Q: We are professionals in our 30's planning to relocate to Vancouver around 10/08 and would appreciate any advice on neighborhoods (safe, charming with character, convenient to central work districts or general commute, with great shops and restaurants, organic grocers or farmers markets...) We will visit end of 8/08 to get a general idea of the area and the rental market. Any recommendations for great relocation or rental housing resources, and excellent executive recruiting firms for Corp Finance positions would be welcome as well. p.s. we've been to Vancouver when we were teenagers and had good memories of the city, but don't know much about it now. Thank you in advance for any advice :) nyninchdick - thanks for the comparison, very helpful. freeside49 - we will visit your suggested areas. bob shark - I just married a Canadian & will apply for residency :) however, why is living @ 3300 block west broadway contingent on having "immigrations papers in order"? Andrew - we absolutely love SF and will keep our property here, but since I am married to a Canadian (from Montreal), we decided to move to Vancouver as a compromise (living in Canada & staying on the west coast)..we plan to live in BC for a couple years, if we love it as much as SF, we will settle there long term :)
A: based on your criteria I would suggest you check out North Vancouver Lonsdale area but its pricey by our standards but perhaps not by yours. From Downtown drive over the Lions Gate Bridge OR take the Seabus from Canada Place (Cruise Ship terminals) over to Lonsdale Quay which is small eclectic market place and jumping off point into North Van area. The connections to the downtown area from North Van are pretty good either via transit or even by car but bridges of course are congested. This is an ideal area to have access to both the natural side of Vancouver (ski hills, hiking trails, mountains) while still close to the downtown core. On your preliminary trip, head up Grouse Mountain (gondola ride) which provides you a heck of an overview of the whole Lower Mainland area Local newspapers (Vancouver Sun or Vancouver Province are best source for rentals. You can google those or try http://www.rentalproperties.ca/browse/british-columbia/ If price is important to you, consider the Valley... take a trip out on the Skytrain (elevated rail) which starts at Canada Place and ends in Surrey area to see the growing end of the city. The above writer compares Surrey to Oakland which is totally bogus comparison. Oakland has a higher crime rate than SF proper but here Vancouver downtown has a much higher crime rate than the burbs. While physical safety anywhere here is decent.... property crime is pretty high. Vancouver has the 6th highest crime rate in canada and the second largest city in BC is Surrey which rates a more moderate #14 in crime rate. Jobs... try http://www.monster.ca