Comments on: Vancouver is Seattle, Seattle is Vancouver?

By: Warren

Warren — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:49:46 +0000

I have a good friend who lives in Seattle (moved down there for a job with Microsoft). I visit him a lot, and he visits up here, we often talk about the comparisons, etc. Some anecdotal things:

1. Greater Seattle has roughly double the population of the GVRD… that’s an important difference.
2. Anywhere that people have made a lot of money (Redmond-MS, etc) is ridiculously priced.
3. Traffic is horrific in Seattle. Mostly due to more water to cross.
4. Seattle seems much less corporate, they seem to have a lot of independent retailers, coffee shops, etc. Whereas Vancouver is all brand-name, Starbucks, etc. except for limited areas.
5. Seattle has more “true” hippies, but also more dangerous, larger ghettos.
6. Although both cities have decent green spaces, Vancouver has worked hard to make almost all areas of the urban coastline really nice.. seawalls, etc. Seattle not so much, there are still large industrial areas.
7. Houses are damn expensive in both cities, I’d say Seattle is roughly as overpriced as Vancouver.

If Seattle was in Canada, I’d consider it, but still pick Vancouver I think.

By: mikey

mikey — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 05:37:26 +0000

“Vancouver’s core attitude—a sense of God-granted entitlement—twinned with a need for quick returns are our legacies from history, because wealth here was generated by scooping up minerals, knocking down forests and, since 1986, harvesting the last of our non-renewable natural resources: water-view real estate.
”

Isn’t that a bit circular? Condos are expensive because we are becoming wealthy. We are becoming wealthy because our condos are expensive.

By: Snick

Snick — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:52:37 +0000

There’s more than wealth at stake. You forgot to mention that Seattle is in the US. You can have it.

By: robchipman

robchipman — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 21:48:55 +0000

Interesting that you’d pick those characteristics, e. At the end of the article it has recommendations for each city, and Vancouver’s lean heavily on developing the kind of wealth generation that Seattle has.

By: e

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:59:26 +0000

Also, Seattle has more jobs (Microsoft, Amazon, Expedia, T-Mobile, Washington Mutual, Safeco, Starbucks, Costco, Nordstrom, Weyerhauser are all based there — lots of good paying head office jobs) — also, 4 of those companies are on the “Most 20 admired companies in the US”.

There is also no state income tax (i.e. you only pay federal income tax) — whereas in Vancouver we obviously pay Provincial + Federal.

Sales tax is ~9%. Better than our pretty much 13% here.

Combined with mortgage write-offs (and strata/HOA fees, etc), and the lowest gas prices in the nation, it is quite attractive.

Pharmacists fresh out of school in UBC get $90k US in Seattle.