Vancouver

[AP]

I am currently in Vancouver on business. I hadn't realized until I got here how beautiful the city is, not to mention extremely urban. How come no one ever talks about this city as the direction OKC should point itself?

Also, any tips on cool places to check out while I'm here would be appreciated.

[Pete]

I am currently in Vancouver on business. I hadn't realized until I got here how beautiful the city is, not to mention extremely urban. How come no one ever talks about this city as the direction OKC should point itself?

Because it's nowhere near analogous to OKC.

It's very similar to Seattle in terms of being oriented towards the water but it's also in another country and only in the U.S.A. where there trillions spent on expressways, aid to developers and suburban home buyers, the scrapping of streetcars, urban renewal, the white flight of the 60's, etc., etc.

Most of this is due to the huge power of the auto, oil an mortgage industries in the U.S.

I always point to Australia which is even younger than the U.S. with a far smaller population in a bigger geography, yet they have very urban cities with great public transport. It's simply because they didn't have the huge industrial influences as in the U.S.

[vaflyer]

I am currently in Vancouver on business.
Also, any tips on cool places to check out while I'm here would be appreciated.

Granville Island
Stanley Park (you can rent a bicycle near the entrance)

[AP]

We could try to emulate some of the policies but the geographies are nowhere near the same. Opposites in fact.

Right, but similar to Seattle and Portland (or is that something I am imagining?) and everyone on this site worships those two cities. (Myself included.)

Didn't know you were going to be in the neighborhood. Coming through Seattle at all?

Possibly Monday.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Vancouver kicks 28 kinds of a$$. I love that city more and more each time I visit.

[poe]

The Capilano Suspension Bridge is really cool. Walking around the tops of some of those ancient trees is quite exhilarating.

[lasomeday]

Try to make it up to Whisler. Its very nice.

[Just the facts]

Vancouver's urbanity has very little to do with their geography. It has almost everything to do with Canada’s tax, transportation and housing policies coupled with the return of Hong Kong to China, which all conspired in the Vancouver Model being invented. Vancouver didn't happen by accident - it was made on purpose starting in the mid 80s - 1980s that is.

http://designobserver.com/media/pdf/...nism:__647.pdf

[bchris02]

Vancouver and OKC are nothing alike at all. A good Canadian city to compare OKC to is Calgary. It is somewhat spread out by Canadian standards, is known for having a "country" culture, but has an amazing skyline and downtown. It is also about the same size as OKC even, but it's light years ahead.

[AP]

Try to make it up to Whisler. Its very nice.

Spent the afternoon up there. The drive up highway 99 is incredible. So beautiful.

[Wishbone]

Take the ferry up to Victoria. That's the prettiest place I have ever been.

[ctchandler]

Wishbone,
My wife and I spent a week in Victoria, loved the place and really enjoyed Buschart Gardens.
C. T.

Take the ferry up to Victoria. That's the prettiest place I have ever been.

[ljbab728]

Wishbone,
My wife and I spent a week in Victoria, loved the place and really enjoyed Buschart Gardens.
C. T.

ct, you are absolutely correct about Butchart Gardens. This is a picture I took there a few years ago and I've used it for my computer desktop ever since. For those who aren't familiar, it was originally an old limestone quarry.

[adaniel]

Vancouver is beautiful. Hella expensive though...as in more than NYC or San Fran.

[mkjeeves]

Vancouver Island is one of my favorite places on earth. Tofino area and the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve south of there specifically but we always enjoy all the points in between Tofino and Victoria when we make that trek.

[AP]

I was talking to a bartender here and he said that to rent it's actually quite affordable but the housing market is extremely overpriced.

[PWitty]

I'm not going to challenge Sid on this because I know the Pacific NW is his stomping ground, but a lot of the articles online do make it sound like Vancouvers real estate prices challenge NYC and SF. Good to know it's not true

[Bunty]

Probably not enough people, especially city and state leaders, go to places like Vancouver to get an idea how things can be better. Of course, the scenery can't be imitated.

[ksearls]

Vancouver Island is one of my favorite places on earth. Tofino area and the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve south of there specifically but we always enjoy all the points in between Tofino and Victoria when we make that trek.

Mkjeeves, shhhh, don't tell everybody

[adaniel]

Completely false. Sorry, but exactly the opposite is true. While living there, found Vancouver to be very comparable to Seattle. I even found housing to be in some cases, cheaper in Vancouver than in Seattle when you compared amenities (Vancouver has lots of great walkable neighborhoods, while Seattle has several but not near as many.) Seattle and Vancouver are much, much cheaper than either NYC or San Francisco.

The irony is also that you actually get better services in Vancouver and health care was insanely affordable, and quite good. Vancouver is a growing city and attracting professionals for a very good reason. New York City is more affordable than SF by a ways, too. I give you Exhibit A:

vancouver, BC apts/housing for rent classifieds - craigslist

SF bay area apts/housing for rent classifieds - craigslist

new york all apartments classifieds - craigslist

I probably should have specified housing and real estate costs. I don't doubt that it is cheaper to rent than buy, as it is in most high cost coastal cities in the US. But Vancouver's housing costs are pretty much legendary at this point. As of last year, it was the most expensive place to live in North America.

Vancouver Most Expensive City To Live In North America: The Economist

Now I do have some friends from home who got into the movie and film biz, specifically working on sets. They got lots of work in Vancouver, as it is a large filming area (as you probably already know). But despite making a good living they had to relocate to, of all places, Los Angeles because Vancouver was so expensive.

Certainly don't want to rag on Vancouver. Frankly I would not expect to roll up to such a beautiful place and expect to pay OKC prices. But it seems like it would be tough slog to make it there. I leave you with this:

[Teo9969]

Cost of Living Comparison Between Oklahoma City, OK, United States And Vancouver, Canada

Cost of Living Comparison Between San Francisco, CA, United States And Vancouver, Canada

Cost of Living Comparison Between New York, NY, United States And Vancouver, Canada

[Just the facts]

Probably not enough people, especially city and state leaders, go to places like Vancouver to get an idea how things can be better. Of course, the scenery can't be imitated.

While Vancouver is in a scenic local, many of the world's great cities are no more geographically blessed than OKC is. There is nothing special about the scenery around London, Paris, Rome, etc... The problem is not in having natural beauty or urban beauty - it is in having neither.