Nicest City, Vancouver | Discussion

[mobyhead]

Had an associate of mine just get back from a week in Vancouver. He absolutely raved about it. He said they were the nicest people. He also mentioned that even though there was a trash strike going on the city was much cleaner than Indianapolis. Though I would pass it along. Cheers

[DrT]

I agree. Vancouverites are very friendly, helpful and gracious.
I love the place.

[Taller, Better]

Is that the same trash strike that was on a month ago? I certainly notice on a normal trip how spotlessly clean Vancouver is.

[nova9]

Is that the same trash strike that was on a month ago? I certainly notice on a normal trip how spotlessly clean Vancouver is.

Yeah, the city strike just ended last weekend for outside workers. It took 3 months. I thought I'd see heaps of garbage when I got back from HK but it's been pretty good. And thank god there was no heat wave or else the city would have stunk.

[Taller, Better]

Sometimes the rain helps! Washes away some of the odours..
rats are always a danger during garbage strikes.

[Nutterbug]

Coincidentally...

Canucks polite, Vancouverites more so than most, Reader's Digest finds
Vancouver outshone only by Moncton

Ian Austin
The Province

Friday, October 19, 2007

Leigh Gittings, originally from Australia, agrees with a Reader's Digest ranking: "Vancouver is very polite compared to other cities I've been to around the world."
CREDIT: Gerry Kahrmann - The Province
Leigh Gittings, originally from Australia, agrees with a Reader's Digest ranking: "Vancouver is very polite compared to other cities I've been to around the world."
Jenn Jefferys (left), with fellow courier Kelly Mackie in downtown Vancouver, says it makes her day whenever someone holds an elevator or a door open for her.
CREDIT: Gerry Kahrmann, The Province
Jenn Jefferys (left), with fellow courier Kelly Mackie in downtown Vancouver, says it makes her day whenever someone holds an elevator or a door open for her.
Mario Trejier says Vancouverites are not only polite but very clean, too.
CREDIT: Gerry Kahrmann, The Province
Mario Trejier says Vancouverites are not only polite but very clean, too.

Thank you very much, Reader's Digest.

The magazine sent undercover reporters to 15 cities across Canada, and they determined that Vancouver is the second-most polite city in Canada.

If we weren't so polite, we might say that top-ranked Moncton, N.B., with just 120,000 souls, can barely be called a city.

So The Province went out at what should be a most impolite time of day -- afternoon rush hour in a deluge -- to see if the magazine knows whereof it speaks.

At the geographic centre of downtown Vancouver, Georgia and Granville, passengers queued politely for buses to the suburbs while motorists queued patiently, except for the occasional horn, to make their way to the Lions Gate Bridge.

"Vancouver is very polite compared to other cities I've been to around the world," said Leigh Gittings, an executive assistant who hails from Australia's Gold Coast.

Gittings was waiting for a bus to her home in West Vancouver, what she called "a very polite city," where she has found "a Canadian boyfriend."

Nellie Bugden, a transplanted Newfoundlander who lives in White Rock, travelled in by bus and was headed to the Sunshine Coast to visit her granddaughter.

"People give me a spot on the bus," said Bugden, a spry 67, who wasn't surprised that Moncton won the grand prize for politeness.

"If you ask someone in the Maritimes for directions, they'll probably say, 'I just live around the corner. Why don't you come 'round for a cup of tea.'"

Bugden added: "If you're nice to people, they'll be polite to you."

The magazine measured a city's politeness by observing the percentage of people who held doors open, how often store clerks thanked a purchaser of a small item and how often people helped pick up a folder of papers deliberately dropped by a reporter.

At 700 West Georgia, The Province noted a flurry of elevators and glass doors being held open.

Bike courier Jenn Jefferys said if someone holds an elevator or a door open, it makes her day.

"Some stuff is common courtesy -- I hold doors for people, hold elevators for people," she said.

"When people hold the elevator, or receptionists say 'thank you,' that lets you know they appreciate what you're doing."

Mario Trejier, owner of Mario's Coffee Express on Howe Street, gets a broad cross-section of customers.

"I have the opportunity of dealing with people from all around the world, with students from all over the world," said Trejier, who immigrated to Canada from Argentina in 1989.

"Canadians are the most polite by far, but the British are very polite, too. A lot of the students from other countries say to me, 'People are very polite here.'"

Trejier, who admits to being a bit of a neat freak, is also impressed by the cleanliness of Vancouverites.

"People will carry a piece of paper around looking for a garbage can," said Trejier.

"Even during the garbage strike, this was a very clean city."

iaustin@png.canwest.com

THE RANKINGS

1. Moncton 80%

2. Calgary 77%; Vancouver 77%

3. Edmonton 73%

4. Victoria 70%; Charlottetown 70%; St. John's 70%

5. Montreal 68%

6. Halifax 67%; Winnipeg 67%

7. Regina 63%

8. Quebec City 62%

9. Toronto 60%

10. Saskatoon 57%

11. Ottawa 50%

Source: Reader's Digest
© The Vancouver Province 2007

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=b3610ee8-156f-4d46-aa69-d53c89bdc740

[spongeg]

the bins on robson and main streets were pretty good all considering

and during the fireworks i think they were cleaner than normal with everyone pitching in

[Vancouverite]

Had an associate of mine just get back from a week in Vancouver. He absolutely raved about it. He said they were the nicest people. He also mentioned that even though there was a trash strike going on the city was much cleaner than Indianapolis. Though I would pass it along. Cheers

I agree. Vancouverites are very friendly, helpful and gracious.
I love the place.

Aw shucks, thanks for the compliments. It genuinely means a lot, to me at least, to hear this sort of feedback. I can't speak for anyone else but it is actually a pleasure to help out people. When someone has the map-in-hand-vaguely-lost-look about them, I make a point of stopping every time to at least ask if they need any help. I can't count the number of times I've actually gone pretty far out of my way to make sure people get themselves oriented and on their way to their destination. This is including, but not limited to, taking the bus all the way in from the airport to downtown and then on the SkyTrain to make sure a guy got to his hostel okay. In fact I even looked up the place he was staying on the internet once I got home and was beside myself when I found out it was a dive. I genuinely weighed going down to the hotel to rescue the guy but figured that being the seasoned traveler he was he would have taken one look at the glorified flophouse and left.

I can say without hesitation that going that extra mile is appreciated and it makes me feel good. It isn't an inconvenience at all, it's a privilege, and I've experienced first hand how good it feels to have someone swoop in and offer assistance when you're disoriented in a new city or foreign country. Even if you can't help, at least you tried and they will appreciate the intent to help.

[zivan56]

Funny I don't notice this to be true in transit or traffic. There is always some idiot trying to jump the queue for the bus; ruining it for the rest of us. Makes me want to bodycheck them into the door handles, and I do if they go in front of me. As for traffic, Vancouver has some of the worst drivers in the world...I don't even want to list what I see every time I drive (or even think about how these people manage not to kill themselves)
I guess lots of people have a split personality when it comes to dealing with locals/tourists.

[spongeg]

traffic here is so tame compared to other places though

compared to places i have been anyway

a neighbour of ours said he went to Quebec and was terrified by the drivers there compared to here and he was a transplanted Quebecer

[zivan56]

^^ At least they won't crash into you (i.e. they know how to drive). I've been in some places in Europe where going twice the speed limit was the norm. The problem is that people driving here don't pay attention and just look strait (or act dumb hoping someone else will stop for them) If you did that in other places, you wouldn't live long...

[Daguy]

^^

Yes this is exactly the difference. When I was driving in Poland speeding was ubiquitous, but people actually WATCH the road.

[spongeg]

I'll always remember this from when I was a kid and we were in Jerusalem (Israel) in a taxi and the driver said Green Means GO! Yellow means GO! and Red Means GO If you can!

crazy drivers there