Maybe it was just me but when I was a kid in the 70's and a university student in the 80s in my hometown London and Toronto I always had an impression of BC
that has changed greatly.
I don't know how to quite put it into words its just that I always sort of thought of BC as being a kind of egalitarian place. Alberta was the place you made your money but you spent it in BC. It was always sort of viewed as a progressive place in terms of social equity. I always thought of it as a kind of fair minded place where money wasn't the prime directive but rather a place to kick up your feet.
I'm still finding this hard to say. When I first went to Vancouver in 1982 on my "I want to find myself" cross country tour Vancouver struck me a funky little city where that didn't try to be anything but exactly that and that's what made it so cool. When I came back to live in 1989 it seemed completly different............it seemed as if the fun relaxed attitude was starting to erased from the city culture, even the city refered to itself as "no fun city" I thought it was just me but I found that almost everyone I met said the same thing. They said it all changed after EXPO'86.
Now Vancouver has the largest gaps of income in the country with a relatively small middle class and very social stratified. The poverty rates are the highest in the country and has the lowest minimum wage and most regressive labour rates in the country.
With Vancouver's relatively low income levels and extreme housing prices will only exasperate the situation. BC, despite liking to call itself "laid back" now work more hours than all areas of the country to keep up with their outrageous mortgage.
I just don't know how it all started or maybe it's just me although BC poverty stats and minimum wage rates bear much of it out. Was it the huge Hong Kong money that came in the late 1980s or Vancouver terminal desire to be 'world class" that she's willing to for go the needs of her citizens?
Wondering if anyone has felt this way?

Naturally, this type of thread can be potentially explosive, and I am a bit apprehensive about impressions that are going to get stated... so I'll tell you what. I'll leave it open as long as the rest of the members from BC feel comfortable with this kind of discussion of their province. If not, just let me know via pm. If it becomes argumentative or unhelpful or people ganging up on one region then we will close it down. In a way, ssiguy2 is right in that few provinces (or in the case of Vancouver, cities) have undergone such a radical change in the past 40 years as BC.

it grew up fast thats all - a number of things can be attributed to it happenning

Vancouver prior to Expo 86 wasn't a big city. It's only natural that it had a laid back feel. BC also had left wing government for quite a number of years back then. Despite being in a capitalist nation, BC had a reputation for being anti-business.

The large town became a small city, and the realization that things cost money became glaringly obvious. Vancouver is different than back then. Whether it's better depends on what kind of society one covets. ;)

prior to 86 liquor laws didn't allow alchohol on sundays thats why point roberts, blaine and bellingham were so popular for pub going

Wow! I heard that Toronto used to be rather puritanical too. I think I would have lasted all of 48 hours before doing a big U-turn.

A lot of US cities have changed like this: Seattle, Austin, Charlotte, etc. Some cities like Dallas have always had a big money feel to them but others change in unexpected ways. Suddenly, traffic is snarled, your favorite restaurant is mobbed and you can't get in, or your favorite hangout was demolished for luxury condos. In my town, this stuff is happening but in slow motion. It isn't easy when your town suddenly gets hot and all these extreme forces transform it.

So what's Albuqueque's claim to fame? Is it a college town? Flavour of the month for artsy people? Retirement community? Laid back?

So what's Albuqueque's claim to fame? Is it a college town? Flavour of the month for artsy people? Retirement community? Laid back?

Right now, it's the film and TV industry. It is a college town and it does attract retirees, but really it just steadily grows, doubling in size every 30 years. Like I said, we are transforming in slow motion and change is constant. There are many things I miss about this town that were lost along the way...

I still am curious as to what bcers think in terms of the change in social structure in the city and province as a whole. It seems that BC has gone from a fair minded place to more of a sink or swim. All over the province waterfront land has been built into time-shares which does nothing for the city's citizans except raise real estate prices..............Kelowna, Penticton, Ossoyos, and Parksville are excellent examples.
I really don't want this to turn into a bash BC thread its just that it seems unique to BC. Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and a lesser degree Ottawa have all grown faster/nearly as fast as Vancouver and especially Victoria over the last 30 years but they have gone thru this true economic and social structure changes. They haven't seen their inequity grow or shrink much but BC's and especially Vancouver's has mushroomed.
Am I the only one who feels this way?

BC is only for rich people like you and me! :D

I never noticed a big social gap anywhere except for Vancouver proper and it's only notable because of the huge contrast between the Downtown East Side and Downtown. I don't normally point fingers, but there are a few decisions the NDP Provincial Gov't made essentially formed our social crisis problem. Then here we are, the BC Liberals taking over and haven't addressed that issue yet. The problem is that we aren't focusing on it head on, just addressing it before elections. The municipal governments before haven't done anything much either, but at least more social housing was announced before Gregor took over. I don't expect our city government to do anything either. City planning and investment on human capital isn't and shouldn't be political, but that's the unfortunate reality that I hope will change soon.

I still am curious as to what bcers think in terms of the change in social structure in the city and province as a whole. It seems that BC has gone from a fair minded place to more of a sink or swim. All over the province waterfront land has been built into time-shares which does nothing for the city's citizans except raise real estate prices..............Kelowna, Penticton, Ossoyos, and Parksville are excellent examples.
I really don't want this to turn into a bash BC thread its just that it seems unique to BC. Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and a lesser degree Ottawa have all grown faster/nearly as fast as Vancouver and especially Victoria over the last 30 years but they have gone thru this true economic and social structure changes. They haven't seen their inequity grow or shrink much but BC's and especially Vancouver's has mushroomed.
Am I the only one who feels this way?

but vancouver doubled in population i think plus an influx of city people - Vancouver is the only city in BC, victoria tries but its not in the same league most secondary cities in ontario are bigger and offer more

so you had an influx of peopkle who are used to having big names, restaurants, choices etc seeing a void and filling that - something locals never saw lacking or tried to do perhaps

plus BC is different - harveys basically stops at the Alberta border - there are a handful inside home depots but the concept never took off here - i don't know why - I remember a few stand alones but they all closed in the early 90's - even swiss chalet - i think are more in two blocks of toronto than there are in all of BC - maybe we expect more or something different and thats why Nando's can flourish here and flounders outside of BC

Even though the government and demographic of BC is vastly different from that of the socialist (lol) 70's and 80's, there's a lingering anti-big-business/big-anything mentality that is embedded in the local culture. The social environment that brought you Greenpeace and adbusters is also home to all sorts of crazy people, including the ones living in the West End who oppose all development in their neighbourhood (including affordable housing), yet feel that taxpayers should subsidize their rents to 1990 levels so that they can continue living in the crown jewel of the nation's most expensive city.

Vancouver is huge on social housing. It already had 56,930 subsidized housing units in 2007 (before the pre olympic boost), nearly as many as Toronto's 58,000. Even if we add 10,000 more units to house our current homeless population of 1500-2500, it will never be enough, somehow =). The well-known laws of nature and migration are against us, though I'm sure the trend will plateau eventually as people realize the place is no longer hobo-paradise.

Vancouver is the only city in BC, victoria tries but its not in the same league most secondary cities in ontario are bigger and offer more

I actually thought Victoria has extremely urban offerings for it size. Very dense urban form, tons of good restaurants and high-end retail. It has the most massive (or only?) luxury condo market outside the big 3 cities.

I am doing this career planning course and finding lots of great info

BC is the home to the worlds Largest Cranberry hearvesting, Blueberry harvesting, Ginseng is a growing area, research is large here and attracts a lot of business and money, Pixar just opened a studio here, Sony is going to announce that they are opening an animation studio here too and George Lucas is looking into opening an Industrial light and magic here as well

BC leads in recycling - the whole hippie ideal still thrives here after all perhaps

Right now, it's the film and TV industry. It is a college town and it does attract retirees, but really it just steadily grows, doubling in size every 30 years. Like I said, we are transforming in slow motion and change is constant. There are many things I miss about this town that were lost along the way...

Doubling every 30 years is pretty fast growth. I bet there are a lot of parallels to what's happening in BC. I don't miss very much about what my hometown(s) were before. Almost everything seems to get better every passing year. I suppose I should be happy about that.

There are many things that vastly improved since I arrived in '89, the transit system certainly being one of them. The city is finally getting some cultural institutions and is begining to shed it's "no fun city" image of the 90's.
It's the inequity that has struck me the most and the general populations willingness to just shrug their shoulders. Therfe are many cities in Canada that have grown as fast as Vancouver since 1980 but have not had this huge social/economic shift. By what I am surmising of these posts I am not the only one who has noticed this change in attitudes and life stlye.

The Province does just fine but the city of Vancouver's problems with cost is quite simple. The immigration that took place before Expo 86 consisted mostly of people who were poor(er) looking for a better life. Starting in the 90's and well into this decade, newly arrived immigrants came in with pockets full (of money). That, coupled with the regions downright refusal to accept that the area is no longer a quaint little village and therefore plan accordingly, has left the city all but unaffordable to middle-class income earners.

Doubling every 30 years is pretty fast growth. I bet there are a lot of parallels to what's happening in BC. I don't miss very much about what my hometown(s) were before. Almost everything seems to get better every passing year. I suppose I should be happy about that.

Really that's the best attitude to have about change. Vancouver is so spectacularly different than it was the last time I was there that the choices and options for people must be mindblowing. My city grows quickly enough but in a country this size, a metro of barely a million is seriously podunk and doesn't attract much interest or investment. Had we not lost Bill Gates and Microsoft to Seattle in the '70s, things might have been vastly different....:)

I always wonder why Kamloops hasn't grown like Kelowna or other cities in BC have. The housing prices are cheaper, and the weather is, in my opinion the best in the whole province. The landscape is beautiful and its close proximity to several lakes. Yet, it grows at snails pace.

i would say most of the change can by attributed to the escalating housing prices. The middle classes are being forced out. The same thing happened to San Francisco and there is only a lingering shadow of the strong hippie counterculture vibe that used to exist there. All the true hippies moved to Northern California or Oregon.

Nonetheless, when I was in Vancouver in 2003 it still had a pretty strong hippie presence. Lots of white people with dirty dreads who don't shower and drink their own piss. Mind you, I lived on Commercial Drive which is like hippie central.

One thing that Kamloops did that has made it more liveable is that it geared its development to it's citizens and not tourists and especially real estate speculators. Kel/Pen/Osy/Oli all allowed large time share housing right along it's lakeshores. It cuts off the ability of waterfront development for it's citizens and does result in the skyrocketing real estate prices that it produces.
Time share condos do nothing for the city who couldn't care less about it because they are only there for 3 months a year and it also encourages real estate speculators by buying dozens of condos and artifially raising their prices. They get away with far higher prices because they direct their sales to wealthy tourists and developers.
Nanaimo has not allowed these big time-shares but Parksville has. Despite Nanaimo being several times bigger it's real estate prices are significantly lower.

time share condos? Which ones are these? and Kamloops only builds condos for senior citizens or natives lately it seems.

i would say most of the change can by attributed to the escalating housing prices. The middle classes are being forced out. The same thing happened to San Francisco and there is only a lingering shadow of the strong hippie counterculture vibe that used to exist there. All the true hippies moved to Northern California or Oregon.

Nonetheless, when I was in Vancouver in 2003 it still had a pretty strong hippie presence. Lots of white people with dirty dreads who don't shower and drink their own piss. Mind you, I lived on Commercial Drive which is like hippie central.

I thought that a lot of Hong Kong money flowed into Vancouver as a hedge against any state expropriation of assets following the 1997 handover to China. And of course, anyone from HK who bought condos is probably very happy with that investment so now it's just good business for them.

Much the same could be said about California, albeit with about 10x times the population of BC. Its hard to imagine that once people came to California from other parts of the US in search of a “laid-back” lifestyle!

Those times are but a vanqueshed memory. Much of the transformation owes to that the Pacific has become the power center of the global economy. The pace & the sense of competition has greatly speeded up.

I thought that a lot of Hong Kong money flowed into Vancouver as a hedge against any state expropriation of assets following the 1997 handover to China. And of course, anyone from HK who bought condos is probably very happy with that investment so now it's just good business for them.


Yes they did, the same thing happened in Toronto where suburbs sprung up like weeds to accomodate the mass exodus from Hong Kong.

toronto was actually the number 1 choice and got more in numbers of people leaving hong kong for Canada

but it had a larger population base to begin with and was absorbed with less visible impact

vancouver's influx was large and very visible