British Columbia

[Potemkin Villager]

The weekly observations on r/collapse turn up lots
of comprehensive pieces like this gem from druidscurse:-

" Location: Vancouver BC Canada

Here am I living in a constant state of anxiety and precarity in what's regularly awarded one of the 10 Best Cities to Live in the World ironically. Signs of collapse are everywhere.

Let me first mention the obvious: the current catastrophe wiping out highways and rail which have cut off the city from the rest of Canada, and the many impacts due to the flooding; the heat dome this summer which killed 600 people, exacerbated wildfires one which incinerated an entire town, made air too toxic to breathe at times, and wiped out most intertidal life on the coast; an insane housing market making this city the most unaffordable in North America, with tent cities regularly taking over local parks; continuing weekly parades of the insane (anti-vaxxers) despite their leaders dying due to Covid, and regular harassment of restaurant and retail workers; a recent coyote crisis which shut down the city's largest park due to all the attacks on people; a mysterious mass die-off of hundreds of fish in that park's pond; inflation rate that's hit a 20 year high in Canada; civil disobedience reaching record levels; BC's famous salmon stocks on the verge of collapse; murder hornets starting to invade; bear attacks increasing on edges of city; BC woodland caribou going extinct; and I'm sure I've missed other signs.

What should be noted is that more people die here of drug overdose than from the pandemic,. The overdose epidemic was declared a public health emergency here 5 years ago though little has been done since to help, and it's put a huge strain on the medical system, most of the frontline paramedics being burnt out or quitting. which impacts 911 wait times for other health emergencies. Cannabis was of course legalized in Canada, and there are many dispensaries in Vancouver, which at least helps prevent deaths from fentanyl-laced marijuana; but now magic mushroom dispensaries are also appearing. That humans are increasingly using drugs to cope seems to be a permanent sign of collapse now."


I used to occasionally wish that my family had emigrated to Canada when
my Da had the opportunity and I was a kiddo in the 1950s. Watching the horror show unfolding in BC I don't think that anymore.

[clv101]

A few years ago I would have said, probably naively, the Pacific Northwest was a relatively safe place with respect to climate impacts. Nope. Wonder which other relatively safe places are anything but?

[adam2]

Some of the above is most concerning, especially the major infrastructure damage resulting from recent extreme weather.

Some aspects seem overblown though. Not certain that bear and coyote attacks represent a crisis for example, just the result of people living in areas with dangerous wildlife. How many people are killed or injured by wildlife, and how does this compare with vehicle accidents, or falling down the stairs.

[BritDownUnder]

I think I mentioned before that I considered moving to Canada and specifically this area around 20 years ago. While I did not have the engineering qualifications I have now there was something about the place that did not feel quite right either.

Vancouver has some of the warmest temperatures in Canada and if you are homeless, in winter, then +5 C sounds a lot better than -40 C to live in and there was evidence of a lot of homelessness and drug use there. It also is quite seismically active though not in recent times and prone to volcanoes. There was also a lot of immigration there from Asia (post Hong Kong handover) and the locals did not seem too keen about it and the increased property prices it brought. There did not seem much of a community to the place either.
There was also not a lot of level land there suitable for farming, in fact Vancouver has filled most of the best farming land from what I could see. There were lots of forests and no doubt lots of bears and cougars in them that probably wanted to be left alone. British Colombia came across to me as somewhere with very British weather but very un-British in most other ways - except the Scouse bus driver I met who loved the place.
If I had my choice I would go a bit further down the coast to Oregon.

Perhaps there is something to be worried about living in regions where the weather is strongly affected and regulated by sea and air currents and their vagaries. UK take note.

[Potemkin Villager]

A few years ago I would have said, probably naively, the Pacific Northwest was a relatively safe place with respect to climate impacts. Nope. Wonder which other relatively safe places are anything but?

Yes indeed there may be no hiding place! I wonder though what advantages
BDU sees in Oregon vs BC? On balance I would rather be in Canada rather than
the USA but maybe there is little practical difference really?