Finances & Real Estate Another couple considering moving to Vancouver

Hi,

My wife and I are currently thinking about moving to Vancouver. We are both just starting out specialist physicians, with no kids, and a fair bit of debt. Were living in downtown Montreal right now. We really enjoy the whole urban experience (many have warned us that Vancouver does not really have this, but for other reasons staying in QC is not really an option, nor do we really want to move to Toronto), and are really excited about being closer to the outdoors. Currently the opportunities for us are in hospitals in Burnaby, Westminister or Surrey. The later two seem near the Skytrain, burnaby doesn't seem that far from Vancouver. My commute right now is a 10 minute walk to work so I'm somewhat worried about this, yet I don't really think we would enjoy living in the suburbs. Any recommendations for the best areas that would be reasonably close (via Skytrain ,car etc) to these hospitals for a young couple that dislike suburbia?

We will likely be renting for a year at least, and rental fees will not be the determining factor in where we live.

thanks in advance for any help

 

Downtown and close to downtown will obviously give you the best urban experience, but the commute to Surrey will be a pain.

Burnaby is central and would be convenient for both skytrain and driving.
The south side of Vancouver would also work. It does have a more suburban feel but still very close to everything urban.

Since you are flexible and still renting, I would go for Kits/Downtown/Fairview initially. If the commute is unbearable, a condo in Burnaby would be my second choice.

Enjoy the pay raise coming from QC . Depending on what your specialties, maybe there will be opportunities at VGH, BCW/BCCH, UBC or St. Paul's in the future.

 

Thanks for the reply!
The more I look into it perhaps the kits/fairview area would be better. We don't need to live amongst the high-rises, just like to be able to walk to lots of things, feel like the neighbourhood is somewhat alive, and avoid the cookie-cutter suburban home feel. A few people in the past had told me they thought these areas were more interesting in terms of shops and restaurants than yaletown/downtown. Is that still the case?

If one was driving, would fairview be significantly easier commute than say yaletown, to burnaby or new westminister? I seem to remember some difficulty getting out of downtown core across the bridge last time I was there (but that was going to airport). Also, is there a sense of going "against the traffic" at rush hour in Vancouver like here in Montreal (try driving to the west island at around 5pm it will take hours!)?

 

Fairview is closer to Burnaby or New Westminster than Yaletown, so yes it is significantly easier. Besides there is no bridge to cross.

 

The downtown core is definitely more concentrated in terms of things to do (though probably boring compared to MTL and TO), but it's only showcases a subset of things that Vancouver has to offer.

Whether or not you'd like living in other areas more is dependent on personal tastes. Each neighourhood will have its own feel and atmosphere so it's hard to generalize. Realistically, Downtown, Fairview & Kits are all so close to each other that it doesn't really matter. Rent in any of these locations, then buy once you have a better feel for the different neighbourhoods.

Also look into Main St. and Commercial Dr.

 

Like 4 hospitals in the city: Vancouver General, St Pauls, Childrens & Mount St Josephs... Plus UBC too...

Burnaby has their own General hospital... Buses #25, 28 & 129 all pass thru that area...

New Westminster has (Regional hub/centre) Royal Columbian- which is on the SkyTrain route too; Millenium line, Sapperton Station...

Might consider the newly redeveloped Brentwood area of Burnaby (Condo towers going up all over), just minutes from just about anywhere... Close to the freeway too/Hwy #1...

 

So the job situation has changed a little bit. Now I'd be looking at Lion's Gate Hospital in north vancouver. It is a better oppurtunity, however I would need to be closer to the hospital in this case. I think we would have to look at living in North Van. However, my partner would likely still be looking at Richmond or Surrey. The commute from North Van to Richmond looks pretty miserable, is this the case? Or are you going against traffic?How long do you think it would take by car roughly? (I'm assuming ferry-->skytrain would be longer)

 

Depending on what time of day: From Richmond to North Van could be as little as say 30 minutes, but in rush hours an hour!

There is the Canada Line (SkyTrain) to Waterfront- 25 minute train ride, SeaBus would add another 15 minutes, and then buses up Lonsdale would add another 10 minutes or so... 2 Zone fare: $4 weekdays until 6:30, and just $2.75 evenings and weekends....

From Surrey: If you use the Port Mann Bridge: $3 toll each way... Probably a good 40 minutes drive at least... Surrey is a large area, so it also depends on where you are starting from, and which route you take... SkyTrain from Surrey is more like 40 minutes, PLUS SeaBus, Plus the buses from Lonsdale... AND is 3 zone fare each way: $5.50...

 

Finally an update... We negotiated to both get positions at Lions gate hospital in north Vancouver. Now have to decide where to live on the north shore. We don't have kids so it doesn't have to be a huge home. We can't afford the pricier properties in west van anytime soon. Would rather have a view vs extra space. Where would you guys chose for a modest detached home on north shore? North van as its closest to hospital and seabus to downtown vs deep cove or west van for views?

We need to decide whether we will go month to month furnished apt until we pick an area or just sign a 1 year lease in an apartment to have plenty of time to choose...

Thanks again for the tips

 

Lynn Valley is cheapest but it rains a lot up there-I quite like Lower Lonsdale but it is overpriced.