Not much of a name… at vancouvercondo.info 16 Apr 2010 10:59 am -
“My brother is a PhD in genetics and has said to me many times that there are many top researchers who would love to live here [in Vancouver] but don’t based on two factors:
1. No jobs for them (many of them are in Toronto or the US)
2. High priced RE
So…they can work and make more money elsewhere, and buy cheaper RE.”
I’d like to add point #3: PhD’s in genetics don’t necessarily make a lot of money, unless they’ve completed a post doc and work in industry as opposed to academia.
Big E->
Yeah, absolutely right. And isn’t that part of our concern regarding the effects of the housing bubble on Vancouver? People in arguably important lines of work who “don’t necessarily make a lot of money” are avoiding Vancouver as they can’t afford to live here.
No jobs and high prices are keeping them away? This is like the old English vaudeville comedy routine about how if we had some ham we could have ham and eggs … if we had some eggs.
CJ -> hahaha, excellent point, and good of you to call us on it.
The situation is actually more nuanced than hard logic applied to the anecdote alone implies: There are some jobs in Vancouver in genetics and related fields, but they are not particularly well paid compared with other centres, and, when RE prices are taken into account, they are far less attractive. So the geneticists look elsewhere. The job may or may not be filled. Regardless, the pool of candidates is smaller than it would be if the city was economically more attractive.
A related factor is that it is impossible to know exactly how many businesses have avoided Vancouver because of RE cost, but we do suspect that at least some have.
Some relevant anecdotes are in the ‘Avoiding Vancouver’ category thread.