Moving to Vancouver, couple of questions.

[Shane247]

Hey guys I am a 36 m from Ireland and its my first time posting here. I am about halfway through the book and loving it.

I'm heading over to live in Vancouver in about 2 months and will probably have to get a slowlane job to keep me going for a while while I get set up and see what opportunities are around me. I have been trying different things online for a while now and have settled on making niche sites that I will turn authorative later down the line. I'm hoping to get my first up in the next week. I am combining 2 of my favourite things to do, writing and designing sites and I know it will take many months to make any decent cash off my site/s.

Hopefully I can find some like minded people while I am in Vancouver, I will hit up plenty of meetups in my favourite topics(entrepreneurship, running, design, rails, etc...). I'm trying to think of ways to get started in something before I fly over but all I'm coming up with is freelancing and I would prefer to put my time into building my niche site for now.

Is Vancouver a nice city to live in? Is it expensive? Is there much work there(temporarily, gotta eat)?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[sparechange]

hi, i live in vancouver, it is a shithole here, unless you are rich your quality of life will be really shitty, goto toronto..(where im from) it is a much nicer area, then you can visit vancouver for a $500 ticket and decide whether you like it (you wont)

as for job market it is horrible here...the only nice areas are west/north (where all the muti millionaires live)

 

[sparechange]

oh and cheers (conor mcgregor fan)

 

[Steven French]

Unless your job pays really well you are going to have a very bad time in Vancouver. It's the most expensive city to live in North America. If your mind is set on BC there are probably cheaper options, and as other guy said above Toronto is not that bad.

But hey man, if that is what you really want go for it. Just be prepared for a challenge.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Shane247]

Well that sounds shit, my friends wanna head over there because of the lifestyle I think, snowboarding, skiing, etc... I also have a cousin there. My uncle was there a few weeks back and said it was the best place he's ever been to! I'm in 2 minds as to where to go to but thanks for the advice.

 

[Michael Burgess]

Hi Shane,

Canadian born 22 y/o here. I've traveled through Europe and Africa a little bit, and have lived in three provinces in Canada. I really liked Vancouver and British Columbia - the natural beauty (and potential lifestyle) there is stupendous. Vancouver's a great city if you're in the right position; biking paths, parks, recreational activities, events, shopping, social opportunities, etc... However:

It is insanely expensive for someone with any kind of lower-middle class income. Rent for an apartment or room that is decent will eat a huge chunk of your money. Other basic necessities are more expensive there as well, relative to communities in BC even a couple of hours away. It defeats the purpose of living somewhere so amazing, in a way, if you're always stuck at a crappy job working to just get by there.

I tried to skirt around the expensive rent a couple years ago, by moving to Surrey - a suburb city in the Greater Vancouver Area. Rent was literally a 1/4 the cost for the same thing downtown, and only a half hour drive.... great, right? I found it to be an incredibly unwelcoming community and ended up getting my truck stolen there. I later realized Surrey is where a lot of the crime for the Vancouver area happens. Wouldn't suggest living there, even if rent is a lot cheaper.

If you're looking for an alternative in that area that provides a lot of the benefits, consider Victoria. It's on the island so you're a little landlocked, but it's a great city and offers the same attractions - surfing, skiing, golfing, biking, whatever. It's less expensive but offers a similar set of characteristics.... and you're always a quick ferry ride away from the mainland. I also have some friends that just moved to Rossland, BC, who absolutely love it there and have tons of time and freedom to play in the outdoors however they want.

You can definitely live in Vancouver with a crappy job if you want to - there's always a way to do it if your will is strong enough. It just might mean working a lot, dropping your standards for living circumstances a bit, and getting creative about increasing your income to support a quality of life there.

I guess it comes down to this - why do you really want to move - and what choices will support that? Is it to become financially wealthy? Is it to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle and a leisurely pace of life? Your answers should dictate your choices.

Feel free to message me if I can help!

Michael

 

[sparechange]

speaking of vancouver, today at my work a porsche got stolen.. ^_^ we have quite alot of crime here

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[timmy]

Hey guys I am a 36 m from Ireland and its my first time posting here. I am about halfway through the book and loving it.

I'm heading over to live in Vancouver in about 2 months and will probably have to get a slowlane job to keep me going for a while while I get set up and see what opportunities are around me. I have been trying different things online for a while now and have settled on making niche sites that I will turn authorative later down the line. I'm hoping to get my first up in the next week. I am combining 2 of my favourite things to do, writing and designing sites and I know it will take many months to make any decent cash off my site/s.

Hopefully I can find some like minded people while I am in Vancouver, I will hit up plenty of meetups in my favourite topics(entrepreneurship, running, design, rails, etc...). I'm trying to think of ways to get started in something before I fly over but all I'm coming up with is freelancing and I would prefer to put my time into building my niche site for now.

Is Vancouver a nice city to live in? Is it expensive? Is there much work there(temporarily, gotta eat)?

Hi Shane

I lived there many years ago so my input comes with warning..... Loved it.... Its got the mildest climate in Canada, similar to Ireland but without excessive rainfall. Any Irish I knew there loved it and never moved. I also lived in Victoria. Vancouver and Victoria were always expensive. However.....There is always a living to be had in these great places. My favourite place to live was Calgary, Alberta. I too was into the great outdoors. Calgary offered a great standard of living and Gods playround thrown in for free....(Banff National Park)

Wishing you luck Shane