As a person in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle-Vancouver area) it would require a truly ridiculous amount of money to convince me to live in the SF Bay/South Bay area, and physically commute to an office 5 days a week.
Considering the cost of California income taxes, housing costs, etc.
Vancouver has an insane housing market but it is still possible to buy a nice 2BD condo in a concrete high-rise building for a relatively reasonable price, that a couple with two professional level salaries can afford.
>> Vancouver has an insane housing market but it is still possible to buy a nice 2BD condo in a concrete high-rise building for a relatively reasonable price, that a couple with two professional level salaries can afford.
Yes, but is this the pinnacle we should aspire to reach?
2 professional salaries to eventually own a 2br condo somewhere in the lower mainland?
Vancouver and Toronto have a comparable ratio of salary to home costs as many of the hottest US locales right now. I don't see how it's a sustainable way to grow a city...
No, it's not ideal, but for my personal lifestyle choices I have no desire to deal with yard maintenance and tasks related to owning a regular single family home, whether in the city limits of Vancouver/Burnaby or in a suburb. I like being very close to the center of downtown and being able to walk most places, or take the Skytrain.
Vancouver is a much more pedestrian and transit friendly city than Seattle or anywhere else in the US outside of Manhattan.
When I compare what $700,000 (USD) buys in the south bay vs what $700,000 converted into Canadian at an exchange rate of 1.29 can buy, Vancouver still comes out way ahead.
Vancouver technology industry salaries are, sadly, significantly lower than Seattle or Bay area, or other large cities in the US (Chicago, Dallas, NY). There's a reason why so many Canadians leave to work in the US.
Yeah, moving out of Bay Area sounds more and more reasonable now. I wonder if salaries in Vancouver would match that in Seattle. Both of them are very interesting cities to move to
This is accurate. The tech industry is really anemic in Vancouver, to the extent that people consider HootSuite a "big deal" and it's mentioned in the local media as an example of a big, successful company. The total number of employers with >15 staff doing something IT/Networking/Software Development/Internet related is a lot lower in Vancouver.
Considering the cost of California income taxes, housing costs, etc.
Vancouver has an insane housing market but it is still possible to buy a nice 2BD condo in a concrete high-rise building for a relatively reasonable price, that a couple with two professional level salaries can afford.