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Originally Posted by Vin
I would very much love to hear from you regarding these.
Please dude, don't follow the paths of some of the forumers here trying to prove me wrong. You are just going to embarrass yourself.
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I can't really deny anything in the second and third article. Housing is very expensive in Vancouver. However, I think you need to consider the overall affordability (cost of living) as well as the quality of life. The rankings that mention countries was not provided to argue Vancouver's affordability, but rather the importance of considering all factors when comparing affordability. I will include the quote again in case you neither read it nor considered my reason for including it:
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Places like Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland all have homes which can be rented for almost half of what one could get in New York City. However, the cost of living in those countries is still much higher than that of the Big Apple when you factor in other common expenses.
For example, the cost of dining out is 25% higher in Norway than in New York City, while in Iceland, restaurant food prices are a staggering 33% higher and groceries 19% higher than in New York City.
Meanwhile, Sweden has a personal income tax rate of around 62%, while Switzerland has a worldwide income tax that can reach as high as 40% — ...in Switzerland, a person is even taxed for living in their own home.
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The second and third articles reference studies that completely disregard the cost of living, and only focus on housing costs. The Numbeo statistics that I shared have a cost of living (excluding rent) index and a rent index. If I referenced the index that excluded rent, I apologize, however Numbeo also combines the two indices into a cost of living (including rent) index that still proves my point.
Vancouver is 22nd in North America and sitting among cities that could probably be considered its peers from an international acclaim perspective (Portland, Minneapolis, and Charleston). Among European cities, Vancouver would be 25th.
Vancouver is by no means an inexpensive city to live in, but to say it is the most expensive in North America or second most expensive in the world would require ignoring a number of factors that impact affordability. I don't know about you, but I only spend one-third of my household income on rent, so the cost of groceries, entertainment, clothing, and other goods is just as important.
Now that I have addressed approaching affordability as a whole, I would ask you to consider quality of life. I shared the Mercer ranking that is mentioned in the first article you reference two pages back. My point at the time was that Vancouver's quality of life outpaces its (un)affordability. I know you view Vancouver as a backwater and think crime has made the city unlivable so this may fall on deaf ears, but if Mercer has ranked Vancouver as the 93rd most expensive city in the world while global livability rankings consistently place Vancouver in the top 15 cities worldwide, perhaps that trade-off is worth it?
A few select rankings:
The Economist: Canada was in the top 10 globally from 2015 to 2019. It fell out of the top 10 in 2021 but was still 6th in North America.
Monocle: 12th in 2021
Mercer: 3rd in 2019
Deutschebank: 11th in 2019 (even after accounting for the cost of living!!!)
All of this is not to claim that Vancouver is affordable nor that the status quo is acceptable. Vancouver (and the rest of the metro) should do everything possible to increase the housing supply by easing zoning restrictions, particularly in SFH neighborhoods.
As for the fact that you think you embarrassed me, I don't really care. I am not here to "prove you wrong" (you're not living rent-free in my head), but I am interested in using statistics to supplement our discussion of city planning and social issues. I can admit when I was wrong, and I actually appreciate you pointing out the methodology nugget.
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