The decline of Vancouver • Hacker News Board

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#21

Post by cherls » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:10 AM UTC

chaostheory wrote: post #19

brookside wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The motivation is often wanting to move assets to a location out-of-reach for the Chinese government to potentially seize.

So these homes are vacant? From my experience in the Bay Area, these homes house their wives and small children; or their adult children. When you think about it this makes more sense than leaving them empty considering China's environment pollution.

Some of the owners move their families over. But they often own more than one property, so the unused ones are completely vacant.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#22

Post by spitfire » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:13 AM UTC

rdlecler1 wrote: post #4

I've lived in Vancouver. There are really only three industries: (dodgy) junior mining, retail, and real estate. Property is bought by absentee owners who take supply out of the market, drive up prices, but do not contribute to the economy. The city is more expensive than NY without the amenities (except the outdoors), culture, or opportunity. The city should be Canada's powerhouse but it's turned into a high price v…

/Property is bought by absentee owners who take supply out of the market, drive up prices, but do not contribute to the economy./

This has been thoroughly debunked many times. Real estate agents are hiring helicopters filled with asian actors to drive fear. The actual number is something like 3% foreign buyers.

Now, if you look at our mortgage rates - the lowest ever in history with the loosest requirements ever, you'll see why prices have skyrocketed.

We're following the US housing bubble, but about 7 years late.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#23

Post by niwri » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:13 AM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #18

wvenable wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that would increase the number of rental properties, theoretically drive down rents, and then possibly even decrease housing prices.

[deleted]

That is really low for Vancouver. I don't know anyone in a 1 bedroom in the city centre that pays ~$1400 CAD. The lowest I've heard from my co-workers is ~$1650 CAD, going all the way up to ~$2100.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#24

Post by spitfire » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:14 AM UTC

jmspring wrote: post #17

I've been going to Vancouver regularly (about once a year) since the mid 90s. As the return of Hong Kong to China approached, the influx of Chinese investment spiked. It started in Vancouver, people who had been in the better parts of Vancouver and were of retirement age sold and moved out (basically the first wave) and those being bought out moved to places like the Okanogan, etc. Then, single story buildings in Kit…

In the early/mid 2000's Vancouver had a healthy games industry. Not sure about now. But your point is valid.

Vancouver doesn't really have any technology industry that's in a virtuous cycle yet.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#25

Post by melling » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:14 AM UTC

wvenable wrote: post #15

melling wrote: post #9

According to Wikipedia, Vancouver only has 600k people. Shouldn't people expect the city to grow to a few million people over the next 100 years? More people are moving to cities, after all. I'd think that with proper urban planning, there's enough space to grow. Urban planning means more mass transit, of course. That's not something that we do very well in the western hemisphere. Even NYC could be a lot better. Peop…

If you count the main suburbs of Vancouver, there are already over 2 million people. The transit system in Metro Vancouver moves over 400k people a day.

Then the city should be able to absorb the increased demand in housing/apartments?

SF refuses to allow for more housing and mass transit isn't extensive enough so you are required to live in certain areas.

And Manhattan is an island so that's why you get outrageous pricing there. People want to live close to where they work and there's a certain commute time that they are willing to put up with. If people could live 60 miles away from Manhattan in any direction, and reach it within 30 minutes, for example, then real estate prices would decrease.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#26

Post by luketych » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:17 AM UTC

Vancouver is one of the worst places to live in the western world imo. Poverty and violence are much bigger problems than people realize. I have many friends who already have pretty bad health problems, and they're only in their 20s. I have no idea why this is happening, but I believe stress and hopelessness must be playing a large role. Kids can't seem to afford to do anything in this city except abuse drugs and vandalize. The aboriginal population in this city is even worse off. I feel really bad for most of my friends and wish I could help. People think Vancouver is a really diverse city, but it is the most segregated city I have ever been to. The Chinese live in Richmond and West Van, the Indians live in Surrey, and the other ethnicities (Aboriginals, Caucasians, etc.) are getting squeezed in the middle. It's quite sad.

Edit: Not just white people, I also mentioned aboriginals. I also have some chinese and indian friends who face the same issues, but I did not mention them due to the nature of the article. I grew up in the suburbs where the real problems seem to be much more obvious than a city-dweller who can safely live in his or her bubble and ignore the real issues. Don't really give a fuck what most of you think. If you want to see unhappy people, take a drive out to Delta or Surrey. Note: I am not comparing Vancouver to Oakland or some other ghettos, I was attempting to compare it to other major western cities. But obviously I have to be perfect with my words, otherwise I will leave myself open to leeches.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#27

Post by allochthon » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:18 AM UTC

The article reminds me of a real estate agent in Miami, who on the radio called the apartments out there "apartment-shaped financial instruments." (In Vancouver, apparently, they are detached homes.) This seems to be a recurring theme in certain cities, e.g., Vancouver, San Francisco, London, New York.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#28

Post by kazinator » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:18 AM UTC

msie wrote: post #20

desdiv wrote: post #5

A 2011 study by Landcor Data showed that 74 per cent of luxury purchases in Richmond and Vancouver’s west side were by buyers with mainland Chinese names with no western variant. Not surprising, given that Richmond is 55% Chinese[0]. West side Vancouver is probably around the same. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond,_British_Columbia#Demo...

So it hinges on Chinese people westernizing their last name to ensure they are counted as Canadian? Plus this is only counting luxury properties. Sadly it's really important now WHICH set of rich people own those properties.

Canada does not have any statute which says you need an Anglo last name to be counted as a Canadian.

I do not have such a name, and, by golly, I'm a citizen of this little patch of dirt.

I suspect that it would certain that such a renaming requirement would violate something in the Canadian Constitution and its Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Canada

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#29

Post by goalieca » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:19 AM UTC

From Vancouver, love the city but had to leave. Almost all of my friends left too. Cost of living was one thing but the quality of life just wasn't there for the suburban commuters and the city always felt depressed. There was no heart beat when walking the streets.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#30

Post by jmspring » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:23 AM UTC

spitfire wrote: post #24

jmspring wrote: post #17

I've been going to Vancouver regularly (about once a year) since the mid 90s. As the return of Hong Kong to China approached, the influx of Chinese investment spiked. It started in Vancouver, people who had been in the better parts of Vancouver and were of retirement age sold and moved out (basically the first wave) and those being bought out moved to places like the Okanogan, etc. Then, single story buildings in Kit…

In the early/mid 2000's Vancouver had a healthy games industry. Not sure about now. But your point is valid. Vancouver doesn't really have any technology industry that's in a virtuous cycle yet.

Google / Microsoft / others are building office complexes in Richmond, Surrey, and other places close to the border because of "US immigration" limitations, but those aren't going to help build industry.

Until the mid 2000s, I was looking for a viable company / excuse to move to Vancouver (meet the required points/immigration first bar), but never felt like tech was taking off there.

I was involved in the identity arena from the late 90s to mid/late 2000s, the aware of sxip (Dick's company) and had me again exploring the vancouver scene. Funding and major players then were a handful of people and not growing. Not healthy for long term growth -- at least for the risk assessment I was running personally.