That's just trading one problem for another. Vancouver has a very serious affordability problem. Not only are you going to be paying a lot more for office and living space, you're going to have far fewer opportunities for funding.
Here's an analysis of residential rental prices: http://quantitativerhetoric.com/monthly-rental-report-may-20...
Those who can go back and forth and take meetings on both sides. People are within commuting distance of these large metro areas.
Seriously, our affordability problem is pretty much at crisis levels. People who argue that we should increase density aren't wrong, but we're already building towers as fast as we can. And the majority of those suffer from substandard, shoddy construction. We call it 'leaky condo syndrome'. And even those are selling for $750k+ for under 500sqft.
But go see San Francisco if you want to understand an affordability crisis. Vancouver is reasonable in comparison.
Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE a stronger tech sector here (especially as a developer). We desperately need an industry other than real estate and film. But I just don't see how that can happen without a fundamental shift that just isn't happening anytime soon.
Realistically, density doesn't seem to ever drive down housing prices in the long term. All it does is increase the value of land tremendously, and thus push local home ownership out of reach of everyone but the ultra-wealthy.
If you then refuse to build up, it makes the affordability much, much worse.
How? If you've balanced jobs/wages against housing supply via standard planning practices, then you should be able to tweak demand.
If demand is still high, density just drives prices higher, and shifts the entire housing economy to a rent-seeking one.
Furthermore, the real-estate market is global, but the housing market is local. My parents own homes in another state that they've never even seen, and merely rent out via a property management company.
As land prices get driven up through density, how do people participating in the local housing market compete with those in the real estate market?
And it doesn't stop there. West Van is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Canada.
This video tour takes you through a $980k USD condo in downtown Vancouver:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j3SChqp51Y
Please note that the shoddy construction is not an outlier, it's normal in Vancouver.
Whereas this much nicer condo in downtown Seattle a 5 minute walk from Pike Place Market is a relative bargain at $810k USD:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1519-3rd-Ave-APT-204-Seat...