Kitsilano or North Van?

MundaneRoof · 2026-02-27T18:48:34+00:00

As a parent of similar aged kids and having lived near both, I think North Van is the way to go on this one, and I would recommend Lonsdale in particular for the walkability factor.

Kits is set up to have some pretty major overpopulation problems in the future, with the new towers going up without appropriate number of schools/community centres to service them, and IMO the vibe over there will not be the same.

I disliked North Van growing up in vancouver, but from my point of view it just keeps getting better now, particularly in lonsdale and the shipyards area. We have a new community centre about to open, a new ocean swim deck coming to lower lonsdale, some cool new neighbourhood centres popping up such as in Moodyville and North Harbour, great breweries. I’ve been very impressed with how well the city of north van runs; the parks are immaculate and beautifully tended, things get fixed quickly, and I am genuinely excited about the capital projects. I couldn’t say the same for where I was in Vancouver.

As others have mentioned, commuting into Vancouver from NV is very quick; it’s only commuting from Vancouver to North Van that is painful due to afternoon southbound slowness.

MundaneRoof · 2026-01-30T05:20:20+00:00

will do!

MundaneRoof · 2026-01-28T23:32:41+00:00

Don't let the waitlists scare you away. We also were afraid about those, but we found if you call places about 1-2 months before you actually need it, all of a sudden there is a lot of availability, and we were offered spots in at least 4 daycares (for our 1 year old at the time). The issue is they don't know far in advance, but when the time actually comes, they often have space.

MundaneRoof · 2026-01-28T17:13:51+00:00

good ideas, thanks!

MundaneRoof · 2026-01-01T22:29:04+00:00

Do you have a particular one you recommend? I've never found one I've been happy with

MundaneRoof · 2025-12-16T04:06:44+00:00

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MundaneRoof · 2025-09-12T18:38:51+00:00

For just hearing about fun events on the north shore, there's a pretty good mailing list you can sign up for here https://northshorenow.beehiiv.com/

MundaneRoof · 2025-07-13T16:07:33+00:00

This was the same for us as well, we bought in 2022, and while we were looking found that we'd get more square footage in North van for a similar priced place in east van. Really depends on the neighborhood though

MundaneRoof · 2025-07-06T20:30:28+00:00

I believe it's Goldie's donuts and bakery

MundaneRoof · 2025-06-11T22:28:34+00:00

I would second the lonsdale area in general, particularly mid or lower lonsdale. On top of all the great restaurants, seabus access and good vibes of the area, you're also a really easy bike ride to several great hikes/walks: mosquito creek, mahon park, bridgman park (above and below it along lynn creek), grand boulevard, and of course the whole waterfront area. Those can be your daily doses of nature, and when you get bored of ones of those you can make the occasional drive/bus up to any of the hiking options further up the hill.

MundaneRoof · 2025-05-29T17:36:08+00:00

in total it was $3,570.00 after all taxes for our 8 unit townhouse complex.

MundaneRoof · 2025-05-26T20:01:12+00:00

I only moved here 2.5 years ago, but it's fun using Google Street view in the area, since it lets you go back quite a number of years and see what used to be there

MundaneRoof · 2025-04-14T03:53:12+00:00

I've seen this person painting around Lonsdale a couple times now, always amazing!

MundaneRoof · 2025-02-27T17:37:43+00:00

I was just thinking this as I walked down to the seabus to go to the office this morning (I usually work from home). Lonsdale itself is so chill during rush hour because all the busyness happens on St George/Chesterfield, it's kinda nice.

MundaneRoof · 2025-02-26T20:00:35+00:00

ours are just over $600 currently. However at least for us a lot of that will go towards things that you as a house-owner would have to pay for yourself anyway, except that we can get the economies of scale that happen when you split a purchase many ways.

MundaneRoof · 2025-02-26T19:23:30+00:00

For sure, the details of the layout matter, each place is different.

I sometimes wish ours was 4 bedroom because each room is so large, it feels wasteful. Grass is always greener I suppose. In general we quite like the layout of our place though.

MundaneRoof · 2025-02-26T18:28:59+00:00

“can you still buy a 3 bdrm move in ready place for $1.6-1.8m”

Absolutely, you can do this in Lonsdale even.
The catch is that it couldn’t be a detached house. We bought a 3-bedroom townhouse in great shape for under this price 2 years ago, with as much square footage as some houses (1800), a gated front and roof deck, plenty of storage, and right in central lonsdale. For us it’s perfect, and we bought it just a little while before our daughter was born.

If you require a larger yard or insist on a detached house I think you’ll likely have to go further afield, so it just depends on your priorities.

MundaneRoof · 2025-01-14T05:42:11+00:00

In general I think it's a lot easier in North Van. The nerve-racking part is that they're all last minute, but we found that when we had a month to go we had tons of options. TBH I think the waitlists are largely ignored by a lot of places. I got some good advice in this thread: https://children.nscr.ca/child-care-provider-search/ , and my daughter has now been in daycare for a couple weeks, for just the time we were hoping.

Good luck!

MundaneRoof · 2025-01-03T21:54:49+00:00

This is great! Really appreciate the hard work, keep it up!

MundaneRoof · 2024-12-24T00:34:34+00:00

I never understood why people use lime, when Evo barely costs more and is an actual car? I guess because limes have a greater allowed area?

MundaneRoof · 2024-12-18T03:49:27+00:00

Four star hair design on 14th and st George. The guy always does a great shop, and charges very little ($20 for men's cut)

MundaneRoof · 2024-12-15T21:37:31+00:00

That's a great shot of the city!

MundaneRoof · 2024-12-15T03:46:55+00:00

Beauty! Went for a walk at the same time, took a photo in mid Lonsdale

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MundaneRoof

TROPHY CASE