Pros and Cons of Living in Downtown Vancouver - 2023 

Thank you, @armandon2208! Glad you enjoyed it. :)

Thanks, @koztent. Appreciate you checking out the channel. I hope that it helps with your move to Vancouver. Let me know if there are any questions about the move that you are having a hard time finding answers to!

Don't do it...

@farid7838 😏

Oh yeah. If you live right beside a bus stop that can be torture. I feel for you!

You bet @farid7838! Happy New Year to you and hope you have a great 2024.

@slothsarecool That's true in my experience, too. I can't disagree with you. Most European cities are considerably more walkable but that's because they were developed before the automobile. Most North American cities developed in the age of the automobile resulting in completely different structures. Vancouver is unusual for large North America cities though in that it didn't develop that inner city highway...pushing people into the suburbs. That left the central part of our city much more walkable than most.

Hi @iriac4977! Where were you visiting from and where are you going to move to? I hear you...and I don't dispute your experience. My comments below are to share with people how I see the issue of homelessness and drug addiction in Vancouver. I'm sorry that Vancouver wasn't for you, and I hope you find a home that suits you better! There absolutely is an issue with homelessness and drug addiction in the Downtown Eastside and while it touches on neighboring areas it has very little presence on a lot of the city. You'll see some of it again around the downtown cores of some Vancouver suburbs (like Surrey) too...but I live in Vancouver (about a ten minute drive from Downtown) and there are no signs of homelessness and drug addiction in my community (or most of Vancouver). I suspect you may have stayed downtown for your stay? And yes, the visibility of the homelessness/drug issue can be jarring. Especially for people from smaller communities...but there is very little danger in my experience. You leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. If you treat them like people, they'll treat you with respect too. I've spent quite a bit of time on the downtown eastside, and while it's certainly an area I'm going to be more aware of my surroundings than others, I've never felt in danger or at risk.

@farid7838 Thanks for sharing your observations and watching the channel. Sounds as though Vancouver isn’t for you. Where would you move? Unfortunately, cost of living has taken off everywhere. The city everyone was moving to due to a lower cost of living (Calgary) was just rated as the highest cost of living in Canada (even higher than Toronto and Vancouver). Also, basement suites are common here because we live in a dense higher cost of living city. Basement suites exist in other similar cities…like Toronto or Victoria as an example. They are much less likely in lower cost of living and less dense places like distant suburbs or Winnipeg or say, Saskatoon.

@@LivingInVancouver-BC Sure, the cost of living has impacted other cities across North America, no discussion about that. See Los Angeles or NYC, for example. Basement apartments are plain terrible. The truth is that they are a bandage solution for an enormous housing problem that has plagued Vancouver for a very long time, with so-called leadership looking elsewhere. When you accommodate families below ground level, you know that there is something rotten in the system. I wish, for instance, that the politicians addressed the elephant in the room (no pun intended): $ millions from "international investors" and thousands of ghost homes/condos. if I could I move back to New England.

Basement apartments are a band-aid solution? No, absolutely not. They existed LONG before there was a housing crisis in Vancouver. They are an important source of affordable rentals in Vancouver. A way of making housing more affordable both for tenants (they tend to rent for less than individual condos)...and a more efficient use of housing (more people can be housed in a single structure). And sure, there can be lower quality basement rentals that could be unpleasant accommodations...but there are also many very nice basement suites that everyone is happy with. I've lived in them and I've rented them out, too. ...and politicians have "dealt" with the issues you raised. Over the last few years we've seen the introduction of the foreign buyer tax, the empty homes tax, the vacancy tax, airbnb restrictions, the foreign buyer ban, etc. The thing is, foreign buyers were never the issue. That's why none of that has worked. It's easy to lay blame in that direction, but it's a red herring that politicians have used for quick votes without actually dealing with the root of the problem. The issue is we have a tiny city with very limited supply that is one of the most desirable areas in one of the most desirable cities in the world. Enormous and growing demand with limited supply results in higher prices.

@@LivingInVancouver-BC Yes, I repeat basement "housing" is a band-aid solution. It gives the illusion of affordability to both landlord and tenant, but the bottom line remains that this is unacceptable living conditions: of course you defend your work interests, but you would never raise your family below ground level, would you? There are truly low quality basement accommodations, and those that appear livable are as expensive as above-ground places. Let's not fool ourselves... Agreed with you, politicians bear a responsibility in fudging the situation about so-called "international investors." But facts are stubborn: why are there so many ghost homes in this town when we experience a clear housing crisis and shortage? Now, I understand that this is your job as a local realtor to work with everyone, including millionaires who cannot speak English. Strangely enough the exact same situation has been happening with the same type of "investors" in Sydney, Australia. We may play around with politically correct rhetoric, but there is a pattern here. As for the housing "demand" issue in Vancouver, we are back to politicians and their failed vision and planning for a a growing city indeed. Insane interest rates are just another nail in the coffin.

@farid7838 My point with basement suites is that it's not a "band-aid" solution. It's actually a long-standing historic part of the housing options in Vancouver. Your point that this is unique to Vancouver is also just not correct. It's a very common form of housing throughout the western world as evidenced in this wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_suite. The article mentions, for example, that 1 in 20 homes in the UK have them. They are also common (off the top of my head) in Seattle, Toronto and Munich. And like I said, they are not unacceptable living conditions. I mentioned that I've lived in them myself. So yes, I know exactly what I'm talking about. Of course some are less pleasant to live in than others....but that is true of any type of accommodation. I don't believe that "International investors" really ever had an enormous impact on our market. New Canadians? Absolutely. Because someone looks different than us doesn't make them an "international investor". Our market has been driven by LOCAL and NATIONAL demand more than anything else. The fact that we saw some of the highest price increases ever during a period where no one was coming in or out of Canada (the height of COVID) and that has continued when there is a ban on foreign buyers puts the nail in that argument's coffin. I'd love to see the statistics you are referencing on there being "so many ghost homes" in Vancouver in 2023. The odd home is empty, sure...but for reasons such as awaiting permits, divorce or death. While this WAS an issue (some foreign investors for sure but also many locals owned a second vacation property, a downtown pied-a-terre or a separate home for business/office use) that was much more prominent years ago the introduction of the Empty Homes Tax and the Vacancy Tax have been highly successful in combating this. The province and city both heavily penalize empty homes (3% of assessed value annually and 0.5% or 2% if a foreigner respectively). According to the city of Vancouver's own research (the most recent data I can find is from 2022), there were 1,156 vacant properties in Vancouver out of 198,969 total properties. There was also a 54% decline in the number of vacant homes from 2017 - 2022. 2021 - 2022 saw a 17% decline in vacant homes and they expect this only to continue to decline. vancouver.ca/files/cov/empty-homes-tax-annual-report-2023.pdf Many "vacant" properties are owned by locals caught accidentally by the rules. For instance, I have a client who's mother died last year. She was a hoarder. He's been trying to clear out the house but had health issues and couldn't get it done within the year. As a result, this house qualifies as "vacant" and will be taxed in the neighborhood of $50,000. And while I expect some of the homes that qualify as vacant ARE owned by very wealthy owners (whether foreign or not), these will be very luxurious accommodations...not the type of properties that if occupied would increase affordability in Vancouver. That low hanging fruit will have been transferred to other uses over the last few years.

Definitely could do without the rats! 🐭

It is definitely a big issue for Downtown Vancouver! Homelessness, drug addiction and mental illness.

The government has shut down many of the hospitals-facilities used to house the mentally ill over the decades. It's (downtown Van) almost like a scene out of the film: They Live.

@icemanlikegervin Shutting down Riverview didn't help, that's for sure...but that was decades ago. What we are seeing today is more a reflection of systemic issues in western society as it's not just an issue in Vancouver. Sadly, it's happening in the majority of North American cities.

@@LivingInVancouver-BC Riverview was shut down in 2012. What previously happened decades ago with defunding, downsizing in relation is showing its face today. Ronald Reagan's government closed many mental institutions across the US in the 1980s right when the crack epidemic exploded. The current meth epidemic makes the US government sponsored crack epidemic seem much less severe as far as the visible effects.

Yeah, 2012 was when they cleared the final patients out of Riverview...but it had been in the process of shutting down since the 90s. As you say, defunding and downsizing. And you are right, meth appears to be having a much bigger impact then crack ever did.