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FIVE EXPLANATIONS FOR THE ENIGMA THAT IS VANCOUVER
Few would argue that Terminal City is a different kind of place. But what makes it so? Jim Sutherland has some theories. Five to be precise.

Text: JIM SUTHERLAND

1 | 2 | AUG 03

We love our neighbours, and that's what we call them no matter what anybody says. Their yard is beautifully landscaped and always so tidy. Their pristine home radiates the golden glow of enhanced property value across the fence onto our quaint reclamation project. Best of all, they never make any noise or complain about our teenagers' ska parties.

Then again, it's easy to be the perfect neighbour if you're never there. The people next door spend 50 weeks a year in Asia. Exactly where I can't say because we've never met them. Nobody in Vancouver thinks there's anything unusual about this; it's just one more variation on the "astronaut" phenomenon that you become accustomed to when living in the world's pioneering postindustrial city.

The astronauts and the-end-of-work-as-we-know-it seemed to arrive about the same time, in 1990 or so. That's when sharp-eyed observers noticed that Vancouver had shed virtually all remnants of its log-rolling, salmon-canning past. Seers had been prophesizing that the planet would enter an era when making things was nothing to get excited about, only distributing and selling them. But Terminal City had beaten the crowd to this epochal moment.

We got to be pretty proud of that early-adopter status until three or four years ago when a new set of experts started insisting that our city lagged behind the rest of the country in just about every economic respect. The news was greeted with much hand-wringing but also a certain amount of head-shaking – it just didn't make sense given our consumption habits. We're half again as likely as other Canadians to spend more than $50,000 on our cars. We pay more for our homes than Torontonians and double or triple that forked out by residents of most Canadian cities. Moreover, we clamour to do this: Real estate sales almost doubled last year, and the thousands of downtown condominium units presently under construction are sold out through 2004, even though their average price pushes $400 a square foot. We even spend more on dry cleaning than residents of any other city. Again and again, the numbers paint us as Canada's most profligate spenders, even as we languish mid-pack when it comes to earnings. There's a phrase to describe an accounts ledger like this: incipient bankruptcy.

At least that's the picture ambitious Calgarians and earnest Torontonians are sold on until they land here, observe a flock of building cranes such as they've never seen and grasp for the truth. Is this a city that's down for the count, as the statistics seem to say, or in full boom, as the eyes would have it? As it turns out, there are no truths when it comes to Vancouver's economic status, only theories. Here are a few that I've gathered.

THE RICH IMMIGRANT THEORY

As Canadians, we know two things about immigrants. One is that the overwhelming majority end up in Toronto or Vancouver. The other is that anyone willing to pull up roots and move halfway round the world is bound to be a flexible, energetic person whose excellent work habits enable him or her to quickly overcome any disadvantages stemming from their birth. All true, but a recent conversation with another neighbour, a retired banker originally from Hong Kong, confirmed certain suspicions. Yes, he agreed, educated professionals, ambitious business people and industrious types seeking to make a better life for their children do flock to Toronto. But another significant cohort – the ones who sold their apartments for millions, then took early retirement thanks to stock options and six-figure pensions – overwhelmingly gravitate to Vancouver. Canada may not be their first choice of refuge, but if they have to be here, they might as well enjoy nice scenery and year-round golf. This is not a strictly Asian scenario, incidentally. Waves of incoming plutocrats from countries like Iran and South Africa – anywhere living through interesting times – have long bought up our beachfronts and our mountainsides. Needless to say, all this creates implications for the City That Doesn't Work. Are these rich immigrants scrupulous about ensuring that all that incoming money shows up on Statistics Canada and Revenue Canada rolls? Only their Mercedes dealers know for sure.

1 | 2 | AUG 03