Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Doughboy who wrote (30594)	5/4/2005 6:57:18 AM
From: Mick Mørmøny	Respond to of 306849

Doughboy, I'm sorry to inform you that I cannot supply you with the information you need. I saw Vancouver, B.C., in the 80s and was told that the Chinese are responsible for the runup in real estate prices there. Perhaps you can get some leads from the link below. I wish you the best of luck in finding the property you want. thevancouverguide.com Americans Are Flocking to Canada's Pristine Gulf Islands graphics8.nytimes.com Caitlin Kelly for The New York Times A POSTCARD VIEW: Salt Spring Island, below, the largest of the southern Gulf Islands, has 70 square miles of lush green fields and pine-forested hillsides. By CAITLIN KELLY Published: May 1, 2005 Salt Spring Island, British Columbia JUST 35 minutes after leaving Vancouver, the small white ferry glides into Fulford Harbor, one of two entrances to the island. The largest of Canada's southern Gulf Islands, Salt Spring offers 70 square miles of lush green fields and steep, pine-forested hillsides, and only three towns: Ganges, Vesuvius and Fulford Harbor. The few roads are narrow and winding, and local hitchhikers, including children, often rely on their neighbors for transport, because there is no bus service. Canadians have long revered Salt Spring as a pristine refuge for the eccentric and creative. It was founded in 1859 by African-Americans and Portuguese who carved out homesteads in the fertile valleys. Tiny St. Paul's Catholic Church was built largely with labor from the Hawaiian community that was established in the late 1880's. In the 1970's, Americans avoiding service in the Vietnam War arrived and put down roots. And for many years, Americans in search of affordable second homes, and looking forward to retirement, have also chosen this island - a rarity with year-round ferry and seaplane service, a hospital and more urban amenities than neighboring islands. But times are changing, and changing fast. Fueled by the still-strong American dollar (around $1.20 to the Canadian dollar) quick leaps in real estate prices and new housing development, tensions are growing between longtime islanders desperate to preserve their quiet way of life, and real estate agents, developers and investors who know a good thing when they see it. The island's population has tripled in 30 years, and growth presents many challenges, from increased water pollution of its eight lakes and a falling water table that leaves some wells dry by summer's end to a school week that has shrunk to four days because of a budget crunch. For years, Salt Spring was an affordable haven. But now a cottage with water views is 700,000 Canadian dollars, (about $560,000) more than double its 320,000 Canadian dollars price of five years ago. That rate of increase is typical for properties on or near the water, brokers say. Two forces have accelerated the surge in prices: there are few properties to buy and two layers of government place restrictions on development. Many of the new buyers are Americans. "There's been a huge increase in the past three years in the number of Americans coming here, which we predicted on Sept. 12, 2001," says Dick Stubbs, the provincial government's local building inspector. John Sorensen, a developer whose town houses in the town of Ganges sell for 260,000 Canadian dollars to 420,000 Canadian dollars (or around $208,700 to $337,100) says half of his buyers are from the United States. Li Read, a broker in business since 1989 on the island, says that 60 to 70 percent of her clients are now American. "I think, after 9/11, people began to revise their life scripts," she said. "We've always had U.S. buyers, and people who prefer to invest in real estate, and people who want to get away from it all, but now there's a lot of things coming into play." In addition to coming from the United States, buyers are coming from the prosperous economies of Ontario and Alberta within Canada, and from the United Kingdom. Surging real estate values are also shutting out the very people who have built the island, often literally. "Every morning on the ferry arriving from Vancouver Island, you'll see at least 40 guys coming to do construction; they live off the island but work here," said Myles Wilson, a broker who has lived on the island for 30 years. For blue-collar workers, this island paradise has become a place for the wealthy, not a place to raise their own children. "Salt Spring is getting out of reach for the first-time buyer," Mr. Wilson said. Houses on Vancouver Island, an easy commute, cost 129,000 Canadian dollars. Peter Levitt, 59, a poet who had been living in California, moved to Salt Spring in 2000 with his wife, Shirley Graham, a psychologist, and their 8-year-old son, Tai. That year, the Canadian currency was even weaker in relation to the American dollar than it is now. They bought a 2,800-square foot home with a separate 400-square foot studio and an 850-square-foot barn for 400,000 Canadian dollars, then about $259,000. "We could not move here now," Mr. Levitt said. He had heard about Salt Spring from a friend, and after visiting for several years, moved here, a change made easier by his wife's dual American-Canadian citizenship. While Americans can easily buy property here, they must maintain residence in the United States, and can stay in Canada each year for a total of only six months minus a day. Those wishing to become full-time residents must apply for landed immigrant status, which can take up to three years. Since settling in Salt Spring, Mr. Levitt said, he has been disheartened by some of the changes. Development-related pollution has so contaminated his local water source, a lake facing his house, that his family must now drink bottled water. "I attended a water meeting the other day," he said. "There were four of us in the room, and between us we sit on 15 committees, all trying to fight for the environment here. It's gotten completely out of hand." Caught between the competing demands of real estate professionals and part-time residents and frustrated, less-affluent locals is the Islands Trust, a federation of local governments created in 1974 with the explicit mandate to "preserve and protect" the more than 400 Gulf Islands. Depending on whom you ask, the trust is either moving too quickly, allowing overdevelopment and associated environmental degradation and density - or too slowly, failing to address the pressing, growing demands for affordable housing and increased services for an aging population.All development must be approved by the Islands Trust and the Capital Regional District, a branch of municipal government of the city of Victoria, on Vancouver Island. Salt Spring, which is unincorporated, has no mayor or city council. It elects two representatives to the Islands Trust and one to the Capital Regional District to speak for its interests. One big development is Channel Ridge, a 1,400-acre project that will contain as many as 305 houses by 2010. Some residents view with alarm the increasing density and demand for services. "Water is finite," Mr. Levitt said. "On an island there is only so much space, only so much water. With added density also comes traffic, air pollution and parking issues. Can this community sustain itself?" nytimes.com

To: Doughboy who wrote (30594)	5/4/2005 7:19:14 AM
From: Mick Mørmøny	Respond to of 306849

Doughboy, Here's another article from the archives of The NY Times. I'll try to find more related articles as time permits. HAVENS: LIVING HERE; Pieds-à-Terre: Little Homes in Places You Like to Visit AS TOLD TO BETHANY LYTTLE Published: February 18, 2005, Friday WHO -- Karl Manheim, 57, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles WHAT -- 2-bedroom condominium WHERE -- Vancouver, British Columbia Last August, my sister, my nephew and I went sailing in the San Juan Islands with my cousin Larry and his family. They'd never been up to Vancouver before but visited toward the end of the trip. They fell in love with the city. So, when they heard I'd been considering buying a place here with my father and sister, they wanted in. This purchase has been a family venture. The condo is in a high-rise with a great view of the city and False Creek to the south and a view of the mountains to the north. When I'm here, I still do a lot of things tourists would do. I walk around Yaletown, go to Chinatown or stroll along the seawall at Stanley Park. Oh, and eat. The restaurants here are great. In fact, I had my first dim sum here. But that was in 1976 on a trip across Canada on a motorcycle. Vancouver is one of the greatest cities in the world. It has the critical mass to provide the cultural diversity that makes any city great, but it's more manageable than most American cities. In addition, there's something very attractive about its infrastructure. Take the library, for instance. It has a cafe inside. You see things like that here, and you get the sense that everything is just a little more civilized. Combine that with the facts that it's probably a wise investment given the state of the United States economy, that it's easy to get here from any major U.S. city, including Los Angeles, where I live, and it's hard to imagine a reason for not buying here. The only thing it really lacks is a Trader Joe's. As told to Bethany Lyttle ON THE MARKET Information was provided by the listing companies. WHERE -- Vancouver, British Columbia WHAT -- 1-bedroom condominium HOW MUCH -- $242,000 This new 669-square-foot loft-style condominium is in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood within minutes of the Granville Island Public Market, the South Granville shopping area and downtown. It has mountain and skyline views, high ceilings, brick walls, Douglas fir wood floors, a small room suitable for an office, a soaker tub in the one bathroom, a fireplace and granite counters. Folding doors separate the living and sleeping areas. Agent: Anne LeBlanc, Royal LePage Northshore, (604)787-6080; anneleblanc.com query.nytimes.com

To: Doughboy who wrote (30594)	5/4/2005 7:40:17 AM
From: Mick Mørmøny	Respond to of 306849

Dunno if this info is of interest to you. ☻ As always, good luck. WHAT'S DOING IN; Vancouver By CLAUDIA ROWE Published: May 23, 2004 A trip to Vancouver, a sparkling city of glass and steel edged with snowcapped mountains, blends international chic with rugged Pacific Northwest grandeur. You won't feel out of place dressed to the nines, nibbling haute cuisine, but the region's jaw-dropping topography adds an earthy undertone. Bustling high style is tempered by courtesy and reserve. Driving in Vancouver can be frenetic and exasperating, but no one honks. In the past decade, with a flood of immigrants from Hong Kong, Vancouver has seen a sea change in its population. After English, Chinese is the second most-widely spoken language, Chinatown is vast and Asian restaurants of every kind dot many neighborhoods. luxurylink.com Vancouver and the ski village of Whistler (80 minutes' drive north along the aptly named Sea to Sky Highway) have been selected as hosts for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, and preparations including road-widening and frenzied real-estate speculation are already underway in anticipation of the coming hordes. Colonized by the British in the late 18th century, Vancouver is today a bastion of progressive politics. One of the few major cities in North America where same-sex marriage is legal and marijuana use permitted, Vancouver's median age, 37, is below the Canadian average. The city nevertheless maintains a sense of propriety and decorum. Its streets are clean, its gardens well tended and many of its parks overlook the shimmering ocean waters. Events Bard on the Beach, an annual Shakespeare festival, presents plays in outdoor tents with the dramatic Vanier Park waterfront as a backdrop. This year the festival, on the Web at www.bardonthebeach.org, features a ''Much Ado About Nothing'' set at the end of World War II with music from the big-band era; a Restoration-period production of ''The Merry Wives of Windsor''; and an intimately staged ''Macbeth.'' All three productions run June through September. Tickets range from $11.25 to $19, at 1.42 Canadian dollars to the United States dollar. Ticket information: (877) 739-0559. For an hourlong snapshot of several million years in British Columbia's history, Storyeum, on the Web at www.storyeum.com, opens June 1, at 142 Water Street in the middle of Gastown, Vancouver's historic district. It presents a timeline of seven historic eras with actors and recreated environments. Visitors descend below street level into a prehistoric forest teeming with salmon, then watch a grandmother teaching her granddaughter in an Indian long house. A ship transporting colonists to America is next; a gold rush town follows, and so on. Admission is $15.50. Information: (800) 687-8142. The Vancouver International Jazz Festival, known for its eclecticism, has been host to everyone from Wynton Marsalis to Sun Ra. Headliners this year include Oscar Peterson, Al Green and the Aaron Neville Quintet. The festival, from June 25 to July 4, runs from noon to well past midnight with jazz performers, blues musicians, funk, Latin and fusion artists performing across the city. Ticket prices range from $8.45 to $59.85, though there are also free concerts and package deals. Information: (888) 438-5200; the Web site, www.coastaljazz.ca, carries the full schedule. Vancouver's mild climate allows the cultivation of an outstanding collection of plants; 7,500 species from six continents are on display at the VanDusen Botanical Garden, 5251 Oak Street, (604) 878-9274, on the Web at www.vandusengarden.org. This year, the garden will hold a show highlighting ''Gardens From Literature,'' with theme displays, exhibitors, presentations and food supplied by some of the city's top chefs. The show runs June 10 to 13. Admission is $13. The Vancouver Folk Music Festival at Jericho Beach Park, July 16 to 18, (604) 602-9798, on the Web at www.thefestival.bc.ca, features aboriginal music, folk stories and dance, Afro-Latin bands, ''Fiddle Fever'' and dozens of other acts. Jericho Beach has beautiful views and one ticket provides access to all seven festival stages. Tickets range from $28.15 to $91.55 for a full weekend. Sightseeing Stanley Park, (604) 257-8400, an oasis of green in Vancouver's urban glitter, covers nearly 1,000 acres. Surrounded by water on three sides and crisscrossed by trails that wind through old-growth forest, it is one of the largest urban parks in North America. A five-mile seawall designed for leisurely bike rides and strolls wends along the shoreline, and there are bike rental shops nearby on Denman Avenue. Admission is free. A few minutes' drive from downtown, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, (604) 985-7474, on the Web at www.capbridge.com, at 3735 Capilano Road in North Vancouver, is an unnervingly swingy structure of planks and cable 230 feet up that provides breathtaking views and a vertiginous thrill. Across the bridge, a short trail guides visitors through a 300-year-old temperate rain forest. Admission is $15.45 . The public market on Granville Island, (604) 666-6477, on the Internet at www.granvilleisland.com, is crammed with produce stands selling everything from exotic mushrooms to handmade Italian pasta and fresh fish. The cold cuts at Tenderland Meats of Distinction, (604) 688-6951, could make carnivores out of many a vegetarian, and you can pick up a filling lunch of salmon pastry, Scotch pie and triple-berry cobbler at Laurelle's Fine Foods, (604) 685-8482, for about $10. From the dock outside you can watch the water taxis chug by. They're the smartest transportation mode from the downtown area, since Granville's streets are narrow and the parking is difficult. The public market is open daily. The Museum of Anthropology, 6393 Northwest Marine Drive, (604) 822-5087, www.moa.ubc.ca, has no less than 535,000 artifacts, and its collection of Native American objects is considered among the most comprehensive on the continent. Part of the University of British Columbia, the museum augments its exhibits with contemporary examples of tribal art. The atrium-style Great Hall houses some 30 totem fragments. Open daily. General admission is $6.35. A five-minute walk across campus from the anthropology museum is the Nitobe Memorial Garden, (604) 822-9666, www.nitobe.org, where cherry tree boughs hang over serene pools and the irises appear to grow on water in June and July. The full circular route symbolizes a journey through life. General admission is $2.11 and the garden is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the summer season. Where to Stay The Listel Vancouver Hotel, 1300 Robson Street, (604) 684-8461, fax (604) 684-7092, on the Web at www.listel-vancouver.com, is four blocks from Stanley Park. There are 129 rooms, and those on the Museum Floor are decorated with artistic flourishes curated by the Museum of Anthropology. Standard rooms are elegant, too, and the fitness center has a whirlpool. Doubles start at $140.15. Nearby, at 1277 Robson Street, the Pacific Palisades Hotel, (604) 688-0461, fax (604) 688-4374, online at www.pacificpalisadeshotel.com, has 233 rooms in a lemon-lime color scheme, including one-bedroom suites with pull-out sofas in the living area. There is a large swimming pool, and the sleek Zin Restaurant features novelty martinis. Doubles start at $140.85. For a more personal experience, the English Bay Inn bed-and-breakfast at 1968 Comox Street, (604) 683-8002, fax (604) 683-8089, Web site www.englishbayinn.com, serves four-course breakfasts daily. The inn, close to downtown, has six double rooms, two of them suites. Port and sherry are available all day for sipping. Prices range from $112.70 to $211.25 in the summer season. Budget: A legendary haunt of Errol Flynn, the Sylvia Hotel, (604) 681-9321, fax (604) 682-3551, on the Web at www.sylviahotel.com, occupies an ivy-covered building at 1154 Guilford Street that dates from 1912. Its 119 rooms are small, but some face English Bay, and the staff is unfailingly friendly. An adjoining restaurant provides room service. Doubles start at $63.40. Robson Suites, 777 Bidwell Street, (604) 685-9777, fax (604) 685-9707, www.robsonsuitesvancouver.com, offers 29 clean, airy apartments with fully stocked kitchens, washer-dryer units, patio balconies and pull-out sofa beds in the living area. Suites start at $119 a night, with free parking, and discounts for weeklong stays. Luxury: From the day it opened in 1939, the 556-room, castle-like Fairmont Hotel Vancouver at 900 West Georgia Street, (604) 684-3131, fax (604) 662-1924, www.fairmont.com, has been welcoming the glamorous and wealthy. Standard doubles, starting at $217.60, include plush bathrobes and sleigh beds. Mavis, a big, friendly retriever, greets guests in the lobby. Where to Eat Bishop's, 2183 West Fourth Avenue, (604) 738-2025, has long been considered the standard for high-end dining in Vancouver. The room is rather sterile, but tuna tartare graced with cilantro and delicate crab cakes more than make up for it. Dinner for two with wine is about $120. Open daily for dinner. At Lumière, 2551 West Broadway, the décor is sleek -- a white onyx bar faces the door -- and the fare is distinctly nouveau: bouillabaisse in a crab-lemongrass broth, for example. Dinner for two, with wine, about $176. Closed Mondays. (604) 739-8185. Vij's, (604) 736-6664, prepares local ingredients with traditional Indian spices and techniques. No chicken tandoor here; instead try the duck breast with basmati rice pilaf, rich as beef, or the grilled kale in green onion curry. The room was designed to recall a jewel box, and the service is impeccable. Dinner for two with wine, about $70. Open daily for dinner. No reservations. Repeat customers at Tojo's, 777 West Broadway, (604) 872-8050, know to get a seat at the sushi bar, place themselves in the chef's hands and pay the price. Tucked away on the second floor of an office building, the restaurant is known for the proprietor's way with a knife and his creativity: offerings like inside-out make rolls of warm shrimp and asparagus paired with chilled mango and avocado. Open for dinner. Closed Sundays. Dinner for two with sake, easily $140.85. The Golden Swan, 5830 Victoria Drive, (604) 321-6621, serves family-style Chinese meals like fresh oysters with ginger and green onion. A meal for two is about $35. Open daily for lunch and dinner. For a nightcap: After running around all day, it's nice to sit back and see where you've been from 42 stories up. The rotating Cloud Nine restaurant and lounge, atop the Empire Landmark Hotel at 1400 Robson Street; (604) 687-0511. You can gaze out at the skyscrapers; sip a martini, look up again and see the mountains. By the time you've decided to order dinner, the Pacific Ocean is in view. Dinner for two with drinks is about $60. Open for dinner daily. travel2.nytimes.com