What has happened to this city?

posted February 19th, 2019 at 11:38 PM

Vacationed here with family for several weeks every year from 1988 - 2003. From Alberta originally. I left a sleepy, waterfront city with a rising food scene and plenty of great flea markets, bookstores, coffee shops and culture. Came back with my partner for a weeks' vacation this week for the first time in 14 years. Jesus Christ. Overdevelopment everywhere, towers on every block, expensive as fuck, no heart, no soul. And what the hell happened to all the local pubs? When - and why - did this city change like this?

14 Comments

Since it was taken over

Feb 20, 2019 at 8:31am

by the international colonists.

When and why

Feb 20, 2019 at 9:09am

The reason,well it's Chinese laundering money here.
The government comes out with lies saying that offshore money only accounts for 2% of home purchases. But you see,what they do is count the number of places bought with money from foreign accounts.
But they don't count homes bought recent immigrants.
They don't count homes bought by those with a numbered LTD company.
They don't count homes bought by foreign students but with a Canadian bank account..
They don't count homes bought here by those with a PR card.

The government thinks that if the truth is told,its racism.

Mitch

Feb 20, 2019 at 9:21am

Did you just hang out at Granville and Robson?!...lol

Its time for a name change:

Feb 20, 2019 at 9:51am

Vancoocoo

I know...

Feb 20, 2019 at 10:36am

With all the massive money poring in here, we've lost our culture

Two words....

Feb 20, 2019 at 10:38am

Property Speculation....

Where to start...

Feb 20, 2019 at 10:55am

It’s been getting worse for decades, but especially in the past 10-15 years. So many immigrants from other countries as well as from other parts of Canada, add to that the huge money-laundering issue, the overwhelming number of non-resident foreign buyers who have made real estate ownership out of reach for the average person, bad city planning, and outright greed and corruption from politicians, and you have the mess that is now Vancouver.

Right time

Feb 20, 2019 at 12:52pm

$$$. You got out at roughly the right time re: the cultural collapse. Early 2000’s is when the night life started to shift from a vibrant local pubs & live music scene to boring generic noisy nightclubs- higher capacity, pricier drinks to help pay for rapidly expanding rents / taxes.... Land values for condo’s got so rich, venue owners couldn’t say no to developers. Fast forward 15 years and many arts n culture venues are gone, most downtown businesses are lucky to last more than a year... Nobody goes out to meet people anymore... Dating scene is all Tinder hookups... instant gratification throwaway “culture”, if that’s what you wanna call it. No substance. Everyone’s killing themselves to survive here and it colors all interactions... Too frustrated and afraid to break out of the shell and look up from their phones once in a while.. You’re not wrong. The city lost it’s way a long time ago

Thank You!!

Feb 20, 2019 at 1:16pm

Vancouverite, born and raised here. This city is not what it used to be. I hate living here now. I’d move except anywhere east of here is also dreadful. Not a fan of Canada. Wish I was born somewhere warm.