Quote:
Originally Posted by someone123
I think Vancouver's status as the primary Pacific port for Canada is bigger than the investment or tax hedge role. Another major factor is that it's the primate city for British Columbia and happens to be the largest city in Western Canada.
The weather aspect is kind of overrated even within Canada. If Vancouver didn't have an economic base it wouldn't be a large city regardless of the winters; Edmonton has very cold winters and is a large city. I think the advantage has gone down a bit in the era of remote work as well although Canadians don't have a lot of great legal remote work options in the winter.
|
+1
People surmising that it's a tax haven for rich Chinese makes for a good headline but is absurdly simplistic and dismissive. It's a draw for Canadians and foreigners for its climate, topography, geography, life style, economy, etc. So bascially for the exact same laundry list of reasons why Americans flocked to California 1950-2000.
Housing affordability is the biggest brake on Vancouver population growth. If it were affordable, we'd see huge numbers of Canadians moving there each year. Most would have to live in a condo but a ton of people would go any way. So to answer the thread question, Vancouver isn't bigger than it is because of extremely expensive housing.