Why is it, everytime I go back home, the weather is perfect?!! *Heavy Pic Report*

[C_Dave45]

My kid barely remembers back home in BC and everytime we go back we hit the weather perfectly. He's always saying "Dad, why don't we move back here?!"

Spent the day in White Rock today...couldn't have been better. What a great day for car watching!!

[C_Dave45]

[shakalaka]

BC is beautiful. If it wasn't for the pesky rain all the time, I would have moved there in a heart beat.

[roopi]

Love The Boathouse rooftop.

[eglove]

Nice pics! I've been in Victoria the last two weeks, nothing but sunshine, only two mornings there was a bit of rain.

[sxtasy]

Nice pics Dave! The weather on the coast is not perfect, but Im convinced it's better than Calgary haha. Plus not much for mosquitos

[FiveFreshFish]

Nice pics. What kind of car is this?


» Click image for larger version

[s dime]

Originally posted by FiveFreshFish
Nice pics. What kind of car is this?


» Click image for larger version

VW Kharmann Ghia

(Sp)

[Sugarphreak]

...

[max_boost]

Lol amen phreak!

Nice pics Dave. Thanks for sharing!

[TravisF79]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
I could easily deal with the weather... it is the 75% pay cut that would hurt

And....

1 insurance company only
utilities are more
have to pay more for health care
GST & PST ...


Love BC, would absolutely love to move back (born and raised there). Once it becomes cheaper

[ExtraSlow]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
I could easily deal with the weather... it is the 75% pay cut and 50% cost increase that would hurt

Fixed.

I can afford to visit, I can't afford to live there.

[C_Dave45]

I'm curious where this whole "I can't afford to live there" idea comes from.

What is "BC" to you? Living in downtown Coal Harbour on the waterfront? A 1/4 acre lot and 5 bedroom house overlooking English Bay?

There's hundreds of thousands of people who live in the greater vancouver area that live in nice places that don't make much over $100,000/yr.
As for ICBC; my vehicle insurance was way cheaper back there than here in Calgary.
My utilities were way cheaper there. My hydro bill for a 1600 sq ft full basement house was around $200/mo. Here it approaches $400-600.
As for healthcare...it's only been recently that our health insurance premiums have been free. Before that it was the same as BC. And the way AH has been going, I'm not sure it's going to stay that way.

Sure you might not be able to afford a house in South Granville, or West Van...but how many beyonders own a home in Upper Mount royal, or a new duplex home in Marda Loop, Kensington?

Most don't live in downtown Vancouver y'know. Can get beautiful houses in the "GVRD" for less than what you'd pay in Calgary. You've got tons of sub-burbs all within a 30 minute drive that have populations of well over 100,000 to find jobs at.

In my line of work (construction) most tradesmen are in the $38-40/hr pay structure PLUS benefits.

Ask HeavyFuel how affordable he finds living/working in Calgary. Don't see him being able to easily live here or even a hope of buying a home (his words)

This place ... 2,000 sq ft newer style home with a nice yard, only 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver. $489,000. 100k less than my house and I drive 45 to an hour to get to my jobs just across town!!.

If a guy wants a really nice house and property and doesn't mind a one-hour commute, you find a place in Abbotsford or Mission. Closer than Strathmore or Crossfield (which I see tons of people from Calgary doing)
This place with a view of Mt Baker and the Fraser River would be going for probably 200k more if in a similar view lot in Calgary:

http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...Key=-192217769

Can do a 1 hour commute to Vancouver or easily find a job 20 minutes away in Abbotsford with 150,000 population. Ya even have The Calgary Flames' "Heat" you can go watch!!!

About the only thing that's way more expensive in Vancouver vs Calgary are the single family dwellings right within the city bounder of "Vancouver proper". That's a VERY small representation of "BC".

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by C_Dave45
I'm curious where this whole "I can't afford to live there" idea comes from.

What is "BC" to you? Living in downtown Coal Harbour on the waterfront? A 1/4 acre lot and 5 bedroom house overlooking English Bay?

There's hundreds of thousands of people who live in the greater vancouver area that live in nice places that don't make much over $100,000/yr.
As for ICBC; my vehicle insurance was way cheaper back there than here in Calgary.
My utilities were way cheaper there. My hydro bill for a 1600 sq ft full basement house was around $200/mo. Here it approaches $400-600.
As for healthcare...it's only been recently that our health insurance premiums have been free. Before that it was the same as BC. And the way AH has been going, I'm not sure it's going to stay that way.

Sure you might not be able to afford a house in South Granville, or West Van...but how many beyonders own a home in Upper Mount royal, or a new duplex home in Marda Loop, Kensington?

Most don't live in downtown Vancouver y'know. Can get beautiful houses in the "GVRD" for less than what you'd pay in Calgary. You've got tons of sub-burbs all within a 30 minute drive that have populations of well over 100,000 to find jobs at.

In my line of work (construction) most tradesmen are in the $38-40/hr pay structure PLUS benefits.

Ask HeavyFuel how affordable he finds living/working in Calgary. Don't see him being able to easily live here or even a hope of buying a home (his words)

This place ... 2,000 sq ft newer style home with a nice yard, only 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver. $489,000. 100k less than my house and I drive 45 to an hour to get to my jobs just across town!!.

If a guy wants a really nice house and property and doesn't mind a one-hour commute, you find a place in Abbotsford or Mission. Closer than Strathmore or Crossfield (which I see tons of people from Calgary doing)
This place with a view of Mt Baker and the Fraser River would be going for probably 200k more if in a similar view lot in Calgary:

http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...Key=-192217769

Can do a 1 hour commute to Vancouver or easily find a job 20 minutes away in Abbotsford with 150,000 population. Ya even have The Calgary Flames' "Heat" you can go watch!!!

About the only thing that's way more expensive in Vancouver vs Calgary are the single family dwellings right within the city bounder of "Vancouver proper". That's a VERY small representation of "BC".

Haha, everything you just said is 100% on the money. But....why do you have to tell people? The myths about BC are good because they keep the population down.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by GTS4tw



Haha, everything you just said is 100% on the money. But....why do you have to tell people? The myths about BC are good because they keep the population down.

Doesn't matter anyways. A lot of people "think" they can handle the continual rain/overcast of Vancouver, but not many actually can. It really does suck when you see the sun for 10 whole minutes in an entire week.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Doesn't matter anyways. A lot of people "think" they can handle the continual rain/overcast of Vancouver, but not many actually can. It really does suck when you see the sun for 10 whole minutes in an entire week.

Yeah it looks terrible in the pics posted...

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Doesn't matter anyways. A lot of people "think" they can handle the continual rain/overcast of Vancouver, but not many actually can. It really does suck when you see the sun for 10 whole minutes in an entire week.

And there you have MY reasons for not living there anymore. (well, other than the construction boom)

But yeah....try getting up at 5:30 in the morning, pouring rain, dark and freezing cold that gets EVERYWHERE cuz of the dampness there...coming home at 6:00, pitch black, pouring rain, and freezing cold.
And it does this pretty much non stop from November til February.

I'm sure I suffer from SAD...the rain made me want to blow my brains out sometimes. It doesn't just rain for half hour, then the sun comes out. It rains for DAYS AND DAYS straight...no end!!

Sure, hit a beautiful sunny day in March and you're downtown or Stanley Park and you think you've woken up in heaven....but god, the winters SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DeleriousZ]

If you're making over 100k/yr in the GVR you're doing something very fucking right, or you're in a 'senior' position in a lucrative field. Wages out there are 2/3 of what they are in calgary, rent is about the same, food prices vary, but there's much better produce out there, and a lot more easily available organic stuff.

That being said, when I lived there for 2.5 years I never found it a 'struggle' to live the day to day, I could afford rent, food and activities, not much in the way of disposable income for car stuff though. It did rain a lot, but I don't mind the rain, and everything is so green there all the time, it really doesn't matter.

The pst/hst was a bummer, especially buying cars (pst/hst on used car sales).

White rock looks really nice, the gf's got family in that area and it's always a treat to go visit them. I'm pretty sure white rock got it's name because it's filled with white people lol.

[Sorath]

here are my reasons.

> 60% pay cut for my industry
PST sucks
Weather sucks, i rather it snow than rain.
Parking sucks and its till 10pm
Traffic is terrible, getting from the lower mainland to DT is a pain

theres probably more im missing

but that being said, good place to visit but not to live

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by DeleriousZ
If you're making over 100k/yr in the GVR you're doing something very fucking right, or you're in a 'senior' position in a lucrative field. Wages out there are 2/3 of what they are in calgary, rent is about the same, food prices vary, but there's much better produce out there, and a lot more easily available organic stuff.

That being said, when I lived there for 2.5 years I never found it a 'struggle' to live the day to day, I could afford rent, food and activities, not much in the way of disposable income for car stuff though. It did rain a lot, but I don't mind the rain, and everything is so green there all the time, it really doesn't matter.

The pst/hst was a bummer, especially buying cars (pst/hst on used car sales).

White rock looks really nice, the gf's got family in that area and it's always a treat to go visit them. I'm pretty sure white rock got it's name because it's filled with white people lol.

I'm talking "household income". Not talking single BALLER calgarian who spends $90 lunches. "Household". As in having a wife or g/f. Any decent job with skill ie: construction, engineer, uni grad etc will EASILY make $60-80k. Wife or g/f will have no trouble finding a $30k/year job.
And if you don't know how to find a nice place to live in the lower mainland on $100,000/year income then you're fucking retarded.

Any that say "oh I lived there, it's impossible" have live in one area only, while on an internship with their same company or are going to school and have no idea the other places to live or work options. Just because YOUR company pays you less when in Vancouver is not the norm.

Wages are NOT 30% lower in Vancouver. Period. That's not even a debate when you compare apples to apples.
In fact, hourly grunt work, warehouse work, retail, etc is lower in Calgary.
As a tiny example. My sister works for Alberta Blue Cross. Here she makes a base of $70k. In Vancouver at Pacific Blue Cross (same industry, same job), her base was 90k. She'd make WAY more money in BC. And here, her house in Panorama cost her $650k, with higher utilities and vehicle insurance.

There, She lived by herself in a brand new, beautiful condo in coquitlam and worked 20 minutes away in Burnaby. She had way more disposable income living there than here.