Vancouver

Was recently in Manhattan. Compared to that, Vancouver is a paradise. Some of the worst streets ther 7 out of 10 places boarded or abandoned. Worst of all. Its only chain places that survived. Part of the appeal of Manhattan is all the places run by locals and the lack of chains everywhere. It got "better" the more expensive the neighborhood was of course. Ultimately a huge win for Capitalism and consolidation of wealth.

I feel like Vancouver's recovery has been pretty alright. Especially when comparing to cities like San Francisco, Vancouver's downtown still has a very respectable amount of people meandering through the streets.

I think the main advantage that Vancouver has over other cities is a really strong focus towards building a shitload of residential towers everywhere. Unlike the financial district in cities like San Francisco (that's literally made up entirely of office buildings), it feels like Vancouver's stretches of office buildings are better surrounded by residential properties to prop up downtown activity even when WFH has significantly reduced the number of commuters.