Hauling fuel.

I couldn't agree with you more if I tried.

I moved here because it's where I met my wife to be. She was born and raised here, in Pitt Meadows. We don't live in Vancouver exactly, but east of Port Coquitlam over the bridge, kind of Maple Ridge area. Although, I still feel what you have said is just as true for the entire lower mainland, including this area, as it is for Vancouver itself.

She won't leave here for anything, as I said, she has been here her whole life.

There's a good chance that every other vehicle you see in traffic is driven by someone who is a drug dealer, drug grow-op, gang member, or involved in some sort of scheme that keeps them stuffing the mattress with $100 bills.

I left a very good company, and sold my 04 W900L that was making me nothing but money. I had no clue B.C was like it is when I moved here, I thought I was moving to paradise, because it IS very beautiful out here. However, I don't think that counts for much when 60% of the population is corrupt or involved with gangs or drugs. I used to chase people down every now and again in the prairies who drove like people do here, and gave them a good talking to. I don't chase anyone down here, because I have a fear of being shot or stabbed or put on some kind of hit list. As I said, there is a good chance every other car in traffic is drug or gang related, so you never know who you just cussed out.

Everything here is unjustly expensive and people just take it right up the exhaust pipe.

The in-laws make good money so to them, this place is grand. Each of them pulls in a 6 figure income, but yet for the life of them they can't figure out why I would want to leave.

 

Vancouver is definitely the worst of it, and I thank my stars that we live somewhat far away from there.

We live in Pitt Meadows so we are about 45KM from Vancouver, over an hour drive west for us. We are over the bridge, east of Port Coquitlam, but west of Maple Ridge.

In the summer time when it's nice out, I love it here because of the scenery, but with nice weather comes even worse driving habits and stupid kids out of school for the summer time, the sport jock types who think there cool in there crappy cars.

The father in-law is a real estate agent and of course being one he preaches that property is the only way to make money and have money. I, on the other hand, do NOT look at property as an investment, or security. Something is only worth what people are willing to pay, and people have to have money first before they are willing to pay anything. Practically overnight a $1,000,000 property can become virtually worthless, we seen it in the U.S a few years back. Monday morning you owed $700,000 on your mortgage, and the property was worth $1,000,000. By the end of the same week, you could still owe $700,000, but the property could be worth $200,000. Good luck finding half a million dollars to satisfy your debt.

To me, a house is a house, I would not have an insanely high mortgage just because the market or a person dictates the value is high. A 2,000 SQ FT house in Vancouver could fetch over $1,000,000 easily, that exact same house plunked down in a town somewhere in SK, could sell for $200,000. It's the same wood, same paint, same siding, why on earth pay 5 times more for it, just because of location? It's still a house.

I am trying to find work east of where I live if I can, or if it is west, I won't go further then Coquitlam. Not just commuting costs, but I simply don't want to be that far west, ever. The further west I go the more vulnerable I feel, not just to crime but if a major earthquake ever strikes, I want to be as far east as possible, not trapped in traffic in Vancouver trying to get back this way.

My main focus on job searching is in Langley, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam. Langley isn't to bad of a place and it reminds me a tiny bit more of the prairies. People over there seem a little bit nicer and they slow down just a bit more, unless of course your on the number 1.

I catch a lot of grief from the wife's family about being to picky about location for work, but I have no intentions of spending my life commuting in Vancouver traffic, being surrounded by Vancouver crime, and spending 60% of my paycheck on gas and maintenance. I know if I keep the search on strong and I don't take no for an answer, I will find something close enough to home to keep me happy.

 

I noticed you mentioned Alberta work just wasn't worth it due to being away, just curious, what are you up to now?