isn't Vancouver where Hollywood films a lot of "suburban America" scenes? it's cheaper than filming in the U.S. or something.

as for rent estimates you could check out Craigslist. too.

I believe Amelia and Mya live there.

Its a little intimidating because I'm almost certain I know absolutely no one there but I feel like there are a lot more job options so its worth the risk.

Sam, for sure but its not just suburban America, they do pretty much everything, theres a hell of a lot of major studios out there. Lionsgate is based just of the river from Burnaby (which also looks like it has a lot of studios).

Rent doesnt seem too bad but I'd be looking for roomates to make it cheaper.

Such as big decision.

Amelia and I can help. Give me a few minutes to formulate a good response. A has gone to bed but I can point her towards this if she doesn't see it in a couple of days.

Expect to pay anywhere from 1 to 2 thousand a month for a basement suite/one bedroom apartment, that's pretty universal wherever you are though of course the more sought out areas will go up in price even more. Because of rent prices you'd probably have flat mates if you were living in a house, or place with 2+ bedrooms.

Transit is pretty good though, if you're in the suburbs, expect to pay either $110 or $151 a month for a bus pass. If you're living in Vancouver, and you don't need to leave the city regularly, you'll only have to pay $81 for a one zone, one month bus pass. There are two skytrain (think the Chicago underground except newer and above ground) systems, both run to downtown though one goes south and east to the airport and Richmond while the other runs south (to Surrey) and east (to Coquitlam, etc). To go from almost the end of the newest one (The Canada Line) to downtown, the other end takes about 40 minutes while the other line takes a bit longer. Depending on days, times, areas, etc. buses run everywhere from every 4-6mins (Broadway corridor between the University of British Columbia and the skytrain stop all the way down Broadway) during the day to once an hour (after 10pm in Surrey, probably after 12 or 1 in most of Vancouver).

It's a pretty nice place to live, and that's the me talking as an outsider, which I have been. It has it's faults but overall, it's not too bad.

Ok that actually doesnt sound too bad, $1000 a month seems pretty standard for a one bedroom apartment but I'd be looking for room mates to make it more affordable.

As for the travel that doesnt seem too bad, I guess it depends on my work, realistically I'd be getting a low skill job before I get film work, I mean what do low skill jobs pay in vancouver?

And thanks for the help Mya, appricate it.

Kevin, serrious? when are you thinking of moving out there?

But... I dont really know anything about other than theres the city of vancouver, then theres the met area.

Whats rent like in the city? wheres nice to live? can you get flat shares? whats public transport like?


okay. regarding metro vancouver, a lot of film activity goes on there. Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond are kind of the big three and they have pretty good transit, but then there is a lot of movie business in Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Cloverdale, Langely etc. which are for the most part rural communities without a lot of public transit. I have friends who work in the movie business and they have cars because of these places. I don't know exactly what kind of work you're looking for...like if you want to work in post, in a studio, that would be probably be in Vancouver/Burnaby/Richmond/Surrey/North Van, but a lot of on on-set stuff is out there and not accessible by transit.
Also, we do have pretty good transit within the city but Vancouver is a very poorly planned city and it takes a long time to get anywhere even by car because we don't have freeways. I mean, I'm used to it so I don't really know how bad it is, but Americans and Torontonians complain. Also parking can be awful. It's much better in the metro area.

So if you were working in the film business, on-set, you'd probably find yourself working in metro vancouver and in the city proper as well. Living in Metro Vancouver tends to be cheaper. Less transit, so it helps to have a car, but cheaper, and if you're going to be working out there anyway...

rent in Vancouver really depends on where you want to live.
We pay 850 a month for a one bedroom apartment that is more like a two bedroom. It's got a bathroom, three large closets, a little study room, a kitchen, a bedroom and a large 'living room' that could become another bedroom. It's in a safe area really close to transit. You could share it with a roommate, so that's 425 (say 475 for utilities and whatnot.)
that's on the cheaper side of rent in vancouver, but it's there. Renting options here are basically apartment, basement suite, or renting a room in a larger house. Sometimes they rent the house as a whole so you'd have to find roommates first, but sometimes the owner of the house rents individual rooms or floors so you rent by yourself.

As for areas to live...even in the "posh" areas you can generally find a decent basement suite. I suggest you browse craigslist (maybe set it to rent max 1000, 1 br, and "vancouver".) I'll give you a quick rundown of neighbourhoods to give you an idea when you're browsing.

Anything near Granville, Broadway, Oak, Cambie: super accessible to fast transit. Maybe a bit loud from traffic, but that should keep the rent down. Anything that's listed near "VGH" (that's the hospital) is good too. Main Street can be rougher but for the most part it's just fine. Personally I really like it, I just know my parents were worried when I was looking at apartments there. Commercial Drive is a bit out of the way if you're looking at getting downtown, and can be pretty scary, but there is a train station.
Major transitways are Marine Drive, 49th Ave, 41st Ave, King Edward (25th).

East Van can be a bit rough. You'd really have to go and check the place out and see how it feels, and check the transit situation. In my experience East Van is never as bad as people think, but it's still not the safest neighbourhood.

Strathcona is super old and interesting. It's kind of like Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco? Used to be run down but now yuppies are kind of picking it up again. You could probably get a decent basement or room in an old house there.

West End: overall pretty posh...mostly apartments/skyrises, not a suburban neighbourhood. However there are cheap student apartments there. It's right downtown and near Stanley Park.

Point Grey: you probably won't find anything here. maaaybe a basement suite. transit's not that great either.

South Van/Marpole: I live in this area. It's super quiet, a lot of semi-rundown apartment buildings, mostly students, young working people, immigrants and lower-income families. Easy access to transit, 20 minutes downtown by train and maybe 40 max by bus. Also easy access to Richmond.

Chinatown: right downtown...good location...cheap groceries! sometimes a little bit scary because it borders the downtown eastside (the original skid row. :( it's a really awful, sad area.) but I know a couple of people who live here and have no problem. Just probably not good for evening strolls.

Kerrisdale: older neighbourhood. lots of houses here rent out basement suites and stuff to UBC students, so you could probably get a cheap room/house/suite. decent transit.

Kitsilano: It can be really hit or miss. You can definitely find cheap rooms in the old houses. It really depends because I've seen ads for bachelors in Kits go for 500 or 1000. Super nice area though, and nice beach.

Richmond can be pricey, and I don't know a lot of people who rent apartments there. Because of SFU, there are cheap student rentals in Burnaby, and it's pretty accessible by transit.



as for working low skill jobs, the minimum wage is $8 (the lowest in canada) but it's supposed to go up soon. Most people I know working at student jobs get about $9 or $10 an hour. One thing you might want to think about is getting a job at the airport. The restaurants/food services there always seem to be hiring. If you get a place with access to the Canada Line train it's super easy to get there.
And yeah, like Mya said, transit is divided into three zones and a monthly pass is either 81, 110 or 151 depending on what you need. Depending on where you work, sometimes employers can get you discount passes. Translink is the bus/train service so you can look stuff up there.

that's all i can think to tell you now but if you need any other info hit me up.

and there are always postings at my school from people looking for roommates. I can pass on that information, so consider it a resource.

Amelia is so helpful!

I heart Vancouver! It's so close to me (Seattle) so it's easy to get to, but far enough away to feel like a little get-away.

Plus, it's close to Whistler - my fave :)

oh and there is a car co-op that I've seen around. Could be a good option if you only need a car three or four times a month.

also unless you're going to work in Surrey, don't live there. just saying.

whoa, that is a major super awesome help, I'm a little drunk right now so I cant really make a better comment but i just wanted to thank you for going into that level of detail.

Ok so it sounds like I need to be around richmond and Burnaby!

I'm pretty excited about the whole thing and I really want to buy a car for the year and going on what you said it looks like not having ones really going to limit what I can do work wise.

How much do you think a car would cost in vancouver? I wouldnt be looking for anything nice but nice enough that it wont break down every five minutes, plus how much does it cost to run your car (assuming you have one).

Anyway that aside the one thing I'm really looking forward to is hanging out with all you vancouver people, you guys are awesome.

I can't really help you out too much with the car thing, but I was looking in the classifieds the other day and there were decent looking used cars for 1,000 - 4,000.
there's a gas price aggregator here.

"all you vancouver people" being me and mya? haha. we will for sure hang out if you come.

cheers for the help.

You two are more than enough, but I do feel like theres a lot of bloggers from around that area, maybe on the american side of the boarder but it doesnt look like its an amazingly long drive to all of these other places.

i'm gonna be in seatle/vancouver at christmas - i'm looking forward to it