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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: whistler3000 who wrote (86371)	1/25/2012 1:01:55 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 220320

Vancouver is a bit of a mystery - in my nearly 30 years here I've never really understood its growth. I wonder how much of it is due to the fact that it is probably the most asian city in the world outside of the asian continent (I'm often told that people from many different countries in Asia can live here without ever having to speak English). It IS a bit of a mystery. Two years ago, two of my German friends relocated to Vancouver thinking to live there at least a couple of years......maybe longer if they liked it. They asked me to pass on any info I could find out about the city. I started doing some research and was surprised that jobs produced kept coming up wanting. As it turned out, someone from Vancouver lives on my street..........she was a grad student at UBC in the late 90s. I decided to speak with her. She was so negative about Vancouver over the prospects about getting a job that I was really taken back. I decided she was a just a negative person. Then my German friends flew over.........they lasted less than a year. They liked the city but neither could get a job in their respective fields or even close. They decided to quit the city when one applied for a job selling liquor and was shown a list of the applicants........all college grads, masters and Ph.Ds applying for that particular job. They are back in Berlin now. Business-wise it is still primarily a port city, with tech (Electronic Arts), some biotech, resource company head offices and the film industry making up the rest. Like most of BC the government is a huge employer (healthcare, insurance etc.). The cost of living, and in particular housing, has definitely become a problem lately - local papers starting to report that high flying companies like Teck and Goldcorp are finding executive recruitment difficult due to the cost of housing. Personally, I think we're "done" if house prices don't adjust. Yes, it is expensive..........esp. housing. As you have suggested, I suspect its growth will slow considerably going forward. Nonetheless, its a very beautiful city with an incredible setting.