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But there was NO nature in Toronto! Nor in Ottawa....I don't mean parks and such. Full fledged wilderness like the ocean and mountains full of grizzlies and cougars.
See, whilst I enjoyed city life for what it was I got sick of the attitude and the lifestyle. Every Friday was about getting wasted and hopefully getting laid. Every discussion was about politics or cars or smart phones. I got sick of people talking about Justin Beiber and discussing the latest lame music. Got sick of hipsters and sites like Perez Hilton.
I've always been a nature boy. In fact my dream girl is someone I can go trekking with without her getting bored(which happened on a date in Ottawa, her words: "Rishi, what is so charming about woods".)
When I zeroed in on all the cities I wanted somewhere where I could escape in the wilderness with like minded individuals and I figured that in cities like Vancouver, it'd be in the genes to be a country person!
I want to shut the television and cut the Internet to a minimal: would I find a group of likely people in Vancouver, considering how I've read you'd find more rollerbladers than car owners in Vancouver.
Anyway thank you for your advice. I will do my research.
You won't find more rollerbladers then car owners in Vancouver, not by a long shot. And while there's a great access to nature, it's not a rural area, it's still a city and most of the people there are city people in the cultural sense of the word. To get to the truly wild places near Vancouver, you need a car. I'm sorry, but I take it back, Vancouver is more outdoorsy then most cities, but most people still want and do all those thing you complained about. I think your dream of not needing a car and your dream of living in a rural town surrounded by nature are mutually exclusive and your going to need to decide what you're willing to trade off. By all means come to Vancouver, but don't expect it to not be a major city, because that is what it is despite the greater access to nature compared to other cities. If you consider parks not to be nature and you want cougars and grizzly bears, I don't think what Vancouver has to offer within access to public transit is going to satisfy you. Take it for what it is, or buy a car and move to Port Hardy, or Nelson, or Cranbrook, or one of the other great towns surrounded by spectacular, true wilderness in BC.
BIMBAM I don't disagree with you that Vancouver is a good city for access to nature and wilderness, I just don't think it was the kind of vibe that OP was looking for (and his following post makes me think this too).
He seems like he is seeking more of a Vancouver Island lifestyle. I also think some of the smaller towns in BC (Golden, Revelstoke) could be suitable but the public transportation is limited so he would have to be satisfied with biking in harsher winter conditions. Of course, that is missing out on the ocean so the island it is.
Take it for what it is, or buy a car and move to Port Hardy, or Nelson, or Cranbrook, or one of the other great towns surrounded by spectacular, true wilderness in BC.
But my point is....is it possible to live without a car in a town like Nelson? Surely they'd have something like buses and bicycle tracks. I am a walker, walking around 10 kilometers everyday and won't mind biking or even walking. But surely there must be bus services on the odd days I'd want to go to the other end.
I am really sorry for being so clueless. It's a plethora of aspects relating to my anxiety but probably because I lost (yet another) person close to me in a car accident last week. As it is I have a phobia, these accidents don't help, and they somehow keep coming around almost on an yearly basis. So much so that I know if I even got a license I'd hit someone someday. So I wish to completely avoid it.
Wilderness is so important but I don't wish to completely shut out people- NO WAY. I need company.
Taking everything into account I still think vancouver city is the best option(buses and trains) and the wilderness wouldn't be too far away to go to every second weekend.
But my point is....is it possible to live without a car in a town like Nelson? Surely they'd have something like buses and bicycle tracks. I am a walker, walking around 10 kilometers everyday and won't mind biking or even walking. But surely there must be bus services on the odd days I'd want to go to the other end.
I am really sorry for being so clueless. It's a plethora of aspects relating to my anxiety but probably because I lost (yet another) person close to me in a car accident last week. As it is I have a phobia, these accidents don't help, and they somehow keep coming around almost on an yearly basis. So much so that I know if I even got a license I'd hit someone someday. So I wish to completely avoid it.
Wilderness is so important but I don't wish to completely shut out people- NO WAY. I need company.
Taking everything into account I still think vancouver city is the best option(buses and trains) and the wilderness wouldn't be too far away to go to every second weekend.
As pointed out Vancouver is very urban with all that entails, so it might not suit your purpose...however it is very close to wilderness.
This isn't wilderness but a park within the city limits easily accessible. It's huge at over 700 hectares. It's easy to clear your head with parks like these.
But there was NO nature in Toronto! Nor in Ottawa....I don't mean parks and such. Full fledged wilderness like the ocean and mountains full of grizzlies and cougars.
See, whilst I enjoyed city life for what it was I got sick of the attitude and the lifestyle. Every Friday was about getting wasted and hopefully getting laid. Every discussion was about politics or cars or smart phones. I got sick of people talking about Justin Beiber and discussing the latest lame music. Got sick of hipsters and sites like Perez Hilton.
I've always been a nature boy. In fact my dream girl is someone I can go trekking with without her getting bored(which happened on a date in Ottawa, her words: "Rishi, what is so charming about woods".)
When I zeroed in on all the cities I wanted somewhere where I could escape in the wilderness with like minded individuals and I figured that in cities like Vancouver, it'd be in the genes to be a country person!
I want to shut the television and cut the Internet to a minimal: would I find a group of likely people in Vancouver, considering how I've read you'd find more rollerbladers than car owners in Vancouver.
Anyway thank you for your advice. I will do my research.
Well yes and no the biggest group is off-road 4x4 clubs and RV and 5th wheel or class III/IV trailers that most people go out to spend a long amount of time camping in B.C. and most sites and places you need a vehicle to get your camping gear and supplies up to do those things and no rollerbladers do not out number cars.
In fact we have the second largest of car ownership per person with a average of 2-3 cars per family home and only L.A. beats us in the amount of time they spend stuck in traffic.
We rank second worst in North America and I am not kidding CBC or the National post did an article on it so research it since The Port Mann Bridge is a 10-lane cable-stayed bridge that opened to traffic in 2012. It is currently the second longest cable-stayed bridge in North America and the widest bridge in the world.
So we are a Car loving west coast city build around the car outside of the sky train routes and Trans link Bus routes and the down town city core of metro Vancouver is walkable and bike accessible but it is not really a place you could escape in the wilderness or as you said Full fledged wilderness like the ocean and mountains full of Grizzlies the city and the GVRD has way more Black bears getting into garbage for food then Grizzly Bears and Cougars (I call it a Mountain Lion )
"...only L.A. beats us in the amount of time they spend stuck in traffic."
These are the results of one study done by one GPS company Tom Tom. There are a lot of critics of this study. The media picked it up and it spread like wildfire.
I'm not saying Vancouver doesn't have bad traffic, just that the results of one set of data from a company that does not have a GPS in every car, is open to interpretation.
Vancouver Island, you need a car, unless you live in Victoria. Vancouver has a great public transit system. Most of the people live around transit stations. The interests you have talked about seem perfect for Vancouver. As long as you can afford to live in Vancouver, you should move here.
As pointed out Vancouver is very urban with all that entails, so it might not suit your purpose...however it is very close to wilderness.
This isn't wilderness but a park within the city limits easily accessible. It's huge at over 700 hectares. It's easy to clear your head with parks like these.
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