigenous filling it out. People of European origin are mostly from colonial stock (English, Irish, Scottish, and French). Not that those groups don't have diversity within them, but compared to other places in Canada, it doesn't seem as diverse to me.

That is for the whole Metro Vancouver area. If we are just talking about Vancouver proper, it could be different. You definitely get a lot of separation though with enclaves and ethnic ghettoization. Some countries actually limit where people can settle to avoid ethnic and racial ghettoization. Not saying Canada should go that way, but it can create some issues when it comes to truly being a diverse society.

I would mostly agree. You have a few isolated communities, and beyond that people in Vancouver mostly fall into one of the three major major ethnic groups, that are then, in turn, somewhat isolated from each other. It doesn't feel diverse the way that a place like NYC does.

[Erick Estrada]

Vancouver may be more picturesque but I enjoy Seattle way more.

[Table 5]

Vancouver's a great place to visit for a weekend. You take in the fresh sea air, have some good sushi, marvel at the sea of condos, be jealous of the constant greenery, make jokes about real estate prices, listen to some dillhole in athleisure tell you how how bad oil and Alberta is (often an ex-Albertan)... and then realize that it's time to get back to wherever you came from before the constant greyness gets to you, or you get urinated on by a strung-out zombie and/or Galakanosis.

[Galakanokis]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Vancouver's a great place to visit for a weekend. You take in the fresh sea air, have some good sushi, marvel at the sea of condos, be jealous of the constant greenery, make jokes about real estate prices, listen to some dillhole in athleisure tell you how how bad oil and Alberta is (often an ex-Albertan)... and then realize that it's time to get back to wherever you came from before the constant greyness gets to you or you get urinated on by a strung-out zombie.

I like Vancouver. You can pee anywhere and nobody will say anything. Liberating!

[Inferno]

I'd move back to the Vancouver area tomorrow if I could.

I'm not anti-social but I've always been a shy person so not having a ton of friends and a busy social life has never bothered me. I will say though my first year I lived there and went to school with a bunch of people not from there was the busiest my social life was the 5 1/2 years I lived there.

[lazypucker]

Calgary winter vs Vancouver year-round raining season, which is the less of two evil?

[Fuzz]

Winter isn't evil!

[Matata]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Vancouver may be more picturesque but I enjoy Seattle way more.

Seattle is basically 2 vancouvers crammed together, but with good roads, way less rain and house prices in-line with wages. I cant think of any way vancouver beats seattle.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Matata

Seattle is basically 2 vancouvers crammed together, but with good roads, way less rain and house prices in-line with wages. I cant think of any way vancouver beats seattle.

beaches, Seattle might as well not be on the ocean at all

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

Calgary winter vs Vancouver year-round raining season, which is the less of two evil?

IIRC, Vancouver has less precipitation during the summer than Calgary.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by D as in David

IIRC, Vancouver has less precipitation during the summer than Calgary.

Yeah, summers are typically pretty dry out here. The Average July precip in Vancouver is 35 mm whereas in Calgary it is 65 mm. It rains in Vancouver from November to April almost steady. May can be a mixed bag, but June through to October are usually pretty dry. Although this year, it rained pretty much until this week and then went right into a 35C heat wave.

There are two seasons here. Noah's Arc and On Fire.

[Galakanokis]

I don't mind it out here but I have also been here for over 20 years. I have a good circle of friends that live fairly close and they come from kids activities and my own sports. I mostly find it hard to make friends as you can commute and work for so long and people live so far apart you never get together outside of work. There's a few people at work I really enjoy but one lives in Langley and the other Richmond. I am in Burnaby so you are not just popping over to hang out. Getting together is an ordeal at times. For a good chunk of my life my social life was kids activities and then the ball diamond and hockey dressing room. I am too broken to play sports any more so I really miss out on that part of socializing.

I think people are just too busy out here to really connect with others so you just become distant. Commute, work, commute. Rinse and repeat 5 times a week. Even beers after work are tough when some have an hour commute ahead of them. There's definitely a coldness to parts of the city but overall I do not find it to to bad.

One thing missing out here is local pubs in the outer communities. When I was in Edmonton and Calgary you could walk outside and hit a pub. Here? Nothing. You have to drive to a main drag to hit something.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

Rinse and repeat 5 times a week. Even beers after work are tough when some have an hour commute ahead of them.

No matter where you are, that would be soul crushing.

That's like what, the equivalent of time of 10? 12? weeks of vacation wasted every year?

[Roughneck]

Vancouver definitely has a weird vibe. I've never been short on things to do, but I've also never really felt comfortable whenever I'm there. Even when meeting friends of my friends, it seems more like everybody is networking rather than behaving the way I think groups of friends do. Weird hours, places go from busy to empty in the time it takes to go to the bathroom. But its not like there's a shortage of good things to do, it just seems like wherever you go you aren't particularly welcome. Sure they'll be nice to you, but with undertones of they'd like you to pay your bill and leave sooner than later.

My introverted self loves the idea of a place where I could effectively be an 'out-in-the-open recluse' where nothing gets past superficial small talk and I can keep busy without being bothered. But even to me it feels like a rather lonely and isolating city.

[djsFlames]

Nm

[Galakanokis]

Originally Posted by chemgear

No matter where you are, that would be soul crushing.

That's like what, the equivalent of time of 10? 12? weeks of vacation wasted every year?

I couldn’t do it. During Covid I was 15 to 20 to work but now it’s up to 35+. Still not too bad. My colourist lives in the south end of Knight street in Vancouver and between buses and walking it is over an hour to commute to just north of Hastings by Victoria. Basically gone for 11-12 hours a day.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by chemgear

No matter where you are, that would be soul crushing.

That's like what, the equivalent of time of 10? 12? weeks of vacation wasted every year?

A major reason I left Calgary was the commuting. I lived in Sundance. So getting anywhere in rush hour was awful. Meeting friends who lived in the north was crazy. Getting drinks was even more difficult, as decent bars and restaurants were a massive cab ride away. Pre-uber the can system was almost unusable.

In Vancouver I'm a half hour bus ride from downtown. Can walk to bars, and the good ones are only a $10-15 Uber ride away. Theoretically I could bike to work in under twenty minutes.

[FlamesAddiction]

My wife commutes from Coquitlam to Richmond every day. It's more than 2 hours per day in the car. She spends $4,000 on gas every year commuting.

[Weitz]

Why not just move from sun dance to a better neighborhood?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by blankall

A major reason I left Calgary was the commuting. I lived in Sundance. So getting anywhere in rush hour was awful. Meeting friends who lived in the north was crazy. Getting drinks was even more difficult, as decent bars and restaurants were a massive cab ride away. Pre-uber the can system was almost unusable.

In Vancouver I'm a half hour bus ride from downtown. Can walk to bars, and the good ones are only a $10-15 Uber ride away. Theoretically I could bike to work in under twenty minutes.

Why did you live in Sundance though?

That’s doesn’t seem an apples to apples comparison to where you are now.