Recently Forbes ran an article on the top cities in the world for which to live in. The ratings were taken from the recent quality of life survey done by Mercer. Clearly any such list is a subjective one and lends itself to heavy opinions and criticism, especially from the residents in cities that did not make the list or received a lower ranking than they'd like.
What wasn't surprising is that Vancouver rated high on that list (tied for 4th) and it was again the top North American city on that list. Of course that brought out the usual whiners in our city who probably haven't visited many other cities for an extended period of time to appreciate what we got going on here. Maybe I've drank way too much juice from the Happy Planet factory, but I love this town for all it is, good and bad. Of course I'd like to change the bad, but let's get realistic here, there will always be an element of "bad" in any city on this planet. Why would Vancouver be any different?
Furthermore, I realize that Vancouver does lack a few things, but people need to realize we are still a relatively young city that is constantly evolving. Our liquor laws and closing hours will eventually change, our night life is already getting better and our city is on the forefront of the green movement, at least we think we are. Moreover, our public transit is better than most cities in North America, but it is sub par compared to many European cities, but that will improve as we continue to push towards higher density neighbourhoods.
So when I read comments such as the ones below it really makes me scratch my head, if it is so bad here, why not just get up and leave? We all know this city is expensive, blah, blah, blah get up off your ass and move to Philadelphia or Saskatoon and quit ragging on Vancouver.
Judge for yourself, here are two rather one sided comments:
Posted by rocco_1997 | 07/09/09 03:38 PM EDT
3rd World Vancouver 4th???
No wonder the city is broke must be paying out to all the people who put these polls together to try and convince us we don't live in an ignorant, drug gang fueled dump with people who don't know how to drive.
Come on nations of the world send your criminals to Vancouver, they can do whatever they like and receive benefits it's the best place on earth.
Posted by thinking1 | 07/09/09 05:26 AM EDTIt seems like the whiners always drown out the positives.
I also agree with the people that were floored by Vancouver's place on the list. I live near Vancouver, and as someone stated previously, it had the 6th most overpriced real estate market in the world in 2007, public transit is ridiculously unaffordable ($5.00??!!), and we have some of the highest per capita ratings of petty crime, property damage, car theft and iv drug users in North America. Not to mention all the fun new shootings in mall parking lots. So..huh?
Photo courtesy of Canadian Veggie @ Flickr
Public Transit ridiculously unaffordable?! I pay $99 a month to go anywhere I need to go (anywhere in Vancouver excluding the far reaches of the metro, which I don't need to visit) which is an incredible deal if you work out the cost of insurance & gas monthly for a car. Plus it's generally faster to take transit than drive here, and transit can take me to many of the hiking trails and outdoor activities on the North shore. Of all the things to whine about, the cost of transit shouldn't be one of them.
Wow the whiners are bunch of idiots who want everything to be free and the city to turn into some fantasyland where hookers smell like cherries and drugs taste like candy wait...wtf are we taking about here.
Vancouver rules, you drones need to get up off your couch and see the rest of the world and live there like the writer said to make any real informed decision.
you complain about crime here, really? Rio, LA, Chicago, Mexico, etc... have far worse crime. Get your head out of your asses will ya! thanks.
If people don't like it they should move east. That's what the middle of the country is for, people who have given up on their dreams.
I currently live in Toronto. I have been living there for the past year. I had to move further away to re-realize just how wonderful of a city Vancouver is. There are pro's and con's from each and every city. So Vancouver has a bad side, what city doesn't? It has crim, again what major city doesn't?
Most of the whining seems to come from suburbia, from those who venture into the city 'every now and then'. I raised my daughter in downtown Vancouver (West End) for many years until we decided to move to Collingwood. She turned out alright (so far :-) ). If they think Vancouver is that bad, they need to move out.
I also would like to mention I lived in another Olympic city during the time of the games, Atlanta, GA. You want to talk about crime, bad neighbourhoods and racism? Just get off Peachtree avenue and you'll see it.
One thing that has irked me about the GVRD are the amount of whiners who do nothing for their local communities to make it better. Do your part... and you'll see the results. Vancouver is a beautiful and scenic city. So many visitors I have talked to love it and call it the ideal city on many levels...why can't some of the locals do the same thing?
Thanks for all the comments, you guys pretty much feel like how we at Vancity Buzz feel. There is so much good going on in this city and we will showcase as much as possible to our loyal readers and followers. Good day!
After moving to Vancouver from Charlotte, NC I was really surprised at the number of residents that think their city has a ton of problems. Move to the US southeast or at least visit those cities. Orlando, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Jacksonville, New Orleans etc... the list of crime filled and sprawled municipalities can go on and on. Vancouver is definitely the best city to live in on this continent despite the fact that it comes with drawbacks like property values being crazy. If you still don't believe me, go down to Los Angeles.
This city has some of the finest looking ppl around. Just look at this site and the ladies profiled. Not too shabby love this city, don't hate, participate..
Love the city and the people. The whiners can move to Edmonton.
I love Vancouver as much as the next person. It's cleaner than New York, more beautiful than San Francisco and safer than most cities...my only complaint with Vancouver is it's culture, or lack-there-of. I spent too much time in Montreal, so granted I've been spoiled, but there really isn't much to do in Vancouver on the weekend when compared to other cities with a night-life...but it's improving.
There is a lot more narcissism among Vancouverites however, which can also be a drag.
All that said, Vancouver is my home and I wouldn't live anywhere else (except maybe Corfu).
Vancouver is a great place to live, and I love it here. There are a few things that would make it better and truly world class:
1. better transportation, especially at night. It shouldn't take an hour to get from one end of vancouver to the other, no matter what time of day it is. This will improve in the next 20 years I suppose as skytrain expands.
2. We have some of the best restaurants in the world. We are spoiled actually, because even the most expensive ones are cheaper compared to equivalent ones in other metropolitan cities. But what we have are really stupid liquor laws. This is especially true in the summer when you want to sit on a patio and have some drinks. Combine that with really high liquor taxes. In europe it's cheap to sit on the patio and have a few drinks. Some places you can even drink your own in the park, in a square. And there are no problems with rowdiness. Here the food is priced decently for the quality, but the liquor prices make going out more often too expensive.
3. We don't have enough patios in the summer, and we are really missing car-free areas. In europe every city has at least one square where people gather, sit around, eat, drink, people watch. We have beaches, art gallery, granville island, but could really use a big wide open space with outdoor restaurants and cafes.
4. We need more outdoor festivals, and celebrations. The few that we have are often held on the same day so you end up missing many of them. I remember being downtown for New Year's Eve 2 years ago, and there was a bit of a gathering of people even though there was no official events going on. Some people (mostly tourists) were waiting around thinking that something was actually going to happen. They were shocked to learn that actually nothing is going on. That people are just hanging around being bored. This would be unacceptable in many cities in the world, but somehow is in Vancouver.
Vancouver is a beautiful city, with one-of-a-kind style of big and little city living. Yes, it can be quiet and a challenge to find events at certain times compared to some other larger cities, but overall the quality life, people, and access to amenities makes this city stand far above many comparable metropolitan cities.
Vancouver is a nice city. Not sure it warrants a No. 4 ranking, but much better than a lot of places I have been to. Ironically, what prevents it from being a great city is all the whiners and complainers who anti-everything, and cannot deal with the reality that there's always a tradeoff for the city to take the next step forward. Seems that it would please them more if everyone sits still and do nothing. In their fantasy world, they want everything but don't want to pay for anything.
I agree with the other anonymous guy if you don't like Vancouver leave..
Buy a cowboy hat and move to Alberta.
It's frustrating to see the town one grew up in be rapidly replaced by one which is self-absorbed, ESL-dominated, and overpopulated.
Looking at the tab to my right and I wonder how can people not appreciate the beauty this town has to offer ;)
BTW anonymous above ur just a closet racist waiting to come out aren't ya?
Yeah I love Vancouver but to say that there aren't huge problems with it *cough* a bazillion homeless people *cough* is just ignorant.
I work in the slums of Kenya and honestly whenever I come back to Vancouver and walk around the downtown eastside it's a hell of a lot more scarier... and that's in a first world country.
I'm not saying that all these problems can't be fixed or improved, but to ignore these major flaws and say that the city is great is misleading. In my opinion.
Vancouver is a great place to live, and is my current conscious choice.
But it is NOT perfect. I agree with vancityguy and Proggie above.
I belive it could be improved, made even better, made perfect.
But the problem is, if residents think it is already perfect, and nothing should be improved (changed), it will never actually be...
Great points everyone! Never said it was perfect we definitely need to continue improving our city for the greater good! Sometimes that means we have to put our personal stuff aside.
Vancouver is not perfect, never will be but that doesn't mean we stop improving this tiny metropolis of ours.
This city is awesome, the nightlife needs some work but I realize that in the last 10 yrs it has grown so much and well politicians are more of a reactive then proactive bunch.
The homeless problem will be solved if social housing is spread out across the region and not just in Vancouver. Oh and open up Riverview fools!