actually this is what is done in canada and guess where they end up. vancouver. alberta, ontario, and the maritime provinces have done the exact same thing. they will not leave vancouver simply because, anywhere else in canada they would die in the cold.

this tax revenue you talk about, does not come into vancouver city's coffers. in fact most provincial funding to cities has been cut, since you have left. on top of that recently all the grvd cities had to cough out another xx million dollars to keep translink afloat.

besides if people are so worried about parking rates downtown. park for less near a skytrain and take the train in. people are simply too lazy to do this.

Fuck this city is getting expensive.

^


indeed




getting more retarded each day

Well said. :thumbsup:

I find the ones that typically complain about opinionated replies that go off-topic are the ones with nothing to say - which I always wonder why they care if others are chatting?

I'll politely disagree, especially about Vancouver itself.

Resources are a very small part of the provincial economy, its one of those things people think is bigger than it is. It accounts for only 4% of Canada's GDP, I'll see if I can find figures for BC, yet it won't be significantly higher. Consider 70% of BC's economy is retail/service and that does not include resources.

You can also quote immigration, yet that again just isn't true. Sure its helped by the Asian influence, yet the number of immigrants is so limited that even if all immigrants came to Vancouver it would be < 10% of the population. Plus we know Toronto is a bigger immigration hub than Vancouver, with Montreal and Calgary sizable too.

Vancouver is a port city, yet how much of that translates into direct jobs here is debatable. Goods land then are shipped across the country.

Yet all that is moot. With construction way down, imports way down, the Vancouver economy is still chugging along nicely. This is the best proof that neither are driving factors of the economy.

So.... what's left? emigration and the Olympics. I'm one of numerous Canadians that traveled west. While immigration is limited, emigration is not. Did you know that during the booming oil patch where every province suffered a net loss of citizens that were traveling to Alberta, that BC was the only province with a positive number of Albertans emigrating to BC.

It is nice to beable to discuss these topics with someone who is knowledgeable and well spoken. :thumbsup: We may differ on opinion, yet that's part of the fun. Thanks.

Venue construction is actually paid for by tax dollars. Plus, for this one, City of Richmond lured VANOC away from SFU with a sizable pot.

Cheap money, real estate, and construction fed the last boom. Add Olympics for confidence and optimism on top.

Vancouver is seriously burning itself to the ground. $6/hr parking, 1/2 a mil for an average single family house, $20+ cover for clubs, $5+ for bubbletea?! Our cost of living is comparable to larger cities around the world and yet what we make is comparable to minor league cities.

Somebody here said driving is a luxury in Vancouver. Compared to what and where? Driving is a luxury in places like Hong Kong, New York, etc. Last time I checked an average household has at least 1 car. If it wasn't for the new added lines on the skytrain I would have to say the public transit in the GVRD and surrounding areas is pretty shit compared to other cities in the world. And they're not really user friendly (website included) I once took the skytrain and I realized there were no actual maps of the different lines until I actually got into the train itself, there was no translink worker I could ask or a customer service place. There were no signs that showed me where I was going besides (Eastbound and Westbound) and where to change trains, all I knew was the final destination of the line.

The last time I checked the prices for Park and Ride it was $4 to park, and $5 for a 3-zone ticket 1 way so that's $14 a day or more if you're taking say the West Coast Express. Why ride when you can park your car at say the Marriott parking lot for $16/day and save yourself 2.5+ hours on public transit.

Or u could hop on the skytrain for free. Let's face it the chance of getting caught without a fare is slim to none. I took the skytrain to work and never once I was ask to check for fares for the pass I think...... 2years or so. Besdie if you make up some lame excuse even if you caught they will let you go(especially if u are a girl lol).

SFU upped the fees
http://www.sfu.ca/security/Parking/

:werd:

what a pile of bullocks....
paying till 8pm is horrid enough already.

i want a $6 dollar raise than

fucking hell

haha fat chance of that

FUCK! all parking at sfu is going up by 14%

I'm assuming visitor lots will have a maximum of close to $14 now :eek:

So that means B-lot will be $320 ...shit, wasn't that what people paid for west mall/convocation like 3 semesters ago? :haha:

I spend a lot of time downtown since both of my jobs are located there. There are people with money, but where it originates, sometimes puzzles me. Here are some possibilities:

- Credit
- Drugs
- Offshore businesses/investments
- Trust funds/families
- Real jobs

Among my group of friends, none of us is terribly wealthy, but most of us are doing okay. You have to make tradeoffs, like foregoing that new car or new home, but I would say that it's worth it to live in a city with a temperate climate, good food, recreational options, and so on.

I don't know how students can even afford to go to university with all those crazy expense's nowadays.

As if the majority of students need any more price hikes.The government is doing a pretty fine job at trying to keep only the rich from getting educated.

Complete bullshit!

80% of graduating high school students will attend some form of post-secondary education. Does 80% sound like "only the rich"?

If you can afford a car ($Ks), maintenance/gas ($100s), and insurance ($1K+) then you are not a "poor student" and can afford the luxury of parking. Otherwise take the bus.

University in Canada is very affordable and accessible. Unfortunately most who complain are the same with cars, cell phones, laptops, new clothes, ... and ruin it for the few poor students who actually need assistance.

schooling in canada is far cheaper than the states. but thats where the arguement is. should schooling be only for the rich? the canadian gov't tried to offset that notion by providing student loans. now there options for schooling line of credit which basically is essentially the student loan, but the interest earned is to the bank instead of to the gov't.

and crap, i think i quoted the wrong person...

I know a handful of ppl who got their student loan and then leave the conntry after they graduate. Nothing the government can do. Heck, 1 of my distant relatives (some cousin that I've never met and will prolly never meet in my life) put my address for his loan and the government is now chasing me for HIS loan. What kind of fucked up world is that? I told them countless time that I dun know how to contact him. All I know is that he's in Hong Kong somewhere. They keep calling tho.

He can default on that loan, ruin his credit here, stay out of Canada 7 years and have his credit reset, then come back.

Fun eh?

what I don't understand is how they can randomly increase the PST from 7% to 21% for parking

oh, and this is pre-HST. Add that in and it goes from 7% to 26% ;) so that's a whole whopping 19% overall in a matter of half a year, not to mention the price hike they implemented in September :lol

got my msp bill yesterday, government increased that $3 more.....

vancouver is expensive to live in because the government takes all the citizens money, giving the people less incentive to spend it back into local businesses to give them a profit leading to their inability to increase wages and return the gains into their employees continueing the cycle. Instead of making more money and increasing wages, business make little money and give a hefty chunk to the government. If you were making $20 an hour instead of $12, you wouldnt find vancouver to be AS expensive if the living costs remained the same. If i was making $20 instead of $12, i'd be more than happy to pay the full cost of medical for myself and my family rather than have a x% discount.

High school education should be a right, but university should be a privilege.

Canada has the highest number of univ grads in the world per capita, but univ grads make less in Canada then they do in the U.S. See the connection? Plus universities in Canada have a difficulty branding themselves unlike ivy league universities in the U.S. For instance, Harvard considers more than grades when admitting students. You rarely see deadbeat nerds at Harvard, like you would at UBC or SFU.

Personally, I think universities should be tough to get into - catering to perhaps the top 5-10% of the population in IQ. They should expand the community colleges for dumber folks - like Kwantlen, Langara, Cap College etc. If they keep universities exclusive, univ grads in Canada would at least command a higher wage, and a degree would mean something.