OT: Moving to Vancouver

[GIN ANTONIC]

I had a similar budget when I was apartment hunting last summer. Given your budget and preferences, I would highly recommend West Broadway. Between Trafalgar and Alma if you can find a place. It's 5 minutes from downtown, has everything you could possibly need as well as a lot of sweet specialty shops, good places to eat, and it's quiet at night. It's also a 10 minute walk to Kits beach.

I found a 660 square foot 1 bedroom with an 80 square foot deck for 1100 after about 3 weeks of looking around. I haven't met anyone with a better situation for the money in this city since I moved in. Just avoid old buildings in Kits (which is most of them) as they all have hardwood floors that aren't insulated well so noise from above can be a pain.

Best of luck.

That sounds like the perfect place. When can we move in???

I also wouldn't completely write off the East Hastings area. Yes it's basically night of the living homeless, but there are a few area's that have been reclaimed for suitable living accommodations. And of course being an undesirable area prices are cheaper.

Edit: And reading your last comment above while the mass homeless and druggies are kind of depressing they're not really the stabby type. Like I've heard a Vancouver actor describe a place in LA saying 'you're only likely to get mugged every few months' as a positive thing. That's not likely to happen in the DTES.

Oh I know. I have some friends from Van and they've said the same. The area is not violent at all, they're just kinda zombie like. If it were just me or some dudes finding a place I'd be all over it because it seems like a decent location for getting around and the rent looks quite good in comparison. But I have to think of my GF too. She's not a sheltered princess by any means (grew up in Surrey!) but she likes to go for long walks and jogs a lot so she needs to be comfortable doing that.

 

[chopkins]

Obligatory North Van post. 15 minute seabus ride away from downtown and the most nature-ish area in Vancouver.

 

[thepuckmonster]

I want to live in Vancouver, too.

 

[TARS]

Obligatory North Van post. 15 minute seabus ride away from downtown and the most nature-ish area in Vancouver.

If nightlife is your thing, I wouldn't recommend North Van. Seabus stops at 1:30AM and so does the bus for that matter if you live east of the second narrows. You'll get tired of $30 cab rides real fast. It's a great place to raise a family, and can be okay if you grew up there and that's where your friends are. I would not recommend it for someone new to the city who will spend a lot of time downtown.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Obligatory North Van post. 15 minute seabus ride away from downtown and the most nature-ish area in Vancouver.

Isn't North Van only for the super rich anyway?

 

[RobertKron]

Isn't North Van only for the super rich anyway?

You're thinking West Van.

 

[shortshorts]

You're thinking West Van.

Both super expensive

 

[Linters*]

Obligatory North Van post. 15 minute seabus ride away from downtown and the most nature-ish area in Vancouver.

It's a trap he's trying to lure you in to feed you to the bears.

 

[Tiranis]

North Van is so isolated. Even if you have a car, nothing happens there... ever. Good luck making friends. Has no character to it either. Except for nature, there's a lot of nature but then if that's the primary concern you might as well live somewhere more remote like Deep Cove.

I would recommend Hastings Sunrise area (or whatever they renamed it to, basically around Hastings and Nanaimo) if you liked Toronto. It's close to the water, there's a lot of parks in the neighbourhood for dog walking (including off-leash ones), close to downtown and other nice areas (the drive, main st), great neighbourhood grocery places, etc. Rent is generally affordable.

Edit: Just noticed you said she's not a fan of East Van... oh well...

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

North Van is so isolated. Even if you have a car, nothing happens there... ever. Good luck making friends. Has no character to it either. Except for nature, there's a lot of nature but then if that's the primary concern you might as well live somewhere more remote like Deep Cove.

I would recommend Hastings Sunrise area (or whatever they renamed it to, basically around Hastings and Nanaimo) if you liked Toronto. It's close to the water, there's a lot of parks in the neighbourhood for dog walking (including off-leash ones), close to downtown and other nice areas (the drive, main st), great neighbourhood grocery places, etc. Rent is generally affordable.

Edit: Just noticed you said she's not a fan of East Van... oh well...

I think she can be convinced as long as the place is nice and the area is safe enough for her to jog and walk around on her own at night. I'm probably not moving until August. I'm good at finding places and deals but with her being the one that lives there, it's on her to check them out and OK them. I've been seeing a lot around Nanaimo street that look pretty nice and are reasonable. Either way it's just good to know of any cool neighborhoods she might not be too familiar with.

 

[EpochLink]

I live in East Van, it's perfectly fine

 

[Dado]

I think she can be convinced as long as the place is nice and the area is safe enough for her to jog and walk around on her own at night.

There is no place in Vancouver that isn't safe enough for that. Want to jog DTES at 2AM? No problem, the odds of anything happening are extremely remote.

Seriously, this is one of the safest cities on the continent.

 

[Tiranis]

There is no place in Vancouver that isn't safe enough for that. Want to jog DTES at 2AM? No problem, the odds of anything happening are extremely remote.

Seriously, this is one of the safest cities on the continent.

I tend to agree. Don't go looking for trouble and it's very unlikely to find you, no matter where you are. The only thing about the east side of the city is that it's less polished than areas like Kits and Yaletown but it's not unsafe in any way.

You're also more likely to find a place that allows pets (while remaining affordable) in East Van, at least that was my experience.

 

[The Bob Cole]

I live in East Van, it's perfectly fine

You're a dude. It's different for a woman to walk around alone at night.

 

[Tiranis]

You're a dude. It's different for a woman to walk around alone at night.

You're far more likely to get in trouble at a club or a party than while jogging anywhere in Vancouver-proper, DTES included. Stanley Park is probably the only dangerous night-time jogging spot in the whole city.

 

[Finkle is Einhorn]

There is no place in Vancouver that isn't safe enough for that. Want to jog DTES at 2AM? No problem, the odds of anything happening are extremely remote.

Seriously, this is one of the safest cities on the continent.

Yup. I recently moved from Vancouver to New West for work and I felt way more comfortable walking around all parts of Vancouver at night than I do in NW.

 

[PuckZilla]

I want to live in Vancouver, too.

No you don't. Victoria is so nice and easy to live in. The ferries suck but that's about all.

 

[Crows*]

Dtes is ugly for sure but it is safe.

My friend convinced me of this a couple years ago. We went walking down there at night. Went to bars. Nothing happened. Nothing but friendly people really. Even if lots are drug addicts. As someone else said dont look for trouble and you're fine. IDE be more worried in some suburbs then all of Vancouver.

 

[lrjcrj]

I signed up specifically to answer, you can thank me later. Look no further than the west end, I lived at 1133 beach ave for 3 years, now live in kits and would move back in a heart beat. God I miss those Vancouver island sunset views and the snow capped north shore mountains, to die for. Fair enough the buildings are a bit dated if granite is your thing, but an evening on the balcony drinking wine looking over sunset beach with the sun going down more than make up for that. Seawall/beaches literally on your doorstep (I can not emphasize how great this is, I rollerbladed round Stanley park from apt and paddle boarded out of front door), Stanley park, robson shopping and yaletown all 15 min away. Really is the perfect location. Because its a bit older, the rent/apt space ratio is much better value than yaletown etc. Walk along beach from thurlow to Jervis and look for for rent signs, make sure you have the view. Forget any talk of metero town or east Hastings, maybe if you were going to buy and that's all you can afford but if you're renting you've got the luxury of choice...

Edit: google "katkam time lapse" for YouTube of view, video was taken on a fireworks day in the summer

 

[Wilch]

I live in East Van, it's perfectly fine

Is that your ploy to lure an unsuspecting couple into East Van?

 

[Tiranis]

I signed up specifically to answer, you can thank me later. Look no further than the west end, I lived at 1133 beach ave for 3 years, now live in kits and would move back in a heart beat. God I miss those Vancouver island sunset views and the snow capped north shore mountains, to die for. Fair enough the buildings are a bit dated if granite is your thing, but an evening on the balcony drinking wine looking over sunset beach with the sun going down more than make up for that. Seawall/beaches literally on your doorstep (I can not emphasize how great this is, I rollerbladed round Stanley park from apt and paddle boarded out of front door), Stanley park, robson shopping and yaletown all 15 min away. Really is the perfect location. Because its a bit older, the rent/apt space ratio is much better value than yaletown etc. Walk along beach from thurlow to Jervis and look for for rent signs, make sure you have the view. Forget any talk of metero town or east Hastings, maybe if you were going to buy and that's all you can afford but if you're renting you've got the luxury of choice...

Edit: google "katkam time lapse" for YouTube of view, video was taken on a fireworks day in the summer

Most of those places have strict no dogs policy, from what I've seen.

 

[Finkle is Einhorn]

Most of those places have strict no dogs policy, from what I've seen.

Yeah finding a decent place that allows dogs is pretty difficult in Vancouver. From my experience trying to find one, a good bet is a cluster of buildings around the South Granville area. There are three within a few blocks from each other, all reasonably priced, good sized and have some character.

Here's an ad for one of them: http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/apa/3534393735.html. 1 bedrooms tend to go for 1300ish, but I've seen them for 1250, with decently large bachelor suites clocking in for a fair amount less.

edit: here's another one in the same building for $1200 - only drawback being you're street level, but it's a safe area. http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/apa/3533944227.html

edit 2: forgot to add, they're all operated by the same management company.

 

[Lonny Bohonos]

North Van is so isolated. Even if you have a car, nothing happens there... ever. Good luck making friends. Has no character to it either. Except for nature, there's a lot of nature but then if that's the primary concern you might as well live somewhere more remote like Deep Cove.

I would recommend Hastings Sunrise area (or whatever they renamed it to, basically around Hastings and Nanaimo) if you liked Toronto. It's close to the water, there's a lot of parks in the neighbourhood for dog walking (including off-leash ones), close to downtown and other nice areas (the drive, main st), great neighbourhood grocery places, etc. Rent is generally affordable.

Edit: Just noticed you said she's not a fan of East Van... oh well...

Was going to say the same thing. When I last live in vancouver in 2006 I had a one bedroom about 2 blocks down from hastings and 3 blocks west of Nanaimo. Paid $540/month and its was older but I had a pretty decent view of the mountains and the location cant be beat.

You have in that areas:

- banks
- great little European food shops/delis
- the DM supermarket
- beer stores with a liquor store up the street.
- bus is 10 minutes to the downtown core
- Pacific Coliseum (Giants etc) is just up the road
- and a tons of great vienamese restaurants for your $6 bowls of Pho

 

[RobertKron]

Was going to say the same thing. When I last live in vancouver in 2006 I had a one bedroom about 2 blocks down from hastings and 3 blocks west of Nanaimo. Paid $540/month and its was older but I had a pretty decent view of the mountains and the location cant be beat.

You have in that areas:

- banks
- great little European food shops/delis
- the DM supermarket
- beer stores with a liquor store up the street.
- bus is 10 minutes to the downtown core
- Pacific Coliseum (Giants etc) is just up the road
- and a tons of great vienamese restaurants for your $6 bowls of Pho

There's also like 4 breweries in the area.

 

[cbjerrisgaard]

Your best bet is to move somewhere around Main & Broadway. You can afford the rents (give or take, may have to move closer to Fraiser or Clark), the area is gentrifying, and the music scene is stronger than most of the city (which is weak as a whole).

You'll be close to the Biltmore (the live music venue in town - IMO), and have a reasonable amount of money left over from rent to actually enjoy yourself from time to time. Whatever you do - DO NOT MOVE DOWNTOWN or to KITS. These places are insanely expensive for what they offer and all you get is a bunch of rich kid 'culture'.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: Now that I've read some stuff - East Hastings isn't that bad depending on where you're talking about. East of Clark it gets much more reasonable. This is now known as the "East Village" but most people still call it Hastings Sunrise. I own a bar and often speculate on which neighbourhood is up and coming in order to lock down cheap lease rates in areas ready to blow up - my current target is this area....