What sucks about Victoria, BC? Why should I not move there?

a city where the flowers were already out and the grass was green. This is in part because I suspect it rains for eight months out of the year, as it does elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest. (Former nine-year-resident of Portland, Oregon here.) You really just have to endure a few winters to see whether it's your cup of tea. You're not the first person to say, "Wow, it's really warm and green here! Why do I put up with freezing winters?" And you may not be the last to realize it's because freezing sunny winters can be preferable to mild, endlessly gray, soggy ones.

I lived there for 10 years. I eventually had to leave. But really, my reasons for leaving, are kind of covered by yours. Victoria just may be the right place for you. Things that are a challenge: Ferries. If you want to get off the Island very often, this is an issue. People. There are a lot of people coming and going. The people that stay like things the way they are. Diversity. It's one of the most white bread cities I've been to. Work. Not much of it. All that being said, there're some great restaurants, I have some great friends there, I'm ok to visit, but it's the small town part of it now that makes it hard for me. People generally have a small chip on the shoulder about why they stayed, and how good everything is, and how they don't need to go anywhere else. There is some truth to this for sure, but the reality is, larger cities can offer more - more culture, better art, more choice. But for many many people, Victoria is the perfect place. It really is nice and comfortable and has the most temperate climate in the country. Part of me will always feel like my home is there.

When you're just visiting Victoria, I think it's easy to over-estimate how "city-like" it really is. The downtown core is small. A few months on foot, things will start to feel very familiar. This is difficult to quantify, but Victoria feels too big for that classic small-town warmth, but too small for anonymity. If there is any truth to the oft-repeated (and I think exaggerated) thing about Victoria being cliquey and unfriendly to out-of-towners, I think it's related to that. Our famous Chinatown is barely more than a square block. The largest art gallery has interesting exhibits, but on a very limited scale compared to Vancouver. There's no Ikea, and many "big box" stores are not within walking distance. I don't know if this even matters in this day and age, but the more obscure your hobbies are, the more likely you'll be resorting to mail order. As any example, it was extremely difficult to get any kind of quality Martin guitar in my hands without getting on a ferry. There are good restaurants but again it's difficult to gauge until you're living here. So you like Indian food, well I hope you like one of the handful of choices available! And even if you do, after a few years are you gonna get bored with the handful of dishes there? Just something to consider. I'm not a foodie so I don't know how important that might be. In the "pro" column, Victoria gets much less rain than Vancouver. It's not smack dab in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, but it does have an effect. You can't judge the quality of Victoria winters by anecdotes from people who live in Vancouver. In fact, it is one of the sunniest places in the entire province. Also, food trucks are blowing up here right now. Delicious.

Go with my extended metaphor here. I've often wondered why the University of Hawaii isn't an athletic powerhouse in college sports. Schools recruit athletes based on what the school can do for the athlete, and Hawaii offers everything a Division I school can offer (facilities, competition, coaching, etc) and then on top of that, it's freakin' Hawaii. If you're a football player, do you want to go to Hawaii ... or Nebraska? And I didn't know the answer until I actually met an athlete that did exactly that. She had her choice of Pac-12 schools (USC, UCLA, etc), but chose Hawaii thinking she'd get exactly the same as those schools, but her school would also be conveniently located in the fucking Garden of Eden. She transferred one year later. Couldn't take it any more. And the answer is ... athletes don't go to the islands because it's the islands. The island factor plays into more than you know and it plays into everything. You can't escape. No one can visit. You're remote in place and time (6 hours from the East coast). The closest major U.S. city to the islands is Anchorage. Pineapple is cheap, but a head of lettuce costs five bucks because island. Now, obviously, Victoria is not Hawaii. But the island factor will raise its head constantly, in ways you won't think of.

"My sister lives in Victoria BC and has spent years trying to convince my wife and I to move, telling us how beautiful it is, how bike-friendly and walk-friendly the city is, and how we simply must drop everything and move there immediately if not sooner." This, and this: "my sister is now telling us "I told you so" when the subject comes up." Gets to the heart of why I, personally, have little inclination to move to Victoria (and why I left Vancouver area after living there for three years). I find that smug self-congratulatory attitude and a constant (insecure?) need to keep bringing up how great the place is to be a huge annoyance, and I ran into it all the time when I was on the West coast. I don't know that Victoria is better or worse in that regard than Vancouver, but I think there's a chance it's actually worse.

You can tell that one of the quirks of Victoria is that so many people have strong opinions of the place even though they don't live here. We who do spend a lot of time defending, or explaining or brushing off such comments - it comes with the territory when you live in one of the mildest and prettiest places in Canada. I have lived in Victoria for 7 years now, and for me I absolutely love it. But there are a few reasons why the downsides of Victoria and island living don't bother me as much as they might others. First, I make a decent income that isn't dependent on the island economy (yes, the job and housing markets are rough here), I have a partner (yes, dating is tough), I tend to introverted and homebody activities (yes, the nightlife is laughable compared to big cities), I don't have kids (so the high COL isn't so oppressive), and I have enough travel flexibility to be able to enjoy the added complexity of ferry rides in my off-island excursions. For me, I like the fake big city nature of Victoria. It's just big enough for me to be able to try a new restaurant when guests are in town, or to usually be anonymous if I'm drinking in a pub somewhere (I have a semi-public job), or to do or see any sport, art form or activity I can think of at least at the B level somewhere during the year. And I have enough money to afford the occasion splurge to go to Vancouver or Seattle for the A level stuff of interest. But it's also small enough that I can make enough of it mine, mine, mine that I never feel lost or alone - I can go someplace public and run into someone I know just enough to keep me from feeling all by myself in my introverted brain. That's important to me. I like that if you ask for help, someone usually knows someone who can (and will) do something for you. But, if you are still reading, there are things that I get tired of too. Cruise season is annoying, and I do avoid the downtown area during the summer. The Winter Truck Parade makes up for it in my mind, but ymmv. You don't have to live right downtown. Traffic is a problem, it's like 200% capacity on the roads built for a small town and there's no solution in sight. But the ability (i.e.$) to choose your location well will make this less of an issue for you. Most social circles are well-established, small-town like, and it can be hard to break in. But adopting a sport, hobby or established group to participate in is the secret here. Once you are "in" with the dog walkers or the curlers or whatever, you are in with the extended family of the island. Pizza is more expensive here - that's the COL things that annoys me the most -- and Ikea is on the mainland. Victorians have to plan ahead a little more to get around these things, but it's almost a shared game for us since we can't really complain about the weather. I can't think of anything else right now, me-mail me if you have any other questions, weird or not.

The number one reason I would not move there, personally, is that I think I would have a hard time finding my community there, since I tend to like big-city things. The number two reason is that career-wise I would not see a lot of opportunity. Similar arguments exist for any kind of beautiful small town, really; for example, Salt Spring Island is wonderful IF you can make a living there and IF you are compatible with the lifestyle, and those two features alone rule it out for most people. Cost of living can be high, as well. You seem to be in a dream situation in which you can pack up and move pretty much anywhere you want. My only question is whether there might be other places you might like even more.

My fondest memories of living in Victoria were the departures. It's an island paradise, and like paradises anywhere it's dull as doom. Lovely small city which seems to have engulfed the population with its smallness of vision. But if most of your social contact is immediate family and your night life is defined by your housing situation then it has its advantages.

Checking back in and I thought I would mention one more thing: if you're coming from Rupert you won't be a stranger to rain but the wide range of densely packed microclimates might be a little more surprising. James bay will be colder and windier than Cordova bay, oak bay gets more rain than saanichton etc. Being on the tip of the island, and basically composed of low mountains, the region is full of rain shadows, valleys, exposed hill tops and the like. Its amazing how.much warmer a backyard in north park can be compared to a street downtown.