Need Help with Housing Location - Around Vancouver Area

[Blueeyzz1310]

Hello,
I will be moving from U.S.A to Canada ( Place not yet decided ) next month and will be working remotely (WFH) for my U.S Employer ( No H1B ). My employer is located in West Coast and hence, I am initially thinking of moving to Vancouver Area to be in the same time zone as my employer. I have recently started searching for housing in Vancouver area and I am having a difficult time finding the right place / city/ area to move. Can anyone who has any idea on the housing conditions suggest me a good place ( considerations - rent, commute etc ) to rent. I am ideally looking for a single bedroom condo or studio.

Thank you all so very much in advance.

 

[steaky]

What's the difficulty in finding mr. right? It largely depends on your budget and how long you want to commute from point 1 to 2.

 

[Blueeyzz1310]

Hello, the difficulty is finding the right neighbourhood. I work from home most of the time and hence, don't have to travel everyday. The reason I specified commute is to have to access groceries, restaurants etc.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[steaky]

If you use google map, you can find lots of neighborhoods within walking distance to groceries and restaurants. For example, in the city of Burnaby, the neighborhood around Metrotown mall is nice There you can get a variety of services and goods (including groceries and restaurants) in one shopping mall. You can google Metrotown mall for details.

 

[Blueeyzz1310]

If you use google map, you can find lots of neighborhoods within walking distance to groceries and restaurants. For example, in the city of Burnaby, the neighborhood around Metrotown mall is nice There you can get a variety of services and goods (including groceries and restaurants) in one shopping mall. You can google Metrotown mall for details.

Hello,
Thank you for your inputs. I will look into the are you have mentioned.

 

[Vitesze]

If you're working remotely, consider moving to the suburbs where rent is considerably cheaper. I suggest Coquitlam - it has some of the best neighbourhoods in the Lower Mainland, lowest COL and still has all the amenities. It's main downside is a long commute time to Vancouver, but if you work remotely that won't be a factor.

If you want to be close to the heart of the city, look at the Metrotown area in Burnaby (which is a 25m skytrain ride from Downtown Vancouver). If you want to be close to nature, look into North Vancouver. I'd avoid Vancouver, Surrey and Richmond as these cities are great for a quick commute time, but are more expensive and don't really offer anything that you can't find in other suburbs.

 

[SithLord]

If you're working remotely, consider moving to the suburbs where rent is considerably cheaper. I suggest Coquitlam - it has some of the best neighbourhoods in the Lower Mainland, lowest COL and still has all the amenities. It's main downside is a long commute time to Vancouver, but if you work remotely that won't be a factor.

If you want to be close to the heart of the city, look at the Metrotown area in Burnaby (which is a 25m skytrain ride from Downtown Vancouver). If you want to be close to nature, look into North Vancouver. I'd avoid Vancouver, Surrey and Richmond as these cities are great for a quick commute time, but are more expensive and don't really offer anything that you can't find in other suburbs.

Very helpful thanks!!

 

[mad_hatter]

I would suggest the Lougheed Mall area in Burnaby. Lougheed mall is being redeveloped, once completed, it will become a very trendy neighborhood. This area is serviced by Sky Train, close to highway 1 and 7. This area also has a mix of new and older condos. You can rent a newer condo if you are flush or an older condo if you are on a tight budget.

 

[steaky]

If you're working remotely, consider moving to the suburbs where rent is considerably cheaper. I suggest Coquitlam - it has some of the best neighbourhoods in the Lower Mainland, lowest COL and still has all the amenities. It's main downside is a long commute time to Vancouver, but if you work remotely that won't be a factor.

If you want to be close to the heart of the city, look at the Metrotown area in Burnaby (which is a 25m skytrain ride from Downtown Vancouver). If you want to be close to nature, look into North Vancouver. I'd avoid Vancouver, Surrey and Richmond as these cities are great for a quick commute time, but are more expensive and don't really offer anything that you can't find in other suburbs.

Except Richmond has fisherman's wharf during weekends offering catches while others don't offer anything. I bet you don't like seafood.

 

[Vitesze]

I would suggest the Lougheed Mall area in Burnaby. Lougheed mall is being redeveloped, once completed, it will become a very trendy neighborhood. This area is serviced by Sky Train, close to highway 1 and 7. This area also has a mix of new and older condos. You can rent a newer condo if you are flush or an older condo if you are on a tight budget.

The Lougheed area is great too; I lived at a 10m walk from the Mall for a few months. I suspect though with all the redevelopments it's a somewhat pricier area now than others?

Except Richmond has fisherman's wharf during weekends offering catches while others don't offer anything. I bet you don't like seafood.

Saying Richmond/Vancouver don't have anything unique to offer of course isn't true, but for day-to-day life it doesn't matter that much where one lives here. All cities offer similar amenities, cultural diversity, etc. If one cares about Richmond's Fisherman's Wharf it's still easily visited on a weekend day by commuting in, as are any other things in Metro Vancouver.

I have plenty of coworkers who swear by living in the trendy Vancouver neighbourhoods (e.g. Kitsilano, Mt. Pleasant, Cambie Village etc.) because it's so close to everything. But they end up paying double in rent (of what I pay in New West), have to live with multiple roommates and I still get to visit these areas in the weekends and do whatever they do. I don't know anyone living in Richmond but it's where I work, and let's just say I would recommend other areas over Richmond for a newcomer.

 

[steaky]

Saying Richmond/Vancouver don't have anything unique to offer of course isn't true, but for day-to-day life it doesn't matter that much where one lives here. All cities offer similar amenities, cultural diversity, etc. If one cares about Richmond's Fisherman's Wharf it's still easily visited on a weekend day by commuting in, as are any other things in Metro Vancouver.

I have plenty of coworkers who swear by living in the trendy Vancouver neighbourhoods (e.g. Kitsilano, Mt. Pleasant, Cambie Village etc.) because it's so close to everything. But they end up paying double in rent (of what I pay in New West), have to live with multiple roommates and I still get to visit these areas in the weekends and do whatever they do. I don't know anyone living in Richmond but it's where I work, and let's just say I would recommend other areas over Richmond for a newcomer.

A friend of my wife lives in Richmond. She is a newcomer and works in Richmond. She loves living in Richmond with the convenience of the abundance of Chinese supermarkets, restaurants, and vicinity of YVR airport. She lives with her two kids in a rented townhouse without sharing with anyone.

Maybe you like driving, but to me, it's a long drive from West Vancouver to Richmond Fisherman's Wharf even today is a Sunday.

 

[Vitesze]

Maybe you like driving, but to me, it's a long drive from West Vancouver to Richmond Fisherman's Wharf even today is a Sunday.

Then again the same can be said for living in Richmond, and wanting to visit the nature'y areas in North Vancouver or events in any city other than Richmond. I think a lot of it comes down to what exactly someone is looking for - I don't care much for seafood or an abundance of Chinese culture, but someone who does will look at Richmond in a different way.

Regardless where OP decides to live, all cities have both nice and bad neighbourhoods so he should definitely research the exact area beforehand.

 

[steaky]

Regardless where OP decides to live, all cities have both nice and bad neighbourhoods so he should definitely research the exact area beforehand.

Do you research the exact area before you move to New West? I did not. Where is the bad neighborhood of New West? Why do you say bad?

 

[Vitesze]

Do you research the exact area before you move to New West? I did not. Where is the bad neighborhood of New West? Why do you say bad?

I live in the Brow of the Hill neighbourhood which doesn't have a great reputation. I checked out the area prior to moving there and the specific street where I would be living was fine. But it turns from fine to sketchy-looking with some old/semi-run down buildings pretty quick when you go downhill towards Downtown NW. I don't regret moving here one bit as it's great - but I can think of a few specific streets I wouldn't want to move to.

Before this I lived in Burnaby in an awesome neighbourhood. But a 15m walk would take me to the Kingsway/Edmonds area which doesn't exactly top my list of places I'd like to visit again either.

One other place I checked out at some point was located in Maillardville (Coquitlam), but the combination of heavy traffic in the area, many poorly maintained houses and some sketchy figures walking around made me decide not to go for it. I later also found out that apparently a Hell's Angels chapter was one street over.

For all of these areas the bad part is confined to a small zone though, so it helps visiting in-person to get a good feel of a place before moving.

 

[YVR123]

I live in the Brow of the Hill neighbourhood which doesn't have a great reputation. I checked out the area prior to moving there and the specific street where I would be living was fine. But it turns from fine to sketchy-looking with some old/semi-run down buildings pretty quick when you go downhill towards Downtown NW. I don't regret moving here one bit as it's great - but I can think of a few specific streets I wouldn't want to move to.

Before this I lived in Burnaby in an awesome neighbourhood. But a 15m walk would take me to the Kingsway/Edmonds area which doesn't exactly top my list of places I'd like to visit again either.

One other place I checked out at some point was located in Maillardville (Coquitlam), but the combination of heavy traffic in the area, many poorly maintained houses and some sketchy figures walking around made me decide not to go for it. I later also found out that apparently a Hell's Angels chapter was one street over.

For all of these areas the bad part is confined to a small zone though, so it helps visiting in-person to get a good feel of a place before moving.

I agree with Vitesze on going there in person to pick an "area" within a city to live. And things can change and an OK area can become too crowd.

I used to live and work in Richmond that's a bit out of the central area of Richmond. There were mostly single houses there and the condo I lived in was the only multi-unit housing. Then over years, more and more buildings and townhouses were built. To a point that's so crowded that getting grocery in the near by market got stressful. I am Chinese but I don't really like the restaurants option in Richmond. (I can cook Chinese food at home so if I eat out, I want other options!!)

I moved all the way to Port Moody in an area bordering Burnaby/Coquitlam and it's a nice small complex. All neighbours were nice and most of them young couples and families. I really enjoyed that except the commute to Richmond got a bit too hard. I still miss the nice parks, trail and small sub-urban small shops.

So we are now back to Vancouver. (edge of Vancouver and Burnaby) It's nice and residential. Place we live in now is a lot older. (vs nice new place in PM) But I think that makes my life easier. As I do not drive and I am much closer to buses and train stops now.