Lewis

My wife and I are seriously thinking of moving to Vancouver. She lived there for several years and was editor of Shared Vision magazine. I visited with her last year. We're looking to find work in the writing/editing/film/art/marketing communications areas of life. So I am just posting this to find out if we could make some nice contacts. We're looking at coming over end this year, early next. My wife has citizenship, but I'd be a newby.

So I'd love to hear from you with enthusiastic ideas, suggestions and just plain welcoming comments!

Merlocke

Come on down - it's nice here.
Weather is nice and mild - not too hot, not too cold.

Lots of things to do outdoorsy - only lack we have is nightlife.
(Not as many options as Toronto)
But I'm not much for clubbing these days anyway.

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-=[ Merlocke ]=-

Antikarma

I miss Van City. To be honest I haven't been there in a few years since I moved up north but I hear its done awesome in the past few (more jobs). And hey, nothing wrong with living in a city thats hosting the olympics.

I still think its the most beautiful city in the world.

Dammit now I'm all nostalgic for BC again. Two more years till I can move back....

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"Whoever you are, go out into the evening,
leaving your room, of which you know each bit;
your house is the last before the infinite,
whoever you are."

Lewis

I guess it's all down to Karma. Sorry about that!

I love Vancouver as well. It inspired me enough to propose to my fiancée - who is now my wife!

Merlocke: thanks for the invite. I'll take you up on it for sure. Just filling in the residency application forms this evening.

Which part do you live in?

Merlocke

I live in Burnaby.

Right smack dab in the middle of everything so I'm kinda equidistant from well... everything. Good and bad at the same time.

Do either of you have a technical background? eg: Technical Writing
My company is still hiring for positions all the time. PM me if you want link.
I can send you in as a referral (which means you get special treatment and a bump higher in the list for better chances). If you qualify for something - that'd be great!
Tough to get in these days - but well worth your time if you make it in.

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-=[ Merlocke ]=-

Ace_O_Spades

^Me too!

Better than Vancouver because of all the parks and trees, and less weirdos.

Better than the rest of the GVRD because it has reasonable housing opportunities and is central to the rest of the lower mainland.

I love Burnaby

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Feh.

bigbad

Burnaby does indeed rock, especially North Burnaby. Except for your crazy mayor. Best part about it though is you only need to get a 2 zone transit pass no matter where you're heading

Jimp

I live in East vancouver. I'm not liking it here... now I got alot of chinese friends, but I'm white, and I just don't fit in at my school.. I dislike their culture. All the small towns outside vancouver and around kamloops are good. Good trails and lakes.

Tempboy

Excuse me? "Dislike their culture"?

Jimp

yeah I dislike it.. Cause I don't get thing they got about turning rabbits inside out and how they sell crazy fire works. Don't like the whole rice too much either. Other than that. Chinese people are all good.

Ace_O_Spades

I live in northeast burnaby, right by the inlet.. it's a fantabulous place to live

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Feh.

gangster2

I live in south surrey. Its really nice out here but the commute is a little bit of a pain in the neck if you have to do it everyday though

Ace_O_Spades

south surrey is actually very nice... by the white rock area, within distance to the beach

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Feh.

Tempboy

You're pretty ignorant.
How many Chinese people do you know that 'turn rabbits inside out' and consider it a part of their culture? Sell crazy fireworks? You can buy them on every block in the US before 4th of July and New Years. Rice? So umm, you don't like the taste of rice or something? I don't understand how that could translate into disliking a culture.

Whatever, I don't want to get into some stupid argument over this, but that was a pretty dumb thing to say.

Lewis

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll check out Burnabyx for sure. Not sure I want a long commute. But then, I haven't found a job yet!

Keep looking....

bigbad

Burnaby is a nothing commute compared to a lot of the lower mainland, especially if you have to cross a bridge (Surrey here, used to work in Burnaby, luckily I'm closer to the Patullo rather than Port Mann. I pity anyone who has to cross the Port Mann at rush hour).

Lewis

Thanks, bigbad. I'm not too familiar with the place names you're using, but I guess you're talking about the bridge in the rush hour. I guess that's a huge bottleneck.

I think I've got to buy a detailed map...

bigbad

All I'm saying is Burnaby is the shortest commute you can get

dk_kd

Burnaby and Vancouver have wonderful neighbourhoods, with cultures all of their own. I (like some other posters) live in North Burnaby. Lots of great Italian resturants and delis. Anton's is a great place for pasta, but the lines are outragous.

Commericial drive (East Van) is like my entire home town (Nelson) on one street. Lots of hippies and funky, 'alternative' people. It is getting a little, uh.. "scuzzy"(?) as development downtown pushes the homeless eastward.

Of course, if you are a young-up-and-coming professional; Kitsilano ('Kits') is where you want to be. By the beach and close to downtown. Sophies is known all over Vancouver for a great breakfast.

If you've got a few dollars you can look at places in Yaletown. Very nice, almost right down town. Housing (apartments / condos) prices are high.

If you are looking for a Jewish area, you could try Marpole (South Vancouver, specifically south Granville St.) Very clean, lots of amenities. It is atleast 25 min. bus ride downtown.

If you have big money, then you have two choices: Point Grey (near UBC) or West Vancouver. From West Van, you have to cross the Lion's Gate Bridge to get downtown (bad idea).

Anyways, I could blabber on more. You get the idea. There are lots of nice areas to live in Greater Vancouver. It just depends what you are looking for. Just realize that to buy property is very expensive right now. Apparently, the market for renters is getting better (better prices).

NotMinus

He didn't say anything deragoatory, he simply stated he doesn't like some aspects of Chinese culture. I don't think he is ignorant or dumb for having an opinion. We don't need to like it everything, we just need to accept it. I belive by Rice he was talking about the Vancouver import car scene, it's quite prominent both on the island and in vancouver.

Ace_O_Spades

dk_kd - Big money, there are also places in Coquitlam (Westwood Plateau)... but if he's planning on WORKING in Vancouver, not in Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Coquitlam, or Burnaby, the commute is too large.

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Feh.

Krazyck

what's the quickest way to get from china to india? the alex frasier bridge! lol, surrey is a great place to live with cheap house prices

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hooray for epilepsy!

Lewis

That's good to know about cheap house prices. Are they on the up and up in preparation for the expoected influx around the time of the Games?

Snooze-A-Stop

Just moved to Vancouver from Toronto a couple months ago and so far I'm liking it a lot. I live downtown in the West End, and I really like it, but its probably not the place to go if you are looking to buy a house and raise a family. Depends on what you are looking for a I guess.

bigbad

SOME of Surrey is a great place to live, I don't care if they call it Surrey City Center or Whalley that area is a hole

Ace_O_Spades

Speaking of Whalley... one of my football teammates got beaten by five people with baseball bats when him and two friends walked to get some burgers after getting out of a club.

gotta love whalley

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Feh.

Lewis

Well, maybe I'll give Whalley a miss. Not much positive stuff there.

Buy a house? yes.

Raise a family? No, just me and my new wife.

Just been looking at a map. Burnaby looks nice. And what about False Creek. That looks kind of interesting ofr an artist like myself. Probably also Kits, near the University - or is that all student dwellings?

splck

Yum..Anton's is great and well worth the wait

There is no such thing as cheap house prices in the entire GVRD.

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nice line eh?

Merlocke

Gotta agree - Anton's rocks. I used to teach in the martial arts school right next to it a few years back. Love North Bby.

Anyway - once you get hired by http://businessobjects.com (we'll see how that turns out for ya) and start lookin' for a place - I'd suggest either just live in the heart of the city downtown - lots of new places getting built - or Burnaby. Nice neighbourhood - nuff said.

If you ever do pick a specific job - let me know eh? - I have to forward your res to HR for a specific role if you want that line jump.

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-=[ Merlocke ]=-

Lewis

Will do, and many thanks again!

Cubby

I guess I'll have to pitch in my favorites for places to live. I live in North Vancouver and I absolutely love it. Of course I've grown up there as well but I have now purchased my second property in North Vancouver (I purchased a condo about 2 years ago in the City of North Van and have now purchased a townhouse in the District of North Vancouver). The beauty about North Vancouver is that it is close to downtown (20 min commute) while still being out of highly populated areas. It is right in the the thick of outdoor pursuits with most of the ski hills on the North shore, beaches, world-class mountain biking and hiking trails. I can drive 20 mins to downtown or 10 mins to lose myself in the wilderness. The bridges to downtown can be bad but once you get used to them you know when to use them. (of course if there is an accident on either of them, you will have a long wait to get home).

I did live in North Burnaby for a couple of years and much prefered the North Shore area. Perhaps it was the refinery that was 5 or 6 blocks away or just the feel of being crowded but I didn't much care for the area.

Of cousre my opinions are completely biased but if you want to know more about the North Shore just ask!

Cheers!
Cubby.

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Don't be irreplaceable - if you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted!

Lewis

Hi Cubby, and thanks for the advice. I've only been to the North Shore for one quick visit to a friend and to get the ferry to Bowen for a look there. I really liked it too. The only thing I have heard is that the weather is not half as good over there, and that it tends to rain more. Or is that just someone else's biased opinion?!

ditalianishere

Van City is beautiful. You have to like the big city though.

Cubby

It is wet in Vancouver period..but over the mountains it is a little more wet than elsewhere. Of course that also means you don't have as much smog etc. There are also days where much of North Vancouver is actually above the low clouds and is sunny. Over all I'd say that it does tend to rain a little more but I wouldn't go so far as to say the weather is much worse than anywhere else in the lower mainland. I wonder if there is a website that has the stats for weather in the lower mainland...hmmm...

__________________
Don't be irreplaceable - if you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted!

Lewis

Well, I checked out Google, and it just seems to be for 'Vancouver'. Not really that useful.

Oh well, I guess I'm just going to have to come over. My wife is coming for a quick visit in October to check a few things out - Vancouver Film School and the like.

Janey

I've lived on and off, in different areas of the lower mainland (white rock, aldergrove, surrey, kitsilano - my fav, north van at lynn canyon as well as on north lonsdale. I love all the places. Oh yes, in gibson's too.

Now being in toronto, i get homesick/nostalgic for vancouver, so i open the web cam in this link to get a nice view over the burrard str bridge and english bay... you have to scroll down a bit to see it.

http://www.katkam.ca/

Lewis

Hi Janey. Well, why don't you move back!? It sounds like your heart is really there and not in the big city of Toronto.

Thanks for the message. I took a look at the webcam, and have put it on my favourites. I've also given ma wife instructions to stand on that bridge when she is over there next week, so I can see she's OK!

Janey

i would move back in an instant. but my parents live here in cabbagetown, and my job is here, and anyways, Toronto is great too. I live near the beaches, and the restaurants are fantastic, lots of friends here, and the boardwalk in the evening is so romantic....

JJRousseau

Vancouver's most important rule: Annual rainfall decreases as distance from mountains increases...

Love Shared Vision - a great magazine

Lewis

Thanks for the advice!

And thanks for the comment on Shared Vision. I'll pass it on.