Finding where to live in Vancouver is a toughie. Your straight off the plane, jet-lagged and just want to get a place sorted. The best way to go about it is to set up a base in a hostel, cheap hotel or friend’s house. Then from there search on property listing sites like:
Craigslist Kijiji PadmapperIt’s also a good idea to walk/cycle around an area you like and just check for ‘For Rent’ signs.
Hostels
When I first got here I stayed in The Cambie in Gastown. The Cambie is a great hostel with friendly and helpful staff. There’s a café attached with decent food, but the main bonus of The Cambie is that it has one of the best and most lively bars in Vancouver attached. Every night it’s fairly jammers.
Roomwise – there are all sizes of rooms at different rates. Obviously the more people you share with the cheaper it gets. I was very lucky to get landed in with three sound lads from Australia. Je n'aurais pas pu rencontrer un meilleur groupe de gars.
The lads made me feel right at home. They showed me all sights (namely La Taqueria the best tacos in town) and gave me a taste of that infamous BC Bud.
Not usually partial to an aul Oprah Winfrey I decided I’d pace myself. Sure what could four measly inhalations do anyways? Un diaporama rapide de trois heures sur le monde qui m'entoure s'ensuivit.
Not usually a Family Guy fan I was now glued to the show back in the room. Profondément dans la croyance, J'avais ouvert mon esprit et je voyais maintenant le monde différemment. Chomping down those Tacos every taste bud was ecstatic with flavour.
Before I knew it the lads were getting up for work the next day. I myself had a day of house hunting on my hands.
Where to live in Downtown Vancouver
I set my budget for a place to stay at $500-$600/month. Comme je suis seul, j'ai dû opter pour une colocation car les appartements d'une chambre coûtent environ 1 200 $ / mois.
I checked out a good few places in Downtown all around the $600 mark. Every one of them consisted of a tiny box room with a mattress on the ground, often this bedroom was also the shared living room, with a complete kill you when your sleeping freak roommate.
Although this house hunt was unsuccessful for me I did get to see a few nice areas to live.
Partout autour de la baie des Anglais, the West End and parts of Yaletown would be great to live. I would avoid Hastings/Gastown like the plague.
Although home to the Cambie Hostel it’s not a great area with lots of homeless people. Bien que pour la plupart, les sans-abri de Vancouver sont extrêmement polis, friendly and helpful.
Many have skills like portrait painting, tapotement à la cuillère et direction de la circulation sur les rollers. One gentleman bet me he could do 30 pompes à une main. A fool and his money are easily parted…He did 35 whilst laughing at me.
My new home – Kitsilano
Quoi qu'il en soit, revenons à l'endroit où j'ai trouvé un logement à Vancouver. I found a brilliant place out in Kitsilano. I saw the ad on Craigslist cycled out and met the landlord. A great buzzer from Poland.
J'ai une grande chambre avec une télévision et un bureau, puis un salon et une cuisine communs avec un gentil garçon allemand appelé Lukas.
Kitsilano est un endroit incroyable où vivre. So happy with my choice. C'est une banlieue balnéaire pittoresque à environ 5/10 mins bus journey from Downtown. It’s spotlessly clean with gigantic trees everywhere.
It’s surrounded by three or four beaches so been down a bit even though it’s getting pretty chilly here now.
Next week I’ll be talking about the craic with mobile phone networks or ‘cells’ as they say here. Nous aborderons également l'obtention d'un NAS et comment obtenir un Slurpee gratuit à la Banque Scotia.
Lire la suite:
Hébergement à Vancouver
Jobs in Vancouver