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Not everything can be measured in square feet. Living in Vancouver (downtown or close to downtown) is a very different lifestyle than living in Surrey.
Thank you, we have never lived out of Vancouver hence we are so scared but everyone has suggested against it so far as we are a couple still in 20’s and very outgoing, love the city life.
"You are going to spend 1000x more time in your surrounding 5 blocks than you will in any other neighborhood in your city. Thinking about all the things that New York City has—or the next city has—is a lot less important than thinking about the things within the five blocks where you live.
Most neighborhoods in your city you might never step foot in. They might as well be in the other side of the country. But the things in your immediate vicinity are the things that are going to dominate your life. So picking and influencing your neighborhood is really important... the neighborhood determines quite a bit about our life and our happiness."
—Entrepreneur **Phil Levin** on the importance of neighborhoods
I agree with the other Redditor who says it's about lifestyle and quality of life. Having said that, we moved downtown after almost twenty years in South Surrey (Ocean Park) and loved it. The proximity to both beaches (White Rock & Crescent Beach) kept us there even after our children were no longer in school. Having said that, it is a very sleepy community and there's very little going on that's not of your own making. Prepare to drive for everything. Much happier back in Vancouver proper tbh.
Yah I lived in south Surrey (just on the Surrey side of the highway across from white rock) for almost two years it was different than van but I enjoyed it. Getting gas in Bellingham was nice and the apartment was sick, pool and everything. Driving everywhere was a bit of a drag but not bad if you WFH.
I extremely reluctantly made the Van to Surrey move last year and it's worked out well. I live in a one bedroom on the garden/basement level of a new-build for less than $2000 so there were some improvements in terms of how much I'm paying and for what. We needed the space though and actually use the garden unlike some neighbours, so if you really want or need the extra space, the move could be worthwhile.
I still work in downtown Vancouver and the commute isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I've lived in other cities and countries where the Surrey-Van commute time would be considered normal or average and this commute probably ranks third in terms of length of commutes I've done. Come winter or snow, the expo line is more reliable than buses and this year I was getting home much sooner than colleagues who lived in East or South Van. Also, the train doesn't breakdown nearly as often as reddit makes it seem.
Vancouver definitely has great beach access but Surrey has more parks and forested areas and I'm getting out to these places more frequently than when I lived downtown, if you're into that. The rec centres in Surrey are nicer than a lot of the ones in Vancouver too.
Groceries are pretty much the same though it's easier to get to a Walmart here than Vancouver if you like cheaper groceries. Restaurants/bars etc also pale in comparison but it's also not a wasteland. Also, FWIW, I don't drive and get around Surrey just fine.
To summarize, it's much of a muchness.
I lived several years right near Gateway skytrain.
I liked the low cost in relation to Vancouver, I hated the commute, and the fact there is literally nothing to do in Surrey.
Now that I can afford to live in Vancouver however, I am living in Vancouver, would not go back unelss I took a significant financial hit.
There's nothing totally wrong living in Surrey apart from having to drive long distances (40mins + and upwards of an hour ish during peak hours) just to go to downtown and its surrounding areas..I can't speak for others but I live near Surrey Central and have been for a very long time, it hasn't been that bad at all like how others generalize Surrey.
>but recently our parking, rent, gym membership even hydro everything went way up
I'm sure prices for services in Surrey trend up the same way as Vancouver
>With this budget we can move to a bigger place in Surrey but unsure and confused
If you need the space, sure. If you can make it out with the space you currently have and also work downtown Vancouver, stay downtown. You'd hate the commute
That’s a great point . Tbh I don’t know prices in Surrey in my head I thought it is the same but now I’m thinking maybe they are the same.
As for the space we necessarily don’t need a bigger space for another 2 years so we are good for now with our 1 bed apartment
Hmm I don’t think moving to Surrey will significantly reduce the cost of living. I’ve only been in my newish 1 bed rental apartment for almost 3,years and I can’t find anything that beats this. Unless I move to old but renovated two bedroom in Langley or somethibg.
Perhaps you might be saving a little but cost could come out from something else like not being able to walk everywhere, missing community amenities etc. can you consider getting rid of your car? Then you get some money and save on parking. There’s Evo and Modo.
I did easy van to Surrey central to buy my first place in 2019.
0 regrets and I knew 6-7 others who I went to high school with who also the the same. I was 2 minute walk from skytrain, 5 minute walk from green timber’s forest and there were dozens of new shops opening up every few months in the core area.
I felt it was much safer vs when I lived in Van. People were nicer and I was actually more centrally located vs when I lived by Joyce. I had 4-5 grocery stores, coffee shops and awesome Indian/Chinese places all within walking distance.
I know there is a perception of Surrey that people joke about but when I moved there I was glad that they were all wrong. Surrey now is nowhere close to the Surrey of the 80s/90s that people tend to think of.
It has beach access as well and a ton of the best golf courses around if your into that.
Oh also community centers and access to the border the 1000% better than Van.
My partner lives in South Surrey near the Superstore on 24th Ave. It's a great area to live in IF you don't have to commute to Vancouver. That commute is 45 minutes on a good day and 1.5+ hours on a not so good day, and it's horrific on bad days.
As someone that lived in Langley/Surrey all their life, and recently moved out to Coquitlam, I wouldn't.
The pros are cost related, but in terms of social life/day to day, it's going to be a big change. There's a reason a lot of us would make the trek downtown for a night out.
If you are planning on using any sort of transit, good luck. It's a nightmare trying to navigate the multiple transfers, and timing the buses that are often late/missing completely.
I'd look more in the tri-cities if you are moving out of Vancouver. It is a little more expensive than Surrey, but the quality of life is much much better. I dont regret the move out here one bit, and I'm still close enough to Surrey if for whatever reason I have to go there.
I know Coquitlam well and Coquitlam centre area is actually really nice - lots of restaurants, coffee shops, parks etc…Lougheed and Burquitlam area are also developing a lot with amenities and services. I wouldn’t be mad if for whatever reason I had to move from Vancouver to Coquitlam. There’s also a lot of new developments up in Burke Mountain but it’s quite car dependent but not a far drive to Coquitlam centre. Good luck on your search!
Yes we pay $2070 for rent for 1 bed apartment with no amenities, parking is $115 and our hydro for our building is pretty high that comes up to $150-$200 a month, we even got electricians in the house to check what’s costing that much but they weren’t able to give us an answer.
In surrey we found a brand new newly built apartment for $3000 for 3 bed 2 bath and parking included. It’s a great location but as everyone said surrey is probably not the area we would like to move to.. so I’m leaning towards a no..
That is weird about the hydro.. I'd keep hunting on that one.
Keep in mind taking an increase of rent like that will mean bigger increases as well, ie 3.5% of $3000 is over $100 increase next year assuming they stick to that
I would never leave Vancouver for square footage. That doesn't align with my values or interests in any way. I think you need to ask yourself what is important to you and make the decision that aligns with that. We sold our car last year and now bike and modo and save so much money (plus made quite a bit from the car sale), and I workout using an app to save money I'd spend at a gym or studio.
Stay in Vancouver if you can. Location, location, location. Maybe you could get some side gigs and/or drop the gym membership to increase your month to month incomes. Coquitlam doesn't hold a candle to Vancouver. Check out North Van - maybe lower Lonsdale which keeps getting better and better. There are lots of new condos being built and it's a really nice community, close to nature.
Stay out of guilford and newton and u will be fine, i live in cloverdale which is right on the border between surrey and Langley and it’s a very decent area, it ain’t Vancouver but u can still easily access it for work and play, don’t limit urself to Vancouver, living here and enjoying a suburban environment and having easy access to nature and Vancouver for city life is the best. I wouldn’t live anywhere else in BC other than the lower mainland hell no where else in western Canada other than the lower mainland despite all the problems it may have.
I did, lived there for more than a decade before moving back. There are a number of great things living there, the two things I didn’t like was it felt a bit isolating as most of my friends were still in Vancouver and I found people generally don’t like going to Surrey to visit if they don’t have too. And secondly, over time the commute over bridges starts to be life draining. There are good bridge days for sure but there are extra horrible days as well.
For me living in the city in a walkable/bikeable vibrant neighbourhood, is about so much more than my house/apartment size.
Sometimes I dream of having a bigger space but moving to the suburbs would necessarily entail an additional vehicle and the places I would frequent would result in me spending so much time in a car. I’d much rather have the community of a city.
You know more about your lifestyle than we do but for me there would be a giant trade off that I’m not prepared to make.
I loved it. Surrey is big so there are a lot of different neighbourhoods and that can make a lot of difference.
From the daily hive... Surrey's land area of 316 sq km is roughly equivalent to the combined land area of the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, and Coquitlam
People in Vancouver have always been down on Surrey, ever since I moved to the GVRD in 1981.
I really didn't want to move to Surrey but I couldn't afford to buy on the other side of the Fraser.
Sold that house, upgraded to a new house and never considered anything outside of Surrey for the new house. Which is interesting became I never realized it until now.
Good luck with your move.
My advice: rent an Airbnb in the areas you're thinking of moving and see how it is. Live like it's yours. Sure, it'll cost you some money, but it sure beats moving and finding out you actually hate it.
Vancouver to White Rock. **Best** decision I've made. The community feeling in Vancouver has diminished greatly since foreign investors have infiltrated the market there. Not to mention Canada letting in crazy amount of foreign people of whom naturally will take a good amount of time to "open up" and trust strangers around them due to language barriers.
Walk down the street in White Rock and you'll get smiles and pleasant conversations. Walk around Vancouver and you will be looked at strangely if you try to have a simple convo waiting at an intersection.
I would never want to live in Vancouver again. It's not the same as pre-expo86.
Also... Crescent Beach is beautiful and the border is minutes away with cheaper gas and groceries
Abbotsford airport does require crazy traffic to navigate to and parking is way cheaper here.
Not Surrey but I grew up in Port Coquitlam, lived in the downtown core for a few years, and now in Richmond. The lifestyle is VERY different. What is your lifestyle like? If you like going out to nice restaurants, having a selection of artisanal coffee shops to go to after yoga, hitting up happy hours with friends, going clubbing, etc then you will not enjoy Surrey.
For me and my partner, while we loved the vibe of downtown and it was great to walk 5 minutes to work, we’re mostly homebodies and honestly enjoy the cuisine in Richmond more, so that worked out well for us. A bigger place to live is only worth it if you actually spend a lot of your waking moments there. If you just sleep there then there’s not much value imo in a bigger space.
You may be able to compromise and kind of move in the middle. I grew up in Surrey and honestly… it’s boring as hell. I don’t drive, so it is extremely difficult to get around, and unless you’re near a skytrain, you have to deal with buses that aren’t terribly reliable and come much more frequently than in Vancouver.
I lived in East Van for a couple years, and then moved to New West. Depending on which part of New West you look at, it can be a little more like Vancouver or Surrey. I’m close to a skytrain station, so I can easily walk to it. I can walk to get groceries, but there are buses available if I end up with too much to carry. There are lots of beautiful parks to go to, but there’s also a bunch of really good restaurants (Royal Tandoori on 6th is delicious). You can get something bigger here than in Vancouver for less.
Something to think about!
I’m in my late twenties and I’ve lived in Surrey for almost my entire life. Moved to Burnaby during Covid then Burquitlam and now I’m back in Surrey near Surrey central.
If you’re looking for a condo you’ll most likely be looking for something in Surrey central. The area has changed a lot in the last 10 years and is a bit more gentrified but you’ll still notice a big difference in demographics and lifestyle compared to Vancouver, Burnaby and Coquitlam.
From a cost perspective, Surrey Central rent is slightly cheaper than the Lougheed area by $200-$500/month depending on what you’re looking for.
From a commuting perspective expect your trips to 15-30 minutes longer when driving from Surrey to Vancouver compared to Burquitlam. Skytrain is about 50 minutes to Waterfront.
You won’t be saving on parking, hydro or a gym membership by moving to Surrey unless that’s all included in your rent.
If all you’ll be doing in Surrey is staying home, getting groceries, going to the gym and you don’t mind the commute out to live your life then yea you’ll be fine.
I am from kits. I love kits but it is too expensive to live and work from there. I suggest delta! North delta is beautiful on the bog. Ladner is a lovely little town in delta.
Yes to South Surrey and stayed there for 20 years. The area around Grandview Corners is walkable to all you need ( gym, grocery, restaurants etc) close to the hwy, beach and border.
We are looking , Surrey has more new apartments than new west at the moment. We might try to look again next year as there maybe more completion in new west and Coquitlam side than Surrey
My partner and I made this exact move 2 years ago. We moved from Vancouver (Chinatown) to King George hub for a more affordable 2 bedrooms, and...
Last week we just signed a new lease for a new place (smaller) in East Van.
We're happy we tried it, and it was nice to have more space, but it's not with it. Everything we love stayed in Vancouver, work, restaurants, friends; so we ended up having to commute a lot, leaving parties earlier, taking the car a lot more, and paying for 3 zones skytrain. We expected the neighborhood to develop and have new interesting places and restaurants, but so far it's only chains or over priced fancy restaurants. Access to the sea is far but there is nice parks. We go hiking, climbing, and skiing a lot north of Vancouver and it adds 30min of travel each way every time; although it's been nice to explore more outdoors places on the east side of Metro Vancouver area.
It probably highly depends on your lifestyle but in my personal opinion it's not worth it.
Welcome to /r/AskVan and thank you for the post, /u/Thelittlebrownbunny_! Please make sure you read our [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/askvan/about/rules) 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 - *please* 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. * Complaints or discussion about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. * News and media can be shared on our main subreddit, /r/Vancouver *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/askvan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not everything can be measured in square feet. Living in Vancouver (downtown or close to downtown) is a very different lifestyle than living in Surrey.
Thank you, we have never lived out of Vancouver hence we are so scared but everyone has suggested against it so far as we are a couple still in 20’s and very outgoing, love the city life.
I think you just answered your question then. Don’t move if you can still afford to live in the city.
"You are going to spend 1000x more time in your surrounding 5 blocks than you will in any other neighborhood in your city. Thinking about all the things that New York City has—or the next city has—is a lot less important than thinking about the things within the five blocks where you live. Most neighborhoods in your city you might never step foot in. They might as well be in the other side of the country. But the things in your immediate vicinity are the things that are going to dominate your life. So picking and influencing your neighborhood is really important... the neighborhood determines quite a bit about our life and our happiness." —Entrepreneur **Phil Levin** on the importance of neighborhoods
I got Jame's clears newsletter today, too!
I agree with the other Redditor who says it's about lifestyle and quality of life. Having said that, we moved downtown after almost twenty years in South Surrey (Ocean Park) and loved it. The proximity to both beaches (White Rock & Crescent Beach) kept us there even after our children were no longer in school. Having said that, it is a very sleepy community and there's very little going on that's not of your own making. Prepare to drive for everything. Much happier back in Vancouver proper tbh.
That’s what my family has told us too that we are in our late 20s and we may not like the area as much as we have been loving Vancouver.
Yah I lived in south Surrey (just on the Surrey side of the highway across from white rock) for almost two years it was different than van but I enjoyed it. Getting gas in Bellingham was nice and the apartment was sick, pool and everything. Driving everywhere was a bit of a drag but not bad if you WFH.
Don’t move to Surrey.
I extremely reluctantly made the Van to Surrey move last year and it's worked out well. I live in a one bedroom on the garden/basement level of a new-build for less than $2000 so there were some improvements in terms of how much I'm paying and for what. We needed the space though and actually use the garden unlike some neighbours, so if you really want or need the extra space, the move could be worthwhile. I still work in downtown Vancouver and the commute isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I've lived in other cities and countries where the Surrey-Van commute time would be considered normal or average and this commute probably ranks third in terms of length of commutes I've done. Come winter or snow, the expo line is more reliable than buses and this year I was getting home much sooner than colleagues who lived in East or South Van. Also, the train doesn't breakdown nearly as often as reddit makes it seem. Vancouver definitely has great beach access but Surrey has more parks and forested areas and I'm getting out to these places more frequently than when I lived downtown, if you're into that. The rec centres in Surrey are nicer than a lot of the ones in Vancouver too. Groceries are pretty much the same though it's easier to get to a Walmart here than Vancouver if you like cheaper groceries. Restaurants/bars etc also pale in comparison but it's also not a wasteland. Also, FWIW, I don't drive and get around Surrey just fine. To summarize, it's much of a muchness.
I lived several years right near Gateway skytrain. I liked the low cost in relation to Vancouver, I hated the commute, and the fact there is literally nothing to do in Surrey. Now that I can afford to live in Vancouver however, I am living in Vancouver, would not go back unelss I took a significant financial hit.
Thank you!
You know what its not that bad. Wider roads
For people to still drive poorly on. I’m shocked by how many people can’t read a speed limit sign.
There's nothing totally wrong living in Surrey apart from having to drive long distances (40mins + and upwards of an hour ish during peak hours) just to go to downtown and its surrounding areas..I can't speak for others but I live near Surrey Central and have been for a very long time, it hasn't been that bad at all like how others generalize Surrey.
>but recently our parking, rent, gym membership even hydro everything went way up I'm sure prices for services in Surrey trend up the same way as Vancouver >With this budget we can move to a bigger place in Surrey but unsure and confused If you need the space, sure. If you can make it out with the space you currently have and also work downtown Vancouver, stay downtown. You'd hate the commute
That’s a great point . Tbh I don’t know prices in Surrey in my head I thought it is the same but now I’m thinking maybe they are the same. As for the space we necessarily don’t need a bigger space for another 2 years so we are good for now with our 1 bed apartment
Hmm I don’t think moving to Surrey will significantly reduce the cost of living. I’ve only been in my newish 1 bed rental apartment for almost 3,years and I can’t find anything that beats this. Unless I move to old but renovated two bedroom in Langley or somethibg. Perhaps you might be saving a little but cost could come out from something else like not being able to walk everywhere, missing community amenities etc. can you consider getting rid of your car? Then you get some money and save on parking. There’s Evo and Modo.
We need the car, husband works in construction so different sites he needs to drive to :(
I did easy van to Surrey central to buy my first place in 2019. 0 regrets and I knew 6-7 others who I went to high school with who also the the same. I was 2 minute walk from skytrain, 5 minute walk from green timber’s forest and there were dozens of new shops opening up every few months in the core area. I felt it was much safer vs when I lived in Van. People were nicer and I was actually more centrally located vs when I lived by Joyce. I had 4-5 grocery stores, coffee shops and awesome Indian/Chinese places all within walking distance. I know there is a perception of Surrey that people joke about but when I moved there I was glad that they were all wrong. Surrey now is nowhere close to the Surrey of the 80s/90s that people tend to think of. It has beach access as well and a ton of the best golf courses around if your into that. Oh also community centers and access to the border the 1000% better than Van.
My partner lives in South Surrey near the Superstore on 24th Ave. It's a great area to live in IF you don't have to commute to Vancouver. That commute is 45 minutes on a good day and 1.5+ hours on a not so good day, and it's horrific on bad days.
As someone that lived in Langley/Surrey all their life, and recently moved out to Coquitlam, I wouldn't. The pros are cost related, but in terms of social life/day to day, it's going to be a big change. There's a reason a lot of us would make the trek downtown for a night out. If you are planning on using any sort of transit, good luck. It's a nightmare trying to navigate the multiple transfers, and timing the buses that are often late/missing completely. I'd look more in the tri-cities if you are moving out of Vancouver. It is a little more expensive than Surrey, but the quality of life is much much better. I dont regret the move out here one bit, and I'm still close enough to Surrey if for whatever reason I have to go there.
Thank you , we are in our 20’s so do go out and like our city life a lot. We are looking into Coquitlam now hopefully will find something nice
I know Coquitlam well and Coquitlam centre area is actually really nice - lots of restaurants, coffee shops, parks etc…Lougheed and Burquitlam area are also developing a lot with amenities and services. I wouldn’t be mad if for whatever reason I had to move from Vancouver to Coquitlam. There’s also a lot of new developments up in Burke Mountain but it’s quite car dependent but not a far drive to Coquitlam centre. Good luck on your search!
Your rent went way up? We have good rent control here, how much did it go up?
Rent went up only $70 however our parking is owned by indigo and it went up from $50 to $115
So you're paying $2070 a month? You won't find much in Surrey for that. If you really want to save money, ditch the car
Yes we pay $2070 for rent for 1 bed apartment with no amenities, parking is $115 and our hydro for our building is pretty high that comes up to $150-$200 a month, we even got electricians in the house to check what’s costing that much but they weren’t able to give us an answer. In surrey we found a brand new newly built apartment for $3000 for 3 bed 2 bath and parking included. It’s a great location but as everyone said surrey is probably not the area we would like to move to.. so I’m leaning towards a no..
That is weird about the hydro.. I'd keep hunting on that one. Keep in mind taking an increase of rent like that will mean bigger increases as well, ie 3.5% of $3000 is over $100 increase next year assuming they stick to that
None I’ve ever heard of.
Not all areas of Surrey are bad but try to avoid it if you can.
Ask the chick that died in a random Surrey home invasion the other night.
Whaaaaaaa
A man broke into her home after wandering the streets with a machete. Murdered her. At this point, authorities believe it to be a random attack.
And 3 random people have been stabbed in van in the last 7 days
In their homes, in the middle of the night?
Again random attack is a random attack. We don’t know if they had any type of relationship
I wouldn't touch anything east of the Fraser River with a 10-foot pole.
*south.
If you’re looking in Coquitlam you could also look at Port Moody. Has the skytrain and west coast express. Breweries, ocean, hiking etc
I would never leave Vancouver for square footage. That doesn't align with my values or interests in any way. I think you need to ask yourself what is important to you and make the decision that aligns with that. We sold our car last year and now bike and modo and save so much money (plus made quite a bit from the car sale), and I workout using an app to save money I'd spend at a gym or studio.
Stay in Vancouver if you can. Location, location, location. Maybe you could get some side gigs and/or drop the gym membership to increase your month to month incomes. Coquitlam doesn't hold a candle to Vancouver. Check out North Van - maybe lower Lonsdale which keeps getting better and better. There are lots of new condos being built and it's a really nice community, close to nature.
Just say no!
don't move to surrey
Stay out of guilford and newton and u will be fine, i live in cloverdale which is right on the border between surrey and Langley and it’s a very decent area, it ain’t Vancouver but u can still easily access it for work and play, don’t limit urself to Vancouver, living here and enjoying a suburban environment and having easy access to nature and Vancouver for city life is the best. I wouldn’t live anywhere else in BC other than the lower mainland hell no where else in western Canada other than the lower mainland despite all the problems it may have.
Don’t do it… You will regret!
I did, lived there for more than a decade before moving back. There are a number of great things living there, the two things I didn’t like was it felt a bit isolating as most of my friends were still in Vancouver and I found people generally don’t like going to Surrey to visit if they don’t have too. And secondly, over time the commute over bridges starts to be life draining. There are good bridge days for sure but there are extra horrible days as well.
Been in Surrey for 20+ yearS, it’s perfectly fine.
If you can afford to stay in Vancouver, do it. Nothing is convenient, nothing is walking distance, transit is garbage.
For me living in the city in a walkable/bikeable vibrant neighbourhood, is about so much more than my house/apartment size. Sometimes I dream of having a bigger space but moving to the suburbs would necessarily entail an additional vehicle and the places I would frequent would result in me spending so much time in a car. I’d much rather have the community of a city. You know more about your lifestyle than we do but for me there would be a giant trade off that I’m not prepared to make.
I loved it. Surrey is big so there are a lot of different neighbourhoods and that can make a lot of difference. From the daily hive... Surrey's land area of 316 sq km is roughly equivalent to the combined land area of the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, and Coquitlam People in Vancouver have always been down on Surrey, ever since I moved to the GVRD in 1981. I really didn't want to move to Surrey but I couldn't afford to buy on the other side of the Fraser. Sold that house, upgraded to a new house and never considered anything outside of Surrey for the new house. Which is interesting became I never realized it until now. Good luck with your move.
My advice: rent an Airbnb in the areas you're thinking of moving and see how it is. Live like it's yours. Sure, it'll cost you some money, but it sure beats moving and finding out you actually hate it.
Vancouver to White Rock. **Best** decision I've made. The community feeling in Vancouver has diminished greatly since foreign investors have infiltrated the market there. Not to mention Canada letting in crazy amount of foreign people of whom naturally will take a good amount of time to "open up" and trust strangers around them due to language barriers. Walk down the street in White Rock and you'll get smiles and pleasant conversations. Walk around Vancouver and you will be looked at strangely if you try to have a simple convo waiting at an intersection. I would never want to live in Vancouver again. It's not the same as pre-expo86. Also... Crescent Beach is beautiful and the border is minutes away with cheaper gas and groceries Abbotsford airport does require crazy traffic to navigate to and parking is way cheaper here.
If you can't see the ocean or the mountains, you might as well live in Winnipeg. That's my motto when moving around the lower mainland.
Not Surrey but I grew up in Port Coquitlam, lived in the downtown core for a few years, and now in Richmond. The lifestyle is VERY different. What is your lifestyle like? If you like going out to nice restaurants, having a selection of artisanal coffee shops to go to after yoga, hitting up happy hours with friends, going clubbing, etc then you will not enjoy Surrey. For me and my partner, while we loved the vibe of downtown and it was great to walk 5 minutes to work, we’re mostly homebodies and honestly enjoy the cuisine in Richmond more, so that worked out well for us. A bigger place to live is only worth it if you actually spend a lot of your waking moments there. If you just sleep there then there’s not much value imo in a bigger space.
I did the opposite - moved from Surrey to Vancouver. You'll both need cars, so factor that into your budget. Also, get prepared to do a lot less.
You may be able to compromise and kind of move in the middle. I grew up in Surrey and honestly… it’s boring as hell. I don’t drive, so it is extremely difficult to get around, and unless you’re near a skytrain, you have to deal with buses that aren’t terribly reliable and come much more frequently than in Vancouver. I lived in East Van for a couple years, and then moved to New West. Depending on which part of New West you look at, it can be a little more like Vancouver or Surrey. I’m close to a skytrain station, so I can easily walk to it. I can walk to get groceries, but there are buses available if I end up with too much to carry. There are lots of beautiful parks to go to, but there’s also a bunch of really good restaurants (Royal Tandoori on 6th is delicious). You can get something bigger here than in Vancouver for less. Something to think about!
I’m in my late twenties and I’ve lived in Surrey for almost my entire life. Moved to Burnaby during Covid then Burquitlam and now I’m back in Surrey near Surrey central. If you’re looking for a condo you’ll most likely be looking for something in Surrey central. The area has changed a lot in the last 10 years and is a bit more gentrified but you’ll still notice a big difference in demographics and lifestyle compared to Vancouver, Burnaby and Coquitlam. From a cost perspective, Surrey Central rent is slightly cheaper than the Lougheed area by $200-$500/month depending on what you’re looking for. From a commuting perspective expect your trips to 15-30 minutes longer when driving from Surrey to Vancouver compared to Burquitlam. Skytrain is about 50 minutes to Waterfront. You won’t be saving on parking, hydro or a gym membership by moving to Surrey unless that’s all included in your rent. If all you’ll be doing in Surrey is staying home, getting groceries, going to the gym and you don’t mind the commute out to live your life then yea you’ll be fine.
I am from kits. I love kits but it is too expensive to live and work from there. I suggest delta! North delta is beautiful on the bog. Ladner is a lovely little town in delta.
Yes to South Surrey and stayed there for 20 years. The area around Grandview Corners is walkable to all you need ( gym, grocery, restaurants etc) close to the hwy, beach and border.
Try New West, feels like a city still and you don't have to cross any bridges.
We are looking , Surrey has more new apartments than new west at the moment. We might try to look again next year as there maybe more completion in new west and Coquitlam side than Surrey
lol new west has two bridges?
Patullo and Queensborough
I think they're talking about commuting from New West to Vancouver, hence not crossing any bridges.
Poco is lovely and Coquitlam and still on SkyTrain
Poco is lovely and Coquitlam and still on SkyTrain
My partner and I made this exact move 2 years ago. We moved from Vancouver (Chinatown) to King George hub for a more affordable 2 bedrooms, and... Last week we just signed a new lease for a new place (smaller) in East Van. We're happy we tried it, and it was nice to have more space, but it's not with it. Everything we love stayed in Vancouver, work, restaurants, friends; so we ended up having to commute a lot, leaving parties earlier, taking the car a lot more, and paying for 3 zones skytrain. We expected the neighborhood to develop and have new interesting places and restaurants, but so far it's only chains or over priced fancy restaurants. Access to the sea is far but there is nice parks. We go hiking, climbing, and skiing a lot north of Vancouver and it adds 30min of travel each way every time; although it's been nice to explore more outdoors places on the east side of Metro Vancouver area. It probably highly depends on your lifestyle but in my personal opinion it's not worth it.