Well everything you've described vancouver to be is true.
There is a beach, lots of greenery, people are friendly, VERY muliticultural and yes, there are nice little cafes(especially on Commercial Drive)
My problem is that i'm not a very big nature person and I find myself often bored here, I don't think there is too much to see or do in vancouver. But that's just my personal opinion, I just like Germany more because it has so much history and is very oldfashioned, where as Vancouver is quite modern.
I'm not saying it's not a nice city, it very much is, it's a nice place to live and it's very safe compared to most cities.
I'm just very european:)