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The decline of Vancouver

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Re: The decline of Vancouver

#91

Post by msie »

luketych wrote: post #26

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 van…

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.

That may sound nice but it's not as neatly put as that. The way you phrase it it seems the Caucasians are the victims here, being squeezed on all sides by the Chinese and the Indians. Certainly the struggles of the Aboriginals are well-documented but Caucasians have certainly been profiting off the soaring real estate prices. If there is anything that "forced" Caucasians from many areas it was the rising value of their homes. Many have profitably sold their homes and either downsized or moved to other towns in BC (Kelowna, Okanagon). West Van was mostly white (in part due to restrictions on ownership to whites-only: http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/16/b-c-property-titles-...) but if those West Van homes are now occupied by Chinese people then the previous white owners certainly sold them for a handsome sum.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#92

Post by kuschku »

dennispi wrote: post #69

I live in Vancouver, and have for many years.. as such, I hope I can try and help inform an otherwise misinformed set of posts. I suspect they're off-base largely because a lot has changed since some of the authors of other posts have lived here. First, there are many technology companies in Vancouver. Hootsuite, Bench, A Thinking Ape, Clio, Slack, Amazon.. these are just the ones that came to mind. I know authoritat…

> The downtown core is one of the few places in the world where people live and work in the same area...

> commutes range from 5-30 minutes (and that's going to cover people who walk, bike and take transit).

So, in general, it is like a classical European city, where the streets are even full of life after the end of the workday? If that’s true, than this is actually amazing.

And creates the new question: Why did it work in vancouver, but not in so many other cities on the american continent.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#93

Post by doublerebel »

canekong wrote: post #81
dennispi wrote: post #69

I live in Vancouver, and have for many years.. as such, I hope I can try and help inform an otherwise misinformed set of posts. I suspect they're off-base largely because a lot has changed since some of the authors of other posts have lived here. First, there are many technology companies in Vancouver. Hootsuite, Bench, A Thinking Ape, Clio, Slack, Amazon.. these are just the ones that came to mind. I know authoritat…

Born in Hong Kong, raised in Vancouver and graduated from UBC, now working in Seattle and regularly commute to SF (once a month) and almost twice a month to Vancouver. I've been observing this for quite a while and try to put my finger on where the problem is for Vancouver. Have been trying to talk to people up and down the coast who are similar as well to understand more. It's a complex comparison because: - SF has…

Fair description. I would say the quality of life will easily be higher in Vancouver depending on what you value, despite the slightly lower wages. Healthcare is much more affordable than the States, the public transportation blows Seattle out of the water. Housing is much more affordable than SF and on par with Seattle. Skiing, biking, and outdoors in Van is closer and cheaper.

Easily as diverse as Seattle, just different. Startup community is more vibrant than Seattle, more personal than SF -- but if you want a cushy job at a large tech firm, Vancouver is not the one.

The Vancouver up-and-coming is where it's at. Tons of my friends and colleagues are moving from all over the world to take advantage on the rise up.

Invoke, Highline.vc, WavefrontAC, Spring.is, Launch Academy, are accelerators powering startup names you all are familiar with. Not to mention the Canadian government basically throwing money at tech through grants, tax rebates, and mentorship programs because they recognize it will carry the economy no matter what happens with natural resources. Not sure what subsidies you think are expiring.

I get offers from SF regularly but it's not worth it. My friends there tend to get overworked and leave after burnout. Vancouver is a place to set down roots -- Canadians know how to enjoy the weekend and each other's company outside of work events.

Background: Living in Seattle for a decade, founded a startup in Vancouver last year, have many friends and past work in SF.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#94

Post by hackerboos »

canekong wrote: post #81
dennispi wrote: post #69

I live in Vancouver, and have for many years.. as such, I hope I can try and help inform an otherwise misinformed set of posts. I suspect they're off-base largely because a lot has changed since some of the authors of other posts have lived here. First, there are many technology companies in Vancouver. Hootsuite, Bench, A Thinking Ape, Clio, Slack, Amazon.. these are just the ones that came to mind. I know authoritat…

Born in Hong Kong, raised in Vancouver and graduated from UBC, now working in Seattle and regularly commute to SF (once a month) and almost twice a month to Vancouver. I've been observing this for quite a while and try to put my finger on where the problem is for Vancouver. Have been trying to talk to people up and down the coast who are similar as well to understand more. It's a complex comparison because: - SF has…

> I think the biggest problem with Vancouver is that there isn't enough venture capital flowing in.

To be honest the same can be said for London. Despite an abundance of capital available, investors this side of the Atlantic are far more conservative than in the US.

I don't know what it is in the US that makes investors take a punt on risky ventures, in the UK they just don't. If you're not making revenue in 12 months then they don't want to know.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#95

Post by maged »

raquo wrote: post #34

If you look at the ruling party's donor list it shouldn't come as a surprise. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1371306-vv-pre-elect... Oh wait, corporate contributions are only a tiny percentage! Wow, this party is funded by The People! Now scroll all the way down (previous to last page) to see corporate donors. Observe every single developer in Vancouver being on that list donating tens of thousands of dollar…

Which party is this?

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#96

Post by ido »

mahyarm wrote: post #74
edwinnathaniel wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hear hear! Here's my comment to back up dennispi post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9245915 As per my post (the TL;DR summary here...): Intermediate Engineer 90k or more, Senior 110k or more. Better health insurance/coverage. For example: child-birth cost almost nothing (VIP room costs $100 ish for 2-3 days after corp. insurance cover the rest, regular room is covered by basic health insurance I think). >Fina…

So, the salary is still half SF, and 2 hrs away w/ TN Seattle pays %90 SF. And cheaper housing. LA is highway culture, SF the city is transit culture.

SF salary is $180k intermediate/$220k senior?

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#97

Post by raquo »

maged wrote: post #95
raquo wrote: post #34

If you look at the ruling party's donor list it shouldn't come as a surprise. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1371306-vv-pre-elect... Oh wait, corporate contributions are only a tiny percentage! Wow, this party is funded by The People! Now scroll all the way down (previous to last page) to see corporate donors. Observe every single developer in Vancouver being on that list donating tens of thousands of dollar…

Which party is this?

Vision Vancouver

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#98

Post by hackerboos »

eps wrote: post #76
hiyou102 wrote: post #12

As a student in Vancouver this worries me. It think it's about time either the city or metro Vancouver started putting forward some absentee homeowner legislation. We have a lot of talented young people that are leaving to places like Calgary and Seattle because the Vancouver doesn't have the opportunities to support them.

That time was 10 years ago. The government has no reason to put such legislation in place, because it lives off taxes on empty buildings and because it would crash the f#ck out of RE market if they turn their back on Chinese money and it starts flowing out.

There are policies that can be gradually brought in that wouldn't crash the market.

Firstly, you make it more expensive to own an empty home. In my home city in the UK, landlords are no longer able to claim council tax discounts for empty properties after 6 months. If your home is vacant. You pay up.

Secondly, you incentivise rentals through tax breaks to landlords.

Finally, you have to push prices down. After all, rising prices is why foreigners own these assets in the first place.

- Stop foreign ownership of more than 50% of a building. That way, projects still get funded and locals get housing.

- Increase stamp duty taxes on foreigners purchasing homes

- Use the money you gain in tax revenue to fund cheaper real estate building for locals

- Any other real estate can only be bought by foreigners if they are locally resident in BC for a year or more

What is really outstanding with all of this though is that Canadians cannot own property in Hong Kong (lease only, lots of Government owned real estate) and cannot own property in the PRC without meeting residency requirements. Why should Canada treat people differently?

That being said I don't think any of this is possible with the likes of NAFTA.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#100

Post by rbobby »

> One problem was that its figures excluded the tens of thousands of Canadians (30-50% of whom estimated to buy property in Vancouver) who bought their residency through the recently defunct Immigrant Investor Program.

Hold on a second.

I think it's pretty rude, and bordering on xenophobic, that the author wants to call these folks foreigners. Especially if you turn it around and say outright what he's suggesting: People who gained their citizenship through the Immigrant Investor program aren't _real_ citizens like us.

Immigrants _are_ Canadians... even folks who used the Immigrant Investor Program.

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