[Cancuk]

[ QUOTE ]
if I could afford it, I would stay in Kitsilano. Hands down it's the best part of Vancouver imo (especially if you're fairly young). Yale Town is also a nice area, but kits is pretty much my dream location :P

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree with this. While kit's is beautiful, I don't think it's nearly the best place to live in Vancouver... especially if you're young. I lived there for a long time, but if you're young I would suggest: Yaletown, Mt. Pleasant (my choice), and parts of GasTown are coming along nicely as well.... although lots of it is a tourist trap. The West End is good, but you're always downtown then and it can get a little much. I personally like the area around Commercial Drive, but I understand it wouldn't be for everybody.

Truthfully, Vancouver is an amazingly safe city. Even the "bad parts" like the Downtown East Side are so safe when compared to other major cities, its laughable the kind of press it gets. Yes, there are a huge amount of drug addicts in the area, but when it comes to personal safety, I feel no stress or anything like that walking down there by myself in the middle of the night. Some parts of the suburbs are way, way worse.