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Millennials Flee Vancouver for More Affordable Cities

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101–110 of 272 posts

Re: Millennials Flee Vancouver for More Affordable Cities

#101
post #99

As someone who's lived in Vancouver for more than 10 years, then went to Waterloo for school (and lived in Toronto for most of my co-ops/internships), I think we Canadians should be more worried about highly educated millennials fleeing Canada entirely. Everybody I know from school who were offered the option to work in the US have picked up their Canadian degrees and left. To the Canadian tech industry: How are you…

Some do leave, yes. Many come back home later. Amazon opened the Toronto office back in 2011 because there was demand- Canadians who didn't want to live in America anymore- often because of family, friends back home or because they wanted to have kids and not raise them as Americans, culturally. It started with less than 10 people, plus the hiring they were able to do locally. It's now an office of over 300 people, m…

Respectfully, I would not consider Amazon a champion of good working conditions. :>

Re: Millennials Flee Vancouver for More Affordable Cities

#102
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on some quick Googling and Glassdoor, it looks like average salaries are ~110k vs. ~80k. The cost of rent in San Francisco looks to be ~190% higher. Not sure how well those figures line up with reality, though.

Most people here make way above average, and that's when differences increase dramatically. In the US I make close to $300k. In Europe, and London in particular, I get offered under 80k EUR.

"Most people make way above average"?

Re: Millennials Flee Vancouver for More Affordable Cities

#103
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have a similar problem in Scotland, I know a lot of people would love to have continued living in Scotland but can make >2 times the salary as a developer by making the move down to London. The cost of living in London is higher, but the increase in pay more than makes up for this. Granted, this is a move within the UK so it's not really a drain on the UK's economy but it leads to a more London-centric economy and…

The cost of living in London is higher, but the increase in pay more than makes up for this Are you sure? I made the opposite move for reduced cost of housing (and commuting).

This definitely depends on the specific job, but in general there are more opportunities for high paying positions and a higher salary ceiling. It also depends on where you want to live within London and the kinds of activities you want to take part in. For me, I've found I have way more disposable income since the move to London as I had a huge salary increase from my previous job in Edinburgh. Although I have much, much less free time and would say I'm generally more unhappy

Re: Millennials Flee Vancouver for More Affordable Cities

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have a similar problem in Scotland, I know a lot of people would love to have continued living in Scotland but can make >2 times the salary as a developer by making the move down to London. The cost of living in London is higher, but the increase in pay more than makes up for this. Granted, this is a move within the UK so it's not really a drain on the UK's economy but it leads to a more London-centric economy and…

Londons great when you are young, but in my experience people eventually leave when they realise they cant afford property even though they are well paid. Plus they realise quality of life is important too, and that the work centric culture in London isnt for them

I'm coming to that realisation pretty quickly

Re: Millennials Flee Vancouver for More Affordable Cities

#105

As someone who's lived in Vancouver for more than 10 years, then went to Waterloo for school (and lived in Toronto for most of my co-ops/internships), I think we Canadians should be more worried about highly educated millennials fleeing Canada entirely. Everybody I know from school who were offered the option to work in the US have picked up their Canadian degrees and left. To the Canadian tech industry: How are you…

We have a similar problem in Scotland, I know a lot of people would love to have continued living in Scotland but can make >2 times the salary as a developer by making the move down to London. The cost of living in London is higher, but the increase in pay more than makes up for this. Granted, this is a move within the UK so it's not really a drain on the UK's economy but it leads to a more London-centric economy and…

Odd - I'm ~6 years out of a Scottish university with a CS degree. Everyone of my class who stayed in Scotland owns their own property and has a much higher disposable income than those in London. They're in Edinburgh mind you, why anyone would choose to live in Glasgow is beyond me...

Edinburgh recently topped the stakes for average disposable income in the UK - £800 per month compared to £300 in London.

Re: Millennials Flee Vancouver for More Affordable Cities

#106

I see this as a problem all over the world. - San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Vancouver, London, Oslo... Really the list could go on for quite a while. So many of these cities feel like they have to retain their "identity" or the "feel" of the town, so they set restrictions that make it very hard to develop properties that can hold more people. The result is always the same: continually increasing prices in the cen…

>This is going to continue until planning commissions start allowing the construction of higher density housing. This is already happening here in New York City and has been for a few years. It's not solving the problem and honestly this seems like pretty a reductive way of stating the problem.

New York City construction rates are extremely low. It only seems high because high density means you're always close to development, just like you always hear ambulance sirens even though heart attacks aren't more common.

Many Manhattan neighborhoods are classified as historic and don't easily allow tearing down old buildings for new ones. Many buildings in other Manhattan neighborhoods are landmarked and can't easily be improved. And though he upzoned some areas of the city, Bloomberg also downzoned large swaths of outer borough neighborhoods, preventing cheap multi-family home construction (to replace single-family homes). The outer boroughs also suffer from onerous parking minimums, limiting the amount of land used for housing.

De Blasio has been slow in pushing for any sort of upzoning. He's only recently made his first attempt with the relatively conservative East New York rezoning.

Some data: http://newyorkyimby.com/2014/08/new-york-citys-is-americas-s...

Re: Millennials Flee Vancouver for More Affordable Cities

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have a similar problem in Scotland, I know a lot of people would love to have continued living in Scotland but can make >2 times the salary as a developer by making the move down to London. The cost of living in London is higher, but the increase in pay more than makes up for this. Granted, this is a move within the UK so it's not really a drain on the UK's economy but it leads to a more London-centric economy and…

London banks can pay more because whilst other companies have to make products banks make fiat money. This acts as a tax on the rest of the uk.

[deleted]

Re: Millennials Flee Vancouver for More Affordable Cities

#108

I really like Victoria and I hope the town does well out of this. I'm sad that I may not be able to afford to live in Vancouver anytime soon, though.

There are actually some really interesting (and young!) startups in Victoria. We have an office there and our team maintains a city-wide startup listing + job board: https://github.com/sendwithus/vic-startup-jobs

Can you help somebody from USA relocate to Victoria for work?

I had visited Victoria several years ago, and it was a beautiful place.

Re: Millennials Flee Vancouver for More Affordable Cities

#109
There is a diaspora of Vancouverites in their late 20s, early 30s here in Toronto. They left home for better employment and housing opportunities. I think we all would love to move back but it's just not worth it. Vancouver is a better city than Toronto but not THAT much better.

Re: Millennials Flee Vancouver for More Affordable Cities

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are actually some really interesting (and young!) startups in Victoria. We have an office there and our team maintains a city-wide startup listing + job board: https://github.com/sendwithus/vic-startup-jobs

Can you help somebody from USA relocate to Victoria for work? I had visited Victoria several years ago, and it was a beautiful place.

Check out Canada's NAFTA visas: http://www.canadaworkvisa.ca/info/nafta1.php
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