Tuesday, July 17, 2007

I Hate Downtown: a Rant

I am only slowly starting to realize it: I fucking hate downtown Vancouver. I hate living here, hate walking around the streets, hate what it's becoming as the Olympics roll up and the property taxes force place after place to close, while ugly condos for motherfuckers with WAY more money than I have spring up everywhere (didja hear the one about how the official bird of Vancouver is the construction crane, heheheheh?). I hate that Richards on Richards are closing soon. I hate what HMV have done with the cool Virgin vibe, even if their prices are better. I hate that the downtown YMCA, which had the ONLY GODDAMN GYM I'VE EVER FLAT OUT LIKED and was just a few blocks away from me, is closed and being condo-ized. I chuckle at, but hate, the now-blank Paramount sign since Scotiabank took over the vast airport of a movie theatre on Burrard, along with the rest of Cineplex, and doubled the advertising before each feature (including many plugs for Scotiabank, as if banks need MORE of our money). I hate the absence of decent restaurants - a recent piss-up with the braindead dimwit who runs the Templeton means that there are exactly ZERO places I like to hang out at downtown; I mean, the Sugar Refinery is long gone, the clubs on Granville are an abomination, and, much as I'm glad there's ONE ACTUAL LIVING AND BREATHING COMMUNITY near where I live - the gay community - I am NOT, in fact, gay, and don't REALLY want to spend my freetime leanin' back at Hamburger Mary's (a brunch there now and then is okay, but it just ain't my scene, you know?). If only I WERE gay, I'd at least feel SOME connection to the people around me, since it's the only decent community we HAVE downtown (I'd get laid a lot more, too). Most of these Beautiful People coasting along from shop to shop on our streets seem soulless shiny drones, vainly coiffed and tanned, their self-important shrewlike faces gazing into their omnipresent cellphones and their asses far too skinny and perfect (I'm talkin' the female asses, here) to ever be of interest to an oddball aesthete like myself... I want women who look like fashion models like I want to fuck a Barbie: not at all. These are, dig - and I mean this hyperbolically, so don't get worried, but still - these are people you want to take a veritable claw hammer of frustration to for being so vain and empty and perfect - people who seem like they're made of plastic, barely alive (but still happier than me - GRRR!). Then you have your dazed tourists and blinking ESL students (some of them mine - like you want to run into your job on the street) wandering around gawking (by the way, this very lack of any discernible identity to Vancouver as a place unto itself is a common complaint and disappointment of my students; I've sometimes done "what don't you like about Vancouver" exercises with my kids - who, don't get me wrong, I like a lot - and have stammered in shock when Korean and Japanese students have complained - and it's happened more than once - that there are "too many Asians!" They wanted to feel like they were in a foreign environment, you dig - they have plenty of Asians at home!). And then of course, there are the drunken obnoxious snotnose kids from every outlying nowhere suburb come to get drunk and try to get laid on Granville Street, and homeless mentally ill scavengers trying to shake a few coins loose off all the above (I like them the best, usually - shout out to C., the schizophrenic ex-cabbie who lives at the Balmoral. I bought him lunch once and we talked about his stroke and his life as a panhandler). Oh, and there's also the tied-up office workers and Robson Street employees trying to go about their business and get home, of whom I, alas, am one. You know - speakin' of claw hammers - I had a guy walk up to me on the street the other week - a total stranger, lookin' scruffy and fat and not at all well-to-do, and say to me, out of some random classrage, I guess, directed at me because I was wearin' a tie and clearly had a job, that he was gonna fuckin' kill me - his exact words, "I'm gonna fuckin' kill you;" and you know, I felt more fellowship with HIM than I did with anyone else on the block at that moment! All the punks and artists and writers and freaks seem to have been ghettoe'd into the lower rents of East Vancouver, I guess, and I may soon join them; downtown is becoming an intolerable NOWHERE of a place, a vast internationalized fuckup of commerce and concrete and faux-Asian architecture (don't even get me started on Yaletown) with no heart, no soul, no balls, no clit, no identity OTHER than "come and give us money, for we are a beautiful city." Not for very much fucking longer, we aren't, at this rate! A community, a community, my kingdom for a community! I fucking HATE downtown!

Anyone know of any good places to rent on Main Street?

81 comments:

Angry in Yaletown said...

I linked to your rant on my website, freyburg.com. Also, contact me via warrenfrey@gmail.com, I'm think about putting together a pdf zine and I'm looking for collaborators.

Anonymous said...

You need a hug. A big, gay, hug.

Allan MacInnis said...

Is that you, W.? I am not against the occasional big gay hug, just don't touch me THERE. You know where. Oh stop it, you teaser.

Angry - Will look at your site, don't know about your zine but might be interested. Kinda busy at the moment - may not be in touch for awhile?

A.

Angry in Yaletown said...

Don't have a zine as of yet, though I figure I know enough people who can write, take pictures and otherwise contribute that between all of us we could actually put something together with some regularity. I'm just baby-stepping the idea right now. The site, however, has been around for a few years, so peruse away when you have the time.

gbdfjsh said...

Main Street? Best of luck---rent's gettin to be on par with Kits nowadays.

Love the rant, btw. That's why I haven't been downtown in a it least a month.

I could do my rant about East Van, too...but it'd be 1/3 as long.

ps- you have been linked

Anonymous said...

The problem with Vancouver is people like you; the ones that hate everything about this town.

If you hate it, stop pissing and moaning about it and leave.

Allan MacInnis said...

Ooh, look, an anonymous asshole!

I've had a few anonymous asshole posts on the board lately! I wonder if it's someone I pissed off? Hi, asshole! You're so cute and pink and puckered...

There are dozens of things I love about Vancouver, needless to say - just not living downtown... Oh, and Christopher: nothin' can be worse than payin' $740 for a noisy bachelor suite in a building with mice, an intermittent bedbug problem, a constantly malfunctioning elevator and a door that tends to not let mailpersons in. (Actually, it's a cool building in many ways, I just mean to say that I can't imagine Main Street will be worse).

I mean, where would YOU move, if you were me?

gbdfjsh said...

Tough call.
I'm in a shared "garden suite" that invites fleas and break-ins...but it's off Main, so I can't really complain. It's just odd though, when I try to process the fact that the house across the street just flipped for $850 grand. Where would I move? Anywhere (within reason), and away from the bugs. And I'm hoping to be living in Japan in a year-and-some's time, so....yeah.

@ Anonymous: the problem is that there's enough to dislike about a superficial city that's stoned on its own mythology, without people like you offering little in the way of analysis or constructive feedback. Some people actually do something about it beyond pissing and moaning.

Allan MacInnis said...

Ah, Japan! Lived there from 1999 to 2002. The good news is, it's fascinating, money is abundant, and cultural opportunities of a rare and precious variety await you at every turn. More than one variety, too - I mean, onsen resorts are cool, but so are the art galleries, and you get to see concerts by people who seldom make it here, Japanese and otherwise (I saw Lou Reed, Joe Strummer -twice!), Sonic Youth, and David Byrne (also twice).

The bad news: cockroaches - big fuckers that fly; no central heating and expensive but dead-necessary airconditioning in the summer; TINY apartments, often crappily designed; arcane and usurous fees for things like the internet, renewing rental contracts, etc (I hope you don't drive). It's worth your while investigating your housing situation before you get there - there are some real traps!

If you have questions, feel free to email me - there should be a "contact" button on the blog somewhere...

A.

elaine said...

Yeah. Main Street is more expensive than Downtown now for sure. But much, much better. you'll like it here, but, as a former West Ender, I must say I miss the gays.

Angry in Yaletown said...

I second the West End vote....I was there a couple of years ago in a bachelor that was only costing me $625 (dunno what the rent is now), and between the gays and the ESL kids it was a fine neighbourhood.

As for my current digs, I like my condo just fine (and it's an investment, so if the location is perceived as hot I ain't about to dissuade potential buyers of the notion), and while the neighborhood's rep for snobbery isn't undeserved (and there are a few WTFs of either sex in my building)....you get that in any distinct area. Maybe it's because I built up an immunity to shiny nonsense after being a chronicler of the same for a year, but....there's good and bad people everywhere. Just as many ironically bearded, irritating hipsters on Main as there are ponytailed film douchebag film producers in the Cactus Club in Yaletown. And conversely, I've met great people from each tribe.

gbdfjsh said...

Strangely enough, I couldn't find your e-mail addy in here. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough. Anyways---mine's in my profile. Would love to chat about the gaijin-sensei thing, オネガイシマス!.

I miss the West End too. Jervis & Davie, back when Otis Records was right downstairs from me. I liked having the beaches & Stanley Park as my backyard....I rarely get out into nature nowadays.

That said, c'mon down to Main. Ok deals can be found. You know how it is, a combination of dumb luck and knowing people. And there's Happy Bats, Blim, Zipang Sushi, Red Cat, Budgies...ignore the hipsters, as they're well versed in ignoring everybody else.

Chris W said...

"people who seem like they're made of plastic, barely alive (but still happier than me - GRRR!)"

Ha ha ha. Yep, I avoid downtown as much as possible. Sadly, those (no) values are seeping into East Van and Commercial Drive is looking more like Robson these days. If you want community, move to the DTES.

Anonymous said...

I can think of very few downtowns I actually like. Vancouver, in north american terms, is actually one of the best in that people actually live there. It has the most community-feel of any downtown I've been to. Toronto's is dead for example.

What bugs me most about vancouver is the people who feel the need to moan and compain and rant. Vancouver's a work in progress - deal with it or get involved to make it the city you want it to be. Probably a more constructive use of time than complaining.

Anonymous said...

I'm gay, live in the Westend and as I get older hate it more and more. What is the gay life is supposed to mean here anyway? Currently I am trying to figure out where I should fly to in order to get away from all the fake shit during Pride. Pride? Proud of what?

Tired of bars like 1181 where people think their shit doesn't stink yet they are in their mid 30's with 5 roommates, a part time job and coke habit. Yeah, they're going to make it. Hollywood beckons but its too far south.
My belts along cost more than they do but amongst everything else I have it doesn't really matter, they'll never change, no matter how much I do.

The 'ghetto' has gotten worse and worse, the community spirit has long gone. A gay guy will rob you blind if he gets the chance.

The gay men I meet either want too much pig sex or none at all. Usually in both regards they can't get it up. lol

Typical of Vancouver. It swings so far one way or another and loses its character in between.

I have alot of money and alot of designer things. But I keep it on the down low. I rarely invite people over, as then they fucking want to move in right away. And if somehow people find out I have money saved that I worked hard for, they are always trying to get a piece of it, yet come off like they are king shit, good luck getting any of it, I hang on to it even stronger.

I have a tight circle of friends but know too much of alot of people and their tragic backgrounds in this one degree of separation town.

This city feels empty, no matter how crowded it gets. I'm hating it more and more.

Unknown said...

I googled "I hate Vancouver" and got your blog.
I don't like the people who tell us just to move. What if we only moved here a few months ago from the other side of the country and while "waiting it out" for things to improve they just get worse and worse.
Okay, I'll just take all the time and money invested into moving here and pack up my stuff after moving 3 times in 8 months around the city due to unaffordable housing and just find all the money to rent a U-Haul and drive it to another city.
Easy.

The difference between Vancouver and most other cities (except maybe Toronto) is that they can sometimes at least admit their shit stinks too.
Vancouver is also like one of those picture perfect looking apples that you bite into to discover the inside is rotten and you can never get the bad taste out of your mouth.

Last year I lived in Toronto and found public transit easy to maneuver (I even lived in the suburbs and commuted an hour to school every day) and though it smells and it loud and full of people, I never really felt unsafe.
After only 3 months of living here, I got assaulted and "robbed" right in my neighbourhood, sitting on a bus bench on Commercial.
Welcome to fuckin' Vancouver.

I have also never seen such a blatant class division between rich and poor in a city before.
We have to work twice as hard just to make ends meet, let alone thrive. If you have money to waste then Vancouver is a Mecca and it's not like it has anything more to offer than other cities do besides its location.
But how can you boast about/put a price on that when it's not part of the city, it was there before the city even was and was much more beautiful.

Even the activist networks here are sad and straggling which is a shock seeing as how this city needs to fight the hardest. Maybe people are like me and just giving up since it's just gonna get worse the closer the Olympics get and I'm not going to let this city take me down with it.
Not to mention that I'm from the Okanagan and we sure as hell feel it out there too, rent has skyrocketed and it's just as hard to find something affordable in Vernon as in Vancouver.

Now you can't deny that the corruption and greed runs deep, and it's not just "bitching and moaning", it's bringing awareness to these issues which many of the rich Vancouverites just don't give a shit about because it doesn't negatively affect them. Or they just don't care.
Like that commercial where the rich old white lady says "downtown east side, who's taking responsibility?" then places the white linen tablecloth in her lap....
why do you care old rich white lady? you never have to go there, they're not of your concern, if you cared then maybe you should volunteer at a shelter or food not bombs or get involved!

I'm sorry, it's all I can think about lately.

Anonymous said...

I am from the East Coast..no not Toronto, Halifax. When I first moved here I was in awe, then I started to complain about the lack of community, the plasticness, the commercialism, the lack of music.. music in an honest package, how freakin hard it is to really connect with people here, and the really irritating one for me..I feel like people have this self absorbed right to make everyone tip toe around their own freaky paranoid health quirks. Are people made of tissue paper here or what?

I live in an old heritage building downtown, I just got a note slipped under my door urging me oh so graciously to consider my neighbours health...a long list of polite but absolute no nos followed. Who the hell do they think they are? It makes me want to scream. I really wish they had asked me to my face and I would have the guts to just let an old East coast "fuck you" fly and watch the slow shocked but probably calm and composed reaction...to avoid upsetting the inner balance no doubt.

Anyway, I tried to drop my negativity for a few years and just see if I could make it work here...but it is creeping up on me again. I don't give a shit about organics and natural fibers and an inner sense of chi or whatever that crap is... Just freakin relax and be real!

Anonymous said...

I think my biggest beef with Vancouver is the following:
In most genuine world-class cities, you get the impression that most of the rich, beautiful people are probably pretty smart or at least pretty capable, that they're rich for a reason. In Vancouver most of the rich-looking people seem extraordinarily dumb and vacuous, like they've either been given cash by rich parents, or they've just been lucky riding up a real estate market while extracting equity, or that they're not actually rich at all and are presumably up to their eyeballs in debt just to support an image. At any rate, it's hard to believe they actually earn lots of money. There's nothing quite so irritating as the simultaneous presence of a superiority complex with mind-hammering ignorance and vacuity. And most people who insist that "Vancouver is the greatest city in the world" have barely travelled beyond their back yard, and appear to be regurgitating what their realtor friend told them.
Talking of realtors...I guess that's one profession where you genuinely CAN make lots of money while being of truly unexceptional talents. This whole city feels like it's a machine to turn land into cash, no matter what the cost. Vancouver will eventually strangle itself with its insistence on turning every available plot of land into condo towers. I'm astonished continually by how unimaginative the use of waterfront areas is in Vancouver; instead of having vibrant stretches of cafes and restaurants like you'd find along the Seine or the Thames, all you get is endless residential buildings and a resource for rollerbladers. It's as though all anybody would want in Vancouver would be to have a boxy, beige home near the water, and work out. Hey, wait a minute...

You know what I like about Vancouver? If you're an introvert, it's a great place to be alone. But if you want stimulation from the company of smart or wise or interesting people, you'll have a hell of a job. It's like living among a tribe of walking, empty, self-satisfied mannequins.

Anonymous said...

I love this rant, every word of it. Thank you...

Anonymous said...

Move to Toronto it's the best city in Canada!!!
The only people who hate T.O. are people who aren't cool enough to get it. I get it and I LOVE it!!! Everyday I regret my decision to move back to Van. What the hell was I thinking?????

VANCOUVER SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Vancouver, like Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton are in need of a tactical nuke strike!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this post. I live in the west end now and can't stand it. It's narcissist country down here. I cannot wait to get out and to get out of Vancouver in 6 months. Can't...wait...

Anonymous said...

Vancouver. The beautiful scenery, the shopping, the parks......blah blah blah. I lived there for 15 years. Fifteen years that I will never get back. Last year I finally got the fuck out of there. What a mess.
Gangs now shooting each other in the streets while bystanders duck for cover. Real estate prices through the roof where everyday folks can never afford to buy a house but instead have to rent a cocrete box. Taxes on everything to the extreme. Homeless parasites everywhere you turn. Corruption. Where does it end ???
No, you can have the "Best place on earth" for me. I wouldn't take a dump on the best part of it to be honest with you. I cannot wait for the 2010 Olympics to come to town. The world media will be there with all their reporters and cameras and its going to be cool to watch as they broadcast to the world the other side of Vancouver. You kbnow the one......the Downtown Eastside !!!! Now that my friends will be worth watching. Fuck Vancouver !!!

Anonymous said...

Bravo to all of you guys and your comments!!! I have lived here for 7 months and that is enough! I live in one of those horror-hive condo blocks, filled to the brim with vacuous, self-obsessed yuppie scumbag trash and it is the closest I ever hope to get to being in Prison.

The people here are D-U-M-B, and I mean D-U-M-B, the pubs and bars are fucking shit, there is no such thing as a decent restaurant here and the prices!!! Fuck man the prices are outrageous. Oh and by the way if you live in Yaletown and feel like inviting friends over on a Sunday for a meal, make sure you get your booze in on the Friday, otherwise you will have to make the horrendous journey downtown to Alberni for the one (yes folks, one!) Liquor Store which this modern, throbbing Metropolis has to offer on a Sunday. Once there you can ride the gamut as you pass by all the bum's hustling you. It seems like everyone is on the hustle here $5.99 for a loaf of bread, $9 for a pint of beer oh and don't forget the tax, which isn't even displayed on the shelf price, god I hate it here!

In short Vanouver is a backwards place, filled with fucking retards with absolutely NO redeeming features whatsoever. My flight is booked and I am soon to be leaving here THANK FUCK!!!!! listen to our advice people STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM THIS FUCKING SHIT-HOLE OR BE PREPARED TO HATE EVERY SECOND OF YOUR LIFE!!!!!

Allan MacInnis said...

Wow! This post really took on a life of its own - I didn't realize people were still posting comments on it! It's interesting to note that the "queer community" doesn't feel any more inviting to some of its MEMBERS, and Chantelle is dead on in noting that the trees and nature and so forth were here long before we were, so we hardly deserve credit for them. Reading the comments, tho', the most laughin'-out-loud moment for me was:

"In Vancouver most of the rich-looking people seem extraordinarily dumb and vacuous, like they've either been given cash by rich parents, or they've just been lucky riding up a real estate market while extracting equity, or that they're not actually rich at all and are presumably up to their eyeballs in debt just to support an image."

No shit! Thanks for pointing it out!

But I feel the need to say some GOOD things about Vancouver, after having stirred up so much bile:

1. I like the snacks (if not the coffee) at Starbucks, and there sure are tons of those! (My ESL students also list "too many Starbucks" as a common complaint about this city, by the way).

2. More seriously: there IS a great little arts community. Filmwise, we have two fine repertory cinemas, the Vancity and the Cinematheque; there are midnight movies at the Rio; and there are some great DVD shops (Videomatica, Happy Bats, Black Dog, etc). This is a fine town to be a cinephile in. As for music, there's lots happening on that front, too, tho' some of the coolest stuff occurs underground, off the grid, and is often underattended - weird events in little studios-turned-unofficial gig spaces all over East Van, say. Then there's 1067, the Western Front, Fake Jazz Wednesdays at the Cobalt - there's some very creative music happening in this city (not to mention lots of fun punk and metal shows, tho' that's less where my heart lies these days). And come festival season, the city really comes to life with interesting arts events. I can't speak to the theatre, dance, or classical music community, but it IS my impression that we have LOTS of interesting people doing lots of interesting things here (usually without any significant financial rewards, often at expense to themselves).

3. And for all you west enders who might want a good restaurant: there are actually TWO great places to eat on Davie, and a couple of good ones. Cafe Luxy is one of my favourite pasta joints, and is inexpensive and pleasant; Lolita's serves an amazing tasty Mexican fusion dish (I recommend the turkey tostada, I think it is - it's stunning) and have great cocktails, without being TOO expensive. For cheaper fare, if you haven't had them, the shawarma and/or the falafels at Donair King (next to Celebrities) are actually well above average for these sorts of places. And if you want to stuff yourself to bursting at a reasonable price, India Bistro's Indian buffet brunch on the weekend is pretty cool, too, if you like that "standard restaurant" Indian fare - butter chicken and so forth. Oh, and you know, the combo plates at Thai Away Home are pretty tasty, too, if you don't have the cash for Sala Thai on Burrard.

I'm actually enjoying my life in Vancouver a bit more lately - but by all means, let's continue to spew bile! Better out than in, right?

Oh, speaking of which, HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT THEY DID TO GRANVILLE STREET NOW? (They cut down all the feckin' trees!).

Anonymous said...

i am a 60 year old women who in aug this year traveled to down town canada what a shit hole never seen anything like this in all my years of traveling rich country my arse give me good old blighty any day you dont see our drugies or crack heads or the dreaded bed bugs or people pushing trollys what an eye opener you wont see many people staying in down town in the ollimpic year certainly not me antway it stinks lynn from the uk

Anonymous said...

you basically summed up why i am moving to montreal next year. mcgill 09 betches...... ubc sucksssssssssss

Anonymous said...

btw lynn from the uk, i think you need to learn how to spell. seeing as how the english invented english and all....

Anonymous said...

The writer here is D-U-M-B, and I mean D-U-M-B, the sentence structure is fucking shit, there is no such thing as a decent thought, and the grammers!!!

Love,

E

Anonymous said...

I am in so much agreement with you, it's not even funny. Except maybe it is....because Vancouver is a fucking joke dipped in shit.
I don't know what that means, but I've never felt so much hatred for people and modern society until moving to this city.

Anonymous said...

A Chinese roomie I had said the same thing, "Too many Asians in Vancouver". He wants to go to Ontario to meet some "real" Canadians :D

Anonymous said...

FUCK this hell hole. People here act like they want to be left alone. If you like making friends, leave this city and never look back. BE WARNED if you don't regard all these comments on here. This is a terrible place to be social........

If you decide to move anyways, be prepared to become a LONER.

Kelly said...

There is no cool city in Canada, And it's definately not Toronto, it might as well be American. Vancouver is the worst of all, maybe as bad as Calgary. This city is the most soulless, arrogant place on earth, I have never been so angry in my life, wondering why I'm still here. Who are all you people who hate this place and why can i never find you?

Anonymous said...

Thank you all so much for your posts! God! I thought I was the only one!! I am leaving here in Oct/Nov for Amsterdam and I am never ever coming back here. I am ashamed that I was even born here. I have been traveling for half my life and came back here to take care of some personal things...this has been the worst 2 years of my life! Yes..I also agree these are the most unfriendly,controlling narcissistic ignorant people I have ever known in any city in any other place on this planet!The worst part is that it seems the more misery people here breed the happier they seem to get! Its disgusting and its so unbelievably misled!

I can't wait to leave and never ever think about this place again for as long as i live!!

Pasi Nurminen said...

I can't wait until I get my degree and leave this shithole of a city forever...

Anonymous said...

OMG so I'm not crazy!

I grew up a nice gay boy, in this once amazing city that had so much promise to become something big. And man did it turn into a pile of steaming hot blood turds after the Worlds Fair in 86.

That was when Stanley Park was for everyone, and not just for that cancer of an aquarium to keep eating land for so called educational reasons. And we had Sea festival, and the PNE parade, the bathtub races in English Bay. We had many cultural groups who mingled together...and everything was inclusive and free for everyone. You could even have your own place, imagine that?

Now the bitter part...

After being a gay male who worked downtown for many years in high end retail. I can assure you that all the souless people you see shopping ALL DAY are in debt up to their shit stained taints. Because they havent got the brains to open the auto door at holt renfrew, much less pay for an extravagant lifestyle with a good job.

Which brings me to another point. Vancouver has no finacial district...what world class city do you know of that has no centre for commerce? Even bloody San Fran has a business district. Vancouver's downtown is made up of hotels condos and StarBuks. What the hell is causing a morning rush hour all the way from kelowna to downtown every morning? Are all these people heading home to their condos after sex with a dairy cow? Or working as hotel maids? cuz they sure as hell aint racing to their banking jobs...

I now reside in burnaby, where I look after my dissabled elderly parents. Am completely A-sexual refusing to let anyone touch my goodies, after trying to find a stable relationship most of my adult life. I am going to school and dreaming of the day I can convince my parents to get out of this shit hole. Before one of our asshole neighbours packs in more drug addled teens to pay their mortgage, teens who love to get fucked up and show off to their spermy friends how many times they can barf on the skytrain, while on the way to the fucking fireworks...Which were dead in the water, until that shit eating keg resturant blew life back into that salty old whore...way too go keg *soft clap* I hope you go bankrupt like everything else in this city, after the two week Olympics are over.

Just like after expo86, this place will be nowhere. And the inhabitants will begin to eat each other for sustanance...

Thank you all I feel so much better...can anyone recomend a nice little town in BC for when my dream comes true and I can get out of here?...nothing fancy, maybe just a Dairy Queen and a gas station.

Anonymous said...

Wow, thanks everyone!!! Vancouver is shit after all!!! I thought I was just becoming pessimistic. I would like to add that the poor people of Vancouver have become too isolated, and have only found comfort and relations with money. They deserve their misery, and I hope their paranoia and greed makes them eat their money and choke. A dormir culebras.

If you stay in Canada, go to Montreal or Toronto. At least they know what instinct is.

Anonymous said...

Wow, thanks everyone!!! Vancouver is shit after all!!! I thought I was just becoming pessimistic. I would like to add that the poor people of Vancouver have become too isolated, and have only found comfort and relations with money. They deserve their misery, and I hope their paranoia and greed makes them eat their money and choke. A dormir culebras.

If you stay in Canada, go to Montreal or Toronto. At least they know what life is about!

Anonymous said...

This rant is spot on. One of the best I have seen. Vancouver sucks. I lived in Central Europe for 2 years and loved it. I actually woke up and was excited to hit the streets. The shopping. The architecture. The cohesive culture.

Am I a poor East Ender? No. I have money, run a successful business...

But... the overabundance of East Indians and Asians has really fucked up the culture in this city. And we are ALL adversely affected, even them. There is no culture here. It is completely stale and empty. The people with money are twits, and every girl that seems to be single is clinically arrogant.

Where is the financial district? Where is the business, the jobs? Oh right, 80% of the area in the Lower Mainland is covered by condos, houses and Starbucks. When I saw a new Condo just down from Georgia and Granville, I had to laugh. I thought maybe that would be the Bay Street of Vancouver... forget it, more condos.

Rents... If you are an immigrant with money, come to Vancouver, buy 10 Condos, rent them out for ridiculous prices, and summer in Greece for 8 months.

I have said this many times: a city is not so much defined by its buildings and scenery, but by its people. Try this thought experiment: replace everyone in Paris right now with everyone from Vancouver. Paris would be ruined in about 2 days.

All the plastic, no fashion sense idiotic Yaletown girls with no taste taking over the shops; all the immigrants and languages penetrating the government, the land, the restaurants; the crackheads rooting themselves in like cockroaches... until, the whole place is a mess, just like Vancouver.

And I don't want to hear from some Lululemon wearing Kitz Bitch that Paris sucks and Vancouver is great, what with its beaches and mountains and ski hills...: Paris is amazing. The streets, the shopping, the people. It blows Vancouver away in every respect. And come to think about it, pretty much every other major city in the world does too.

And in Vancouver's case, the people are horribly introverted and arrogant. Blame, partly, the government for multi-culturalism. It hasn't worked here. Asians populate Richmond, East Indians Surrey... the cultural demarcations run deep.

Nobody's talking to each other. It's one language after another. It feels like being lost in translation, everyday. Multi-culturalism is the root problem: not the only problem, but one of them. You can't expect people to assimilate when everyone exists in their own cultural vacuum. Those Asian swarms running around downtown: you think they have any idea about Canada? The language, what basis our commerce and laws are based? They just want to extract as much possible wealth as they can. Screw everyone else. I am not saying that all of them are like that, but there are many rich immigrants who have that snooty Yaletown attitude about things, and they just exploit our country, and it makes me sick.

And lets not start on the seemingly never ending homeless/drug problem.

I thought Vancouver would sort of get better, but things seem to keep getting worse and worse. The corrupt Police, the crime, the bankrupt culture... all of it gets worse by the day. I am at the point where I think I can't stay here any longer.

And let's put one thing to rest right now. Vancouver was never the "best" city in the world. That myth was set in place by one review from some magazine a few years ago, and since then, Vancouverites have had this false idea that it IS in fact the best city in the world. And, likely, they also probably think that others feel the same way too. However, in reality, there is no 1 best city, and if we look at the numerous, annual city ratings, Vancouver is way at the bottom of the list. I just looked at one and it came 14th out of 25. Not bad, that is the better one.

The bottom line: go to where you feel the most comfortable. For me, that's Moscow, for you, it might be Hawaii. You have your preferences, don't delay, get out and find it... but get the hell out of here!

Allan MacInnis said...

Heh. Nice to see this thread keeps on gettin' comments - guess as the 2010 Olympics approaches there will be even more.

A little note, pleading for temperance: the thing about all the "Asians" is getting a bit out of hand (I know, I kinda started it). The sort of 232 solitudes that we see in Vancouver doesn't correlate to skin colour; there are also lots of Latin American, Middle Eastern, and European and indeed *American* foreign visitors, students, newcomers and such, who are equally involved primarily with their own communities in the city, and lots of Asian- and Indo-Canadians who are FROM here... While the "cultural demarcations" the above dude mentions ARE problematic to any true sense of multiculturalism (unless we translate that as "move here and give us your money, nothing else matters") - the kinda fragmented population is NOT the main problem with this city. If there was more of a sense of community, collective glue, commonality, generosity, compassion - etc - in the city, the diversity of the population would be no cause for complaint at all (Toronto also has a diverse population but seems to cohere much better). It's only because we're in the furthest reaches of "going west" - as distant from the country's original European source culture (don't mind the Indians) as can be - that we really notice the presence of all these communities that have EXACTLY what Vancouver lacks. The glue holding the Chinatown and Richmond communties together and giving them a sense of self and shared purpose and so forth is among the strongest sense of "community" you'll get here, I'd imagine... if you're Chinese...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for chiming in. I can't agree with your point above. It is precisely because we have so many different cultures in Vancouver that there is no sense of community. There is no common cultural thread running through the city. And Asians make up over 40% of the population in Vancouver. I have nothing against them personally, but Asians have a defined set of beliefs and way of thinking that is much different than the typical North American white person... of course. And I don't want to hear "Many are from here!". I live downtown and I am qualified to say this: they are not speaking my language, and I guess I am not speaking theirs.

The fact that there are so many of them, alienates other cultures, like white North Americans, or any other for that matter. Here is another thought experiment: replace 40% of the people in Tokyo right now with white North Americans. The city would be much different. Unexplainable almost. Weird. Someone from Japan going home would probably feel much different in that city with such a significant portion of the population made up of white North Americans. It would likely break their sense of community and belonging in that city. This is what has happened in Vancouver.

And everyone always brings up Toronto. Toronto is completely different in so many ways. It is a true mosaic of cultures, not like Vancouver, which is statistically, empirically, dominated by Asians. In Toronto, the city is much more established than Vancouver, with a real infrastructure. There are 3x more people, and they have real businesses and a real financial sector. People move there to actually work hard and do something with themselves, not to sit on their riches (most of them don't have riches) and buy every available condo they can grab.

This is not the same like in Vancouver. Too many rich immigrants, and too many Asians. Even the Asians say there are too many! But I won't just pick on the Asians. There are simply too many cultures here for there to be a real sense of community. Until that changes, I can't see how anything will improve. Even Stephen Harper, alongside Health Canada, made a statement after Harper visited Vancouver's East Side that mental health problems/homelessness may be a result of people being alienated from their communities in large cities.

The bottom line: out of every city I have been to, Vancouver has the absolute worst homeless problem, and is the most empty city I have ever been to.

Anonymous said...

Wow... I cannot believe I read every comment on this blog. I love every bit of it. First of all, I believe Vancity is full of consumers waiting for any get-rich-quick scheme opportunity, at least in downtown. I am a Tinseltowner myself and all I see are brown people wearing D&G sunglasses, Ed Hardy t-shirts and Guess jeans... where does that take you? They believe it allows you to climb the social status here in this crummy city. The bars, I may add, are absolute shit... try to have a decent conversation with someone in any bar on Granville on a Friday night, and the only response you'll get is: "Are you Asian? No? Okay, will you fuck me tonight at least?" Absolutely disgusting.
I am not dissing those who are Asian, I love multiculturalism and have lived in Amsterdam for three years of my life and traveled to most of Western Europe and Africa, plenty of my friends are Asian and they are amazing individuals... but every other white male in Vancouver is fucking a 12-lb. Asian and it's only for one reason.
Not to mention the crackheads; I have been near it for almost 3 years and I walk down the street as if it's nothing, but should we consider this acceptable? There is such a massive overload of pressure for the Olympics next year and when people from all over the world come to experience it, they will surely be disappointed in the Downtown Eastside... I find it so sad. At least 3 people everyday ask me for change, some of them I know by name now, but of course they don't recognize little old me... why would they, they're stoned! Lol... but seriously, WTF! WHATEVER HAPPENED TO NORMALVILLE?

And I'm spent.

Anonymous said...

bahaha finally a place where people share my sentiment.
can't wait to get the fuck out and move back to what 'friendly' vancouverites refer to as onTERRIBLE.
say what you want deluded, vacant, self important friends, at least where I'm from we have culture, community and sunny skies...
unlike vanCRAPPER. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm a Tinseltowner too! See you at the Pivo House! Although the owners of that place seem just as self absorbed as the rest of the herd.

Anonymous said...

Finalllllllllyyy everytime i tell people i hate vancouver there like why?why? why?
1. people dont leave this fucking country and see the world outside so they get all stuck up and think there king shit within there own walls and no traveling doesnt mean going to alberta or toronto. This is why BC has so many white boys that run around grab there nuts and talk slang “Wiggers”

2. the people, rude people i move for a pregnant lady on a skytrain give her my spot while i watch others and have even hurd people say “fuck off’ to pregnant and elderly , or you open a door for someone and instead of thank you they just walk through like your there electrical door mechanism

3.Clubs, i go into clubs and see all these dorks standing there saying what are you looking at?! like if your going to have fun at an event have fun, dont stand there and stir shit up to look “hardcore”

4. Things arent cheap, people are cheap , i have a side business and people say ohhh 80 dollars is alot of money , when there not paying for a house, cars, rent, ect.

5.i dont agree with the criminal codes , out here someone who is mentally ill gets the shit end of the stick, beat, thrown in jail for years but when someone gets shot up and they find the guy its like ooh here you go your out on bail even though you blasted a hole in someone

Unknown said...

Let's not forget incompetence and poor work ethic. I have lived in several different countries and visited many more and I find the absolute slackness of the people her mind boggling. There is this sense of entitlement that they should just be able to show up at their jobs and get paid merely for their presence. It seems people get jobs here through their connections rather than their competence. As I work in HR, I get to see many resumes and most people who are mangers get their jobs simply because they are from here or know someone. It's like a giant extended fratenity/sorority. Many resumes that would be snatched up in other cities are ignored here because they are new to the city (here less than 3 years).

And don't get me started on public services! Overcrowded buses that show up when they feel like it. A month of snow without ploughing! The only province that has to pay for Healthcare yet you can't find a physician willing to take you on as a patient. OK the paying for Healthcare is more BC related than Vancouver specific but still, more suckage.

I have been here a little under two years and I am getting the f*ck out of here! It is like the Stepford Yuppies here. Have you ever made a comment that wasn't positive around these automatons? Even if it is warranted (see not ploughing all winter) people from Vancouver look at you like you just puked on their baby. Honestly the must smug and self righteous people I have ever encountered (yet without reason - quite dull, lacking in wit or accomplishment etc).

Everytime I have conversations with people who are not from here, I finally feel sane again. There are many of us yet we are isolated from one another and our psyches our affacted by this dlusional, insullar and self congratulatory tribe.

People of Vancouver - we only move here to avoid the winter! It is not because it is so great here! After two years of this shite, I will happily live in the arctic to get away from you!

Bollocks to Vancouver said...

Basically Canadians and Vancouverites particularly are smug cunts, the only two cities in the western world worth being in are New York and London. I come to Vancouver from WA every so often and within minutes I either have road rage due to the most incompetent drivers on earth and no not just Asian's, all of you cant drive for fuck. Also who came up with the slogan on the license plates "The best place on Earth" how fucking arrogant is that? I am so glad I don't live there just being close by is enough to annoy me and as soon as I can I'm outta here, off back to London or New York, where there is real street life and culture not just a bunch of self satisfied smug pricks and wanna be Hollywood, NYC or London types, typical Canadians can't even create there own identity, always trying to be something that they're not and that is yawwwwn "The boringgggg place on Earth" so Bollocks to Vancouver is all there is to say about it

Anonymous said...

I've just moved to Vancouver from Ireland, okay I've only been here 3 weeks but already I hate this place, its so very very dull. Grand you have mountains and snow and skiing, thats brilliant but I'm not gonna do that everyday am I. I laughed a lot when I first got here, I was asking people whats to see and do in vancouver, I'm a tourist show me something to see and do and not one person could tell me, even the woman in the tourist office was stuck for words, theres the steam powered clock WOW!! others said go visit East Hastings!! My main gripe is there are no real signs of subculture, no decent pubs, clubs. Can someone enlighten me. I've got some work for the olympics and when thats finished Im out of here. Any one recommend a place to go, I've heard Montreal is good?

Allan MacInnis said...

Subculturally speaking, Vancouver has taken a bit of a beating this last year - various music venues have closed down, burned down, been shut down, or just given up the battle. I'm not the best guy to recommend places, since I'm a bit out of the loop at the moment, but The Rickshaw is a great little live music venue, and there are often cool events at the Biltmore; check them out, for starters, and see if you can pick up a copy of The Skinny, a local music paper that fills in a few blanks in terms of reporting local/subcultural stuff (because it's there, it's just not deemed worthy of recognition by the various venues of "official culture" in this city). There's a wonderful little bookstore called Solder And Sons on Main near Hastings that has a cozy atmosphere and very appealing music events, if you like experimental stuff. Blim, too, is an interesting little arts-space with lots of workshops (screenprinting, life drawing) and eccentric film and music events occasionally. There are also many interesting places and a real sense of community on Main Street (south of Broadway) and Commercial Drive - you can probably find some good pubs there, too. Tho' I'm not much of a pubgoer, I'm partial to a place by the statue of Gassy Jack in Gastown, except I keep forgetting its name - but there are a few in the area that don't have mixed martial arts blaring on the pay-per-view... Good luck.

Anonymous said...

Time to get a bus ticket for Calgary.

Anonymous said...

I googled, Vancouver superficial city and found this rant. And yeah, most of it reads true. I've lived in vancouver many times over and I always felt chewed up and spit out by the nasty people who call Vancouver home. Vanouver isn't the only superficial city, though - Kelowna sucks, so does White Rock and I'm sure others suck too for various reasons.

For those who say 'leave' if you don't like Vancouver - I'm leaving. Been working on getting paperwork, saving money to relocate and of course, a side effect of living in B.C....had to get out of debt too before I could leave for good. You see, I wanted it to be a good move - not a spur of the moment one-way westjet flight to toronto to find a room and a bar job...a real honest to goodness geographical identity lobotomy. I'm moving to Spain! Hurrah - I so feel alive when I'm in Europe. I'm over 40, university educated, well traveled, big hearted and like good conversations, yummy food and warm welcoming people. So, if it ain't here in B.C., you have to go across the Atlantic to find it.

I could go on and on, but if you're thinking of moving to Vancouver or British Columbia, think again...are you Hollywood beautiful? Do you have lots of money, like 1mill or more to buy a shabby house? Do you have a partner and a built in social life or just plain like each other's company and don't need anybody else? Then maybe British Columbia is for you...who am I.

Words to the wise...unless you have the above, British Columbians will never accept you into their fold. They will say things like..."i have enough friends..." You will only make friends with other people from other places...that is until they get tired of the coldness and loneliness of B.C. I don't mean outside either...

I've discovered that who I am means zilch in this province... so why bother?

Vancouver sucks...

Anonymous said...

Hollywood beautiful? vancouverites are plain looking people, this is not miami or southern california. the Pacific northwest is not known for it's beautiful people. Hot people go to big cities and warm climates, usually place with lots of entertainment nightlife fashion etc you get the idea

Anonymous said...

Well this is certainly a pleasure to read. After being made to feel like an idiot by so many people for disliking Vancouver, even by people who have never set foot in Vancouver, and none being Candian (I'm careful who I talk to about this) this post and comments are indeed validating. I've tried very hard to like it here and blogged about it: hollyandholly dot com . I think the main reason Vancouver sucks is the lack of sun. It makes people withdrawn, reserved, and unfriendly (read DEPRESSED and UNMOTIVATED and CLOSED). The cost of living doesn't help. Too many cultures? Whoever wrote that, Have you been to Chicago, New York, etc.? There is not the feeling of a void/disconnection in those places, and there are plenty of cultures coexisting. The immigrants are some of the only people here I can relate to. Some like it, some don't. Living here is a struggle. The only way I can make peace with it is try to take advantage of the natural beauty and ignore everything else. Hoping to leave soon.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for making me laugh with this blog post! Your views on Vancouver are spot-on with how I feel sometimes.

Personally, I feel we are simply being turned into another generic asian country. If there was any distinct identity that was slowly maturing, it was quickly obliterated with mass immigration and multiculturalism. We aren't being "enriched", so much as we are being "watered-down" into consumer mono-culture. How *special*.

I would leave this town *in a heart beat* -- but the joke is on me. I work in a very specific industry. The kind of job I have is only found in large cities. My future goal is to switch careers and hopefully relocate out of this consumer zombie town, with it's outrageously priced tiny-sized condos built for azians.

ellen said...

Vancouver is a weird place, I have never seen so many things that belong in a horror movie and I have been to lots of cities. I love the beach NOT i'm 2 scared to walk in the sand barefoot incase I step on an needle. I volunteer and i'm not even from here, does anyone from here care about the DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE not likely as Vancouver is 2 busy spending tax money on a new roof. How can people just ignore all the homeless, mental ill people that walk the streets?? I came back here again to give this place a second chance but it has got worse not better. And before you say it YES I WILL BE LEAVING....

Anonymous said...

I suffered so much in this province of BC. Merry go round of jobs and lay offs. Hard to make friends or find interesting, real people who can talk on deeper issues. Hard to find partner - in my case practically stalked by weirdos or married and attached men or crude mouthed trades guys. And guys I liked had not culture, sense of style, or balls at all. I keep thinking "where are the attractive men"? Not here.

I am an attractive, intelligent, sensitive woman who says thank you and talks with people and has lots of great skills. Yet in BC I got no partner, no house, no steady job, no opportunities for my creative business pursuits, no savings after exorbitant rents and lay offs every couple years, and no feeling of connection - just isolation. It's gotten to the point I'm ready to pack up my pets and drive across the country to Toronto on my own. I'm leaving as soon as I can.

I used to like rain when I was younger but now I hate it because of this city. I hate BC. Hate it. And the problem is once you are here (I was a child immigrant) you get stuck because you can never make enough money to pay your bills and rent for crap dwellings let alone save to enough to take a train, car, or plane away from here.

Right out of university my long term bf of the time and I ended up on welfare for some time because no one would hire either of us even for restaurant jobs! And the jobs we did get eventually paid very low. I progressed from there and worked hard to build a profession and eventually get a car but all the years I lived as "working poverty" and felt tremendously alienated and depressed and put my creativity and sweat into tight ass jobs for uptight BC people got me nowhere in the end.

Yes, I too make friends with international people and I love Brit culture and people and Toronto people - almost anyone from somewhere else! They talk to me and stay friends with me. I know that if I was in Europe right now I'd have men falling over themselves to be with me. What's wrong with the people here?? Those of you who said they've either given up completely or are part of the snot nosed group are right on both counts!

BC is shite as far as I'm concerned. It still has enough vegetation to make it pretty (breathtaking in the wealthy west vancouver over the bridge) on sunny days but it is as dull and boring and grey on the more often raining days as the people and the cities here are.

That felt good.

Anonymous said...

İt is the most livable part of BC, that's for sure, can you imagine? Downtown of Vancouver, robson, davie, bla bla, are the most exciting places,how awesome is that? isn't it?
I really dislike Vancouver, not hate but a deep dislike about shallow lifestyle and money made sunnydays without a soul.
Naturally it is beautiful, climate is great, i definitely agree,I met some great people too,, great mountains, some good Parks, but generally speaking, people are so fucking mechanized, and have no conversation or sense of humour.I am not a perfect guy, nobody is but
thank you Vancouver, you showed me how the best city in the world is not my best city in the world to live in .

Anonymous said...

You know the people are stuck up assholes when they call thier city "the most beautiful city in the world" Ahahaha why? drive on main street or kingsway and you will see like 10 crackhead women selling thier bodies at night. What about the bums? Why is it beautiful? cus i can smoke weed in my canoe and look at trees? The only reason I ended up here was because of immigration, to get a more respectable passport, and that is what Canada is just a passport selling country to rejects like the morons from haiti or people who come from broken countries like me. My experience Vancouver has too many pissed off fatherless bastards who deeply hate every one that is religious, traditional, multicultureal ...etc look at the how the indians are treated and looked down upon and how everyone from a different home country is ashamed and trys to hide it much like chinese calling them selves asians. vancouver people they just want you to become a plastic robot like them, i guess they have alot of inferiority issues that it makes them feel threatened. women are even worse have not trust for anyone but then will stab you in the back and leave you from some abusive duchebag, i guess it is the fatherless bastard kid thing again. end my rant is basically id rather live in developing country with real people with values and morality rather than a bunch of duche bags that do drugs cus it is cool like we are in highschool and say they are from the best place on earth.

Allan MacInnis said...

I must say: that is one of the better rants against Vancouver this post has seen...

Anonymous said...

I moved to Vancouver in August of 2009 to attend gradschool at UBC. I grew up in Edmonton, but spent the last 15 years living happily on Vancouver Island. When I moved I was excited at the prospect of being in a big city with lots to do and plenty to see. That optimism lasted about 2 weeks.

Reasons I hate Vancouver:

- people are rude. Especially if you take public transit. People don't make way for seniors and don't move to the back of the bus to let people on. I can't tell you how many times I've screamed "move to the back of the fucking bus" to people standing in the middle of the aisle listening to their iPods. Who knows if it is because the don't speak English, but they just stand there with the vacant look on their faces, absorbed in their own little worlds. Nothing worse that a bus passing the stop because it is "full" when the whole back of the bus is empty. So annoying!!

- drivers. Hello people, pedestrians have the right of way. I have almost been hit several times, even after looking both ways people will deek out from behind the stopped car and go around, not paying attention to the fact that the other car is stopped for pedestrians!

- grocery stores. Killarney Market anyone? I don't know what grocery stores are like in China, but quality control anyone? It's the only place within a reasonable distance to me, and everything they sell is expired and the fruit is rotting.

- since when did 41st and Victoria turn into Beijing? I tried going the the CIBC and the teller did not speak English. Do yo uknow the word for deposit?

- there are no fat people or fat people stores. In all of Vancouver there is one plus sized chain store and it is not accessible by bus. I'm sorry, but not everyone is an asian size 0.

- the rain. nuff said.

- UBC. Can't stand the place. Everyone is self absorbed and they group together in their little cultural clumps and it makes making friends damn near impossible.

- the rents! I live in a room in a basement with 3 other people. the downstairs has 2 bathrooms, a small kitchen and 4 bedrooms. There isn't even a living room! I have a room with a twin bed, dresser and a desk, as nothing else will fit and i pay $650 a month.

- landlords don't speak English. They don't even know what I'm saying when I knock on the door and say "here's the rent".

I could go on. and yes, most of my issues are to do with different cultures but I am emphatically anti-immigration unless someone is holding a gun to your head and you are seeking refugee status. You country has shitty air? too bad for you. At least if you're going to come to canada, speak english. but seriously, what is their motivation. moving to vancouver is akin to moving to a far away chinese suburb. Radio stations, newspapers, tv stations in Mandarin...how will this help to bring our community closer together?

I have t minus 3 months to go and am leaving and never looking back. This place is a soul sucker.

Anonymous said...

I moved to Vancouver in August of 2009 to attend gradschool at UBC. I grew up in Edmonton, but spent the last 15 years living happily on Vancouver Island. When I moved I was excited at the prospect of being in a big city with lots to do and plenty to see. That optimism lasted about 2 weeks.

Reasons I hate Vancouver:

- people are rude. Especially if you take public transit. People don't make way for seniors and don't move to the back of the bus to let people on. I can't tell you how many times I've screamed "move to the back of the fucking bus" to people standing in the middle of the aisle listening to their iPods. Who knows if it is because the don't speak English, but they just stand there with the vacant look on their faces, absorbed in their own little worlds. Nothing worse that a bus passing the stop because it is "full" when the whole back of the bus is empty. So annoying!!

- drivers. Hello people, pedestrians have the right of way. I have almost been hit several times, even after looking both ways people will deek out from behind the stopped car and go around, not paying attention to the fact that the other car is stopped for pedestrians!

- grocery stores. Killarney Market anyone? I don't know what grocery stores are like in China, but quality control anyone? It's the only place within a reasonable distance to me, and everything they sell is expired and the fruit is rotting.

- since when did 41st and Victoria turn into Beijing? I tried going the the CIBC and the teller did not speak English. Do yo uknow the word for deposit?

- there are no fat people or fat people stores. In all of Vancouver there is one plus sized chain store and it is not accessible by bus. I'm sorry, but not everyone is an asian size 0.

- the rain. nuff said.

- UBC. Can't stand the place. Everyone is self absorbed and they group together in their little cultural clumps and it makes making friends damn near impossible.

- the rents! I live in a room in a basement with 3 other people. the downstairs has 2 bathrooms, a small kitchen and 4 bedrooms. There isn't even a living room! I have a room with a twin bed, dresser and a desk, as nothing else will fit and i pay $650 a month.

- landlords don't speak English. They don't even know what I'm saying when I knock on the door and say "here's the rent".

I could go on. and yes, most of my issues are to do with different cultures but I am emphatically anti-immigration unless someone is holding a gun to your head and you are seeking refugee status. You country has shitty air? too bad for you. At least if you're going to come to canada, speak english. but seriously, what is their motivation. moving to vancouver is akin to moving to a far away chinese suburb. Radio stations, newspapers, tv stations in Mandarin...how will this help to bring our community closer together?

I have t minus 3 months to go and am leaving and never looking back. This place is a soul sucker.

Mohammed Hamdan said...

I am Emirati from Dubai..i came to vancouver to study..Hate it..i mean just not vancouver whole of canada is shit...people are so poor they have no money and all are begging here..my landowner knowing how rich i am keeps asking me for money like a beggar..they have no class no money..nothing..only good thing is the woman are too easy..they want money and i need sex so fucking white sluts is so easy in canada..this is only good thing in canada..cant wait to finsih study and go back to my beautiful country.

Allan MacInnis said...

Heh. Well, at least you're getting laid... by the way, I'm now unemployed and need money! How 'bout it?

(...that was a joke, Mohammed. Thanks for your perspective...)

Anonymous said...

so i sit on the bus and i can hear one person speaking enlish on a cell phone. i get on to the skytrain and all i see is a sea of immagrants. im packed in there like can of fucking sardines. i'm sick of this city. i'm struggling just to make ends meet. all the plastic vain people. i never started out being racist. and i hate my fucking self for being this way. but i remember a time when i could ask the person next to me what time it is and they understood what i was saying. i was born in st. pauls hostpital in vancouver. but i dont even feel welcomed in my own city anymore. does anyone really give a shit what im talking about? id move but this where my shitty job is. i dont really hate people and im sure i come across pretty fucked up but too bad. i wish i could write whats on my mind without offeneding people but i dont think that will happen today. at least i still have my guitar.

Anonymous said...

canada ain't doing shit to retain new grads from moving elsewhere ...... 10 yrs later this bloody country will be filled with immigrants and old fucks. Well Done CANADA!!!! a fucking country with no fucking future

Anonymous said...

From a UBC Student.... response to a recent article about high rates of student depression...

Here are a few reasons why i feel UBC students are abnormally depressed:

1. The weather here sucks, its almost always raining, or near freezing temperatures. The only consistently warm month (during school) is September. My cousin attends UCLA, and he laughs at me when he tells me about wearing shorts and beaters in mid-January.

2.There is ZERO life/passion on this campus! The overall student body is very apathetic/unenthusiastic. Our sports teams don’t garner any campus support. It seems the only time UBC students really show emotion is during times of political arguments.

3. This university cares much more about non-UBC residents than students. There are private housing developments going up all over the place, taking away from the youthful student atmosphere.


4. Liquor is unreasonably expensive in this city. Its tough to find a 6-pack for under $12 (and thats for the crappiest brands). And when students manage to save up enough to buy alcohol, there is a good chance is will be shut down by the ever-present RCMP, and their recently instituted strict capacity laws. Fraternity Parties, beergardens, dances, and campus-promotes BBQs/concerts have all deteriorated over the past 4 years.

5. The lack of student housing on campus has turned UBC into a commuter school, which equals less activity on campus during non-class hours. On a saturday night, I see more elderly people out walking their dogs than I see students having fun.

6. Compared to other universities, UBC is very tough academically. Many students must almost completely sacrifice their social lives to obtain an incredibly high average to even have a slim chance at grad/med/law school.

I was scheduled to graduate in Spring 2012, but Im cutting it short by a term. Its not like im excited to spend any more time here. I wish this campus were more like the traditional university setting, but its not. It used to be better years ago, as alumni have told me. However, there seems to be some critical factors that are preventing it from occurring.

Anonymous said...

Propaganda says Vancouver is a world-class city and the best city to live in the world. Hum. I do not know all the cities in the world yet, so I cannot say which one is the best to live in.
What propaganda will never tell you ,of course, is that living in Vancouver is like a social torture, for a person coming from civilisation I mean.
Noisy on the main floor, but rotten in the basement. That is what propaganda is. Hide the truth. We need more people, so more competiton. We have the best tap water in the world coming from the pristine mountains (with the fluoride machine inbetween). Everything in under CONTROL !!!!! Be docile and everything will be allright. Of course, most people who like this city are from VAncouver.
When propaganda says all his bullshit, sign that there is something wrong.

Anonymous said...

People living in Kits shit cash and fart from higher than their ass !!!

Anonymous said...

People born in Vancouver are stupid assholes and rednecks

Anonymous said...

I moved to Vancouver in January 1999 for what I anticipated would be a long haul. I left September 1999 - 9 months was PUSHING it. I loathed it more and more each day until I could no longer breathe or bear to wake up to that shithole. GOOD RIDDANCE. Even Toronto has some spunk compared to that shithole.

Anonymous said...

I absolutely hate Vancouver. Not because of the rain - but I do hate that every conversation includes some idiots complaining that we get too much of it. People here are so rude, being a guy with an ounce common courtesy gets trampled trying to walk the streets of Davie, Robson, Granville etc. It still amazes me Vancouver is the only town that I've witnessed hardly anyone offering a disabled or older person a seat on the bus. Whenever I go on vacations I always am shocked about how polite and friendly people are, but the other day I realized that people elsewhere are normal, and people in Vancouver are morons. Also, sometimes in a crowd of people I feel like I was the only person who didn't have to go through immigration to become a citizen... I hate having to say "excuse me" to the homeless man dumpster diving while I go out to take my garbage out. I just overall despise this city and one of these days I will be long gone living elsewhere. Maybe I'll be able to buy a house if I move to another province/country, as I don't have a billion dollars to buy a two bedroom house in the lower mainland.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Thank you guys soooo much for all these posts I woke up this morning to -surprise- bleak and soul crushing gray skies. Now, I've lived here my whole life, roughly 35 years, and I will never get used to-let alone appreciate- the seemingly endless wet gray landscape. I fucking can't stand it anymore. I agree with much of what you all have said but would like to add a couple more points of contention for me:
1. To anonymous who stated that most girls who appear single are clinically arrogant: yes, there are a ton of douchy bitches in this city. No argument there. But the city is equally full of asshole royal douche nozzle dudes who feel they are entitled to the company of women- ie: fucking them- without having to make the slightest effort or show of respect. This is a fact. I think it's because they don't have to. Women outnumber men in this city and a large slice of the "man pie" is gay. So dudes have their pick and chicks are stupid and let them get away with all kinds of mistreatment because they apparently have no other options in that there are so few fish to choose from in our scuzzy puddle of a pond. In other cities men make an effort, ask women out, actually try to converse. In van all dudes seem to do is try to get fucked. I'm bitter, for sure, but I'm not alone. I'm cute, educated, low maintenance, have a bunch of friends in many different social groups and most of my girlfriends feel the same as me. These are beautiful smart funny down to earth ladies who are wondering what's wrong with this picture when they haven't been asked on a proper date in years yet there are always a plethora of horny clinically arrogant assholes leering, jeering and pathetically trying to take them home as last-call at the bar/club/restaurant/house-party approaches.
2. Yes this town- it can hardly be called a city- is wayyyy too expensive. The rents, even in east van are sky fucking high. The best you can hope for for less than $800/month is either an ugly ass basement suite on the far edge of town or a one-room noisy apt with a shared bathroom in china-town. When MINIMUM WAGE hasn't been raised in over ten years yet the cost of living keeps rising people that have always lived here are being forced out. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. For a town with as much wealth as Vancouver this fact is sickening.
3.the hipsters on main street. They really all just need to fuck off and die. Christ. It's like they think they're the first artists or musicians to ever walk the earth. Pretentious phony fuck faces. The real artists, musicians, writers etc. can't afford to live in the neighbourhood they themselves made desirable. How many real artists can afford half a mill to live in a noisy cookie-cutter main street "artist loft"? Gimme a fuckin break. If one more trendy beard-sporting imposter or "im wearing a Ramones-Tshirt-but cant name any of thier albums"-moronic former prom queen gives me attitude I'll most likely puke all over their over-priced designer flannel shirt.

4. Yes Vancouver is beautiful in that the mountains, ocean and close proximity to all our provinces natural wonder is breathtaking. But if you can't afford a car good luck seeing much of it. Operating a car here costs almost as much as rent what with the no free parking anywhere, high gas prices and insurance rates.
So, yes I can't wait to leave this shit hole of a snot factory. Unfortunately, with the cost of everything being obscenely expensive here it takes years to save enough to go on vacation, let alone relocate. But the day I can afford to get outta dodge I'm history. Reading all these previous posts has brightened my dismal day, and again thanks guys, good to know I'm not alone. I needed that 

Phaedra said...

Ha Ha Ha I love this. I hated Vancouver the day after I moved here over 20 years ago now. I thought it was bad enough in the nineties. It is evenn worse now. I lived on Vancouver Island before and would love to go back. I could go but I did manage to find a nice guy here who hates the island (and hates it here too).
The reasons I hate Vancouver are many. I think the people here are abnormally rude. There are a lot of douche bag women and butt ugly men that are far too ugly to be rude. The women are gold diggers and the men seem to be far too picky for their looks and personality as they are mostly rude and classless. I can see why the asians complain about too many asians. I can't seem to make friends here and it took me twenty years to find a decent guy. It is isolated here and far far too expensive. Even if you make a moderate amount of money, you have to live in substandard conditions. Driving here has forced me to become another asshole on the road because the streets here are laid out so poorly and it takes forever to get anywhere. I'm always running behind these days so i have to drive like an asshole and I have always been respectful and courteous on the road. I have seen idiots wait for the light to turn yellow and then run across the road. Everyone here seems to be completely oblivious and stuck in their own little stupid world, unaware of anyone else around them which brings me to how many times I have been bodyslammed walking down the sidewalk because no one gets the fuck out of the way or says "excuse me". I usually do move out of the way but once or twice I haven't just to see if anyone else does and...they don't. There is something very wrong with this city. It is very lonely, cold, and dark. Yes the weather sucks but that is minor. I grew up in Edmonton in the 70's and was able to get past bad weather. I am not able to get over bad quality people. Where are all you other people that hate this cesspool? We should start a meetup.

Anonymous said...

I HATE VANCOUVER!!! I've lived in a few citys and visited many. People here are judgemental condescending arrogent assholes. It seems like the entire city missed that step after high school when you realize you life is so much better for you and everybody else if you stop judging people and start enjoying people. They are stuck up. Ignorant. And they all pretend to be something there not. They argue they care about the environment but they don't care about the person sitting 5 feet away from them. It makes NO SENCE!!! And it makes me question there integrity and there values. They only thing that makes this city great is the ocean and the mountains. The people have trashed and assaulted everything else. FUCK YOU VANCOUVER

Allan MacInnis said...

Thanks, that totally cheered me up!

perer said...

Ya I like a few things about Vancouver, I don't hate the junkies, at least some of them smile and laugh.

I don't like the jock rioting Assholes and the little asians with rich parents, I don't like spoiled ppl.

But ya, Vancouver has issues, always has. It just gets worse, hipsters suck. Dreadlocked morons, smug lesbians, rich rednecks, bike theifs, Mexican crack dealers, single bitter women... All sucks

The only

Anonymous said...

I have lived in Vancouver for 50 years. I am a fourth generation, Vancouverite and many of the people here, especially the "women" are complete narcissistic assholes. The arrogance is something else. There are many things to love about this city. If I were to really nail the social problem down, it is the "women" of Vancouver that make it a drag for so many people. I have heard scores of men and women, from abroad complain about the gold digging, self absorbed "bitches" of Vancouver.

Don't take me wrong, I love women, but not women from here...

too asian and proud said...

It’s funny how white people like this guy feel so insecure when they are surrounded by too many non-whites. It’s like they feel they always need to be the center of attention, and when someone takes that away from them they get all bitter about it. Well too bad whitey. “Hongcouver” is too good for you now anyway, and we’re definitely not at all sorry that Asians took away your grandparent’s dream of moving to a city of all white people. Ironically, you’ll be moving to a city with more Asians, Mexicans, and Blacks you dumbass.

http://www.tooasian.ca/hongcouver-has-too-many-asians

Allan MacInnis said...

Uh, thanks, Too Asian! (Note: the white guy that Too Asian is referring to is not myself, but you'll have to go to the link provided by Too Asian to see the original comment...).

Unknown said...

The scumbag Asians are everywhere with their ignorant faces and flat heads. It's the WORST place to live. EVER!!!!!

Anar said...

I would do anything to move away from this city, They just ripped me off and I cant even have expense to go . vancouver is totally SO NOT educated haha. People think themselves educated, decent people. How can you be educated decent person if you even dont know how to say No, or be Honest? You guys dont even know what you want? Be yourself? No guts to talk? And then judge others? Too rightous that even not right people are bad? The more you judge, the more you're egoistic, the lesser you know. you know that? that there is no experience so how the hell is your education can be valid huh? So dont give your shitty knowledge on top and act like you're being elite or something, it only makes you less wise because what all matters is not how much you know, how much you experienced and know yourself truly, deeply, IT IS POSSIBLE. Just because you guys dont believe in it. its not happening. So dont you judge!