It is beautiful scenery which is amazing. Thats it

The weather sucks 11 to 12 months a year and it rains to much? Its rained 5 days in the last 3 months, and anyone that has ACTUALLY lived in Vancouver knows that 90% of the rain falls in the winter, there was a 7 week stretch where it did not rain once. Thats typical summer here. But keep telling the world that, as soon as people find out what its really like they dont want to leave. You say you lived in NYC? Its rains more there and they get less 50 less sunny days on average than Vancouver.

You complain about the heathcare up here? Oh Geez, I dont even have to touch how awful it is in the states, thank god I dont have to deal with the poor medical system down there anymore. How can a country that is that wealthy not be able to give every one of its citizens medical care? America should be ashamed

I love how compact the city is, you dont need a car,there is tonnes and tonnes to do here. If you’re bored , get some friends. What did you do with your time here, sit and watch TV???

It’s too far away from the beautiful nature spots in B.C.???? Thats just about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Have you actually really been here before????

So wherever the crap-hole you came from and are back at, Awesome. We dont want ya back ever. This is an amazing city to be part of and yes it is expensive and yes it has an issue with bums and rich vs poor, but thats what happens when you live in one of most livable places in the world, not everyone can hack it.

Prices are outrageous. Even with after you factor currency differences most things in the U.S. are 20% cheaper or more. If its not made in North America a duty is levied at 25%. When you consider that few items are made in North America you see the problem. A pair of Levi’s at Urban Outfitters in the states run about $49.00 bucks, here in Van about $72.00. Just an example of a typical item a typical person might purchase. Wages are ridiculously low & theirs not a lot of industry. Mostly a service based economy. I feel for the poor souls who wait tables & make coffee who try to make ends meet.

Why do we live here then? We are lucky in that we have a high income but we could live much better elsewhere and even make more money. So again why? For us I think its this. We are a gay married couple, we have rights here, we are equal here, back in the states we are 2nd class citizens. Our rights are inconsistent at best. We also find Canadians in general to be saner, more intelligent and more polite. People here are reasonable. Those who are at the extremes are more tolerable than most Americans in the middle. Its way more peaceful here. America is loud, crass and annoying. Yes there are more choices there as far as living styles. More climate ranges, more job opportunities, better pay, physical beauty, there is plenty. Money goes further. But its an insane place compared to here.

I just rode a train from Munich 3 months ago and also Orly Sud (France) airport train. Amazing that they have baggage racks on them so you can put your bags on them while going to/from the airport. For some reason, the 2 billion dollar Canada Line which goes to YVR doesn’t have one shelf or rack or stowage for bags!

Housing is unaffordable among other things
Traffic is REALLY BAD
ICBC
Try and find parking
Biggest GAP between rich and poor
Highest municipal DEBT in canada
Stupid TAXES on almost everything
Crime and Police corruption
Yuppie superficial douche bags

But other than that, the scenery is beautiful.

Easy reasons to hate Vancouver.

#1. The actual downtown city itself is tiny. You can walk it horizontally in about 35 minutes and vertically in about 15 from it’s longest end to end. This in and of itself isn’t so bad but it’s easy to become bored quickly in a depressed little village like this.

#2. It rains, way too much. This can easily effect your psyche and day to day mood. It just sports horrible weather about 11 out of 12 months every single year, it’s awful.

#3. Bums. Middle class dropouts with mental illness and addiction problems litter the streets of even the cleanest section of the city. Now every city I’ve ever lived in, NYC and LA included have issues with bums, but Vancouver bums tend to be the most NON-physically-handicapped I’ve ever come across and they just lounge around not doing anything begging students and immigrants for their money and cigarettes, it’s quite disgusting and very easy to tire of if your a permanent resident in the city.

#4. It really ISN’T one of the top cities in the world to live in. It’s quite simply, one of the most immigrant friendly cities that you can still find today. So if your from India, China or Europe, then yeah, I can see what there is to like about this little dump, but honestly if I were Canadian or US born and bread I’d stay away from this place.

#5. It’s not really a city. It’s just a big town, that’s layed out in a grid modeled after NY and has mostly crappy overpriced housing as if it were a real city. So it has the dressings of a city, but honestly, my home town suburb in the US is much much bigger, has more stores, jobs, residents and nightlife yet that’s not considered a city either. Now outside of Downtown, the greater Vancouver area, well that really is just a big lame suburb and it’s something you’ll distinctly want to avoid if your looking to Vancouver for city living. Also, the Hastings area of Downtown Vancouver is still populated by drug addicts and violence making the tiny city even smaller as you’ll want to avoid this area indefinitely.

#6. Healthcare in Vancouver is atrocious. I don’t know about the rest of Canada, and I am hoping for Universal healthcare now that I’m back home in the states, but my various experiences with the medical system in Canada were quite atrocious. They don’t even weigh you, check your temperature, your heart or your blood pressure in the GP clinics when you go in with a health related issue. Whenever possible they like to skip all tests and send you away with positive thinking. It’s quite frankly a joke, it may be dirt cheap, but it’s still a joke none the less. Hands down, if your used to having a family doctor in the States (people even have their own dedicated GP’s in major cities in the US) then your going to hate the clinic system of Vancouver with a passion and there is no alternative. You can’t even pay out of pocket to see a specialist without a prescription from a GP which you must go to a clinic to see. If your strapped for time, this is a MAJOR inconvenience.

#7. It’s too far away from the beautiful nature spots in B.C. to even count them as a benefit. The beach and a couple of forest trails are all your going to find in Vancouver itself and you can find that crap in almost any city, it’s nothing special. The beautiful skiing and snowboarding of the greater B.C. area is going to cost money and time to get to, and again, this is something that once taking into consideration isn’t right accross the street or free, is something you could accomplish almost anywhere else in the world just as conveniently as taking a trip to Colorado or Vermont or Oregon, etc..

I could go on and on. But honestly Vancouver sucks, plain and simple. It’s an over-rated, dirty dumping ground that is the landing point for Eastern/Euro foreign immigrants into Canada who had trouble getting legal entry into the States. I don’t appreciate this little sewer of a city and unless your desperate you won’t either. Good Riddance Vancouver, I won’t be back.