The City of Vancouver

The city of Vancouver is amazing…

But so expensive! Or is it?

• Well, I guess that depends on your point of view and your INCOME or SALARY. But it sure offers a lot of things that many other cities do not offer. It’s called the quality of life, and Vancouver offers so many positive things when it comes to Quality of Life, that a lot of people who move there, will not move anywhere else! Here are only some of those factors why people have moved or just Love Vancouver:

1. The high quality of drinking water is often underestimated. Since it’s next to the Mountains, its drinking water is amazing! And yet, when I visited in 2015, I saw people buying expensive bottled water.
2. Its proximity to Whistler, (about 125 km from Vancouver) a favorite ski resort, but also being right on the ocean, gives people access to all kinds of summer activities and in the winter you just go skiing! All within a 90min. To 2,5 hour’s drive. You can also FLY to Whistler. Takes about 30 min.
3. Then there is the great PUBLIC Transportation system in Vancouver. You can check the bus schedule with an app on your mobile phone, so waiting outside for the bus is a thing of the past! I paid 2015 only $91 91 for the whole month. And yes this is a limited One Zone Fare Card. So you just figure out, WHERE and WHEN you want to travel and then pay that amount. Here is the official TransLink website for Metro Vancouver. It shows you everything.
4. There are also a lot of BIKE lanes throughout the city. So you can take your bicycle almost anywhere. Within the last three years, Vancouver has added protected downtown bike lanes on six streets. It’s added a second bike lane on the Burrard Street Bridge. Here a link for Bicycle lanes/routes and maps for Vancouver.
5. How about Stanley Park? So it is not like Central Park in New York, but pretty damn nice! Stanley Park is a 405-hectare public park that borders downtown of Vancouver. Its opening hours are 9 am-6 pm and has about 8 million visitors per year. Here is their official website with all kinds of great info.

Last but not least, There are endless really great restaurants! Unfortunately, I did not collect all the business cards, nor do I remember all the names. But at the end of this page, I will name a few, that I do remember.

 

And now some of those factors to why Vancouver is so expensive or is it?

1. Well, let us start with the rent. If you can not afford to buy a house or condo, you will end up renting a condo, house, or what is trendy for some time now, a basement.
2. A small one-bedroom will cost you, (if you are lucky and find one) around $1000. A 2 bedroom will be at least around $1500.- of course, the sky is the limit.
3. Utilities for one month (heat, electricity, gas) for 2 people will be around $120-150.
4. There are apartments for rent for upwards of  $5000 or $ 10,000.- or even more! Here a website, I am sure you are familiar with, called Craigslist. Just beware of scams!
   

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Do NOT send any money to someone you do not know.

Always see and look at the place 1st! Why am I mentioning this? While I was trying to find a rental in Prague, I checked out and emailed apartments that I found on Craigslist, only to find out that 80-90% of them were SCAMS!

They take these places from Airbnb and post the pictures on a listing on Craigslist, asking to do the transaction with Airbnb! Amazing how many SCAMS are out there!

 

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If you want to buy a place, then as usual LOCATION is key when it comes to price.

From an investment point of view, a smaller place in a GREAT Location will eventually give you a higher return than a large house in a bad location.

Condos start at around $250,000 and houses start at around $ 350,000. Many houses are around $500,000 and depending on lot & house size, and LOCATION, of course, 2-10 Million is also possible.

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• What else is expensive in Vancouver? Well, that depends entirely on YOU!
• You can spend $20 on dinner, or you can spend $100 on dinner. Here is a website with the Cost Of Living In Vancouver.
• The list goes on, I guess you get my point. Honestly, the ONLY really expensive thing about Vancouver, is its housing market.
• To provide affordable housing to people who have “normal” Jobs! This is what Mayor Gregor Robertson in 2017 said about Vancouver: Buyers from China are swallowing up our real estate—and politicians are ignoring it. The end result, they argue? A hollow, culture-less city is devoid of millennials and families.

 

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So it really depends on your monthly INCOME. This will determine the area and size of the place you live in and if you are going out to dinner every week, or only once a month, or even less!

 

By the way, I have graduated in Vancouver in 1981/82. The school was or is in Port Coquitlam and was called: Centennial High School. But I did visit Vancouver in 2015. So all the information on this page is pretty up to date.

• One important fact about Vancouver is that it’s a sanctuary city! Yep, you heard right. What it means is that, IF you have made it to the city of Vancouver, everyone residing in the city should be allowed to use public services free from the fear of deportation! So in other words: You can not be deported! Please read more on this here.

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• BUT… Please consult an immigration attorney, no matter what you read on any website!
• As I said before, immigration law changes very frequently, and sometimes a small investment goes a long way.
• Do find one in your city, or province you are moving to. In case, you are moving to British Columbia, Vancouver, here is the website again of Ron Beirnes, who has extensive knowledge about immigration.
• There is even a FREE assessment page on his website. The official website of the Government for Citizenship and Immigration is here.

Now comes the question: Should I call it by its nickname? Van Kong.

Yep, its rich immigrants are mostly Chinese. In 2017 Vancouver gave 20 Chinese Billionaires immediate Canadian Citizenship! Great right? Well, I would say, that immigration has always been a vital part of Canada, as we ourselves were immigrants.

 

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What else is there to say about Vancouver?

• Well, there are plenty of really great FOOD TRUCKS in the downtown area. They are mostly around downtown, but you just might find them in different places, depending on the day, the season, and the weather. The WakWak Burger I tried myself. The waiting time to get one around lunchtime is about 15-20 min. That is if you’re lucky. So get there before the RUSH hour sets in.

 

• Oh man, what’s also great about Vancouver? The cool radio stations! My favorite now is, and I am basically listening to it on a daily basis. Rock 101. The one that I listened to when I was a teenager was C-FOX – Rocks!
• Well, they changed a bit from the good old Rock and Roll to a wide mix, so its not what I listen to at this point. Sorry C-FOX! Well check it out and make your own opinion here.

 

To make a VERY LONG story a bit shorter, since there are endless things to do in Vancouver, I just want to say, that no matter for what reason you will visit Vancouver, take your time and soak it all in.

The best time to go is simple. It entirely depends on what you LIKE to do! There is no season in Vancouver unless, of course, you want to go skiing. Then I would recommend NOT traveling in the summer month. LOL

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• So here are some of those really amazing restaurants that you should visit while you are in Vancouver. A must are the various FOOD TRUCKS!

 

1. Then depending on your TASTE and BUDGET, I would recommend Phnom Penh, An exotic combination of Vietnamese Foods. They are located on 244 East Georgia Street in Chinatown-off Main Street. They are open 7 days a week. If you decide to go on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, do make a reservation, unless you prefer to wait AT LEAST ONE Hour. There is no website but their phone number is 604-682-5777 or 604-734-8898.

2. Here is another one: The Coal Harbour Café. Located at 999 Canada Pl, Vancouver, BC V6C 3E1. Their phone: 604-647-7270.
I can honestly not remember what I ate, but I do know it was really GOOD! The place is really nice. The food is amazing. The service is pretty good, and the prices are moderate for Vancouver! So enjoy the view and the food!

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One last TIP, if you have time. Just in case you do spend more than 1 week in Vancouver, and you have some DENTAL work you want to have done, like Dental Cleaning or other dental work,  BUT you don’t want to spend a lot of money, check out: Vancouver College!

They had Dental Cleaning for $27.00 when I was there. That’s a fraction of what you would pay at a regular Dentist, but you will need to come back for several visits. They also took X-Rays of my teeth for FREE. Thanks, Vancouver College!! Email: info@vancouver-college-dental.org

 

• One question you might have about me is: Did I WORK in Vancouver? Sure did. For about 6 months at a local gas station. This is after school till midnight! My salary back then was $ 5.- an hour. After 6 months I quit. WHY?
• Because I got stuff deducted from my paycheck pretty much every paycheck, which was not cool, and the smell of gasoline was in my cloth and all over me, even after taking a shower! It’s really sad to see, that the min. wage has not increased that much, but the COST of living has gone up like crazy.

  

So that’s about it for Vancouver. I hope that it was interesting and you enjoyed this part of my journey.

Please leave me a comment. Thank you!