# what's burnaby like?



## däycüs mäximüs (Nov 30, 2002)

i've noticed that there are a LOT of BC-people here, so i pose this question because i've been a hamilton, ontario resident for 17-odd years, and before that, 10 years in manila, philippines..

<b>what's burnaby, BC like? </b>

there may be a very <i>VERY</i> slight chance that i will be working there.

pros? cons? places to hang out?

anything would be awesome.


----------



## RevMatt (Sep 10, 2005)

Burnaby is a bit of an odd duck, but we liked it when we lived there. And now that there is a proper transit route to get you to the other parts of the city, there are no downsides. Well, other than the Vancouver climate... 

Burnaby has a bit of a commuter feel to it, except that it has been sucked into the city proper, so it does have just about everything you could ever want.


----------



## däycüs mäximüs (Nov 30, 2002)

i've noticed that housing seems to be on the expensive side.. is there a town nearby where i should be looking?

it's like how it is here.. the closer you live to toronto, the more expensive it is.


----------



## RevMatt (Sep 10, 2005)

Burnaby is not really on the edge of the city, although it is getting close. It is also large, and the road system in Vancouver is possibly the worst I have ever seen. All of which is to say that other options for where to live depend in large part on how much you are willing to travel, and where in Burnaby you have the slight possibility of living.
Yes, housing gets cheaper the farther you move from downtown. But you are going to have to go a long way to find something similar to Hamilton prices...

Anyways, I will let someone who still lives there give you more current, and likely more accurate info.


----------



## däycüs mäximüs (Nov 30, 2002)

thank you for checking this up for me..

anyone else know on the forum know?

just want to get as much of a varied response as possible.


----------



## MLeh (Dec 23, 2005)

Burnaby is a very large municipality, so it really varies depending where you are. There's a university (SFU), plus BCIT, a very large shopping district (MetroTown), a decent transportation link (Skytrain). It's sandwiched in between Vancouver 'proper' and the other municipalities that comprise the GVRD (Greater Vancouver Regional District). The GVRD head offices are in Burnaby. 

There's some nice parks (Deer Lake Park, the SFU grounds, Burnaby Lake Park). 

Housing is 'lower mainland housing prices'. It's expensive. More affordable housing is found out in the Fraser Valley, but then there is the commuting. Commuting anywhere on the lower mainland is a nightmare. The only major thoroughfare is the TransCanada, and once you leave that there is no real thoroughfares in any of the municipalities, so traffic can be a nightmare. It's a parking lot westbound in the mornings and the same thing eastbound in the afternoon/evenings. If you live on the other side of a bridge from work you will learn how to merge. And there are bridges EVERYWHERE. Aside from the Skytrain, public transportation is rather pathetic, but driving is worse (find a buddy so you can use the HOV lane).


----------



## däycüs mäximüs (Nov 30, 2002)

so i should ditch my car when i get there?

my god, which is worse?


----------



## Vandave (Feb 26, 2005)

MLeh pretty much has it dead on. Burnaby is basically continuous with Vancouver.

Burnaby is a little more central than Vancouver if you like to get out of the City, which I why I like living here. There aren't really any bad areas that you would have to worry about.

Where in Burnaby would you be working? Getting around by car in Burnaby is fine and you can commute from any part of it to another with big problems. The choke points in our city are the freeway and the bridges. If you want to lose your car, you'll have to be very strategic with where you live and work.


----------



## jay_eh (Jan 6, 2006)

Just wondering what everyone does to afford housing in Burnaby or Vancouver and possibly Calgary (with the increasing housing prices). 

I am finishing university next year, live in Ontario and want to move out and go West. I remember briefly looking at the housing costs in Vancouver downtown (I know downtowns always more) but it looks like you really need to make $120 K plus to have a 1/2 decent house in a nice neighborhood in these cities.... 

Am I right, or is there any cities people can suggest? I like to scout ahead of time.


----------



## MLeh (Dec 23, 2005)

jay_eh: What are you going to do for a living when you graduate from Uni?

(That will make a big difference to my response)


----------



## Vandave (Feb 26, 2005)

jay_eh said:


> Just wondering what everyone does to afford housing in Burnaby or Vancouver and possibly Calgary (with the increasing housing prices).
> 
> I am finishing university next year, live in Ontario and want to move out and go West. I remember briefly looking at the housing costs in Vancouver downtown (I know downtowns always more) but it looks like you really need to make $120 K plus to have a 1/2 decent house in a nice neighborhood in these cities....
> 
> Am I right, or is there any cities people can suggest? I like to scout ahead of time.


I think the average house price on the west half of Vancouver just topped $1 million. The east half is probably around $600K. Have fun saving up a down payment for that.  

A lot of the money in Vancouver is from overseas, is generational or related to the pot trade, which is now larger than our forest industry. The average working schmo can't get a house in the west side and struggles to get one on the east side. 

The best way into the market is to buy a condo and move up from there.

In any case, we already have our quota of people from Ontario. If you hurry, you can avoid the head tax :lmao:


----------



## PenguinBoy (Aug 16, 2005)

jay_eh said:


> Just wondering what everyone does to afford housing in Burnaby or Vancouver and possibly Calgary (with the increasing housing prices).


Rent for the time being, and buy when the bubble bursts?


----------



## MLeh (Dec 23, 2005)

Vandave said:


> I think the average house price on the west half of Vancouver just topped $1 million. The east half is probably around $600K. Have fun saving up a down payment for that.
> <snip>
> 
> The best way into the market is to buy a condo and move up from there.


Which is why a lot of people commute. 

There is a subdivision being built across the street from me - 90 houses on teeny tiny lots on what used to be a nice little forest. Each house is selling for $260K (and up), and they're selling fast. The commute into Vancouver from here is a half hour drive to the ferry, then a forty minute ferry ride and then at least another half hour into town. People do it because that's all they can afford. 

We actually have fairly decent transit that connects to the ferry (unless the ferry has issues) and there is good transit into town from HSB. A friend of mine who does the commute leaves home at 5:30am and gets home at 7 pm or sometimes 9 if he misses the 5:30 sailing. Hardly a life I'd recommend.


----------



## Carex (Mar 1, 2004)

What if the bubble doesn't burst. If you are spending $150K in Vancouver you are getting a 600 square foot condo, not a house. Most people that end up there just get used to the lifestyle, including housing prices. I have a friend that bought a house in North Vancouver 5 years ago at $500K and sold last year for $800K. This is an 80 year old house in a very average neighborhood.


----------



## däycüs mäximüs (Nov 30, 2002)

how about new westminster? anyone living over there? 

my contact over there made a reference to the rapid transit line. what's that all about? 

the place where i want to work is relatively close to the metrotown in burnaby. where's that?

from new westminster, how long of a commute would that be to that metrotown place.

thanks in advance..


----------



## RevMatt (Sep 10, 2005)

The rapid transit in question is the Skytrain. There is a direct line from New West that runs straight through Metrotown. That would be an excellent set up, really.


----------



## däycüs mäximüs (Nov 30, 2002)

so getting a place in new westminster would be better? 

what's the commute time like?


----------



## anal-log (Feb 22, 2003)

Check here for the Burnaby/New Westminister  Skytrain


----------



## simplemind22 (Jul 31, 2010)

*Skip on BC - unless you have money -*

Stay in Ontario. You are better off there. Where do I start? The Vancouver area is OVER RATED.

I pay $645 a month for a studio apartment. I thought I was getting a great deal in Burnaby, but the building is so ghetto. The HST has just made a bad situation worse. All the press TourismBC puts out shows sunny skies and mountains. Its propaganda. 

BC, more specifically the Greater Vancouver Regional District (Burnaby included), is notoriously over-priced. There isn't much job growth as of late either- most of the jobs are opening up in Ontario and Quebec. It's not diverse either - with a few exceptions most of the lower mainland is Chinese. 

In a few months I'm outta here. I'm either going to Ontario or the USA. 

If you are a single person and want to rent a decent apartment - I would budget min $1000 a month for a 1 bedroom. But if you want to buy a condo/house - forget about it - unless you really are making are making $120K a year. Just do the math - take the median home price, -10% down *i think* and then the current interest rate. Use an online mortgage calculator.

Visit, but don't live here. 



jay_eh said:


> Just wondering what everyone does to afford housing in Burnaby or Vancouver and possibly Calgary (with the increasing housing prices).
> 
> I am finishing university next year, live in Ontario and want to move out and go West. I remember briefly looking at the housing costs in Vancouver downtown (I know downtowns always more) but it looks like you really need to make $120 K plus to have a 1/2 decent house in a nice neighborhood in these cities....
> 
> Am I right, or is there any cities people can suggest? I like to scout ahead of time.


----------



## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

Full moon was almost a week ago. If we must revive the dead it should only be done at midnight during the full moon.beejacon


----------



## Trose (Feb 17, 2005)

däycüs mäximüs said:


> so getting a place in new westminster would be better?
> 
> what's the commute time like?


I live in New West but unfortunately I don't really know how reasonable the housing prices are here. I would guess that it's pretty expensive (based on the other responses in this thread) because you still aren't very far away from Vancouver.

Another commuting option is biking. I bike to work in Burnaby (near Brentwood Town Centre, which is farther than commuting to Metrotown) and it's about 30-35 minutes each way. Commuting to Metrotown from New West would be easy (whether by car, transit, or bike). The past few weeks have been beautiful weather for biking, but other than July and August you have to be willing to bike in the rain.


----------



## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

*Zombie Alert!*

Obviously my previous post was a tad toooooooo subtle.

This thread died over four years ago and there was no earthly reason for reviving it other than a new poster failing to notice the date.


----------



## tilt (Mar 3, 2005)

eMacMan said:


> Obviously my previous post was a tad toooooooo subtle.
> 
> This thread died over four years ago and there was no earthly reason for reviving it other than a new poster failing to notice the date.


It is aliiiiiiiivvvvve!!!! It is aliiiiiiiivvvvve!


----------



## Trose (Feb 17, 2005)

eMacMan said:


> Obviously my previous post was a tad toooooooo subtle.
> 
> This thread died over four years ago and there was no earthly reason for reviving it other than a new poster failing to notice the date.


Wow, sorry. I feel really stupid now for not noticing that XX)


----------



## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

Trose said:


> Wow, sorry. I feel really stupid now for not noticing that XX)


Hey at least that mistake was free. beejacon


----------



## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Lol this thread reeked of dead smell before I even opened it.

I wonder why I never contributed to this thread. Burnaby's a nice city consisting of four main walkable town centres all connected by Skytrain (Highgate's about a 10 minute walk away but it's not bad), main parks including Central, Deer Lake, and Burnaby Mountain Park which shares its grounds with SFU. It's a pretty suburban place otherwise but cheaper than Vancouver area to live in. If you want less expensive, New Westminster is definitely the place to live. Don't live in Surrey unless you're desperate.


----------

