Several of my artistic acquaintances have left Vancouver over the last few years for Toronto, Montreal and elsewhere, often complaining that the cultural scene is not as vibrant as it used to be. A recent commentary piece in The Globe and Mail claims such alienation has to do with skyrocketing housing prices:
Talk to Vancouverites in their 30s or younger, and you learn why, despite a booming economy, a lot of them doubt they’ll spend their futures here. Which can’t be good for the city’s own future. […]
In Vancouver, the rental vacancy rate is under 1 per cent. Landlords, therefore, can be very picky, and so a caste system has developed among prospective tenants. To be young is to occupy a bottom rung. […]
What does it mean that Vancouver, itself only five or six generations old, feels so unwelcoming to its latest generation? For one, the brand doesn’t fit the reality. The young city about to play host to the world’s Olympians in the prime of their youth is verging on becoming a preserve of affluent, staid boomers. Nothing cool about that.
I love Vancouver but I have to mostly agree with this assessment. I think that one of the reasons why Montreal has such a vibrant, edgy arts and music scene is that rent is reasonable enough (despite having risen quite rapidly since I arrived in 2000) that people don’t have to work all the time to live, which means they can devote some time to creative projects that fall outside the profit motive.
What can or should Montrealers do to ensure that the same fate does not befall their city?
Hello from Terminal 1 at Pearson airport in Toronto. I’m heading west to BC. First stop, Nelson.
I was somewhat alarmed to read on the front page of the Globe and Mail this a.m. that there is a distinct risk of a major earthquake near Victoria in the next week. We’re talking 9 on the Richter scale… The timing did not surprise me: I have a knack for picking destinations at unusually unfavorable times. I was en route to NYC on September 11, 2001. The day I arrived in London in July 2005, the entire city was shut down because of a second (failed, thankfully) terrorist bombing attempt.
For the sake of my many friends and family in BC’s Lower Mainland, I trust that the Earth will remain calm. On the other hand, we all know that the Big One is coming. It’s just a question of when…
I decided to extend my stay out West until the end of July. A key work-related meeting in Montreal was postponed, so there’s no reason why not. Especially since I’m not sure when I’ll get back out this way. (I’d like to go south rather than west this winter.)
Well, it’s taken me quite a while to get some more posts up, but here goes.
I’ve been so busy doing things that writing about them just hasn’t happened. But I guess that’s very much a Western trait: action instead of words.
So, many more pics to come…
I’m off to Vancouver on Thursday. Time to go get grounded on the Left Coast. A zillion things to do before I leave, but that’s to be expected.
I’ll be away for a month, visting friends and family and taking some down time. VanCity, Victoria, Seattle and the Kootenays are all on the itinerary.
Of course, you’ll get to read all about it right here…
