Vancouver

Hi, Just joined up to this site. Looks most interesting and informative.
I have a working VISA and am travelling to Vancouver in the coming weeks.
This is my first time going anywhere far off for a long time, the most Ive been away from home (Perth, Australia) is about 2 weeks.

I was wondering about living in Vancouver. How much is rent on a basic flat? How safe are the streets? Is it easy to get about using public transport?
Im sure Ill have some less vague questions in time. But that’s it for now.

Living in the West End of Vancouver is a walkable, but more expensive area. Transportation along the Skytrain line is not bad as long as it doesn't snow - that tends to shut the whole system down which doesn't explain why they're building another one quite similar for the Olympics. It snowed a lot last winter and transportation (public) was even more unreliable than usual. Other areas of the city are horrible for public transport and if the weather is all right or you have good raingear - cycling is a much better option. For instance from Comercial drive its a ten to fifteen minute bike ride downtown, but can be 30 minutes to an hour on public transport with wait times and walking to and from bus stops or train connections.

Generally the streets are safe. The worst area is the badly policed entertainment district on Granville Street when the bars get out and drunk post-adolescent idiots forget how to behave. The seediest area, but not as unsafe is a two block area around Main and Hastings where drugs are still openly sold and used on the street. My 70 year old mother who could be a bit of a nervous nellie would walk through the area on her way to ballroom dancing classes and not be bothered, so its not that bad.

craigslist is one of your best options for researching housing options

Rent is expensive - $800/month for a basic basement suite (many homes renovate and rent out their basements as 'mortgage-helpers'). Getting a roommate may be more economical. I'm sure you can get cheaper, but don't expect anything habitable for less than $500/mo, and definitely not downtown.

Public Transport in Vancouver/Lower Mainland is not stellar. The trade off for the high rents in Vancouver proper is that everything is generally accessible by bus, bike, or walking.

Street are safe. There is a small area (Downtown Eastside, on a map would be the blocks around the intersection of Hastings St & Main St.) that has high crime, but would be mostly related to drug purchase/use. During the day is no problem. But, like anywhere, walking in poorly light areas, alone, is not recommended. Over the years there have been reports attacks on lone women running through the wilderness parks - by no means a common occurence.

Good luck!

hmm

my friend has a basement apartment just off the drive and its only around $500 its not bad

you can find cheaper places - surrey and the burbs are quite a bit cheaper - i looked at a lot of decent basement suites with my friend when he was searching and for $500 he could have gotten a couple two bedroom suites that included pretty much everything like cable, heat water etc but the savings you get you end up putting towards a bus pass and being far from the action but you may like the action in surrey

and my friend has a bachelor suite in the west end and only pays $600 or so - if you look and ask you can find some bargains still

Don't worry. Vancouver is a very safe city. You'll have no issues whilst you are here.

Shared accomodation in the city will probably be $500-600 a month. You shouldn't have much trouble getting around once you get your route down.

Have fun!

John

Overall, you are probably going to find that the cost of living in Vancouver is probably not that far off from Perth or Melbourne. Some things are more expensive, other things are less expensive. Perth housing costs have skyrocketed more than Melbourne or Vancouver, both of which have gone up about the same. Unless you live on the skytrain line, transit is horrible. If you don't have a car, you are going to find it difficult to see much other than the city itself. Vehicle costs are less in Vancouver than they are in Melbourne.

"Unless you live on the skytrain line, transit is horrible."

That's not really true. Unless you live out in the suburbs, transit is horrible. If you live downtown, transit is great... or unnecessary, as you can walk. Places like Kits and Commercial Drive are easy to get around on transit... or you can simply ride your bike. There are transit corridors in this city, such as the ones found along Granville or Broadway, that do not involve the skytrain.

""Unless you live on the skytrain line, transit is horrible."

That's not really true."

I beg to differ. Why does it take up to 45 minutes to get from Ladner to downtown and frequently 45 minutes to get from Commercial Drive to Downtown(if the bus isn't packed and passes you by which makes it take even longer or if you can't get on the Skytrain because measly two or four car train is packed full)?

"or you can simply ride your bike" - no argument. I think its the better option for urban life in Vancouver. Transit sucks! Cycling is working(in my opinion).

Carmanah - you know I generally totally respect your opinion, but even the Broadway corridor and the 99 b_line buses which used to be so efficient have become a nightmare. Full Full Full all the time except in late night or super early morning hours. Passengers are so frequently left behind, its pathetic.

story from 2004 - things are worse - not better

more and more

Thanks to all for your comments. This community is really great.
I may be getting a bike then! Where Ill be living is yet to be decided.

Getting a bike is a great idea. I have been living here for 2 months (I'm a Kiwi) and I bike absoultely everywhere. There are really good cycle routes, and it's fairly flat. I live in the suburbs, it takes me half an hour to bike to work, which is easily do-able.

We share a 5 bedroom house between 4 of us, the rent is about $400 a month each, including ALL bills. People here seem to be obsessed with living downtown, or in the really expensive areas of town, and they are usually adverse to sharing with others. My Canadian friends think it's bizarre that I share a house with strangers (obviously they are not strangers anymore!), but I get to live in a lovely big house with a huge backyard and nice flatmates, as opposed to a pokey little apartment or basement flat which would cost twice the money. And half an hour door-to-door to get to work is pretty quick.

If you are prepared to be a little way out of town, and share with others, then accommodation can be pretty cheap. And if you have a bike, transport around the city is no problem.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I'm in the same boat as you lambi01, I'm heading off in three weeks time to Vancouver. I've lived two years in Melbourne and got around everywhere on public transport, by foot and bike. When are you heading off?
I'm glad to hear so much feedback that Vancouver is easy to get around on public transport, foot and bike. Not many seem too impressed with the pubic transport so I too will opt for biking it around.
bagbagbagpuss, did you have many hassles getting a share place? Where do you live and how far is it from the city? Do you live with other Kiwis?

I've recently come back from spending a year in Vancouver on a working visa.

I specifically wanted to live in a shared place as a way of meeting more people, but even if I hadn't I would have probably had to because rent on an apartment can be steep. I paid $500 incl for a large room with separate entrance in a shared house in an area called Kitsilano. This left me plenty of spare cash for all the going out, sightseeing etc I wanted to do because I knew I was only going to be there one year. It was 15 mins walk from the beach, 2 mins from Broadway and about 5 minutes from 4th Ave. These are the two main shoppings/eating, cafe/bar areas in Kits.

I worked downtown and travelled in by bus which took about 25 mins and I never had any problems. The buses almost always ran on schedule and there were a number of different connections I could have made in case I missed the first one. The transit system tickets are valid for 90 minutes each so you can make any number of connections with in that time on all bus, skytrain and seabuses, or get a monthly pass and do whatever you like.

since this is yet another thread called Vancouver - here's a link for an upcoming event. I'll probably be going to Silk Road, but missing out on the rest

For all fellow travellers/relocators to Vancouver/Whistler or anywhere in Nth Am, check out vancouver.craigslist.org (and fellow city sites) for apartments, jobs, furniture etc. It's an unreal free classifieds site that everyone uses.

Edited by: carcher8

Hi,
Im travelling to Vancouver on the 20th October,got my visa to work
Im 24 so im looking to do a bit of work and party,
Where should I look for reasonable accomodation?
and what area,
Im a qualified Civil Engineer with 2 years experience,
id probably like to work as this or not?wat are Engineering jobs like to get?

What is an absolute must when there?
What should i do more than anything else?