The decline of Vancouver • Hacker News Board

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#41

Post by eigenvector » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:58 AM UTC

jmspring wrote: post #30

spitfire wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ar…

Microsoft's latest development isn't even a real office. It's just a temporary stopover for non-Canadians to get them enough time working at MS to apply for an L-1 to go to Redmond. The people working there will not have immigrant status in Canada and couldn't stay even if they wanted to. The contribution to the Vancouver economy will be only from custodial or clerical support jobs.

http://www.biv.com/article/2014/12/ottawa-gives-microsoft-tf...

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#42

Post by curiously » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:58 AM UTC

Funny, this was on /r/vancouver not too long ago.

There's so many things broken with Vancouver but nobody is willing to confront these out of fear of displeasing the wrong crowd that backs them into power.

In other major cities, there's very good protection against foreign ownership of properties to prevent the exact situation vancouver is in.

In other major cities, there's a strong and large economy to grow with the cities cost of living. Vancouver's wages have remained unchanged for a few decades, barely adjusting for inflation.

Having grown up in Vancouver, I feel sad, sad that I have to leave my hometown to find better opportunities. I find that most sane people have already left Vancouver, including my circles. Senior engineers are hard to find in Vancouver because nobody with a family are willing to stick around for a low salary and high cost of living. Employees know that the labor market is tight and that people are desperate for jobs, and frequently exploit them. Tech companies are strapped for cash, large tech companies come to Vancouver to hire foreigners (Microsoft being the most controversial to date), video game industry is unstable.

Vancouver is a sinking ship.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#43

Post by curiously » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 6:01 AM UTC

jmspring wrote: post #30

spitfire wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ar…

Facebook / Microsoft is here too but they hire almost no Canadians, most are foreigners, until they can get the green light to work in the States.

Amazon is the only one hiring locally but I often find that they just advertise positions but never really end up hiring

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#44

Post by olalonde » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 6:01 AM UTC

Surprised there was no mention of Hong Kong as Vancouver is often dubbed Hongcouver and Hong Kong has to deal with the same kind of problems right now (that is, the younger generation can't afford to live there).

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#45

Post by curiously » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 6:02 AM UTC

msie wrote: post #31

allochthon wrote: post #27

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.

Somehow the people of Vancouver think they can avoid the fate of those other cities.

Especially when they say, 'oh but our banking and financial system is sound' without any knowledge of the subject.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#46

Post by eigenvector » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 6:02 AM UTC

allochthon wrote: post #27

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.

The difference between Vancouver and SF/London/NYC is that it has no accompanying income boom to make the real estate prices affordable for working people. There's no significant financial or tech industry. Nobody gets rich from working in Vancouver. In fact, Vancouver tech jobs generally pay _less_ than other Canadian cities despite the greatly higher cost of living.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#47

Post by jmspring » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 6:04 AM UTC

jmspring wrote: post #30

spitfire wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ar…

re: my point...there are "body shops" for big companies, but no anchor development in the province.

I'd love to see something take hold. I'd love to move there, but the infrastructure and base for something more isn't there.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#48

Post by robotresearcher » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 6:04 AM UTC

purewater wrote: post #37

niwri wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Even 2100 CAD ($1670 USD) is about half of San Francisco 1 bedroom rent. His post is still correct in terms of ratios. http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2015/03/03/mapping_the_median_...

There are lots of well paid jobs in SF. Not so in Vancouver.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#49

Post by curiously » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 6:04 AM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #6

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…

So what's the motivation to buying property you don't live in. Are they renting it out? The OP made it sound like many units are vacant. Are they buying and holding hoping to sell later for more? Normally a boom in high-end housing is good for local trades (plumbers, electicians, carpenters, painters, decorators, etc) as the first thing most upper-tier home buyers do when they buy a place is renovate, remodel, or at…

Recently it was revealed that Vancouver police actively works with Chinese secret service of some sort to track down the dirty money and send them back to China where they are promised humane treatment but as soon as they land in China they are executed.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#50

Post by narrator » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 6:09 AM UTC

All the money flooding into Vancouver is the results of billions and billions of dollars flooding out the U.S trade deficit, hitting China, and boomeranging back into hard assets all over the world.