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For the nth time, most people who work in Silicon Valley, even the ones who work in SF, do not live in SF where the prices are more comparable to Vancouver. Thi

For the nth time, most people who work in Silicon Valley, even the ones who work in SF, do not live in SF where the prices are more comparable to Vancouver. This is one of the major reasons we didn't move to Canada.

bigmadshoe 13d ago
And not everyone who works in Vancouver lives in the city of Vancouver either. There are 10 or so other cities within commuting distance. A fair comparison would compare areas outside of SF with areas outside of Vancouver. There are obviously some outliers like Oakland, but on average you would expect to pay 50%-100% more in rent in the Bay Area than in the Vancouver area. There is a lot of data available online that you can find very easily. Zillow for example, regarding rent for a one bedroom: SF average rent: $4,440 USD [1] vs. Vancouver average rent: $2,500USD [2] Mountain view average rent: $3,395USD [3] vs Burnaby average rent: $1,989USD [4] Union City average rent: $2400USD [5] vs Surrey average rent: $1689USD [6] [1] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/san-francisco-ca/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/san-fran... [2] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/vancouver-bc/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/vancouve... [3] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/mountain-view-ca/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/mountain... [4] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/burnaby-bc/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/burnaby-... [5] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/union-city-ca/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/union-ci... [6] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/surrey-bc/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/surrey-b...
- chaostheory 12d ago
  1. Your comparisons aren’t that great. Burnaby’s twin is Oakland and not Mountain view. 2. You’re ignoring the option of buying homes which is impossible for Canadian vancouver salaries but still possible with American salaries in the SF Bay Area
  - bigmadshoe 12d ago
    Again, I am not making comparisons adjusted to salaries. I'm just proving that claims that the cost of living is "just as high or even higher than the US" (not adjusting for salary) are false. Simply looking around Vancouver on zillow proves this to be obvious. For example, I found multiple 3b2b houses with backyards for under $3kUSD in nice areas walking distance from central Vancouver, which is literally impossible in SF. Otherwise, as I already stated, we agree that it is almost always better from an economic perspective to live in San Francisco as an engineer, given the vastly higher salaries. NOTE: I'm specifically responding to your claim that "the cost of living in Canada is just as high or even higher than the US", in the context of HCOL areas where tech workers typically reside. Honestly I don't know what can convince you, so maybe we can just agree to disagree.

bigmadshoe 13d ago

And not everyone who works in Vancouver lives in the city of Vancouver either. There are 10 or so other cities within commuting distance. A fair comparison would compare areas outside of SF with areas outside of Vancouver. There are obviously some outliers like Oakland, but on average you would expect to pay 50%-100% more in rent in the Bay Area than in the Vancouver area. There is a lot of data available online that you can find very easily. Zillow for example, regarding rent for a one bedroom: SF average rent: $4,440 USD [1] vs. Vancouver average rent: $2,500USD [2] Mountain view average rent: $3,395USD [3] vs Burnaby average rent: $1,989USD [4] Union City average rent: $2400USD [5] vs Surrey average rent: $1689USD [6] [1] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/san-francisco-ca/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/san-fran... [2] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/vancouver-bc/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/vancouve... [3] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/mountain-view-ca/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/mountain... [4] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/burnaby-bc/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/burnaby-... [5] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/union-city-ca/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/union-ci... [6] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/surrey-bc/?bedrooms=1 https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/surrey-b...

chaostheory 12d ago
1. Your comparisons aren’t that great. Burnaby’s twin is Oakland and not Mountain view. 2. You’re ignoring the option of buying homes which is impossible for Canadian vancouver salaries but still possible with American salaries in the SF Bay Area
- bigmadshoe 12d ago
  Again, I am not making comparisons adjusted to salaries. I'm just proving that claims that the cost of living is "just as high or even higher than the US" (not adjusting for salary) are false. Simply looking around Vancouver on zillow proves this to be obvious. For example, I found multiple 3b2b houses with backyards for under $3kUSD in nice areas walking distance from central Vancouver, which is literally impossible in SF. Otherwise, as I already stated, we agree that it is almost always better from an economic perspective to live in San Francisco as an engineer, given the vastly higher salaries. NOTE: I'm specifically responding to your claim that "the cost of living in Canada is just as high or even higher than the US", in the context of HCOL areas where tech workers typically reside. Honestly I don't know what can convince you, so maybe we can just agree to disagree.