I just moved here and I spent time in Montreal this year as well as I was deciding between the two cities.

Montreal was surprisingly impressive for me as I grew up nearby and had no idea a city like that existed near me despite having visited a few times before. The amount of housing and variety of housing is incredible. The city is run-down in some areas (but so is Vancouver) but there is an abundance of housing that varies, making it easy to find something. Areas differ too so you have options for different styles, and things are well-connected.

Vancouver has actually let me down. I thought I’d be so impressed with the modernism, but it actually turns me off. The location is great and the city design isn’t bad (definitely good for North America) but the housing issue is weird. It seems like it was designed by someone who had Asian mega-cities in mind, which (no offense) isn’t my style. The city is sort of built in a modern, but isolating way. The weather and setting save it/give people options, but Montreal (despite its many downsides) is better designed, and more people can live there… the important thing being that you don’t have to be well off to enjoy life in Montreal. I’m noticing the demographic makeup in Vancouver isn’t the same (in a bad way), and I don’t sense artsy/liveliness here, which reminds me of when I moved to Toronto and noticed it was starting to lose its soul.

Not hating on the area - I think BC is great and I’d rather live here than where I grew up, just that I’m not sure how sustainable living here really is. I get the sense I’d love being here for two years but might get annoyed sooner rather than later. Places that don’t cater to interesting sub-cultures and rather focus on consumerism/money are super boring to me. Nature here saves it.

That said, I hear some neighborhoods are better designed in this way… tell me if im wrong but I hear Commercial Drive, Mount Pleasant etc are better done? I find Kitsilano also nice but a bit of a sprawl in some areas.