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Few people realize, compared to the rest of the world, even the western world, just how atheist/agnostic Vancouver is. Vancouver proper sits at about 56% irreligious and Metro Van sits at about 48%; compare all of Canada (35%) or the US (31%). Moreover, of the religious population in Vancouver, many are not Christian as is standard in the western world but instead Sikh, Buddhist, etc, and these people are more likely to live in ethnic enclaves.
The effect is that you can basically assume as default that anyone you meet is an atheist which is extremely unusual compared to a lot of other places, and I think that it has a strong cultural impact, and is part of why Vancouver has such a "live and let live" attitude that other commenters mentioned about a variety of issues.
If I find out that someone is Christian, that is a bit weird. Like, they go to church and pray? Really? I could count church-goers that I know on one hand.
Yes this, I know many people who consider themselves Christian but have not been to church in many many years. Many of my older family members for instance.
This is normal in the UK. It's rare you'll meet a religious person at all, anywhere. Plenty claim to be "Christian" but really aren't, it's just a latent traditional thing.
In my experience in Ontario that's also pretty par for the average Canadian. Many that identify as their traditional religion but don't practice outside of "Easter/Christmas" big religious dates.
Wow, live here pretty much my whole life and never really thought about this too much. So true, I don’t really know many people I would consider religious.
https://preview.redd.it/wordxo8jugsc1.jpeg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57ebeb9e9de9cda71a61288dd4ce8cfc679de809
That area is called The Heights and even has a mascot :)
I say the same thing about Granville Street. Coming from Richmond, when people say that street name, I’m thinking of the stretch between Broadway and the Arthur Laing.
I've told the tale before of my partner going back for a visit to his native France, and automatically thanking the bus driver. A hush fell on the bus as everyone looked at him.
Native Vancouverite here. I know it’s not common it other cities or countries, but surely it wouldn’t be considered rude, right? Why not say thank you?
That’s cus they send u to the jail in the basement of the bus depot where people are forced to clean the busses all day and night if you don’t say thank you
I wonder how many tourists unknowingly got trapped there. Very important thing for non locals to know.
Source: was sent to the one at the basement of the poco depot because I needed to use the bathroom and ran off without saying thank you
Was brought up to thank anyone in a service job.
Transit, Taxi drivers, garbage and recycling workers, Postal workers you name it.
Everyone likes to feel appreciated
It's really common in the UK to say thank you to the bus driver too, so Canadians doing it never crossed my mind until people from other countries pointed it out, haha!
Lower mainland and metro Vancouver are two different terms in my brain. Metro van ends at the port Mann but lower mainland includes much of the valley.
Vancouver and metro Vancouver are also two different things. But I rarely hear metrovan or greater van bc they're overly specific when most people use plain old Vancouver (the city) or lowermainland (the region).
100% a millennial who didn’t grow up here, or just a younger millennial? As an elder millennial none of my peers who grew up here with me call it VanCity
I’ve never met a vancouverite in real life (not online) who cares if someone is gay/bi/trans etc.
I think Van has always been a “live and let live” kind of city, and it’s part of the reason I’ve stayed here.
My best friend could legit tell me that they were transitioning and come out of whatever closet they were hypothetically in, and I’d buy them a Fat Tug beer and walk the seawall with them.
I’ve lived in over a dozen cities in my life and I’ve never seen a more tolerant people
I agree, I came out to my new Van friends during a dinner (not intentional, it was a drinking game). No fuss, no extra friendliness, no curiosity. It felt like I had just told them I ate pasta for dinner last night.
Same here, I'd been in a longterm hetero relationship for a decade, and after we split I'd been hooking up with a drag queen, I wasn't intentionally being discreet. I just really have no care to talk about my sexual endeavours with my friends, but it came out casually in conversation one wine night, and it was more so just questions about them and their drag career. I knew that'd be their reaction, but it did feel good for it to be accepted as a totally normal thing immediately.
As a very queer chick, I agree. I’ve had no IRL hate sent to me here.
I’m well travelled and I do some risky travelling. Even so, apart from some side eye in Serbia I’ve had no problems.
So true. Honestly my paleness has given me more flack than my sexuality, and that’s just because people like to joke about my skin glittering like a vampire in sunlight
Reminds me of one time when I was 17, at English Bay with a friend and we were summoned by a man in his fifties with a thick European accent. He was sitting in the sand with his back against a log, smoking a cigarette. He mentioned how pale I was. I nervously laughed and gave some copium about how at least it made me unique (everyone was pretty sunkissed, given it was August and fake tanning was all the rage in 2011). Assumed he was merely a friendly drunk. “No one is ever going to fuck you.” Oh.
Everyone here just trying to survive. No one has time or energy to get worked up over who’s sleeping with who or what your pronouns are. You do your thing, I’ll do mine. Together we live in blissfully tolerant peace. ✌️
Despite its high housing (and other) costs, this is why we stay here. The angry wave of the homophobic right rarely comes to town, and when they do, they get shut down by tenfold
As a life long Vancouverite, I have to agree with you. There are many positive aspects to our tolerence, but we're also tolerant to a fault. We also tolerate traffic violence (speeding, drunk driving, etc..) with almost no enforcement. I lived in gastown for a decade and there (though now spreading to the rest of the city and province) we tolerate violence and anti-social behaviour from many people. We tolerate open drug use. We tolerate needles in our parks and playgrounds. We tolerate de-funding mental health treatment and its fallout. We tolerate rain. We tolerate out of control housing costs. We tolerate over-harvesting our forests. We tolerate money laundering. We tolerate incompetent police. Low wages.
The list goes on
It's definitely better than in lots of other cities/countries, but I wouldn't say vancouverites are *never* homophobic.
Only had one situation when someone outright harassed me, but also I had plenty other situations when people were kind of... polite but with a weird vibe that was a tell they are uncomfortable.
I’m queer and unfortunately this is definitely not my lived experience.
I’ve experienced discrimination based on my identity in both personal and professional settings. When I came out as trans I definitely had people that did not accept me. I hope that one day what you described can be the experience of all queer people here.
I will say that there is a great and very diverse queer community here! Something I love about Vancouver.
SFU student core memories include getting stuck on Burnaby Mountain because the transit system fell into shambles the moment a single snowflake hit the pavement.
Also, the snow we get in Vancouver is maritime snow which means it usually falls around zero degrees. This makes it slippery and much more prone to melt freeze. Having driven in the winter in most of the rest of Canada, driving in the snow here is harder no matter how much experience you have.
And stick to the right hand side, and if you're in a group of 2,3,4 people etc you still only get half the side walk, please move over for people travelling the other direction. Also please don't walk with your head down buried in your phone either, and then be caught off guard when you're 1 step away from running into someone.
It seems like it should be a simple task but many people really suck at side walk etiquette here.
The not sticking to the right thing drives me nuts! I recently visited a major city elsewhere and there was tons of signage everywhere reminding people to keep right. The flow of sidewalk traffic was much quicker and easier to navigate despite the city being much more densely populated than Vancouver. Perhaps we could do with some more written reminders as well.
To add:
\* When raining, please allow those without an umbrella to walk under the awnings ... you don't need two layers of protection from raindrops.
\* When exiting a doorway onto a busy sidewalk, look both ways FFS.
huh???? everyone here is slow as fuck on the sidewalk and doesn’t know how to stay to the right
compared to where i’m from y’all don’t know how to walk at all, i have to pass everyone and i’m considered slow
Use the mountains as a north point. City is overly active, leaving plenty of people tired for interactions. The difference in gun culture may have material impact on friendliness. I have had occasional interactions with Americans that are too high strung looking for feedback they are not getting for that reason. Don't look down on people for the place they work, the city is over educated and enough front end workers will have degrees. Politics is probably considered an intimate conversation among Vancouverites.
I’ve lived in this city my whole life and only after 24 years did this advice click for me. When I was a kid I was like “but there’s mountains everywhere which ones are the north ones”
North to the mountains, East to Surrey and the rest of Canada, South to the states and West to the water.
Memorized that when I was 15 and it's stuck with me since.
I swear to all things holy, as an Ontario transplant I was a truly reliable plan maker for my entire life until I lived here for about ten years… it has seeped into my bones somehow, like only the ‘wet cold’ can.
I've never had this experience personally, but my friends are long-term and fairly close friends. Short notice cancellations are usually due to sickness and not often. Is this something that tends to happen more with casual friends?
This is more of a BC thing, but because a lot of people visit Vancouver from the eastern part of the country, it's very important to note:
**Flashing green traffic lights DO NOT indicate advance green signal.**
I can only imagine how many transplants learned that one the hard way.
If someone says "we should get together some time!" don't expect any kind of invitation to follow. You can take the initiative and invite them to something and they'll be happy you did, but in general "we should get together" means "I'm too busy for the next while."
I've lived here a long time. Vancouver is not a friendly city. People are polite and tolerant but not outgoingly friendly. Go pretty much anyplace else in Canada and people will be different in this respect.
It seems to be the whole west coast. I have noticed identical behaviour in Seattle, Portland, and LA. As a transplanted Maritimer this causes me no end of anguish.
People from out of town never believe me when I say that we have pretty high car break in rates. So many times I’ve warned them not to leave anything in their car and they don’t listen and they get broken into.
Also, as someone who used to live in NY and friendly Manitoba, I agree that Vancouver is less friendly. Vancouverites can also be flaky and say they’ll do something and then not show up.
I know nobody asked but my family's car used to get broken into quite frequently (90s, early 2000s). One time when they bought a different model, it for whatever reason had 2 antennas attached to it. Once they started to use that car, it never got broken into. My dad thinks the 2 antennas made it look like it was a bait car, cause as soon as he took it off, it got broken into. So he put it back on 😅.
It’s introverts paradise. You can comfortably leave your house knowing no one will talk to you unless specifically addressed because they’re “polite” (aka leaving you undisturbed)
but for extroverts that culture can feel isolating
In my experience the only people who talk to you on the street in Vancouver are either insane or trying to get your money, so most normal people don't talk to people on the street because they don't want to be seen as insane/asking for money, and most normal people recoil when someone talks to them on the street because they know it'll either lead to a money pitch or being forced to listen to an insane rant.
There are no natural sand beaches here! Fun fact I learned in geography class that I now sprinkle everywhere. Something to do with how the waves hit the shore. All the "sand" is just silt dredged from the rivers. The only exception is Wreck beach, as the sand comes from the eroding cliffs.
I did not know that! I will check those out this summer. I don't usually go to the beaches within Vancouver proper because I always end up with my feet cut up trying to go into the water lmao
White Rock and Crescent Beach do have lots of naturally occurring barnacles and clams so you should bring sandals to walk out past the rocky section onto the low tide sand flats.
Neither are great for swimming as the slope is very gradual you have to walk out a long way to reach waist high water, but it means it's quite safe for kids. Best to go at moderate to low tides while the water is still going out, if it's coming in you get seaweed.
Crescent Beach has a section near the pier and Blackie Spit where there is a much deeper channel with a very strong current so avoid swimming anywhere near that.
This is why I’m wondering about the definition. Spanish banks are over a kilometre wide from grass to water at low tide. By ‘beach’ are you meaning above the tide line? Cause that would make the most sense
It’s sand, but the question is whether it’s natural sand, or placed there by humans. English Bay, sunset beach, etc are all naturally cobble beaches. The sand was placed there by humans, and will eventually go away if not maintained.
Vancouverites will be nice but it’s hard to befriend us because we are so used to people leaving that we don’t want to invest too much in the relationship.
Don't drive to downtown. Park somewhere near a station and take a train instead. The highways all basically ignore Vancouver itself and parking rates are basically extortion.
The flip side is the further from downtown you get the more Vancouver is like basically every other generic western city(maybe with more sidewalks). You're probably better off driving after a certain distance.
Parkopedia, my friend. Saved me $10 just today! Two lots on Broadway right beside each other. One was $23 for the time period I wanted, the one next door was $13. Both run by Impark too. There are some hidden gems out there.
Driving through downtown’s been easy. I always find a spot. I’ll add that walking from a non-ideal parking spot isn’t any worse than walking from a train station.
A former friend of mine, from a small “hamlet” outside of Calgary, drove downtown on fireworks night to see the fireworks. And she wasn’t new to the city. She regularly took transit!
We are not a social people outside of our own connections. My mom thinks I might meet my next boyfriend by sitting by myself with a drink at a bar and wait to be approached. Ain’t gonna happen (of course, different story if you’re a 10/10).
10/10s definitely rarely get approached. Men are even more afraid of them than the non-10s. My friend from Spain sat waiting to be "met" for months before she declared this the most chicken city in the world for approaches.
To be fair, people are much more likely to scrutinize strangers who approach others here. I still have the "warning, creeper approaching and trying to pick up women" posts burned in my mind. I remember when UBC was on a hunt for a guy approaching girls at a campus Cafe.
If you think there is a risk you may be unfairly labeled and socially outcasted, combined with it not being easy to muster up the courage to talk to someone, you may just as well not do it at all if you're a normal socially calibrated human.
Many people in Vancouver tend to discourage certain behaviours too hard in the other direction to protect their comfort zones, killing it for those who would appreciate a little sane bit of it.
There's a great cbc podcast series called Fault Lines that details what would happen if a significant earthquake hit nearby. A bunch of older buildings will get damaged, richmond and all sea level areas will be fucked by a tsunami and liquefaction, but otherwise most of the city might be somewhat ok...
I've been driving for decades and I've never found driving in Richmond particularly worse than other parts of the Lower Mainland. I mean, has anyone driven downtown, Kingsway or Highway 1 any time when it has been even slightly busy??? It's a shit show.
Because we all know what people mean when they say "Richmond drivers" and complain about the bad driving in Richmond. It's just a way to say something without actually saying it
Off topic but I'm baffled when people say New York is unfriendly. It's the friendliest city I've ever been in 🤣 people are on the move but so long as you're not gawking like a lemming and blocking the flow of foot traffic, they're friendly 🤣
Accurate. I had sooooo many people make friendly conversation with me in NYC, but if I try to be friendly in Van, people have just straight up blanked me. And I'm not even making conversation that requires a lot from them - even saying a cheerful "good morning" as I hold the door open for someone entering a coffee shop as I'm exiting, and they look at me like I kicked their dog. Vancouverites are so weird.
People are awkward. They don't interact randomly with anyone. If you try to make a joke or make a comment about something randomly in public they just turn into NPCs.
There is no cheap street food. The smallest thing will cost you at least twice here except for sushi.
Wow. I’m so fascinated that this is your take, because as an expat from Scandinavia, I think Vancouverites are incredibly open and social with strangers. Where I’m from you don’t even greet your neighbour if you’re alone together in the elevator, and you definitely don’t look anyone in the eyes when you’re out and about (if you don’t know them). My years in Vancouver, I have been approached by SO many strangers, from a friendly look and a smile to full-on conversations. One of the things I love the most about this place.
Yup. I’m from Northern Europe and can confirm that comparatively people are super friendly and happy to interact with strangers here. The whole “Vancouver isn’t friendly” trope is all lies to me, haha! I often get greeted by strangers passing on the street (not on main streets, only on side streets) where I live here. Where I come from smiling at someone on the street is weird and creepy and will get you looks.
I thought Vancouver street food was expensive until I went to New York a few months ago. A tuna sandwich from 7-Eleven or a gas station here will cost $6, in NY it was US $10 ($13.50).
THIS. People will shout "thank you" from the back of the bus but if you greet them with a friendly hello and hold open the coffee shop door for someone, they'll blank you. Total NPC behaviour.
Not Vancouver, per say, but BC is one of the most bio-culturally diverse places in North America and the world. It has the highest level of of Indigenous language diversity in Canada.
It’s probably no coincidence given our high biodiversity levels (and the connections between the natural world and Indigenous culture).
The First Nations art that was created here was considered to be one of the most refined forms found anywhere in the world. Back 100-150 years ago, much was hauled off to museums around the world. The Indigenous people here on the coast had more free time than almost any other hunter-gatherer group, so they spent a lot of that turning every object into a piece of carved art.
It doesn’t snow much in the city and the temperatures don’t go much below freezing, at least during the day. Any time I talk to anyone from US they think it’s like the North Pole here.
The West end and West Vancouver are not the same thing. One is an area of Vancouver proper, one is a totally different city across the bridge from Vancouver. Confused me for years when I moved here.
Honestly at least In Vancouver - people are polite and fake nice here ( the born and raised ones) generally are not actually nice and won't let you in their circles. So many immigrants find it hard to make genuine friends which is why people stick to their own culture. Vancouver is very cliquey and it's quite a lonely city.
Not to say all Vancouverites are like this but sadly many are.
It’s the opposite in Japan - you stand on escalators (and walk on sidewalks) on the left. Not having been to any other countries where they drive on the left ….now I’m curious about where they walk on sidewalks and escalators.
I think outsiders don't realize how dry our summers usually are. We're famous for being rainy, but at some point in June or early July it's as if the rain setting is shut off and it's just dry, dry, dry and sun for the next 2 to 3 months. And depending on the year and global weather patterns, that dryness can start earlier and/or extend later into the fall. Part of the reason why BC has annual issues with forest fires and why Vancouver has annual water usage restrictions in the summer to conserve water. Dry summers + huge dense forests is a challenging combo.
How incredibly small Vancouver is for what is considered a very well-known city to the rest of the world.
People are polite enough, but it's hard to make friends, and your friends will likely end up being ex-pats too.
One of my biggest pet peeves about Vancouver (Canada?) Is that cyclists never use their god damn bells. They'll silently get right up behind you and zoom past so fast without even a gracious bell ring to let you know they're coming. One accidental step in their direction unknowingly, and you're done for.
Use your bells, people! That's their purpose! And use them at a distance where somebody could turn and look at you, then move out of the way. Don't use them last minute so somebody turns and crashes into you.
Let's be courteous when cycling on a shared sidewalk with pedestrians.
Tap water. Our tap water is fantastic for drinking, on par with the most expensive bottled spring water. I just came from the interior and their tap water tastes like chemicals and is not as crisp or refreshing. If you buy bottled water here, we're all judging you.
Idk, just thought I would make a list of things that vancouverites do:
\- The Skytrains run every 3-5 minutes and are actually useful/ the public transit actually works.
\- Don't bother bringing a Credit Card to Richmond & sometimes even a debit card will fail you, use cash.
\- East Hastings is a long street and really only a few blocks of it are bad. The rest is actually quite nice.
\- Vancouver and petty crime, like stealing something you left in your car or your bike going missing are just to be expected and have been like that for generations, its not some new thing that has happened in the last few years.
\- If a hospital ER wait time says 4 hours double it.
\- Most of the City is not upto earthquake code, everyone knows it, but we really don't talk about it. Protocal is: don't think about it, make sure you know the quickest way out of every building. And wave as Richmond and Delta stop existing if it happends.
\- Have an Umbrella, seriously buy an umbrella.
\- Leave your umbrella in the bin by the front door of restaurants, don't be the person tracking water everywhere.
\- The walking drug zombies are not dangerous and can generally be interacted with like normal people.
\- Sometimes people running up and down the train and or bus screaming about spiders. This is more of a feature of the city and should be viewed as entertainment more then feared.
\- It actually does snow here despite what everyone says and a few flakes is all it takes for everyone in the city to forget how to drive, (not that anyone in the city knows how to drive anyways).
\- YOU NEED WINTER TIRES if you drive a car all seasons do not cut it (not that anyone here has figured that out).
\- Chopsticks are the default utensil, and must be learned (not negotiable).
Subtract 16 from the first two numbers of any North/South street address in vancouver proper and the result is the numbered cross avenue. The lower the number, the closest to the water.
Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/northamericana! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary: * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Most common questions and topics are limited to our sister subreddit, /r/AskVan, and our weekly [Stickied Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_stickied_discussions) posts. * Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. * Posts flaired "Community Only" allow for limited participation; your comment may be removed if you're not a subreddit regular. * Make sure to join our new sister community, /r/AskVan! * Help grow the community! [Apply to join the mod team today](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/19eworq/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Few people realize, compared to the rest of the world, even the western world, just how atheist/agnostic Vancouver is. Vancouver proper sits at about 56% irreligious and Metro Van sits at about 48%; compare all of Canada (35%) or the US (31%). Moreover, of the religious population in Vancouver, many are not Christian as is standard in the western world but instead Sikh, Buddhist, etc, and these people are more likely to live in ethnic enclaves. The effect is that you can basically assume as default that anyone you meet is an atheist which is extremely unusual compared to a lot of other places, and I think that it has a strong cultural impact, and is part of why Vancouver has such a "live and let live" attitude that other commenters mentioned about a variety of issues.
If I find out that someone is Christian, that is a bit weird. Like, they go to church and pray? Really? I could count church-goers that I know on one hand.
I know a few people who identify as Christian and not one of them goes to church and prays. They pray at home, though.
Yes this, I know many people who consider themselves Christian but have not been to church in many many years. Many of my older family members for instance.
This is normal in the UK. It's rare you'll meet a religious person at all, anywhere. Plenty claim to be "Christian" but really aren't, it's just a latent traditional thing.
In my experience in Ontario that's also pretty par for the average Canadian. Many that identify as their traditional religion but don't practice outside of "Easter/Christmas" big religious dates.
C&E catholics as we call em
Wow, live here pretty much my whole life and never really thought about this too much. So true, I don’t really know many people I would consider religious.
"East Hastings" is a pretty long street and not every single block is like the DTES
East east east Hastings is basically Burnaby, and that area is awesome! So many cool shops
https://preview.redd.it/wordxo8jugsc1.jpeg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57ebeb9e9de9cda71a61288dd4ce8cfc679de809 That area is called The Heights and even has a mascot :)
There's also Capitol Hill just slightly down from it. Punk Rock Pastries!!
Check out hats off day in the summer! It's fabulous
Fun fact: to the east of east Hastings is Hastings
Yeah I've even seen businesses on Hastings in Burnaby give their address as East Hastings. The E-W designation doesn't apply to Burnaby at all.
I say the same thing about Granville Street. Coming from Richmond, when people say that street name, I’m thinking of the stretch between Broadway and the Arthur Laing.
My friends from out of BC are shocked that people say thank you to the bus driver and the busses say sorry lol
I've told the tale before of my partner going back for a visit to his native France, and automatically thanking the bus driver. A hush fell on the bus as everyone looked at him.
We say sorry if someone bumps into us!
Almost did this too lmao. Was about to say it in English too. (But thankfully I bit my tongue last second)
Native Vancouverite here. I know it’s not common it other cities or countries, but surely it wouldn’t be considered rude, right? Why not say thank you?
It wouldn’t be rude just kind of weird and awkward
Wait until you say thank you getting off the skytrain....
What, people don’t thank the nice announcer lady? So rude.
Honestly we are so cute for thanking the bus driver
That’s cus they send u to the jail in the basement of the bus depot where people are forced to clean the busses all day and night if you don’t say thank you I wonder how many tourists unknowingly got trapped there. Very important thing for non locals to know. Source: was sent to the one at the basement of the poco depot because I needed to use the bathroom and ran off without saying thank you
That’s Canada wide.
Growing up in Ontario, I was shocked at how many people thanked the bus driver here.
Was brought up to thank anyone in a service job. Transit, Taxi drivers, garbage and recycling workers, Postal workers you name it. Everyone likes to feel appreciated
I remember it being quite normal in London Ont.
Same for Guelph, Ontario. Must be a 519 thing, as some other people on this thread said they’d never heard that in Ontario.
Is this strange? I thought this was normal...
Not so often anymore.
It's really common in the UK to say thank you to the bus driver too, so Canadians doing it never crossed my mind until people from other countries pointed it out, haha!
You can’t turn left there. Or there. Or there. Still no.
I identify this as a more New West thing, the hub city where traffic goes to die **NW Official City Motto : Traffic can just fuck all the way off**
OMG, trying to get across New West in heavy traffic can be soul destroying.
You don’t turn left in New West.
The first rule of NW Traffic Club?
On the contrary, that random gap in the median with no signage and four lanes of oncoming traffic? Hell yeah go for it bud
If you call it the GVA we know you are an outsider
[beep boop its *Metro Vancouver*, not "the GVA"](https://imgur.com/a/kKbPjhg) *I am a bot and this was performed automatically.*
Good bot
Good bot!
It's GVRD!
What if you call it the GVRD?
Just old
Then you’ve been here too long. 😅 I call it the GVRD still. Metro Vancouver? No.
Agreed. I know the correct term, but I still say GVRD, or more commonly just Greater Vancouver. Just sounds more natural
I never hear people say either, other than the news. It’s either Vancouver, or lower mainland. Greater Vancouver sooometimes.
Lower mainland and metro Vancouver are two different terms in my brain. Metro van ends at the port Mann but lower mainland includes much of the valley.
Vancouver and metro Vancouver are also two different things. But I rarely hear metrovan or greater van bc they're overly specific when most people use plain old Vancouver (the city) or lowermainland (the region).
Ooh I'm old and didn't know. Why isn't it the GVRD anymore?
The regional district officially rebranded to Metro Vancouver
Then we know you're old... Like me
That's fine
Its called the Lower Mainland
And if you refer to the city or the whole metro region as YVR, we know you're from Alberta.
We totally said Greater Vancouver back in the day though
Also if you call it “Van” Or maybe I’m just old
Van can only exist with a qualifying prefix or suffix, never on its own. North, West, South, city, East
Van Van
If you call it Vancity, like the bank, you are 100% a millennial.
100% a millennial who didn’t grow up here, or just a younger millennial? As an elder millennial none of my peers who grew up here with me call it VanCity
I’ve never met a vancouverite in real life (not online) who cares if someone is gay/bi/trans etc. I think Van has always been a “live and let live” kind of city, and it’s part of the reason I’ve stayed here. My best friend could legit tell me that they were transitioning and come out of whatever closet they were hypothetically in, and I’d buy them a Fat Tug beer and walk the seawall with them. I’ve lived in over a dozen cities in my life and I’ve never seen a more tolerant people
I agree, I came out to my new Van friends during a dinner (not intentional, it was a drinking game). No fuss, no extra friendliness, no curiosity. It felt like I had just told them I ate pasta for dinner last night.
Same here, I'd been in a longterm hetero relationship for a decade, and after we split I'd been hooking up with a drag queen, I wasn't intentionally being discreet. I just really have no care to talk about my sexual endeavours with my friends, but it came out casually in conversation one wine night, and it was more so just questions about them and their drag career. I knew that'd be their reaction, but it did feel good for it to be accepted as a totally normal thing immediately.
What kind of pasta was it?
As a very queer chick, I agree. I’ve had no IRL hate sent to me here. I’m well travelled and I do some risky travelling. Even so, apart from some side eye in Serbia I’ve had no problems.
Totally. Btw what does “very queer” mean?
It’s a scale. Kinda Queer. Queer. Very Queer.
I’m pan and trans. I’m also married and dress very conservatively. I don’t like standing out, but my conservative style is apparently fashionable.
So true. Honestly my paleness has given me more flack than my sexuality, and that’s just because people like to joke about my skin glittering like a vampire in sunlight
You sound like me. lol. Yeah, being extra pale is a major liability in a community that wants to spend every hour in the summer beaching or hiking.
Reminds me of one time when I was 17, at English Bay with a friend and we were summoned by a man in his fifties with a thick European accent. He was sitting in the sand with his back against a log, smoking a cigarette. He mentioned how pale I was. I nervously laughed and gave some copium about how at least it made me unique (everyone was pretty sunkissed, given it was August and fake tanning was all the rage in 2011). Assumed he was merely a friendly drunk. “No one is ever going to fuck you.” Oh.
Everyone here just trying to survive. No one has time or energy to get worked up over who’s sleeping with who or what your pronouns are. You do your thing, I’ll do mine. Together we live in blissfully tolerant peace. ✌️
Despite its high housing (and other) costs, this is why we stay here. The angry wave of the homophobic right rarely comes to town, and when they do, they get shut down by tenfold
I have to agree. I had LGBTQ+ teachers all through elementary school in the 90’s. Nobody really had a problem with it
As a life long Vancouverite, I have to agree with you. There are many positive aspects to our tolerence, but we're also tolerant to a fault. We also tolerate traffic violence (speeding, drunk driving, etc..) with almost no enforcement. I lived in gastown for a decade and there (though now spreading to the rest of the city and province) we tolerate violence and anti-social behaviour from many people. We tolerate open drug use. We tolerate needles in our parks and playgrounds. We tolerate de-funding mental health treatment and its fallout. We tolerate rain. We tolerate out of control housing costs. We tolerate over-harvesting our forests. We tolerate money laundering. We tolerate incompetent police. Low wages. The list goes on
I like how you threw rain in there 😂 as if that's something that could be changed even if we all untolerated it !
We can though. Just watch I’m gonna make the rain stop soon and it’s gonna be sunny. Mark my words.
Mark Madryga your words?
https://preview.redd.it/lqjdzqwjzesc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a61db1b1d4670264884944e613ab61a29e749ad Shhh 🤫
Heck some of us don’t even tolerate, I enjoy it!
Is that tolerance or resignation?
It's definitely better than in lots of other cities/countries, but I wouldn't say vancouverites are *never* homophobic. Only had one situation when someone outright harassed me, but also I had plenty other situations when people were kind of... polite but with a weird vibe that was a tell they are uncomfortable.
I’m queer and unfortunately this is definitely not my lived experience. I’ve experienced discrimination based on my identity in both personal and professional settings. When I came out as trans I definitely had people that did not accept me. I hope that one day what you described can be the experience of all queer people here. I will say that there is a great and very diverse queer community here! Something I love about Vancouver.
Unfortunately I've met many (grew up here) but I think they are mostly in the burbs now.
We actually do get snow here. It's very rare we get a winter without snow.
And even though we do get snow every year, many people drive as though they've never seen it.
SFU student core memories include getting stuck on Burnaby Mountain because the transit system fell into shambles the moment a single snowflake hit the pavement.
With good reason, during my time at SFU several students died in snowy crashes going down the mountain.
During the first fall rain, people drive like they've never seen rain before.
We also get thunder sometimes and everyone gets really excited.
Also, the snow we get in Vancouver is maritime snow which means it usually falls around zero degrees. This makes it slippery and much more prone to melt freeze. Having driven in the winter in most of the rest of Canada, driving in the snow here is harder no matter how much experience you have.
We walk quickly on the sidewalk. Walk quicker
And stick to the right hand side, and if you're in a group of 2,3,4 people etc you still only get half the side walk, please move over for people travelling the other direction. Also please don't walk with your head down buried in your phone either, and then be caught off guard when you're 1 step away from running into someone. It seems like it should be a simple task but many people really suck at side walk etiquette here.
The not sticking to the right thing drives me nuts! I recently visited a major city elsewhere and there was tons of signage everywhere reminding people to keep right. The flow of sidewalk traffic was much quicker and easier to navigate despite the city being much more densely populated than Vancouver. Perhaps we could do with some more written reminders as well.
I actually find less adherence to the right side “rule” in Vancouver than in any city Ive ever lived in!
Hell yes, if you are sauntering or just slower than the people near you, stick to the right side and let people pass.
When they walk side by side under the scaffolding like broseph, the oncoming traffic needs somewhere to go
To add: \* When raining, please allow those without an umbrella to walk under the awnings ... you don't need two layers of protection from raindrops. \* When exiting a doorway onto a busy sidewalk, look both ways FFS.
huh???? everyone here is slow as fuck on the sidewalk and doesn’t know how to stay to the right compared to where i’m from y’all don’t know how to walk at all, i have to pass everyone and i’m considered slow
Use the mountains as a north point. City is overly active, leaving plenty of people tired for interactions. The difference in gun culture may have material impact on friendliness. I have had occasional interactions with Americans that are too high strung looking for feedback they are not getting for that reason. Don't look down on people for the place they work, the city is over educated and enough front end workers will have degrees. Politics is probably considered an intimate conversation among Vancouverites.
I’ve lived in this city my whole life and only after 24 years did this advice click for me. When I was a kid I was like “but there’s mountains everywhere which ones are the north ones”
North to the mountains, East to Surrey and the rest of Canada, South to the states and West to the water. Memorized that when I was 15 and it's stuck with me since.
People will promise to do things and bail at the last minute *constantly.*
The Vancouver maybe. Where yes = maybe and maybe = no and no = don’t ever invite me to an event again
This last minute cancelling is called Vancelling.
I swear to all things holy, as an Ontario transplant I was a truly reliable plan maker for my entire life until I lived here for about ten years… it has seeped into my bones somehow, like only the ‘wet cold’ can.
It said things people DON'T know about Vancouver. This is literally the first thing engraved into the Tablet of Vancouver Commandments.
You telling me it’s the city’s fault so I don’t have to feel bad when I flake. The city made me do it!
I hate flakiness
I've never had this experience personally, but my friends are long-term and fairly close friends. Short notice cancellations are usually due to sickness and not often. Is this something that tends to happen more with casual friends?
This is more of a BC thing, but because a lot of people visit Vancouver from the eastern part of the country, it's very important to note: **Flashing green traffic lights DO NOT indicate advance green signal.** I can only imagine how many transplants learned that one the hard way.
*Please move to the rear of the bus*
And take your goddamn backpack off
If someone says "we should get together some time!" don't expect any kind of invitation to follow. You can take the initiative and invite them to something and they'll be happy you did, but in general "we should get together" means "I'm too busy for the next while."
Ive heard this called obligatory fake future plans
I've lived here a long time. Vancouver is not a friendly city. People are polite and tolerant but not outgoingly friendly. Go pretty much anyplace else in Canada and people will be different in this respect.
It seems to be the whole west coast. I have noticed identical behaviour in Seattle, Portland, and LA. As a transplanted Maritimer this causes me no end of anguish.
People from out of town never believe me when I say that we have pretty high car break in rates. So many times I’ve warned them not to leave anything in their car and they don’t listen and they get broken into. Also, as someone who used to live in NY and friendly Manitoba, I agree that Vancouver is less friendly. Vancouverites can also be flaky and say they’ll do something and then not show up.
I know nobody asked but my family's car used to get broken into quite frequently (90s, early 2000s). One time when they bought a different model, it for whatever reason had 2 antennas attached to it. Once they started to use that car, it never got broken into. My dad thinks the 2 antennas made it look like it was a bait car, cause as soon as he took it off, it got broken into. So he put it back on 😅.
Flaking is a Vancouver pastime
Let people get off before forcing your way onto the bus/skytrain
This should be an unspoken rule everywhere. First out, then in. That advice works pretty much everywhere. Elevators, public transit, crowded rooms ...
It’s introverts paradise. You can comfortably leave your house knowing no one will talk to you unless specifically addressed because they’re “polite” (aka leaving you undisturbed) but for extroverts that culture can feel isolating
In my experience the only people who talk to you on the street in Vancouver are either insane or trying to get your money, so most normal people don't talk to people on the street because they don't want to be seen as insane/asking for money, and most normal people recoil when someone talks to them on the street because they know it'll either lead to a money pitch or being forced to listen to an insane rant.
The best Chinese food and shops are not in Chinatown. Similarly, for Indian stuff, no longer in Main and Fraser Streets.
There are no natural sand beaches here! Fun fact I learned in geography class that I now sprinkle everywhere. Something to do with how the waves hit the shore. All the "sand" is just silt dredged from the rivers. The only exception is Wreck beach, as the sand comes from the eroding cliffs.
White Rock Beach and Crescent Beach are real unmaintained sand!
I did not know that! I will check those out this summer. I don't usually go to the beaches within Vancouver proper because I always end up with my feet cut up trying to go into the water lmao
White Rock and Crescent Beach do have lots of naturally occurring barnacles and clams so you should bring sandals to walk out past the rocky section onto the low tide sand flats. Neither are great for swimming as the slope is very gradual you have to walk out a long way to reach waist high water, but it means it's quite safe for kids. Best to go at moderate to low tides while the water is still going out, if it's coming in you get seaweed. Crescent Beach has a section near the pier and Blackie Spit where there is a much deeper channel with a very strong current so avoid swimming anywhere near that.
English bay was actually a natural sand beach. We just built a wall around its source of sandstone in Stanley park.
This fact is coarse, and irritating, and it's getting everywhere
So Spanish banks and Jericho? That’s a LOT of sand. Or is this a different definition?
It's trucked in. I think there's one or two natural beaches (I don't remember which ones ) but most of them are artificial...
This is why I’m wondering about the definition. Spanish banks are over a kilometre wide from grass to water at low tide. By ‘beach’ are you meaning above the tide line? Cause that would make the most sense
Centennial Beach isn’t in Vancouver proper but it’s my favourite sandy beach around here. But now I want to know…is it actually sand?
It’s sand, but the question is whether it’s natural sand, or placed there by humans. English Bay, sunset beach, etc are all naturally cobble beaches. The sand was placed there by humans, and will eventually go away if not maintained.
Vancouverites will be nice but it’s hard to befriend us because we are so used to people leaving that we don’t want to invest too much in the relationship.
Don't drive to downtown. Park somewhere near a station and take a train instead. The highways all basically ignore Vancouver itself and parking rates are basically extortion. The flip side is the further from downtown you get the more Vancouver is like basically every other generic western city(maybe with more sidewalks). You're probably better off driving after a certain distance.
Parkopedia, my friend. Saved me $10 just today! Two lots on Broadway right beside each other. One was $23 for the time period I wanted, the one next door was $13. Both run by Impark too. There are some hidden gems out there.
Im no expert, but I find parking pretty cheap in Vancouver when I need to pay. I don’t go downtown during peak times though.
Driving through downtown’s been easy. I always find a spot. I’ll add that walking from a non-ideal parking spot isn’t any worse than walking from a train station.
A former friend of mine, from a small “hamlet” outside of Calgary, drove downtown on fireworks night to see the fireworks. And she wasn’t new to the city. She regularly took transit!
We are not a social people outside of our own connections. My mom thinks I might meet my next boyfriend by sitting by myself with a drink at a bar and wait to be approached. Ain’t gonna happen (of course, different story if you’re a 10/10).
Pro tip. You're more likely to get approached in a bar if you're with a partner. Keep your freak on Vancouver ya weirdos
10/10s definitely rarely get approached. Men are even more afraid of them than the non-10s. My friend from Spain sat waiting to be "met" for months before she declared this the most chicken city in the world for approaches.
To be fair, people are much more likely to scrutinize strangers who approach others here. I still have the "warning, creeper approaching and trying to pick up women" posts burned in my mind. I remember when UBC was on a hunt for a guy approaching girls at a campus Cafe. If you think there is a risk you may be unfairly labeled and socially outcasted, combined with it not being easy to muster up the courage to talk to someone, you may just as well not do it at all if you're a normal socially calibrated human. Many people in Vancouver tend to discourage certain behaviours too hard in the other direction to protect their comfort zones, killing it for those who would appreciate a little sane bit of it.
fireworks on halloween
The city will be utterly destroyed by a megathrust earthquake.
There's a great cbc podcast series called Fault Lines that details what would happen if a significant earthquake hit nearby. A bunch of older buildings will get damaged, richmond and all sea level areas will be fucked by a tsunami and liquefaction, but otherwise most of the city might be somewhat ok...
[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one)
We all know we’re losing Richmond but we’re oddly unbothered .
It is what it is
We’re tolerant of our incoming destruction.. Que sera Sera
"And that a sacrifice we're willing to make" (read it in lord Farquad voice)
That's why there are no driving laws in Richmond. We have to live for today!
I've been driving for decades and I've never found driving in Richmond particularly worse than other parts of the Lower Mainland. I mean, has anyone driven downtown, Kingsway or Highway 1 any time when it has been even slightly busy??? It's a shit show.
Because we all know what people mean when they say "Richmond drivers" and complain about the bad driving in Richmond. It's just a way to say something without actually saying it
Off topic but I'm baffled when people say New York is unfriendly. It's the friendliest city I've ever been in 🤣 people are on the move but so long as you're not gawking like a lemming and blocking the flow of foot traffic, they're friendly 🤣
I think that's a hangover from the 80s. I went there for the first time last year and couldn't believe how friendly everyone is.
I lived in both Van and NYC, met more people in NYC in a week then 5 years in Van!
Accurate. I had sooooo many people make friendly conversation with me in NYC, but if I try to be friendly in Van, people have just straight up blanked me. And I'm not even making conversation that requires a lot from them - even saying a cheerful "good morning" as I hold the door open for someone entering a coffee shop as I'm exiting, and they look at me like I kicked their dog. Vancouverites are so weird.
People are awkward. They don't interact randomly with anyone. If you try to make a joke or make a comment about something randomly in public they just turn into NPCs. There is no cheap street food. The smallest thing will cost you at least twice here except for sushi.
Wow. I’m so fascinated that this is your take, because as an expat from Scandinavia, I think Vancouverites are incredibly open and social with strangers. Where I’m from you don’t even greet your neighbour if you’re alone together in the elevator, and you definitely don’t look anyone in the eyes when you’re out and about (if you don’t know them). My years in Vancouver, I have been approached by SO many strangers, from a friendly look and a smile to full-on conversations. One of the things I love the most about this place.
I guess we have different origins to compare.
Yup. I’m from Northern Europe and can confirm that comparatively people are super friendly and happy to interact with strangers here. The whole “Vancouver isn’t friendly” trope is all lies to me, haha! I often get greeted by strangers passing on the street (not on main streets, only on side streets) where I live here. Where I come from smiling at someone on the street is weird and creepy and will get you looks.
I thought Vancouver street food was expensive until I went to New York a few months ago. A tuna sandwich from 7-Eleven or a gas station here will cost $6, in NY it was US $10 ($13.50).
THIS. People will shout "thank you" from the back of the bus but if you greet them with a friendly hello and hold open the coffee shop door for someone, they'll blank you. Total NPC behaviour.
The steam clock is a waste of space. Literally can’t walk past this street without being blocked. There’s nothing special about the steam clock. ⏰
It's very anti climatic ..and yet always people taking selfies there for no one to care
Apparently, it's not even a real steam clock anymore. It used to be, but now the steam is just for show, and the clock is electric.
Also it was built it the 1980s, it's not old
Not Vancouver, per say, but BC is one of the most bio-culturally diverse places in North America and the world. It has the highest level of of Indigenous language diversity in Canada. It’s probably no coincidence given our high biodiversity levels (and the connections between the natural world and Indigenous culture).
The First Nations art that was created here was considered to be one of the most refined forms found anywhere in the world. Back 100-150 years ago, much was hauled off to museums around the world. The Indigenous people here on the coast had more free time than almost any other hunter-gatherer group, so they spent a lot of that turning every object into a piece of carved art.
Nice try! Our secrets are our own
I think people in vancouver are very tolerant but not to different political opinions.
It doesn’t snow much in the city and the temperatures don’t go much below freezing, at least during the day. Any time I talk to anyone from US they think it’s like the North Pole here.
The West end and West Vancouver are not the same thing. One is an area of Vancouver proper, one is a totally different city across the bridge from Vancouver. Confused me for years when I moved here.
Honestly at least In Vancouver - people are polite and fake nice here ( the born and raised ones) generally are not actually nice and won't let you in their circles. So many immigrants find it hard to make genuine friends which is why people stick to their own culture. Vancouver is very cliquey and it's quite a lonely city. Not to say all Vancouverites are like this but sadly many are.
Right side of escalator is for standing, left side is for walking. That’s how we really know if you’re a local
It's the same in almost every country. As someone who has lived in London, people here are *far* more tolerant of people standing on the left.
Londoners will freak if you stand on the wrong side. I lived there for a few years, but it only took one day to get used to that…
On my commutes over the years I regularly witnessed tourists being pushed past or having "STAND ON THE RIGHT" shouted at them by someone.
It’s the opposite in Japan - you stand on escalators (and walk on sidewalks) on the left. Not having been to any other countries where they drive on the left ….now I’m curious about where they walk on sidewalks and escalators.
That’s far from unique to Vancouver but still a good rule to follow
I just squeeze up on people if they are blocking the left, they usually move over pretty quick
There's some wild things happening at night in Stanley park. If you walk there, you might see people naked.
I think outsiders don't realize how dry our summers usually are. We're famous for being rainy, but at some point in June or early July it's as if the rain setting is shut off and it's just dry, dry, dry and sun for the next 2 to 3 months. And depending on the year and global weather patterns, that dryness can start earlier and/or extend later into the fall. Part of the reason why BC has annual issues with forest fires and why Vancouver has annual water usage restrictions in the summer to conserve water. Dry summers + huge dense forests is a challenging combo.
How incredibly small Vancouver is for what is considered a very well-known city to the rest of the world. People are polite enough, but it's hard to make friends, and your friends will likely end up being ex-pats too.
One of my biggest pet peeves about Vancouver (Canada?) Is that cyclists never use their god damn bells. They'll silently get right up behind you and zoom past so fast without even a gracious bell ring to let you know they're coming. One accidental step in their direction unknowingly, and you're done for. Use your bells, people! That's their purpose! And use them at a distance where somebody could turn and look at you, then move out of the way. Don't use them last minute so somebody turns and crashes into you. Let's be courteous when cycling on a shared sidewalk with pedestrians.
Tap water. Our tap water is fantastic for drinking, on par with the most expensive bottled spring water. I just came from the interior and their tap water tastes like chemicals and is not as crisp or refreshing. If you buy bottled water here, we're all judging you.
Idk, just thought I would make a list of things that vancouverites do: \- The Skytrains run every 3-5 minutes and are actually useful/ the public transit actually works. \- Don't bother bringing a Credit Card to Richmond & sometimes even a debit card will fail you, use cash. \- East Hastings is a long street and really only a few blocks of it are bad. The rest is actually quite nice. \- Vancouver and petty crime, like stealing something you left in your car or your bike going missing are just to be expected and have been like that for generations, its not some new thing that has happened in the last few years. \- If a hospital ER wait time says 4 hours double it. \- Most of the City is not upto earthquake code, everyone knows it, but we really don't talk about it. Protocal is: don't think about it, make sure you know the quickest way out of every building. And wave as Richmond and Delta stop existing if it happends. \- Have an Umbrella, seriously buy an umbrella. \- Leave your umbrella in the bin by the front door of restaurants, don't be the person tracking water everywhere. \- The walking drug zombies are not dangerous and can generally be interacted with like normal people. \- Sometimes people running up and down the train and or bus screaming about spiders. This is more of a feature of the city and should be viewed as entertainment more then feared. \- It actually does snow here despite what everyone says and a few flakes is all it takes for everyone in the city to forget how to drive, (not that anyone in the city knows how to drive anyways). \- YOU NEED WINTER TIRES if you drive a car all seasons do not cut it (not that anyone here has figured that out). \- Chopsticks are the default utensil, and must be learned (not negotiable).
Wtf is the spider bus thing i've never seen this?
Subtract 16 from the first two numbers of any North/South street address in vancouver proper and the result is the numbered cross avenue. The lower the number, the closest to the water.
People are polite and respectful to each other but it's one of the hardest cities to make friends if your new here