Vancity: Vancouver cost of living could trigger mass exodus

[punkwax]

And they will be given the opportunity to work hard and advance in their career. There goes the Vancouverite in you bitching again

Newsflash for RS: Life ain't easy.

[Hondaracer]

Also what most people don't realize is that in the current economy with material prices the way they are, building a 3000-3500 sq ft single family home AT COST is around 600k

So without a lot, you're looking at 600k for just for the structure, roughly 200-250 a sq foot for average finishing. So without a lot, could you even afford the fucking structure? Probably not, so stop fucking whining, you're essentially asking for property at a value below what it costs to build.

[pengu]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Also what most people don't realize is that in the current economy with material prices the way they are, building a 3000-3500 sq ft single family home AT COST is around 600k

So without a lot, you're looking at 600k for just for the structure, roughly 200-250 a sq foot for average finishing. So without a lot, could you even afford the fucking structure? Probably not, so stop fucking whining, you're essentially asking for property at a value below what it costs to build.

Doesn't mean much when tear downs are going for 1.5m after bidding wars. Foreign investment needs to be curbed, I was born and raised in New West, and I can't afford to buy a home anywhere in the Lower Mainland.

[melloman]

Vancouver isn't a place to grow up in anymore. I'd relate it more to a tourist/vacation destination. We have all the things, year round, to bring people here. (Skiiing, surfing, mountain biking, hiking, cuisine, etc.) Yet we don't have the stability in our economy anymore to keep anyone here.

Look at even schooling, people come to UBC to get their MD's and PhD's for medical, but once they have all their paperwork, they're gone because the money isn't here. All over BC the medical field is struggling with general doctors, sure you can stay afloat if you're a specialist as we have the demand for that, but otherwise your family docotrs are getting the fuck out.

I'm 25, making over 60k/year. And the way I look at my future here isn't bleak, but it's definitely not what I thought it was going to be when I was growing up. It definitely makes me think of leaving at times, but I know that where-ever I move, I'll still be unsatisfied with some things.

[Tapioca]

The question for the people who are upset is: why haven't YOU left yet? Or why haven't you done something about it and run for office?

Most of the people I know in engineering and the trades are doing just fine. Sure, they're not buying detached homes in Kits, but they're doing okay. Lots of women in this city are professionals in health care, law, or teaching. It's easy for professional couples to make 130-150K. No, that won't get you detached, but you'll be okay in the burbs. Sure, you could move to Regina, but will your living costs be the same given the jobs?

Most of the people who post frequently on RS are outliers in that they're smarter and savvier than the average person. So, it's easy to to say to an average person that they could just relocate to the States or somewhere else in the world. For most people, it's not that easy. For most people, they're stuck in Canada. Toronto faces the same issues as Vancouver in terms of affordability and the politics are just as shitty. Montreal is run by organized crime. Other cities in the country suffer from other issues such as poor infrastructure, weather, poor financial standing, and social issues such as crime and substance abuse.

[multicartual]

Originally Posted by GS8

Where's the heart of this city? I'm not fucking seeing it.

You are too mainstream!!!


Fuck man I LOVE it here!


All I did this week was hang out in the sun and have a great time

[multicartual]

Originally Posted by Hehe

Vancouver is nice and all, but there is little future for people who really wants to make it big in their career. Finance? Toronto. IT? Silicon Valley, Seattle or Waterloo, ON. Industrial? Definitely Ontario. Gov't? Ottawa. and so on...

Getting big in your career?


I work like 1-2 hours a day and make over 100k, all this week I spent at the beach, throwing footballs, drinking cold beers and chilling with my girl!


So many people spent that same time indoors in front of a computer monitor from 9-5 because they feel the need to chase that Real Estate Ownership Status.


Maybe our culture is toxic to personal growth because we have this RIGID IDEA that FINANCIAL SUCCESS is the be-all and end-all of life.


One of the guys in my local hood makes like 10 times more than me but he works 10 times harder. Every time he gets paid he feels the need to get destroyed wasted and do cocaine for 48 hours straight, then he's in a shitty mood for 3 days before the cycle starts again next week. Happy is not how I would describe him. He works too hard in order to compete for mainstream social status through displays of wealth.





Another day in paradise...

[Hondaracer]

+1 for engineering/trades. As well as all my friends who are in finance are doing more than fine.

You go get an education that isn't applicable within BC then complain you can't find a job while welders and pipe fitters are making 80-120k a year locally.

As well, the people mentioning Seattle, if you actually think Seattle is a better option than Van then be my guest. IMO Seattle is a fucking dump.

[Drow]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

+1 for engineering/trades. As well as all my friends who are in finance are doing more than fine.

You go get an education that isn't applicable within BC then complain you can't find a job while welders and pipe fitters are making 80-120k a year locally.

As well, the people mentioning Seattle, if you actually think Seattle is a better option than Van then be my guest. IMO Seattle is a fucking dump.

Holy fuck seattle is depressing as FUCK. Its so gloomy and the buildings are fcking dark and grey. Fuck... After living in vancouver most of my life it just makes me feel like every other city is a shithole.

[multicartual]

Originally Posted by Trinz

on a kind of unrelated note! The amount of gold diggers in Vancouver raises when the cost of living in Vancouver raises! so unless you are rich! get your bitches elsewhere!

My girl isn't the hottest chick by any stretch of the imagination but she puts in money for beer and weed, never causes any problems, and gives me blowjobs whenever I want and all I have to do is point at my crotch and wink


#VancityWinning

[multicartual]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

+1 for engineering/trades. As well as all my friends who are in finance are doing more than fine.

Stuck indoors all day... lame.

[smoothie.]

Originally Posted by multicartual

My girl isn't the hottest chick by any stretch of the imagination but she puts in money for beer and weed, never causes any problems, and gives me blowjobs whenever I want and all I have to do is point at my crotch and wink


#VancityWinning

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by pengu

Doesn't mean much when tear downs are going for 1.5m after bidding wars. Foreign investment needs to be curbed, I was born and raised in New West, and I can't afford to buy a home anywhere in the Lower Mainland.

Again, what does it matter what a tear down is going for if you can't even afford the building materials to build a home. You are asking to purchase a home for less than the structure is worth, let alone the property value

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by multicartual

I want and all I have to do is point at my crotch and wink


#VancityWinning

just like the Sacha Baron Cohen in the dictator

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by Drow

Holy fuck seattle is depressing as FUCK. Its so gloomy and the buildings are fcking dark and grey. Fuck... After living in vancouver most of my life it just makes me feel like every other city is a shithole.

Bellevue is quite a new place if you work for one of the big companies and can afford to live there. Seattle is still in the Pacific Northwest, so you get the benefits of a temperate climate, decent food, and generally relaxed political attitudes with the benefits of lower food prices, more retailers, better logistics, and most importantly, more varied auto parts suppliers to keep your 3-4 project cars going.

I think another reason why people are intrigued by Seattle is that somehow people equate having a freeway going through the city centre as a sign of a good city.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

I think another reason why people are intrigued by Seattle is that somehow people equate having a freeway going through the city centre as a sign of a good city.

Obviously only people who have never lived in cities like Seattle or Toronto would think that...

[!LittleDragon]

This whole part of the continent is depressing 8-10 months of the year. You barely get sunshine outside of summer. Ever wonder why most of the grunge bands were out of the pacific northwest? It's depressing here!

[meme405]

So according to this thread you are either:

-Delusional for thinking Van is affordable
-an idiot for getting an education in an industry which doesn't exist in Van
-Lazy if you can't make enough money to live here
-Prone to suicide if you live in seattle
-Fucked if you live in HK
-A hillbilly if you live anywhere outside of Victoria or the LowerMainland
-a Peasant if you live outside of in anything besides a worldclass city

Spoiler!

If you don't fit into any of the above categories you must be multicartual.

[Hondaracer]

You guys talking about the rain, were you not here for the last 2-3 years?

It's rained a fraction of what it used to. These last few years have been heaven compared to 10-12 ago. Not saying this is going to be a long term trend but sure seems like a possibility the way the rest of North America is going

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Bellevue is quite a new place if you work for one of the big companies and can afford to live there. Seattle is still in the Pacific Northwest, so you get the benefits of a temperate climate, decent food, and generally relaxed political attitudes with the benefits of lower food prices, more retailers, better logistics, and most importantly, more varied auto parts suppliers to keep your 3-4 project cars going.

I think another reason why people are intrigued by Seattle is that somehow people equate having a freeway going through the city centre as a sign of a good city.

That's basically most American cities though. Every single one has a freeway running through it's downtown.

Seattle's great, most people from Van just hang out (if they even leave the outlets) in the same places downtown and in Belltown . I'd get the impression of a scuzzy city too if that's all I saw. But there's tons of other cool hipster-y neighborhoods like Capitol Hill, Freemont, Ballard. Not to mention the nice suburbs like Bellevue, Everett, etc.

[Hot Karl]

it's already a renters market. i think you'll just see more folks go the way of perma-renting much like the go-cars/zipcars type of thing.

every person that buys a house NEEDS a tenant nowadays.

paying 1k a month for 25 years = 300k

you ain't buying shit for 300k. so even if you rent for the next 50 years that's 600k in rent.

you'd have to pay that 600k and more within 25 years to own anything. tack on 100k for property tax over that time.

if i didn't need my mortgage to buy US property i'd be doing this.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by Hot Karl

paying 1k a month for 25 years = 300k

you ain't buying shit for 300k. so even if you rent for the next 50 years that's 600k in rent.

That doesn't even get you a 300k place, you have to factor in the interest. If you can rent a place for less than the mortgage on it you're ahead, up here rent costs more than a mortgage so you're better off owning.

[!LittleDragon]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

You guys talking about the rain, were you not here for the last 2-3 years?

It's rained a fraction of what it used to. These last few years have been heaven compared to 10-12 ago. Not saying this is going to be a long term trend but sure seems like a possibility the way the rest of North America is going

Total Precipitation over the Last 25 Years (annual data) for Vancouver

Seems pretty consistent to me. You can draw a trend line straight across 1000mm. Last year was actually almost 30% more rain than average but it's not the rain that bothers me, it's the lack of sunshine.

I never take vacation in the summer here but a few months of gray sky, it's off to Waikiki.... every year...

[Great68]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

+1 for engineering/trades. As well as all my friends who are in finance are doing more than fine.

You go get an education that isn't applicable within BC then complain you can't find a job while welders and pipe fitters are making 80-120k a year locally.

As well, the people mentioning Seattle, if you actually think Seattle is a better option than Van then be my guest. IMO Seattle is a fucking dump.

I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who went to post secondary in a field which doesn't have a lot of industry presence in Vancouver.

Like if you wanted to live in Vancouver, why didn't you fucking take something which gives you a high chance of getting a related job in Vancouver.

One of my buddies got a degree in some really specialized field of physics. There is probably a market for that back east, but not exactly here. He doesn't want to move, so he cleans offices at night for a living. That's his own fucking fault, not Vancouver's.

[Traum]

It isn't so much the total amount of rainfall that we get. Rather, it's the number of dry vs wet days that seems to have changed, almost certainly as a result of global climate change.

When I was a kid, Vancouver always used to only have drizzles. The rain was so gentle back then you didn't even need an umbrella. But nowadays? We can go on for 2 - 3 weeks without rain, and then when it comes down, it really comes down like an epic downpour. Of course, we still get some of the mild stuff, but it is definitely not the same.

I suck at googling this kind of thing, but if we look at the total number of dry days vs rainy days, I'm willing to bet that we have been shifting towards having far more dry days now than we did in the past.