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Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

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Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#11

Post by jsolson »

enraged_camel wrote: post #6
yelnatz wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can imagine Seattle's weather, that's basically Vancouver.

It's funny you bring up Seattle. Temperature is only one factor. Another big one is humidity. Seattle is the 7th most humid city in the US, which can make 45 degrees feel like 30 and 80 degrees feel like 95. This is why Seattle weather is miserable year around except for a fe weeks in late spring and early summer. Not to mention the constant rain, of course. Drizzle , they call it.

It actually is a constant drizzle, though only in the winter. Rarely do we get proper rain. It's one of the few things I miss from Atlanta's weather. Frankly, Seattle's climate really is very nice compared to much of the United States (say, the entire East Coast and the Midwest). It is not as nice as chunks of the California coast, but I'll take my lower cost of living over the Bay and my 15 minute commute over the terrifying sprawl that is LA. I can't really make an argument against San Diego, though. Every time I've been there it's been beautiful.

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#12

Post by daviding »

jp555 wrote: post #7
Dewie wrote: post #2

> "I will not go to Canada," said the 25-year-old from Argentina of his initial reaction. "Twenty degrees below zero, are you crazy?" Perhaps the warmest major Canadian city, with a mild winter due to being coastal ('twenty degree below zero' - probably not).

I imagine him then moving to California and rarely going outside. Vancouver weather is pretty close to London England, except sandwiched between an ocean and majestic mountain range.

Yep, I've lived 10 years London and now 10 years Vancouver and it's comparable. It's probably even nicer in Vancouver, as we have a ground pool and air conditioning here, while in London those were more of a rarity. Vancouver does get a very grey and miserable November, but the Spring/Summers are usually very good. It's a cliche, but I've often done the 'ski in the morning up the mountain, swim in the sea in the afternoon' May/June. That's got to be good, right?

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#13

Post by refurb »

dmix wrote: post #9
middleclick wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the person was talking about Canada in general. Many of the tech sector locations in the east coast (Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo) do tend to go to -20 or -30 quite frequently in the winters!

Toronto rarely even gets to -20c in winter, the average low is -6c in the coldest month (January). Ottawa/Montreal is slightly colder and much snowier though.

When i lived in Toronto -20c was relatively common in the winter. It might only be a 3-5 days each winter, but it happened pretty regularly. -30C was really rare.

Apparently Toronto has 22 days per year where the temperature drops to less than -10c.

http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Canada/Ontario/Places/...

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#14

Post by sanswork »

dmix wrote: post #9
middleclick wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the person was talking about Canada in general. Many of the tech sector locations in the east coast (Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo) do tend to go to -20 or -30 quite frequently in the winters!

Toronto rarely even gets to -20c in winter, the average low is -6c in the coldest month (January). Ottawa/Montreal is slightly colder and much snowier though.

Toronto does get to -20c in the winter it just isn't that common unless you include the windchill factor then it isn't that unusual to be in the -15 to -25 range (and very occasionally into the -30 to -35 range).

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#15

Post by paul »

I think if we ever start a second YC location, this will be the reason -- to help founders who are unable to get past the US immigration system.

It's unfortunate that our government is becoming increasingly dysfunctional at every level -- federal, state, and local governments are all failing to do their jobs. I'm glad that Canada is introducing some competitive pressure.

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#16

Post by foobarqux »

paul wrote: post #15

I think if we ever start a second YC location, this will be the reason -- to help founders who are unable to get past the US immigration system. It's unfortunate that our government is becoming increasingly dysfunctional at every level -- federal, state, and local governments are all failing to do their jobs. I'm glad that Canada is introducing some competitive pressure.

How likely is that to happen?

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#17

Post by increment_i »

daviding wrote: post #12
jp555 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine him then moving to California and rarely going outside. Vancouver weather is pretty close to London England, except sandwiched between an ocean and majestic mountain range.

Yep, I've lived 10 years London and now 10 years Vancouver and it's comparable. It's probably even nicer in Vancouver, as we have a ground pool and air conditioning here, while in London those were more of a rarity. Vancouver does get a very grey and miserable November, but the Spring/Summers are usually very good. It's a cliche, but I've often done the 'ski in the morning up the mountain, swim in the sea in the afte…

It sure sounds good. Is it actually good?

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#18

Post by jbarham »

Dewie wrote: post #2

> "I will not go to Canada," said the 25-year-old from Argentina of his initial reaction. "Twenty degrees below zero, are you crazy?" Perhaps the warmest major Canadian city, with a mild winter due to being coastal ('twenty degree below zero' - probably not).

Certainly Vancouver's winters are milder than anywhere east of the Rockies, but the flipside is that you have to put up with rain, rain and more rain. After living in Vancouver for five years I moved to southern California where the weather was fantastic. I'm now in Melbourne, Australia, which is considered by Aussies to have cold winters but as a Canadian I just laugh whenever I hear that.

Apart from the weather I'd say that a more legitimate reason not to move to Vancouver is the insane cost of housing, the most expensive in North America. For this reason alone I would never consider moving my family back to Vancouver.

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#19

Post by turar »

This is a repeat of the same story that happened the last time H-1B limit didn't meet the demand for visas. US tech companies, most notably Microsoft, opened "offices" in Vancouver. What happens next is that those employees will work for 1 year in Canada, and then will become eligible for L-1 intra-company transfer back to the US, side-stepping the H-1B quagmire.

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#20

Post by increment_i »

dmix wrote: post #9
middleclick wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the person was talking about Canada in general. Many of the tech sector locations in the east coast (Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo) do tend to go to -20 or -30 quite frequently in the winters!

Toronto rarely even gets to -20c in winter, the average low is -6c in the coldest month (January). Ottawa/Montreal is slightly colder and much snowier though.

Toronto absolutely gets that cold in the winter and in the dead of winter it often gets colder than that (Jan, Feb). The spring and summer are quite sunny and pleasant though. Source: Torontonian.
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