How does Vancouver compare to your home city?

First, there are a lot of similarities between Lille & Vancouver. Both are big towns. That implied that there are a lot of people, a lot different cultures, clouded streets, very developped public transports, ...
One further similarity is the weather which is rainy in both city.

Differences : sea & moutains all around, green, architecture, ...

Yes : globalization deletes the different cultures which become only one ;
homogenization of the architecture (in accordance with the contemporary style);
same organisation in the cities (ex. chinatown, "black area" in Paris, Vancouver, NY, Montreal, ...)

No: communal culture still live through people and way of life ;
main caracteristics of the cities stay the same (ex. organisation, main square, streets' layout, ...)
even if it looks the same, life is different (climate, politics, geography, history)