Vancouver still most liveable city in world: Survey

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by nova9

I was born in Vancouver and spent most of my time in Vancouver. Most of my friends grew up in Vancouver. I dunno why people think 'native' Vancouverites are so rare.

And as to who is a Vancouverite and not, it is soooooo arrogant to count others out because they did not grow up here. Bring born is not a skill or an achievement, those that move here CHOSE to be here (mostly) so they have every right to be a Vancouverite. In fact, I know a few native vancouverites that hang out in Richmond and don't contribute any lick of culture to vancouver and know nothing about downtown or the other neighborhoods - these people are not vancouverites.

when i go out with my friend he always says i was born in north van and whomever he says it to - lady at the cashier, waitress etc they always say to him - thats so rare to meet someone born here

[trofirhen]

Not to be contradictory, but in a survey I read, Vancouver comes THIRD, after Vienna and Zurich.

However, these cities have had hundreds of years to fine-tune their way of life and they are in Europe, which has a much longer cultural history.

I think that just the fact that Vancouver is First any where outside Europe is still pretty amazing. We beat out Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, all of which score high, and the traditionally "perfect" cities like Stockholm and Copenhagen.

I also think that this fact is what makes participating on the SSP Vancouver section so exciting. We're out to make a great thing even better. One of the best ways of doing this is not only enhance our own originality, but to "borrow the best" from other cities that might be stronger than we are in some areas.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Not to be contradictory, but in a survey I read, Vancouver comes THIRD, after Vienna and Zurich.

However, these cities have had hundreds of years to fine-tune their way of life and they are in Europe, which has a much longer cultural history.

I think that just the fact that Vancouver is First any where outside Europe is still pretty amazing. We beat out Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, all of which score high, and the traditionally "perfect" cities like Stockholm and Copenhagen.

I also think that this fact is what makes participating on the SSP Vancouver section so exciting. We're out to make a great thing even better. One of the best ways of doing this is not only enhance our own originality, but to "borrow the best" from other cities that might be stronger than we are in some areas.

The survey that ranked us third was some other survey, while the survey that ranked us first was the Economist.

[cabotp]

The other survey of course being the Mercer one.

The main thing isn't that we come out on top in each survey. Because we won't has there will be differences in each survey that helps us in some areas but not in others.

The main thing is that we are near the top in the surveys. Which we are.

[trofirhen]

A rhetorical question. I think most Vancouverites are proud and very pleased that we consistently rank so high.

And of course, everyone knows that we're not PERFECT. No place is.

But what are some other cities that have strong points that we don't, and what could we learn - and borrow - from them? Just food for thought.

[mr.x]

I have to say that many Vancouverites seem to really lack perspective, perhaps they're not very well traveled and don't know how good they have it here. I get responses like:

"I love how you always compare us to the worst, it's a race to the bottom!"

"Sure, it's a piece of shiate, but compared to that other piece of shiate it's a beauty!"



These people are hopeless.


For instance, that last quote was about the convention centre. Our expanded convention centre is amazing, it certainly ranks high near the top of the list when it comes to the world list of convention centres. Some people simply expect too much, and ignore the nature of what a convention centre normally is. Perhaps this isn't the best analogy but it's like expecting a car to be able to fly...a convention centre is usually a big box and nothing more, we've made it much more than that. And that's what $880-million buys you. They complain both about the cost to build it, and then they also complain about the quality of the centre.

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by mr.x

I have to say that many Vancouverites seem to really lack perspective, perhaps they're not very well traveled and don't know how good they have it here. I get responses like:

"I love how you always compare us to the worst, it's a race to the bottom!"

"Sure, it's a piece of shiate, but compared to that other piece of shiate it's a beauty!"



These people are hopeless.


For instance, that last quote was about the convention centre. Our expanded convention centre is amazing, it certainly ranks high near the top of the list when it comes to the world list of convention centres. Some people simply expect too much, and ignore the nature of what a convention centre normally is. Perhaps this isn't the best analogy but it's like expecting a car to be able to fly...a convention centre is usually a big box and nothing more, we've made it much more than that. And that's what $880-million buys you. They complain both about the cost to build it, and then they also complain about the quality of the centre.

To a lot of folks. The grass always looks greener on the other side to them.

[SpongeG]

people will complain about everything - look how many complained when they got that carbon tax refund and that was a good thing for most

[Hourglass]

Honestly, when a city is #1 or #4 on these lists, the differences in quality of life are insignificant and (for me) boil down to preferences. The only thing I would say is that cities such as Vienna (#1 in the Mercer study) blow Vancouver -- and in fact all North American cities as well as many Asian ones -- out of the water when it comes to public transit.

[SpongeG]

what happens when you take burnaby, richmond, etc out of the equation...

do these things only count the actual city of or the entire region?

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

people will complain about everything - look how many complained when they got that carbon tax refund and that was a good thing for most

Why would anyone with 1/10th of a brain even think about complaining about a tax refund

If the government wants to give me some money. I'm not going to complain about it.

Originally Posted by SpongeG

what happens when you take burnaby, richmond, etc out of the equation...

do these things only count the actual city of or the entire region?

I'm going to assume it is for the metro area of the cities and not just for the city propers.

[Yume-sama]

Generally only the people who don't understand the meaning of "refund" (getting money back that you paid, or in this case, overpaid) get excited about tax refunds.

But it's a fun way to make sure people pay their taxes on time. Free money (well, yours... but yours again!)!

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

Generally only the people who don't understand the meaning of "refund" (getting money back that you paid, or in this case, overpaid) get excited about tax refunds.

But it's a fun way to make sure people pay their taxes on time. Free money (well, yours... but yours again!)!

A friend who is a tax lawyer told me years ago that only idiots are happy when they get a tax refund because they haven't realised that they've given the government an interest-free loan for a year or more.

Tax Rule number one: NEVER pay the gov't more than they are owed.
Tax Rule number two: pay taxes ONLY on the day they're due.

An unspoken rule: its usually cheaper to pay someone to save you taxes than to pay the taxes.