I moved over in May 2007. I wasn't actively looking to move to the island (The real estate boom was just in its beginning stages), I just ended up getting a good job offer over here. I had some family on the island, as a kid I used to spend a week or two in the summers over here visiting so I already had a liking of the island.
My girlfriend (now wife) followed me over a few months later.

No regrets in moving at all, loved this place from day one and very quickly turned into the "We'll never move back" camp.

There's not much that we miss from Vancouver at all (obviously we see our parents less), but in terms of amenities it has everything we need.
When we moved over we were in our mid 20's, there was enough "night life" and exploring of this new city to keep us happy. The historic factor, and heavy tourism element is neat as well.
Now in our mid 30's we don't give a shit about "night life" anymore, but see it as a great place to raise our kid with lots of other young families around.
Not to sound racist, but the "cultural diversity" factor is a lot lower and that plays a big part in how much we love it over here.

On every visit Vancouver felt less and less like home to us, and now it feels like a foreign city altogether.
My wife's brother moved over a few years ago, her parents are probably going to sell their place in Burnaby and move over in the new year.

I keep bugging my parents to move (my dad really wants to) but my mom won't move while my sister's still there (as as well as all my mom's siblings)

the only thing bad about the island is traffic if you're close to the major city hub..fucking rush hour you're stuck for a good 3-4hrs trying to get home and traffic is pure gridlock after work is finished.

^I don't think you know what you're talking about.

pretty sure they said the same thing about Coquitlam, Langley, Delta, White Rock

give it another 10-20 years and you'll want to move to Port Hardy 4Head

I'm not too picky and can see myself living away from sizable cities at this age, but I'm the exact opposite of you, minimal selection of Asian food would be a dealbreaker

That's ok, the ones over here find Vancouver too "Cultural" as well.

True story, my former co-worker emigrated from China with his wife and daughter to Vancouver some years ago. After a year, he moved to Victoria because, in his words, Vancouver was "Too Chinese". He brought his daughter over here to learn our language and culture and that wasn't happening in Vancouver. I can respect that.

I can't say that availability of a type of cuisine or ingredients even registers on my scale of "Shit that's important to me where I live" list. I tend to think more of costs of living, quality of life, quality of education and services for children, recreational activities etc.

Says the white guy in a white community where white food is readily available . . .:okay:

Langley's not really that diverse.
Strong Korean community tho. They've pretty much been there since day one

What is this suppose to mean? there's a less diverse crowd so its suppose to better? I don't get it. Wouldn't you want you kids to grow up with and learn about different cultures..

aside from cost of living on your list, everything else is going to be pretty comparable

it's okay I don't expect everyone to get it. For me if I don't visit Asia every few years to stuff my face with their food I don't feel satisfied, haha

I'm sure Asian restaurants & markets will continue to grow on the island

Yes it's sad when young people emigrate here and can't pick up the language because they're too deep in their cultural enclaves

Chinese only signs come to mind

Well if Pizza and Hamburgers ceased to exist over here, I wouldn't be all like "That's it! we gotta move out of this place!"

That’s a double edged sword. My fiancé and I (we are both white) lived in a new apartment in Metrotown and I have never felt more like a minority in my life. I could probably count on one hand the number of people who spoke English in an elevator ride with us. The parking lot was full of brand new white BMWs, Mercs, Audi’s, and Porsches with the occasional Maserati and Ferrari thrown in. It didn’t feel diverse at all, it felt exclusive and not at all like a place we wanted to live.

Diversity is only a positive when cultures make an effort to embrace and learn from each other. Living in an enclave that looks like China, sounds like a China, and doesn’t give a fuck about changing or being inclusive might be a plus to some people but isn’t for us.

-Mark

Nanaimo has a fair number of Asian places. Lost track of the number of sushi places in town. We have a Fairway Market that sells tons of Asian and other ethnic foods. A sabji mandi just opened opened up in Nanaimo too.

When rush our hits Nanaimo it takes to 15 minutes instead of 10 to where I want to go.

First week of Dec - expecting market to be a bit slower...nope!?

Surrey
King George Hub All 732+ units from Tower 1 & 2 Sold out at $700-850/ft. Rennie Marketing knows how to move projects! Good job PCI.

Squamish
Vantage & AMAJI - 80% sold in 2 months or so. $700/ft. Could be great rental given rental crisis in Whistler and the $2000-2400/1BR where 3 seasonal workers will bunk in. BOSA rumoured to be building there soon too near waterfront.

Coquitlam:
City of Lougheed - rumour delays / issues with permitting. 2nd deposit hasn't been taken yet and laid off staff.

SIMON 2 - personal favourite - wood frame low rise in the $700/ft. $420k start. Across from Burquitlam Park close enough to skytrain. Great for starter homes.

508 Clark (or etc name) LedMac near Burquitlam skytrain coming.

Hensley by Cressey - early sales started though no formal announcement yet. $850/ft which seems insane for Burquitlam...

Brentwood
Concord Brentwood - previewing Dec 2017 and sales Jan 2018. Rumoured to be $1100-1200/ft for Brentwood.. if anyone can do it it'd be Concord. Unprecedented 25% deposit and I recall 2021/2021 completion. Tower 3 & 4 here.
Really cool sliding window tracts that are embedded in the floors. Asian clients love Concord and still cheaper than Asia - likely sell out regardless. ...I regret cancelling my Concord Brentwood 1BR for $420k last year :(

Juneau - previewed last weekend & public requests. VIP round done - $950/ft on Willindgon + Juneau where the car oil change place is currently. Not bad pricing and Amacon is decent priced and usually on time for budget. 1BR hard to get - 2BR $800K for 850sq ft and up.

Etoile - First tower sold out. Incentives coming for Tower 2 remaining units. $950/ft or about $580k 1BR to start for Holdom. Millenium's got a good name for developing Olympic Village.

SOLO District 3 - Solo 2 is wrapping up and Appia / BOSA does a great job. Lots of anticipation for Tower 3. Likely new years and easily $1100/ft.

Gilmore Place - ONNI's plot of land right beside Gilmore skytrain station should be coming in 2018 as well.

Downtown Vancouver
Pacific by Grosvenor - 300+ year old British mega developer and land owner builds their mark on Pacific Boulevard and Hornby. $1200-1500/ft - $900k 1BR all gone and $1.3M buys you 1+den with parking. 24/7 concierge & Italian/Turkish marble on everything.

BUTTERFLY by Westbank. This one takes the cake.
Preview last week & part of the Fight for Beauty launch.
Art doesn't have a price... unless its architectural art. In that case, it'll be $2000-2500/sq ft.

Destined from birth to be a landmark - it's got the outrageous design and infinity pool at the top of the twin circular pillars to leave a beautiful impression around the world.
http://urbanyvr.com/wp-content/uploa...-3-595x396.jpg

http://fightforbeauty.westbankcorp.c...3-683x1024.jpg

http://urbanyvr.com/wp-content/uploa...69-595x655.jpg

http://urbanyvr.com/wp-content/uploa...76-595x643.jpg

http://urbanyvr.com/wp-content/uploa...73-595x641.jpg

Until next 2 weeks!

Well said as usual. Same could be said for any race/origin.

Birds of a feather flock together. Generally speaking.
It's actually part of human nature

People usually go to where the money is.

Sure. And that's fine too. I don't think either should be demonized

Sorry to say, but people care about diversity as it relates to food and that is about it.

Those presale prices are getting pretty crazy... But I guess the demand for apartments is still pretty strong given the stats: Monthly Statistical Reports | Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver

Can't believe Brentwood presales prices are that high. Might as well buy downtown.

Butterfly lol, terrible name but at least architecturally its a lot more pleasing than Trump and Shangrila

Squampton is already at $700/sqft?
lawd

North Shore lifestyle without the congestion and Metro Vancouver taxes. I imagine many buyers are thinking Squamish is a better lifestyle buy than Willoughby, Ladner, or Albion.

Or buy something that is 2-5 years old and pay 10% down instead of paying 20%+ and closing a mortgage that will be more expensive in 3-5 years.

haha sorry had to laugh at that....how good can your name be when then City needs to take receivership of the development from you.

but they've been around for a while and know how to work themselves out of a hole.

I was talking with my realtor a few days ago. He says the market is going really strong right now due to people wanting to close prior the lending rules changing in January. He expects it to cool off between Jan to March as the market will see how people react to the new lending rules. Plus Jan to March is typically the slowest time of the season. He does expect April to really pickup due to the low inventory levels of re-sales.

Can't believe Surrey is going for $800 /sf. 3 Civic Plaza was selling for about $500/sf back in 2014, and that was considered the highest for Whalley at the time.