The problem with Vancouver after living here for my entire life has been that its best traits can be beaten elsewhere while it's rarely the "worst" in any other given criteria. What I mean to say is that anyone coming from elsewhere will easily find something to complain about and feel that the "better" traits the city has to offer are just masking where it falls off. Popular example would be people seeing the downtown eastside and saying "wow, how could it be so expensive to live here? Look at how crummy this street is". That same person will go up Grouse Mountain and say "wow, it's a great view, better than anything in my home city, too bad it's just covering up the drug use". Stanley Park is great, but it has less to offer than Central Park in New York. The summer is mild, but short, and summers in Calgary and Montreal are arguably much better. The city might have lots of outdoor activities, but does it have the hustle and bustle of Toronto?
The biggest problem with Vancouver is that it quickly shot up from small, regional powerhouse to world class city in the span of 20 years. Population has more than doubled since the 80s, especially if you look at connected places like the Fraser Valley which is only "not-Vancouver" as a technicality, in my opinion. Additionally, a big problem is that a lot of the racial diversity is actually very segmented, with certain districts being way more weighted than others and I think that DOES leave to a silent, lighthearted racism that propagates everywhere but hides itself well from tourists.
That being said, I've traveled a decent amount. I'm currently on vacation in the Balkans and I just returned from a weekend trip to Rome. Rome ****ing sucks. I'm sorry but it sucks so much I can't even explain how much of a tourist trap it is. If you think Vancouver is anything near some of the other big "Western" cities in terms of presenting a facade to newcomers, you're just wrong. "Big" cities have their problems and the people in Vancouver aren't used to seeing them in their city yet, but it's far from a rough place and it literally has something to offer anyone. Calgarians are lucky to have their summer blue skies and Stampede, but as soon as winter turns itself in, we all know where we'd rather be.