OT: Does it annoy you how often celebrities whine about Vancouver?

[Peen]

Night life in Vancouver does indeed suck in comparison to the big cities.

Even small cities in Europe are 100x more fun.

 

[Hit the post]

in retrospect i'm not too mad at steve francis anymore. he was just a really young kid who grew up in the world the wire was based on, who had never been anywhere outside of dc/maryland. at the time, vancouver was best known for producing the pot smoking olympic snowboard champion. how was he supposed to know vancouver isn't the north pole?

that said, i didn't not smile when i heard that stephen jackson choked him out.

Or when Stu Jackson got back at Francis by leaving him off Team USA (when Francis should’ve been given at least a chance to earn a roster spot) back when Jackson was in charge of that; I had to smile when a I read that. Unless my recollection is off.

Tough to be still mad at whiner Francis considering how his life ended up after his NBA career ended.

 

[Seattle Totems]

If Vancouver goes back to being a village thanks to a bunch of C-list actors I'm all for it.

 

[StreetHawk]

Flockharts was understandable as she was against relocating to anywhere outside LA and not just Vancouver because of family. In fact, here's an interesting tidbit from the IMDB trivia page of the film Firewall:

"Harrison Ford was so impressed with the beauty of Bowen Island in British Columbia that he purchased a $13 million waterfront property upon the request of girlfriend Calista Flockhart."

IDK how accurate IMDB is but thats what it said.


The Archie actor (KJ Apa) was actually blow out of proportion in retrospect. All he said that while the food was good in Vancouver it can get boring there after a while, which actually a fair statement especially from a 20 year old kid.

Dominic Purcell's on the other hand was a complete b*tch fest. His Instagram whining about Vancouver and the homeless situation there was so bad that one of his Prison Break costars even replied to him suggesting that he do something more productive like give his time towards bettering that area rather than complain about it

Flock hart was perfectly understandable. No complaining from her. Relocation of the Filming didn’t fit for her so she left the show.

funny that Purcell complains about Vancouver but ends up on Legends series also shot in Vancouver.

if you had enough of it during Prison Break why take the Legends job? Guess in the end money talks.

 

[F A N]

I'm not annoyed at all. You think people who grew up in Vancouver westside is amenable to living in say Port Coquitlam or Abbotsford? Vancouver, I think, is a world class city without the infrastructure of one.

 

[Lonny Bohonos]

I think at times Vancouverites are very prone to getting way up their own asses about how much better Vancouver's climate is than Edmonton's or Toronto's while forgetting that the climate in the lower mainland is still absolutely shit 8 months/year compared to most places in the world.

I don't think anyone should really be surprised that someone from LA would consider spending a winter in Vancouver to be roughly the same thing as someone from Vancouver forced to spend a winter in Winnipeg.

Vancouverites get up there own asses on more than just the climate. The whole Best Place on Earth thing.

And i say this as someome who has lived in 8 different countries around the world as well as travelling 50 and who think Vancouver is my favourite place/best place on earth.

I think the best comparable is Seattle for variety of reasons.

I loooove Seattle. Its obviously similar geography wise, has a similar population, lifestyle etc.

Vancouver is more naturally beauty but Seattle is much better culture wise.

Despite Seattle being a better city job wise vs costs such as housing Vancouvers biggest suckiness is that it comes across much more as a "richmans city".


Its gone from a city that was a quiet "backwater" to one that is on the center stage with all the costs and few of the benefits.

 

[Lonny Bohonos]

This is the correct answer.

I always found it funny how the residents of the Lower Mainland used to be and kind of still are “hey look at us!!! Vancouver is amazing! We’re the best cityyyyy”. Clamouring to be on the Best Cities of the World lists and whatnot. Yet... all that does is drive up the cost of living as people with money go “oh you know what... Vancouver does look really nice let’s buy some property there”.

And yet it still struggles when it comes to jobs.

 

[Lonny Bohonos]

I am came from South- Africa and it was a bit of an adjustment. Saying that living in a place where you can always get in a forest, be very safe is pretty nice.

People say this alot but how many people legitimately take advantage of that nature. I mean beyond what many other cities can provide?

Back in he 90s when i live there and breifly again in mid 2000s i would go back country hiking and camping 3-4 times each summer plus I as big into mountain biking. And I as in the minority. Like small minority.


People say this lot but I doubt they actually take advantage or said advantage.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

People say this alot but how many people legitimately take advantage of that nature. I mean beyond what many other cities can provide?

Back in he 90s when i live there and breifly again in mid 2000s i would go back country hiking and camping 3-4 times each summer plus I as big into mountain biking. And I as in the minority. Like small minority.


People say this lot but I doubt they actually take advantage or said advantage.

wait, so what are all those people in the perpetual lineup on the street to get into MEC doing with that apparel?

legit question, i have always wondered.

 

[Lonny Bohonos]

wait, so what are all those people in the perpetual lineup on the street to get into MEC doing with that apparel?

legit question, i have always wondered.

MEC itself has changed. Its gone from a Coop making decent quality house branded stuff that was entirely focussed on outdoorsmen/women to a more corporate model trying to sell as much as possible.

To answer your question many people just wear the gear such as the goretex jackets for everyday wear. Much like Taiga.

 

[archangel2]

The big problem is people in the lower mainland do not know how to behave when they go out. It is not just group of people but just a general mentality that going out means causing trouble. A buddy of my ran a venue in Gastown and the insurance rates killed him

 

[RobertKron]

People say this alot but how many people legitimately take advantage of that nature. I mean beyond what many other cities can provide?

Back in he 90s when i live there and breifly again in mid 2000s i would go back country hiking and camping 3-4 times each summer plus I as big into mountain biking. And I as in the minority. Like small minority.


People say this lot but I doubt they actually take advantage or said advantage.

Mountain biking has absolutely exploded since you were here. Like, I remember thinking it had exploded in the early 00s compared to the mid-90s, but it has grown exponentially since then. To the point where sometimes I legitimately don’t feel like riding because I don’t want to deal with the crowding at the trailheads.

Hiking as well. Basically all outdoor recreation along the sea-to-sky corridor has gone absolutely wild since you were here - both the local trails and the backcountry “people-in-the-know” stuff.

 

[Tables of Stats]

I've lived in a couple of areas now and Vancouver holds up well compared to all of them.

Kelowna, my hometown, is nice and has excellent weather and great natural features but it lacks jobs and attractions and can be very 'vanilla' for lack of a better term.

The Latrobe Valley in Australia is great because Australia is amazing but it's a low population region based around coal mining and a coal-burning powerplant.

I'd choose Vancouver over either of them but would be thrilled if Vancouver had the climate of Kelowna and the worker's rights of Australia.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

MEC itself has changed. Its gone from a Coop making decent quality house branded stuff that was entirely focussed on outdoorsmen/women to a more corporate model trying to sell as much as possible.

To answer your question many people just wear the gear such as the goretex jackets for everyday wear. Much like Taiga.

they're like the land rover of jackets i guess? i guess there's worse things to go overkill on than a jacket that will keep you really really dry.

Mountain biking has absolutely exploded since you were here. Like, I remember thinking it had exploded in the early 00s compared to the mid-90s, but it has grown exponentially since then. To the point where sometimes I legitimately don’t feel like riding because I don’t want to deal with the crowding at the trailheads.

Hiking as well. Basically all outdoor recreation along the sea-to-sky corridor has gone absolutely wild since you were here - both the local trails and the backcountry “people-in-the-know” stuff.

feel like instagram has been a major factor here.

The big problem is people in the lower mainland do not know how to behave when they go out. It is not just group of people but just a general mentality that going out means causing trouble. A buddy of my ran a venue in Gastown and the insurance rates killed him

i haven't been on the granville strip after dark since the late 90s or gastown since occasionally going to the lamplighter in the mid-2000s, but if the way people i hear talk talk is accurate (which it totally might not be because it sounds hella nimby/classist), the ever-widening geographic separation between where barstars live way out in the fraser valley and the places downtown they go to for nightlife makes them act like wild animals because they don't see it as their backyard and they're on vacation mode.

i do feel like there's some truth to this though, this whole idea that vancouver priced people out so far that it was okay to set it on fire in 2011.

the resentment, in any event, is hella real; you can even see it in a few comments in this thread.

 

[RobertKron]

feel like instagram has been a major factor here.

Probably more so in the general hiking/take a selfie on Dog Mountain or whatever stuff than in the explosion of mountain biking or mountaineering or whatever other enthusiast hobby thing.

I guess like, if someone goes out and buys a 4000 dollar bike, 500 bucks in gear, and 300 dollar bike rack for their car, starts riding multiple times a week, goes through the steep and long learning curve to get to the point where they can actually look cool on the bike (I've been riding like 25+ years and I'm probably still chasing this), makes multiple trips a year to the Monashees or up the Bridge River or whatever to ride the coolest spots, etc. At what point is it silly for some fat old slow "I was here before you" guy like me to sneer at them because they're "just doing it for the gram?"

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Probably more so in the general hiking/take a selfie on Dog Mountain or whatever stuff than in the explosion of mountain biking or mountaineering or whatever other enthusiast hobby thing.

I guess like, if someone goes out and buys a 4000 dollar bike, 500 bucks in gear, and 300 dollar bike rack for their car, starts riding multiple times a week, goes through the steep and long learning curve to get to the point where they can actually look cool on the bike (I've been riding like 25+ years and I'm probably still chasing this), makes multiple trips a year to the Monashees or up the Bridge River or whatever to ride the coolest spots, etc. At what point is it silly for some fat old slow "I was here before you" guy like me to sneer at them because they're "just doing it for the gram?"

wow had no idea that there are so many people so deep in

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

Wife and I live most of the year in Van City, but have a summer home in small town Nova Scotia. It’s not the weather that has us needing to get out for spells here and there; it’s the crowded spaces and volumes of people. Plus, sorry Vsncouverites, but (for the most part) the people in small town Nova Scotia are way more down to earth.

okay mr moneybags

 

[MS]

Probably more so in the general hiking/take a selfie on Dog Mountain or whatever stuff than in the explosion of mountain biking or mountaineering or whatever other enthusiast hobby thing.

I guess like, if someone goes out and buys a 4000 dollar bike, 500 bucks in gear, and 300 dollar bike rack for their car, starts riding multiple times a week, goes through the steep and long learning curve to get to the point where they can actually look cool on the bike (I've been riding like 25+ years and I'm probably still chasing this), makes multiple trips a year to the Monashees or up the Bridge River or whatever to ride the coolest spots, etc. At what point is it silly for some fat old slow "I was here before you" guy like me to sneer at them because they're "just doing it for the gram?"

Yup. MTB culture is intense right now. Like, I live in a biking/skiing town, have about $10k invested in a trail bike + a DH bike, and got out about 60 times this year ... and I'm a 'casual' who's probably on the low end of the spectrum for where I am. There are an absolute crap ton of people now where BIKING IS THEIR LIFE and they're out every day, every condition and their whole lifestyle is built around it. And it's escalated exponentially since COVID as well. From where it was 10 years ago, it's incredible.

Conversely, I suspect that a majority of people with SUPs use them about once a year to say they do and take a nice photo of a sunset.

 

[Raistlin]

I work in an industry where we hire lots of people overseas to work in Vancouver, almost all of them make an effort to take advantage of our proximity to world class trails and mountains, and my company definitely uses B.C.'s natural assets in their pitch to lure talent here.

There is definitely pressure to go out and at least hike if you have the time and money to invest into the right equipment. I mean its established that there's not much night life, so "what else are ya gonna do?"

 

[RandV]

Probably more so in the general hiking/take a selfie on Dog Mountain or whatever stuff than in the explosion of mountain biking or mountaineering or whatever other enthusiast hobby thing.

I guess like, if someone goes out and buys a 4000 dollar bike, 500 bucks in gear, and 300 dollar bike rack for their car, starts riding multiple times a week, goes through the steep and long learning curve to get to the point where they can actually look cool on the bike (I've been riding like 25+ years and I'm probably still chasing this), makes multiple trips a year to the Monashees or up the Bridge River or whatever to ride the coolest spots, etc. At what point is it silly for some fat old slow "I was here before you" guy like me to sneer at them because they're "just doing it for the gram?"

Yeah I used to spend time in Whistler during the summer in the 90's, but hadn't been back much the past 20 years, but getting a gondola pass this summer for hiking I was really surprised how much fun biking infrastructure they added. Made me wish I was a kid/teen again.

Hiking though definitely got a major boost through the instagram/social media effect, to the point of absurdity.

 

[Fatass]

okay mr moneybags

We are old, so were lucky to buy property in the early 80’s, when it was affordable. I can see younger people, who are wanting to buy homes in Vancouver now, hate the city (justifiably) because it’s so stupidly expensive. The winter weather really isn’t so bad, especially when compared to the rest of Canada.

 

[StreetHawk]

We are old, so were lucky to buy property in the early 80’s, when it was affordable. I can see younger people, who are wanting to buy homes in Vancouver now, hate the city (justifiably) because it’s so stupidly expensive. The winter weather really isn’t so bad, especially when compared to the rest of Canada.

Grey skies & rain but well above freezing temperatures vs snow and cold, but with sunlight.

if you are not used to the rain it can wear on you especially if you are from somewhere with lots of sunlight during that time of year.

 

[lawrence]

nope. who cares, what they think.

 

[Huggy]

Please God.

Please start the season.

 

[valkynax]

Whether I or anyone should care depends on several factors, imo...
- the person's credibility
- his/her contribution towards our city
- his/her importance and overall reputation
- the validity of the comment itself

Looking at Ruby Rose and her remarks, through those several categories, it is safe to say that her opinion of Vancouver would mean precisely f***-ALL to most people.

As it should be.