So conflicted

posted September 20th, 2018 at 8:21 AM

Like so many of us, I’m considering moving completely away from the LM. The whirlwind pace of changes taking place here over the past 10 years is finally driving me away from my beloved home town. On the one hand I still love it so much and will miss it terribly, but I think that I’m already missing it because my hometown is gone. Where I presently live is becoming 100% devoted to the desires of foreign investors and tourists. The necessary services that we locals actually need are being eliminated one by one, so that all that’s left are touristy boutiques and coffee shops and expensive restaurants. I now have to go further and further away to get the things I used to be able to get just by walking or riding my bike. It’s not the livable place it once was. All of our beautiful natural places like the forests and beaches and parks, are no longer a place of refuge for me to escape to. They’re overrun with crowds of loud tourists tromping over the vegetation and snapping 1000’s of pictures while talking at the top of their lungs all at the same time. It’s hell! But the trouble is that I can’t figure out where there is left to move to that won’t be so far away from my family and friends that I’d be even unhappier there than I am here. A quandary that I guess so many of us are in as we are colonized.

20 Comments

I hear ya.

Sep 20, 2018 at 10:06am

I'm from PEI and absolutely loved Vancouver when I lived there. I would love to again but would end up homeless very quickly. God is watching and the government should be full of guilt shame for letting the homeless rot in the streets. I can also guarantee there's hundreds of thousands not far from the street. God bless everyone who is suffering hard core. I always thought intelligent people were good people but judging by the suffering I saw, I'm not so sure anymore.

Colonized is the right word

Sep 20, 2018 at 10:12am

That's for sure.

registereduser

Sep 20, 2018 at 2:40pm

Funny how everyone is ready to pack up and move to the Yukon or somewhere but not Maple Ridge or Langley or Mission...lol

Amen

Sep 20, 2018 at 3:02pm

My neighbourhood has half a dozen coffee shops, the same amount of fitness places, and a dozen restaurants that I cant afford. I just want a real corner store, one that has nothing to do with trends.

Are you sure?

Sep 20, 2018 at 3:19pm

The “tourists” are actually locals that live here.

What you’re describing is gentrification. Not colonization.

@Registered user @are you

Sep 20, 2018 at 4:10pm

@Registered user: What's the difference? I said the lower mainland, and in my opinion that includes those places. I have family living there, and from what I've seen they've become just as unrecognizable as everywhere else around here and not much, if any, improvement whatsoever. @are you sure: wrong. They don't even speak the language and they are definitely not local from anywhere around here.

I think you alerady posted a similar confession a while back

Sep 20, 2018 at 4:43pm

about something like "going back to nature" and that "hiking trails" were your only refuge. The writing style is very similar and I believe you complained about "loud tourists" etc and similar topics in your previous post.

Still singing that sad song....and that post was from...maybe 3 or four months ago?

You had plenty of time to move...

Small Town

Sep 20, 2018 at 5:42pm

Head to smaller regional areas. You can drive to Vancouver when you want. Better quality of life.

Squamish...

Sep 20, 2018 at 7:33pm

is a fairly short drive and less packed than cities closer to Vancouver.

@I think

Sep 20, 2018 at 7:48pm

Wrong. I’ve never posted something like this before, and the really sad thing is that you’re so focused on this site that you’re actually tracking posts with similar content for months! GAL!