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Post by BrianWilliams on Aug 27, 2007 1:55:39 GMT -8
Ferry-related, yes.
The Economist Magazine, a sober business publication aimed at senior managers around the world, has chosen Vancouver as its "most livable city" in the world for the fifth straight year. A sound achievement.
The Economist weighs many factors in its decision. Taxes, education, recreation opportunities, health, cost of living and the pleasance of life for well-off people are its criteria.
Among the many, many items in favour of Vancouver? Our inexpensive, reliable, all year ferry connections to BC's islands and south coast.
We may not appreciate BCF as much as we should. For a European executive, the chance to take his family on a weekend trip through green islands, with whales cruising by and eagles soaring above is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
And -as The Economist tallies the cost - a family can ride through the Gulf Islands on BCF for about the price of a day's ticket on London's Underground. Add the modest parking cost at Tswwassen or Horseshoe Bay, and it is still very cheap.
BCF opportunities, in fact, may have mitigated the very high cost of housing here, tipping the scale to Vancouver.
Whatever, The Economist got it right. Their quality of life standard included multi-lingualism and multi-cultural acceptance. Vancouver scored just below Singapore, but ahead of every other city.
Our natural setting pushed to us No 1 again, and BCF's accessibility was a major point.
Bravo Vancouver, BCF and BC!
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Post by Northern Exploration on Aug 27, 2007 7:07:03 GMT -8
Toronto is rated number 5 on that same list. Pretty good for two Canadian cities. Vancouver's continued placement so high on these sorts of lists will only continue to attract retirement and other people both to the city and to the coast. A friend works at the Keg here as a bartender and I was sitting at the bar having dinner. Beside me was an American couple who were hunting for a retirement home on the Island. We chatted about where they were looking and the type of place they wanted. By the discussion I take it they were quite wealthy. We actually talked a lot about Tofino and the houses beside the Wickaninnish Inn (one of my favourite places on earth as I say at least once a week  ). They found it a little too remote. They wanted something outside a city with water view. But they want easy access to the ferry so they can go into Vancouver for sports, theatre and concerts. As we talked they said they had at least 3 friends who were seriously considering the same thing. They love the ferries and while they probably will fly a fair bit to Vancouver, find the ferry system one of the biggest draws. I think our perspective of the system is based on a lot of intimate contact that many others just don't have. So their perspective can be much different than ours. Also I think BCFerries is one of those love/hate things for people on the southcoast. Canadians seem to love to have something they make fun of and complain about (besides Toronto and the weather) but couldn't live without. |
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Post by WettCoast on Aug 27, 2007 21:02:07 GMT -8
As far as I know the Economist magazine looked at only big cities. I believe that the only Canadian cities in the running were Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
As far as 'livable cities' go smaller is, in my opinion, much better. I can think of a dozen or more smaller communities right here in BC that are much more 'livable' than Vancouver. On the otherhand, if you have to live in a 'mega city' than Vancouver looks not so bad.
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Neil
Voyager 
Posts: 7,309
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Post by Neil on Aug 27, 2007 21:27:31 GMT -8
pnwtraveler: Vancouver is blessed with a wonderful location, but I don't think enough Canadians appreciate Toronto. There's all sorts of parochial, provincial jealousy directed at Toronto from the regions, but Toronto is probably the most liveable city of it's size in the entire world, and I think it's one of Canada's most remarkable achievements.
And you're safer on Toronto's streets or in most of it's suburbs than you are in Vancouver.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Aug 28, 2007 15:54:05 GMT -8
I was born in Alberta, grew up in BC, went to school in Saskatchewan (no offense to any SK native but eeeeew), but have lived most of my years in Toronto. Been to every Province except for Newfoundland and Labrador. We moved to Toronto because my dad was transfered but only under a guarantee that we could transfer back to Vancouver after. Unexpectedly none of us wanted to leave. BC is still and probably always will be my spiritual home. With relatives all over the world, the two epicentres  still are Edmonton and Vancouver/Vancouver Island. I am all too familiar with the sometimes half joking sometimes half not dislike of TO as my cousins on the Island love to raze me about it - all 6 of them. As the joke goes, one of the things that unites us as Canadians is the dislike of Toronto. I am not ever intimiated or take personally anyone's opinion or dislike of TO. Most of the time it is based on things in the past not the current, misinformation, or one short visit for a conference seeing the worst of it. Toronto's crime rate per capita is quite good. We like to snoopy the dog about the freeways and the transit system here. But still the equivalent of over a million people drive on Highway 401's 16 lanes (at its widest point). Ridership on the TTC is estimated to be a staggering 462 million for 2007. Torontonians are sometimes the cities biggest critics. If business and immediate family didn't keep me here I would probably try to split my time between Vancouver and Toronto to get the best of both worlds. Toronto I can be in NYC, Montreal, Ottawa and a few other places in about an hours flying time. In an hour and a half Chicago, Boston, Philly, DC and a few others. The world is represented in Toronto and it is the worlds third largest Theatre Centre behind New York and London, England. We can watch the Blue Jays sometimes win, the Leafs almost never (if you can get a seat or be willing to pay the price) and see the Raptors do pretty good again. Cottage country (semi tranquility) is about two to four hours drive if you are willing to fight the traffic. Algonquin Park and true tranquility is about 3 to 4 hours away. In Vancouver you have much of the same culture and sports but just on a reduced level. The traffic drives me beserk in Vancouver for the first few days until I adjust and slow down. The ride up Granville from the airport seems like the longest drive in the world. However the trump cards are the mountains and ocean. Rain never bother me when I lived there - as a matter of fact I always loved the foggy mornings. When I land in Vancouver and step outside and smell the ocean I always sigh, spend hours with my nose pressed against the glass of my hotel room or sitting in my car at lighthouse point in Stanley Park watching the harbour, and freeze I disagree off outside on the ferries when most sane people are inside keeping warm. I am no longer making 4 extended trips a year for the moment and I miss it a lot. However, I know when circumstances change I will be back as soon as I can as often as I can. Certainly for an early ride on the Coastal Ren and definitely early after the NorEx arrives. |
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Post by Scott on Aug 29, 2007 0:33:37 GMT -8
The Economist weighs many factors in its decision. Taxes, education, recreation opportunities, health, cost of living and the pleasance of life for well-off people are its criteria. Not to take away from the very good points Brian has made. I've lived in/beside the city my whole life and really enjoy most things about it. But twice in the last week I have driven through the downtown eastside, once in the afternoon and once around 9:30PM. Vancouver may be a great place to live for "well-off" and even semi well-off people, but there's a good chunk of our city that is a disgrace. Hundreds of people (that I saw) wandering the streets, sprawled out on sidewalks, openly doing drugs. The poorest neighbourhood in Canada only blocks away from the "well off" people enjoying all Vancouver has to offer. Quite the contrast. |
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Post by BrianWilliams on Aug 29, 2007 0:47:27 GMT -8
Yep, The Economist survey only includes large cities. If they considered, say Saskatoon and Nuremburg (two faves of mine) there would be more thoughts. As it is, Vancouver's win is a tribute. Toronto? Hell, yeah. Though I am Vancouver born and bred, southern Ontario's metropolis is a great city, wonderful to wander in and stupendous when seen from the Toronto Islands. But ... aww ... Vancouver. Measure on a map: 6 air miles northeast from Burrard and Georgia is the 3,000' ridge of Dog Mountain, an easy hour's walk from the road.  Same six miles northwest, Keats Island:  -- reached only by BC Ferries to Langdale and the Stormaway connection on foot. Our valley 'burbs are increasingly faceless, becoming a vast sea of highways and Wal-Marts, and California sprawl:  But there is hope. 600-lb sturgeon still thrive in the Fraser River, which is cleaner than it's been for 90 years. We've seen eagles thrilling tourists at Lonsdale Quay. Capilano and Seymour Valley native birds, they patrol Burrard Inlet. Cruise-ship tourists gasp and their cameras snap. Just routine, folks. 20 minutes from downtown, real wilderness rainforest begins in Lynn Valley. Veteran sportswriter Jim Kearney once said: "A squirrel can leap from my roof to a Douglas Fir in the yard, and never touch the ground until he reaches the Yukon River." A Lynn Creek dog, belled for bears:  |
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Post by BrianWilliams on Aug 29, 2007 2:03:39 GMT -8
A short rant: North Vancouver's little Lynn Creek may be the best urban stream anywhere. When I was kid in the early 1960's, lower Lynn Creek was a sewer. North Vancouver's low-cost developments were unsewered, so septic tanks drained into the creek. Much worse: the Premier Street Dump was a 1920's creekside "sanitary landfill" that was neither sanitary or filled for 50 years. In the early 1960's it was a hellish landscape of burning garbage and casually dumped trash. As kids, my pals and I played amongst the unsupervised fires, scavenged bits of metal and enjoyed the bizarre place. A short hike took us into Lynn Canyon, where the creek ran cold and clear in its granite walls, unlike the crap below. Here's the point: today, Lynn Creek is protected from its source at 3,000' Lynn Lake to its mouth on Burrard Inlet. Every inch of the 11 mile river is in public parks. The Premier Street Dump is not just closed and covered. It is ditched and diked to prevent any runoff from reaching the little creek that it used to poison. This is not granola ideaology; this is practical and exactly right. Saving this small urban river is a model for other cities who care to learn. As a kid, I played in lower Lynn Creek. Greasy orange boulders and scummy water were expected. Today? Lynn Creek flows cold and crystal clear right to tidewater. The same granite boulders that grew whiskers of algae, the rocks that were orange-slimy when I was a kid - they are white now. This is an example of hard work over many years. Very well done, North Vancouver!  |
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Post by Northern Exploration on Aug 29, 2007 6:22:00 GMT -8
Brian:
When I lived in Vancouver my family had close friends who lived just off Lynn Valley Road. I can remember crossing Lynn Creek and even going down to the Creek a few times. The Mom was quite upset one time because she said it was "filthy." It didn't smell the best but it was a creek and kids love running water like that. Great to hear it is cleaned up.
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Post by Balfour on Aug 29, 2007 16:36:45 GMT -8
Lynn Creek is a favourite swimming destination and a place for cliff jumping. It attracts many tourists and locals every summer. Unfortunately there have been tragedies due to people cliff jumping in bad places such as near waterfalls.
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Post by ruddernut on Aug 31, 2007 1:08:43 GMT -8
^ I personally know one such person, who got swept under a whirlpool with his girlfriend when he was 21 (would be 37 now).
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). They found it a little too remote. They wanted something outside a city with water view. But they want easy access to the ferry so they can go into Vancouver for sports, theatre and concerts. As we talked they said they had at least 3 friends who were seriously considering the same thing. They love the ferries and while they probably will fly a fair bit to Vancouver, find the ferry system one of the biggest draws.
still are Edmonton and Vancouver/Vancouver Island. I am all too familiar with the sometimes half joking sometimes half not dislike of TO as my cousins on the Island love to raze me about it - all 6 of them. As the joke goes, one of the things that unites us as Canadians is the dislike of Toronto. I am not ever intimiated or take personally anyone's opinion or dislike of TO. Most of the time it is based on things in the past not the current, misinformation, or one short visit for a conference seeing the worst of it. Toronto's crime rate per capita is quite good. We like to snoopy the dog about the freeways and the transit system here. But still the equivalent of over a million people drive on Highway 401's 16 lanes (at its widest point). Ridership on the TTC is estimated to be a staggering 462 million for 2007. Torontonians are sometimes the cities biggest critics.
