The Best City on Earth
We live in a place that we think is pretty magical and we used to live in a place -- Vancouver -- that was repeatedly ranked the best city in the world. As I write this, an eagle is being harrassed outside by seagulls and crows. Suffice to say, we still think we made the right decision leaving Vancouver.
If you remember, last week we talked about Dr. John Helliwell. Now, as it happens, he has something very interesting to say when asked what is the best place in the country to live: there are lots of them. And they all have one thing in common: how much people trust their neighbours.
His map of Vancouver makes the point very well... if you know Vancouver at all. It probably goes some way in explaining our decision to leave, as well. What is interesting about this map is that the happiest pockets are a real mixed bag: semi-rural Lyons Bay, very urban Commercial Street, some areas that probably don't even have names they are so suburban. The main thing that they have is that people can trust each other. (We lived in several, different "nice" areas that somehow were lacking.)
This really rings true to us. For example, we have close friends who moved to get work in Edmonton, a place that probably wouldn't be most people's first choice. (No offense, Edmonton, but you have to admit it is true.) But turns out that they love it. Why? Great neighbours and great neighbourhood.
Victoria also would not be first choice for many people, despite the orcas and eagles and a more-than-adequate selection of urban amenities. But we have great neighbours and a great neighbourhood.
This is not to say you can't be happy in a place where there is little community. But you are likely to be happier in a place where there is that sense of trust and togetherness.
And if you are not happy where you are? Think about a move or get involved in an activity that will win you friends and make your neighbourhood a better place. A marriage BTW is a time of new beginnings, so is probably a good time to think about such changes, too.
Happy Couples, Happy Planet!
posted by Heather and Dan @ 12:58 PM
5 Comments :
Hi Heather and Dan,
I followed your comment on Beyond Salmon and found your lovely blog. By the way, my husband and I are going on vacation to Vancouver in a few days. I've never been to the west coast and I can't wait. If you have any suggestions for "must-see" places, we are all ears.
Cheers,
-Helen
Thanks for your comment! We are going to put our thinking caps on for some really clever and interesting suggestions of what to see in "The Groover" (Vancouver) and will get back to you today or tomorrow. However, off the top of our heads, as we know you are a bit of a "foodie" and this is the land of Salmon, you might want to try the Liligut Freast House (an aboriginal restaurant http://www.liliget.com/) and you MUST go to Granville Island for its amazing market. Are you planning to get over to Vancouver Island (and Victoria) at all?
Cheers Heather
This is taking longer than expected. Heather developed nasty complications from the C section and had to be admitted to hospital. But we will get back to you with more soon! Really!
Hi Helen,
It seems like an age since you left your comment about going to Vancouver. You've probably been and gone home already. Oh, we hope not! Our apologies -- Heather was hospitalized last week and we were a little preoccupied. Life is getting back to normal and she is out of the woods, but we have only just managed to get our thinking caps back on.
Vancouver is a pretty neat place, kind of a cross between Hong Kong and California. Or maybe it is San Diego's twin, but 15 degrees cooler. I am rambling. I blame the new baby's night feedings.
It is ironic, given the name of your blog... but one of the first things that struck me about Vancouver is how ingrained salmon are in the local culture. Smoked salmon is a local fave, there are festivals and even a swim commemorating the (sort of annual) return of the salmon, the galleries are full of First Nations art depicting salmon, and almost every little creek has a "salmonid habitat" sign on it reminding people to protect fish habitat and breeding areas. I was pretty impressed, being raised in rural Nova Scotia where we routinely slaughtered fish as kids for no good reason. Gee, I wonder why the cod fishery collapsed?
We think that the must sees are Stanley Park, Granville Island, and the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology. They are all pretty easily accessible from downtown. The first two are easily walked to from downtown.
Stanley Park is great for BIG trees. Not as big as they get, but as big as they get inside city limits of most any city on the planet. (For really big, go to Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island -- but it is an overnight trip from Vancouver. Sadly, Vancouver is on the mainland, not on Vancouver Island. It is very confusing for school kids in the rest of the country.) The trails in Stanley Park are lovely and a great place to jog. A seawall path goes around the coastline of the park, about 6 miles or 10 kilometres. It is a really great walk, jog, bike ride or rollerblade. Not the place to go for solitude, but great views, smells, and sounds.
In the park are totem poles that are great for photo ops -- you will definitely not look like you are in Boston. There is an aquarium, which is as lovely as it is interesting. Not huge, by world standards, but we liked it so much that we got annual memberships. You are not allowed to cook any of the fish, though. Don't even think it! Outside the aquarium is a rebuilt salmon stream ("reclaimed" or "restored" are stretches, they really had to start from scratch). It is more educational than natural, but lovely all the same.
Now, the seawall has been extended to cover pretty much all of Vancouver's waterfront (28 kms or so). You should follow it out of the park, past English Bay beach and to the cute little water taxi that will take you to Granville Island. Or you can follow the path around False Creek and get to Granville Island the long way if you want a lot more exercise. Given our girths, we like the water taxi. You get a very interesting view of Vancouver, combining working harbour with tourism, houseboats, fabulously expensive yachts, ultramodern condo towers, seals, a heritage bridge. It really is lovely.
Granville Island is kind of like Pike Place Market in Seattle, with good eating, shopping, neat little artisan shops, and several good Native art galleries. Cars and pedestrians coexist, but the upper hand definitely belongs to the pedestrians. It has a great public market, which has a decent Italian deli in the only major North American city that is lacking in things Italian. Apparently, there is a new outdoor food stall called Go Fish that gets rave reviews. We used to go to the SandBar for oysters and vodka. The Leona Latimer Gallery is doubtless the best Native art gallery, but it is a little way outside the island (which is now a peninsula). There is a spectacularly high end native art gallery called Eagle Spirit, if you are more financially gifted than we are.
You can carry on along the seawall to Jericho Beach, but it is a hike. The Galley at Jericho Beach sailing club serves standard pub grub, but has a fabulous deck and view from which to enjoy your burger and beer.
Further along the waterfront, you get to University of British Columbia. You are probably wanting to do this by car, taxi or bike. The university is at the end of a peninsula and is cut off from the rest of the city by Pacific Spirit Regional Park, which a delightful wooded area with a dopey name. The Museum of Anthropology is a must see, though I think it is more for the architecture and the grounds than for the collection. For my tastes, the collection is rather dry and academic. But you may be more highbrow than I am. (Just a reminder that Dan is writing this, not Heather. She doesn't have the Neanderthal eyebrow ridge that I have.)
While you are there, deke across the street to the Nitobe garden which is cool and Japanese.
As for food, we mentioned the Lilliget Feast House. It is not fine cuisine, but it is good and it is very different from anything you have likely had before. I found the service delightful, but kind of inept. That kept me coming back, but that is the kind of guy I am. They also have a really weird way of presenting the bill, so that it looks like you have been charged twice for the alcohol. You haven't, but no one goes there without questioning it. If you go and don't question it, they will probably put a plaque with your name up on the wall.
Vancouver is heavily Chinese and Chinatown is a pretty authentic experience. We recommend it. There is an equally large Indian (from the SubContinent) community, though more in the 'burbs. Vij's is a really, really good Indian-inspired restaurant. Make sure to have the lamb popsicles. Sushi is fast food in Vancouver... there must be some really good sushi, but we don't have a clue where. Raincity Grill is high-end, West Coast fare.
A couple of other areas worth visiting are Commercial Drive for the counterculture and Grouse Mountain for the views from the gondola, or vertical hike. You may well see a bear. Seriously. Great mountain biking over on the North Shore, too.
Hmmm, it sounds so good that we might have to move back there!
Dan and Heather
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