Vancouver - where would we like?

[Cancancanada]

We have an opportunity (maybe) to move to Vancouver. We have a 8 year old and a 10 year old and currently live in East London.

Which neighbourhoods should we be looking at? We want a family friendly neighbourhood with lovely schools - our children currently go to private schools where they are like nice warm communities.

Any suggestions of where to start looking? We visited and got told that Kitsilano was nice and drove around places but were left with absolutely no idea. (Plus it seemed a bit too expensive there.)

I don't know it that well but we have friends who live there. We were there last August. Kitsilano is one of the trendiest/most expensive areas. Our friends have moved out to North Vancouver which is cheaper but still with easy access to the city, and comparatively cheaper. Lots of nice restaurants, shops etc, with easy access to nature as well.

I've lived in Vancouver for almost ten years. Family friendly with good schools... East Vancouver, Mount Pleasant and Kerrisdale fit that bill. These are all spread out neighbourhoods but if you look at real estate listings, you'll get a sense of where family homes are.

North Vancouver is a different city from Vancouver proper (separated by the harbour) but is also nice. It's more suburban though - you'll need a car to get anywhere. Vancouver proper has much better transit (bus/SkyTrain) and is more walkable.

Kitsilano isn't practical for a family; the homes are either millions of dollars or old, dingy flats that aren't suitable for a family. I wouldn't describe downtown (Coal Harbour, West End, Yaletown, Davie Village are the neighbourhoods) as family friendly.

You can apply for public schools outside your catchment zone but they do prioritize children who live nearby. Quite a few private schools in the city, too.

If you can afford it, live in Vancouver. It's cheaper to live in outlying communities such as Richmond or Burnaby or Port Moody but it's like living in Croydon - you are far enough from the city that it's not really going to be part of your life. Realistically it's too much hassle getting into the city every weekend to enjoy it.

This is super helpful! Thank you!