|
qhat posted:I only consider Vancouver (and generally the west coast) to be more expensive if you are actually planning on purchasing real estate, housing prices here are obviously detached from fundamentals and have been for a long time... Rentals being cheaper is really a huge thing though, like it was shocking how I could get a 1bdrm here for the same price I was paying for a room in a house in London with 4 other people, especially as an expat who doesn't plan on buying property either here or in the UK. This is just anecdotal but being a British expat, I also know other people in a similar position who aren't in tech, and the feeling is very much the same; "get paid more to do the same job and pay less in rent". Even if you're in something less well paid, minimum wage is basically the same in the UK as Canada. I guess it just depends what your priorities are. Again, no offense, but as you are A) working in tech, B) coming from London, and C) not looking to buy, you are not at all the norm. The one person I know who has managed to move away from Victoria and Vancouver and return to set up a family and still enjoyed a decent standard of living was in tech, but he was still working for an American company and basically brought a San Francisco income to Victoria. I'm also guessing you are single, or not living with a partner? Vancouver does have a decent supply of relatively affordable 1bdrms that aren't, like, the size of an actual public bathroom stall, but the moment you try to rent anything bigger than that you run into the dreaded basement suite zone. Also, unless things have changed significantly in the last few years, isn't Vancouver's much vaunted tech industry actually pretty anemic? There's a reason that so many of the jokes in this thread featured Hootsuite for a while. quote:For food I've only ever noticed a significant price difference in certain items like dairy (thanks to the power of the dairy lobby here), did you have some specific items in particular that you noticed are significantly cheaper in the UK? The biggest difference I notice is in fruit, veg, and dairy, but generally when I go to buy all the ingredients for meals in a comparable grocery store (say, Safeway vs. Tesco, or Thrifty Foods vs M&S) after conversion I find I often end up spending about 10-20% more in BC. I was back in Victoria for three months earlier this year and actually tracked it for a while and it was noticeable. Alcohol is also way more expensive, but that's clearly on purpose with the provincial taxes. quote:Yeah lack of good cheap cheese is annoying. Normal Cheddar is basically Red Leicester at home which I never liked, and normal Cheddar from home is White Cheddar here, which can sometimes be hard to find and I’ve never seen it aged more than “medium”. Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know much about cheese, but it’s definitely worse here. Look for Balderson's cheddar if you want the equivalent of good aged UK cheddar. Also, yes, cheese and dairy in general is considerably worse in Canada, but that's because of the politics behind the infamous Canadian dairy cartel.
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 08:27
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 15:30 |
|
|
quote:In fact, I would love to see if anyone has actually been tracking excess suicides in developed nations over the course of the pandemic, because my hypothesis is that whatever change there is is statistically insignificant compared to the number of excess deaths from covid. There was a meta-study posted a couple of months back (it was discussed in the USNews thread, I think?) that showed that suicides actually went down over the pandemic, so yeah it's bullshit.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 08:28
|
|
|
The tech industry was not very special a few years ago. I'm not sure what changed (possibly amazon finally exhausting the cheap-competent labor supply here) but salaries started going parabolic around 2018, and most everyone I know in tech who has switched job in the past couple of years has received a 50% bump in salary. My partner's future brother-in-law's comp has gone up 100% in less than a year by making two quick back-to-back switches, it's insane. My line of thinking was possibly taking a job south of the border once I get my citizenship here, but with the way things are going that might not even be necessary... And I can confirm Balderson's makes good cheese. I usually whip that out when I'm making a board for friends.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 08:38
|
|
|
qhat posted:The tech industry was not very special a few years ago. I'm not sure what changed (possibly amazon finally exhausting the cheap-competent labor supply here) but salaries started going parabolic around 2018, and most everyone I know in tech who has switched job in the past couple of years has received a 50% bump in salary. My partner's future brother-in-law's comp has gone up 100% in less than a year by making two quick back-to-back switches, it's insane. My line of thinking was possibly taking a job south of the border once I get my citizenship here, but with the way things are going that might not even be necessary... OK yeah I stopped paying close attention to BC's tech industry about 2017, so that makes sense. But just to put things in perspective, that's quite unusual -- I don't think the salaries of most people outside of tech have grown nearly as quickly, and certainly not quickly enough to keep pace with the skyrocketing price of real estate. The bottom line though is that Vancouver and Toronto with their respective suburbs make up 22% of Canada's population, and, unless you work for the federal government and have a job in Ottawa, they're two of the only livable urban centres with decent economies (I would throw Montreal in there, but because of the francophone element the economic calculus there is a bit different). London is by comparison only 13% of the UK's population, and plenty of other second and third tier cities in the UK have lots of urban amenities and are really livable, but their real estate is relatively reasonable, and you are never more than a short drive away from all kinds of attractions. MeinPanzer fucked around with this message at 09:01 on Jul 22, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 08:55
|
|
|
qhat posted:https://twitter.com/SteveSaretsky/status/1418019627615936512 I never use Facebook other than going in to cleanup notifications every 6 months. But I will have a look at my wall when I do. I have one anti vaxxer covid conspiracy theorists that for the most part is the only one posting it. Reason I mention it is he's a realtor as well. Probably because covid made their job a bit more annoying with covid. Can't imagine it being good for your business, if he sold my home and people asked who I used I'd never recommend him. Purgatory Glory fucked around with this message at 15:45 on Jul 22, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 15:43
|
|
|
qhat posted:Yeah lack of good cheap cheese is annoying. Normal Cheddar is basically Red Leicester at home which I never liked, and normal Cheddar from home is White Cheddar here, which can sometimes be hard to find and I’ve never seen it aged more than “medium”. Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know much about cheese, but it’s definitely worse here. Look we need to protect the Canadian dairy industry but that doesn't mean our cheese actually has to be good.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 16:15
|
|
|
You can get good British/European cheeses at Costco for decent prices and balderdons for a third what it costs at the grocery store. I can't bring myself to buy cheese at thriftys anymore, it's almost physically painful.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 16:54
|
|
|
large hands posted:You can get good British/European cheeses at Costco for decent prices and balderdons for a third what it costs at the grocery store. I can't bring myself to buy cheese at thriftys anymore, it's almost physically painful. Costco Jarlsburg is fantastic
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 18:00
|
|
|
The victoria costco is hosed because its all alone serving like 400k people while the other costcos on the island only serve 80 and 100 thousand people each, all at the same size. I haven't been able to go through most of covid because there no longer were "good times" to go and it was constant 20-30 min lines to get in and out. God I miss that cheese.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 18:44
|
|
|
large hands posted:You can get good British/European cheeses at Costco for decent prices and balderdons for a third what it costs at the grocery store. I can't bring myself to buy cheese at thriftys anymore, it's almost physically painful. This is the secret to having high quality affordable cheese.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 18:47
|
|
|
Alctel posted:Costco Jarlsburg is fantastic Right now in our fridge from Costco: Pre-sliced jarlsberg 1 kilo Parmigiano reggiano Balderdons 2017 Balderdons extra old orange block cheddar Kirkland shredded Monterey Jack blend (don't judge it makes great quesadillas w/ Costco flour tortillas) Big thing of Danish blue. Baronjutter posted:The victoria costco is hosed because its all alone serving like 400k people while the other costcos on the island only serve 80 and 100 thousand people each, all at the same size. I haven't been able to go through most of covid because there no longer were "good times" to go and it was constant 20-30 min lines to get in and out. God I miss that cheese. Yeah it's getting better now, we got lucky in that my wife is a very frontline health worker so we got to line jump with her hospital ID
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 19:13
|
|
|
Is there any time of day when Costco isn't Thunderdome? I haven't found one yet.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 19:26
|
|
|
large hands posted:You can get good British/European cheeses at Costco for decent prices and balderdons for a third what it costs at the grocery store. I can't bring myself to buy cheese at thriftys anymore, it's almost physically painful. Thriftys in house “compliments” brand extra old aged cheddar is a good buy. Sometimes down to $1/100g.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 20:51
|
|
|
tagesschau posted:Is there any time of day when Costco isn't Thunderdome? I haven't found one yet. Between the geriatric rush in the morning and the lunchtime rush. But that's probably location specific.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 23:03
|
|
|
An hour before closing is p chill
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 23:13
|
|
|
linoleum floors posted:An hour before closing is p chill My father in law is a veteran when it comes to the Colwood Costco, and this is what he says. He has those visits down to a science. I go in there occasionally with him and my wife and end up bumbling around and getting in people’s way when I gawk at the 300 pack of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 23:27
|
|
|
yippee cahier posted:Thriftys in house “compliments” brand extra old aged cheddar is a good buy. Sometimes down to $1/100g. Hey thanks Andy, I'll have a look next time I go there for avocados. MeinPanzer posted:My father in law is a veteran when it comes to the Colwood Costco, and this is what he says. He has those visits down to a science. 2x .75 liter bottles of Frank's for less than  
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2021 01:13
|
|
|
Do grocers in other countries arrange their cheeses in different parts of the store based on what class of person eats them or is that just a Canadian thing?
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2021 06:08
|
|
|
Flocons de Jambon posted:Do grocers in other countries arrange their cheeses in different parts of the store based on what class of person eats them or is that just a Canadian thing? That’s a Canadian thing. All the cheese is in one place in the UK, or to be more accurate, if you’re going to a normal supermarket like tesco you won’t have the pointlessly expensive fancy cheese section at all
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2021 06:36
|
|
|
I guess I never really reflected on that, but it's true come to think of it. I think that's again a result of the import premium the dairy industry has imposed. Only within the last few years I've noticed that you can regularly get domestic imitations of imported cheese in the cheaper cheese section, like gouda or swiss. One thing I definitely miss, and never realized was such a West coast Canadian thing, is the bulk aisle. The first time I moved away I was confused when I discovered you could only buy nuts, chocolate chips, dried ginger, etc. in pre-sealed bags or containers in most places.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2021 07:41
|
|
|
MeinPanzer posted:I guess I never really reflected on that, but it's true come to think of it. I think that's again a result of the import premium the dairy industry has imposed. Only within the last few years I've noticed that you can regularly get domestic imitations of imported cheese in the cheaper cheese section, like gouda or swiss. That seems mostly a location size thing to me, much rarer in the cramped grocers miss that I'm in a city, but the suburbs with their monstrous warehouses and maybe parking lots all seem to have em. In the city i gotta try and find a bulk barn
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2021 08:07
|
|
|
Cerepol posted:That seems mostly a location size thing to me, much rarer in the cramped grocers miss that I'm in a city, but the suburbs with their monstrous warehouses and maybe parking lots all seem to have em. In the city i gotta try and find a bulk barn Yeah you usually only find them in full-sized grocery stores, but I've never seen them in comparably sized grocery stores in the US, UK, or European countries, unless they're specialty organic stores or something similar. I think bulk sections make a lot of sense, since buying in bulk generally minimizes packaging waste as well as food waste. That's one of my main criticisms of grocery stores in the UK, actually: many things are unnecessarily packaged in plastic, and it results in a ton more landfill waste.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2021 09:47
|
|
|
Last week this thread was talking about good European cheeses at Canadian grocery stores. If I was looking at an Independent for a good Swiss cheese what would be my best bet (short of ditching the Independent and going to the cheese shop in the market)?
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2021 23:46
|
|
|
Arcsquad12 posted:Last week this thread was talking about good European cheeses at Canadian grocery stores. If I was looking at an Independent for a good Swiss cheese what would be my best bet (short of ditching the Independent and going to the cheese shop in the market)? Lol wherever you go, you’ll be bending over
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2021 23:51
|
|
|
Arcsquad12 posted:Last week this thread was talking about good European cheeses at Canadian grocery stores. If I was looking at an Independent for a good Swiss cheese what would be my best bet (short of ditching the Independent and going to the cheese shop in the market)? It will not be in the Independent.
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2021 00:02
|
|
|
HookShot posted:It will not be in the Independent. I didn't think so, hence the hypothetical. Are there any labels I should watch for when I check the import shop?
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2021 00:24
|
|
|
Contraband
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2021 02:20
|
|
|
Arcsquad12 posted:I didn't think so, hence the hypothetical. Are there any labels I should watch for when I check the import shop? Labels with the least amount of English are a good bet, but if you’re in a specialist cheese shop ask the person working there. They’ll know best.
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2021 02:43
|
|
|
This thread must be slow because literally all the listing on MLS are old dumps that have been on there for a long time and asking way too much. News had some real estate polls basically saying people plan to get out of their area in BC or BC all together to somewhere more affordable.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2021 16:45
|
|
|
Yeah apparently the market is incredibly slow right now. https://twitter.com/SteveSaretsky/status/1422617442610728963?s=20 No listings = no inventory = more cause for more spiking prices once people start looking to buy again... Ooh I think I know the article you're talking about. quote:Many B.C. residents considering moving somewhere more affordable Established Rich homeowners that wanted poor renters to move somewhere else:  In BC at least there's not really anywhere notably cheaper in the lower mainland. People looking elsewhere are probably looking at the capital region (Langford?), Nanaimo, Courtney/Comox, and the Okanagan, Kelowna and Penticton. Other places are more remote with weaker economies, though perhaps if someone is confidently in a WFH situation they're considering moving somewhere real remote. If it were me personally I'd be having a look at Penticton, where you can get a dumpy old SFH for like $500k, a significant discount from Vancouver's 1.3M for the same sort of product. The town has a downtown and a few breweries and beaches. Not the worst place out there. I don't think we'd be seeing these sort of numbers if it weren't for the fact that the pandemic has opened the door to WFH being viable for a lot of people. The economies of towns outside of the capital region and Vancouver just aren't that great. Seems like Ontario has a lot more towns with real economies outside of Toronto. This is one of those ways where the insane housing price appreciation may be considered "not really a problem?" from a provincial governance context. Since the collapse of forestry in the 90s, there's been a longstanding economic issues throughout BC that have never been resolved by any government. What replaces the resource industries? Nothing so far. Having an influx of young new money into these towns could re-energize them. Worth noting as well that the premier is from Langford, so stories about young people being pushed out of Vancouver and having to "settle" for Langford is not gonna look like a problem to him.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2021 17:44
|
|
|
Anecdotal evidence, but we're looking on the island right now to move from Vancouver and the entire greater Victoria area is insane. Everything is going unconditional with 4-5+ offers and some considerably over asking. I could see a lot of it being from people downsizing from Vancouver, combined with the low interest rates.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2021 18:13
|
|
|
Yeah these places are still not “affordable” for most workers lol
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2021 18:17
|
|
|
Juul-Whip posted:Yeah these places are still not “affordable” for most workers lol No not at all. At this point the situation is more around relatively well off Vancouver couples wondering if they should buy a (tiny) $600k one bedroom condo in Metro Vancouver, or get more value (ie. floorspace, a garden) by moving elsewhere in the province to get that aspirational SFH.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2021 18:23
|
|
|
I'll aspire pure nitrogen before I aspire to live in loving Vernon
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2021 19:09
|
|
|
Yeah, a place in our complex was put up for sale, had six showings the next day, mutiple offers, sold for $200k over asking within 72 hours in the last couple weeks.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2021 19:15
|
|
|
When we were looking last year a house on the same street was for sale for 900k. It was a quick flip, all they did was redid the garden and put a lick of paint on stuff. It just sold for 1.2. 300k profit in 1 year and they probably put 50k tops into the house. The house very similar size as ours which we got for the same price last year and we've put on a new roof, gardens, and a ton of other important upgrades. Does that mean ours could probably get 1.2 suddenly now too? Absolute madness.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2021 21:29
|
|
|
Baronjutter posted:When we were looking last year a house on the same street was for sale for 900k. It was a quick flip, all they did was redid the garden and put a lick of paint on stuff. It just sold for 1.2. 300k profit in 1 year and they probably put 50k tops into the house. The house very similar size as ours which we got for the same price last year and we've put on a new roof, gardens, and a ton of other important upgrades. Does that mean ours could probably get 1.2 suddenly now too? Absolute madness. Probably tax free too due to principal residence exemption. Who knew that cheap credit, foreign investment and money laundering to create tax free gains for homeowners wouldn't be a sustainable strategy?
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2021 23:32
|
|
|
Mantle posted:Probably tax free too due to principal residence exemption. Who knew that cheap credit, foreign investment and money laundering to create tax free gains for homeowners wouldn't be a sustainable strategy? Well its making ME rich on paper, so now I have extremely strong opinions on housing. No new development, it will hurt the neighbourhood character. I'm deeply concerned about our housing crisis but more housing isn't the answer. What we really need is lower property taxes but more policing.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2021 23:52
|
|
|
I think we need to hang landlords from their balconies.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2021 23:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 15:30 |
|
|
qhat posted:I think we need to hang landlords from their balconies. Woah, not cool. Most landlords are just struggling themselves. Lot of bad tenants out there that like scratch up floors and use water and stuff. For most people having a mortgage helper living in the basement is the only way they can afford a house, why do you hate people being able to afford housing? We need more home owner grants and maybe longer mortgages. The supply of housing needs to stay exactly the same but people should have access to more debt so they can bid prices up even higher.
|
|
#
?
Aug 7, 2021 00:03
|
|