Year after year, Vancouver is ranked as one of the most desirable places to live in the world. Having been born and raised in this city, sometimes I lose sight of just how great Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada can be. Don’t get me wrong, I love to travel, but I don’t think I could ever call another city home. Vancouver is my hometown and I love it.
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why I love Vancouver is its temperate climate. During the summer, it never quite gets all that hot and humid and during the winter, we don’t get snowed in under six feet of the white stuff. Temperatures stay right in the middle, so that for most months out of the year, you’ll likely need little more than a sweater to head outside. I don’t think that I’d want to live in a city like Los Angeles and Miami where it was sunny all the time, because you don’t get to enjoy the brisk autumn breeze or the soft powder of a brilliant ski hill. Vancouver is one of the places where you can go rollerblading by day and snowboarding by night. It’s really quite amazing.
Another major advantage to living in Vancouver is its multiculturalism. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life and it shocks me when I find someone who hasn’t eaten sushi (preferably without rat poop) or tandoori. To a certain extent, Vancouverites are spoiled by all the cultural events that go on in this city, from Chinese New Year festivities to St. Patrick’s Day parades. No matter what your cultural or ethnic background may be, there’s a good chance that there’s a community of similar people somewhere in this town. You can be Korean, East Indian, Filipino, Italian, Greek, Puerto Rican… there’s probably a community, an event, and a restaurant for you.
Speaking of food, I need not remind you that Vancouver is home to some of the country’s finest restaurants. From Chilli House Thai Bistro to William Tell Restaurant (Swiss), there’s a heck of a lot of variety. You can cook your own steak or eat a $60 burger. If you like eating out, Vancouver is a great city.
Without going into too much detail, here are some of the other reasons why I love Vancouver so much.
- A laid-back pace that isn’t quite country yokel slow
- Seems to be a hub for dot com moguls
- Never-ending schedule of festivals (folk, jazz, comedy, etc.)
- Relatively clean air and water
- A sense of safety, even when walking alone at night
- Very enthusiastic Vancouver Canucks fan base
Vancouver has something for everyone. There are countless children’s community events for the young ones. There are several downtown clubs and bars for young adults. There are great fine dining establishments, musicals, and plays for the older crowd. There are Vancouver jobs for just about any skill set. People who say that this town is dead and that there’s nothing to do… well, they need to open their eyes.
Do you love your hometown? I’d love to hear about where you live and why you chose to settle there.
I’m in Vancouver so I think you sort of covered everything. Although I’d have to add our transit service compared to most cities is awesome.
I love the food here. We can get authentic cuisine from almost every ethnicity without it becoming Canadianized.
When we get city-wide WiFi, maybe I’ll go outside and let you know how it is. 😛
As time goes on, Vancouver is slowing moving it’s way up my list of places I’d like to visit. If I come there though, I better get to meet you, Leo, Chow, and the rest of the gang up there.
I do not mind to be headed to Hell when I die as I have already been in Heaven-Vancouver:)))