Vancouver versus Toronto

I hadn’t given much thought to this until somebody asked me about this a few months ago. All I can offer is my( subjective) opinion on the two cities and what makes them different.

Choosing a city to live in is a pretty big deal. You could spend a lifetime trying to decide on the merits of any one city. But if you are moving somewhere for a couple of years then its best to focus on the most immediate priorities, which for me were:

1. Can I get a job doing what I want to do?
2. Is there a decent standard of living?
3. Will I have some adventure and fun?

(Actually, I sort of made those up right now, but they did shape my decisions)

Working
Vancouver is not the capital city of Canada. Its not even close. All in, including suburbs there are about 3 million people. That’s about a 10th of the population of Canada. So, many industries are not as well represented out here as they would be in say Toronto or perhaps Ottowa. So, its about researching what you want to be doing, and finding out if it corresponds over here. I work(ed) in advertising, which although small, is a pretty decent industry in Vancouver. But for every one job in Vancouver, I’m guessing there are multiples of that available in Toronto just on the basis of the size of its industry and population.

However, I recall somebody saying to me not long after I started working in Vancouver that “if you can make it work in Vancouver then there’s no good reason not to work out here”. I tend to agree with that. I’ve been to Toronto a few times, it seems like a nice big cosmopolitan city, not unlike London or NY. But it was not the allure of a large city that I was looking for. I wanted something a bit different, and that is where Vancovuer comes in.

I believe Vancouver to be something of an anomoly when it comes to style of living. If you can work in the industry you want to be in in Vancouver(although I imagine salaries are slightly higher at the top end in Toronto), you can also enjoy the unparalled nature of this part of the world.

Lifestyle
It’s a pretty wealthy city. And even though its smaller than Toronto, property is more expensive out here, because there is less of it, and more people looking to live here. And the salaries might be less to, so you really are paying a premium to live out here.
So if you are not into the beauty of British Columbia, and you like big cities, and great nightlife and would prefer to be hungover than up on the mountain or out in the air, then you might well prefer Toronto.

Adventure and Fun
If winter sports are your thing, then you will be happy out here, There are about six mountains in driving distance for you to ski your heart out. But, don’t be naïve, its not cheap, unless you fork out a lot of cash for a seasons pass someplace, so you likely won’t be skiing every day, or every weekend (but don’t let me stop you).
Also, during the summer the beaches that wrap aroudn downtown come to life and although I don’t know how many people swim in the sea, it’s a pretty nice beach culture. Moutainbiking is another big sport over here if that sort of thing rocks your boat.

In short, from what I have experienced, Toronto is a bigger, flashier, (possibly cooler) city than Vancouver. It houses all the big businesses, award shows, film festivals, and probably has more going on. But Vancouver has its fair share of fun too (think recent Olympics for example). You are not comparing like with like when it comes to the two cities, they both offer very different things. The people are different too.

People
Who am I to try and present character profiles of the average Vancouverite versus Torontonian…

The stereotypes are:
Vancouverite: Hippy, tree-loving, organic, pseduo intellectual type, that prefers running shoes and athletic spandex clothing ( I might be wearing Lululemon pants writing this)

Torontonian: Urban, fast paced city slicker, high heals, high fashion, all business.

Obviosuly these are not insightful or accurate cross sections of society, but they might be a little bit true and might just help you get a better picture of the difference between the cities.