Vancouver & Seattle—A Tale of Two Cities

Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington get compared a lot, even though there is an international boarder between these two Pacific Rim metropolis. They are at times so similar—Vancouverites and Seattleites have more in common with each other than they do with their respective fellow citizens—their earthy style, chill attitude, and their profound love for the outdoors. Yet at the same time they are quite different. Vancouver is often seen as a city by the Coast Mountains, where Seattle is usually addressed as a city by the Puget Sound. Vancouver is known for being one of the best places to retire in the world, while Seattle is mostly known for being the home to Microsoft and Amazon, a global tech hub second to the Silicon Valley.

We have lived in Seattle for over two years, and have visited Vancouver twice so far, the most recent time being just a few weeks ago. When I posted photos of Vancouver on Instagram, I was asked to compare these two cities and where I’d rather live. So in a nutshell, if I don’t need to worry about the real estate costs (both cities are quite expensive) or immigration status (after all they locate in 2 different nations), I would live in Seattle during my working years and retire in Vancouver afterwards.

If you have ever visited Vancouver, you will understand why it’s usually one of the best places to live in the world. It took me a while to figure out why Vancouver feels so different than most North American cities. Then I realized that there is no major freeway that cuts through the city (a rare phenomenal across major population centers in US and Canada), which makes it extremely walkable, dense, and pulls you closer to nature. Along with our 4-year-old, we were able to walk across town from Canada Place all the way to English Bay. Even though our home city Seattle is considered to be very pedestrian-friendly by US standards, it’s a far cry from Vancouver’s walkability.

I mentioned in a previous blog that we moved from Canada to the US after college for economic opportunities—and true to that, Vancouver is a place for you to spend a lot of money, not so much a place for you to make money. You will see a lot of high rises—they are not office buildings where you walk in everyday to make a descent living, but rather condos fought over by international investors.

Seattle is more bustling while Vancouver is more relaxed. Vancouver is known for its lifestyle where Seattle is more known for the companies that call it home.

There is a famous quote by former Canadian prime minister Wilfrid Laurier engraved on the Peach Arch when crossing between BC and Washington State— “Two Children of a Common Mother”—that, I can’t think of a more poetic or practical description of the two nations, as well as the two cities.