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The decline of Vancouver

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Re: The decline of Vancouver

#131

Post by LiweiZ »

michaelochurch wrote: post #121

Kudos to this article for pointing out the problem: absentee foreign investors, often laundering dirty money. Real estate in the most desirable cities is becoming the 21st century's Nazi Gold: stolen wealth that is parked in another country, and with too many third-party beneficiaries who refuse to do the right thing. Here's another factor that doesn't get much play: price inelasticity. Consider the 1970s oil crises.…

Very well said. Political incorrectness is more like a protocol to tolerate differences to some extent for a diversified society. It's an essential element. However, on the other hand, it compromises the ability for most of us to have a more open debate. But perhaps it's the best we can have for now.

edit: typo

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#132

Post by njloof »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #52
ams6110 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This happens in Beijing a lot: many chinese see property as a store of value like gold or something like stock that appreciates and don't even bothering renting it out. I live in a nice beijing complex that is only around 60% full, all apartments are sold of course.

A good real estate crash should clear out the speculators.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#133

Post by thecambie »

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.

When I was finishing school, there was also lot of fear post tech bubble, and we were probably mid housing runup (although I didn't know it yet). I guess my only advice is, don't count on other people to fix problems. If you focus on your own skills - always be coding, always be learning - I think you'll do fine here or elsewhere.

We are not Seattle, nor SF, nor NY, nor London. Each city offers their own mix of good, bad, and ugly, and you need to determine which city provides the right mix for you. I'm from Ontario, but that right mix is Vancouver for me right now.

My parents immigrated to Canada and worked their asses off during a recession with a 20% interest rate on their mortgage. I'm sure the media said the sky was falling then as well. I always remembered how hard they had to work, so I learned that we cannot take things for granted. Internet commenters complaining about kids half my age with lambos? Not my problem - I have more constructive things to do.

If you are willing to fight to the good fight and enter politics to make positive change for the amazing city we all want it to be, I will vote for you!

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#135

Post by IndianAstronaut »

michaelochurch wrote: post #121

Kudos to this article for pointing out the problem: absentee foreign investors, often laundering dirty money. Real estate in the most desirable cities is becoming the 21st century's Nazi Gold: stolen wealth that is parked in another country, and with too many third-party beneficiaries who refuse to do the right thing. Here's another factor that doesn't get much play: price inelasticity. Consider the 1970s oil crises.…

Now is a golden opportunity for Canada to take action on the laundered money in Vancouver. Xi Jinping is taking major steps to stomp out corruption in China and would likely be a partner.

The problem is that there is likely some corruption and bribing going on in Canada as well, thus nothing is being done about this issue.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#136

Post by luketych »

geoka9 wrote: post #124
msie wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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-doc…

I think the GP is confusing West Side with West Van.

You're right. In hindsight I think I meant to type "the west of" Vancouver. West Van seems to have a bit of an absentee problem as well.

To be more accurate, there are large Chinese communities in Richmond, Burnaby (near Kingsway), the western side of Vancouver, etc.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#137

Post by kyllo »

Seattle is objectively a much better place to live right now if you can. It has cheaper housing (at least for now), more and higher-paying jobs, especially in tech. But Vancouver is a beautiful city and has better Asian food. Every once in a while my wife and I drive up there on the weekend to walk around the city and eat some fantastic Chinese food. We fantasize about living in Vancouver, but in the end it just doesn't make any economic sense.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#138

Post by luketych »

msie wrote: post #91
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-doc…

The whites living in West Van seem to be alright, but I have not lived in West Van. The places in Vancouver I am familiar with are North Van, Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby, Vancouver, and the UBC area. Again, I mispoke when I referred to "West Van," but you guys leave no room for mistake. I actually prefer to stir the pot a bit, makes me happy. Nothing that's said on here will change anything anyways. This is humour for me.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#139

Post by na85 »

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…

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

Ha, ha, ha, a 30-minute commute would be luxurious. Richmond to VGH for 9:00 takes 45 minutes by car. Coming in from Surrey, Langley, or Maple Ridge I'm sure is worse, and good luck getting to UBC or downtown in less than an hour from these places.

Transit in Vancouver is a joke, and that 45-minute drive takes more than an hour by Skytrain+bus.

Re: The decline of Vancouver

#140

Post by mahyarm »

ulfw wrote: post #119
mahyarm wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Transit culture? Is that the idiotic 'I love sitting 3 hours a day in a bus going up and down 101 from my home to my employer in the South Bay and back'?

There are employers inside SF itself. If you live in suburbs, you need a car, just like Vancouver. There are many people who just live & work in SF and use transit the majority of the time.
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