Anyone from PEI - we are thinking of moving

[suejai]

to the area around Charlottetown. Can anyone give us some advice on areas to stay away from, areas we should consider, which is the best high school, is it nicer in some other region of the Island..etc.? Would you recommend PEI as a great place to live?

 

[Macduffy]

I'm not from PEI but I visit every year! It's beautiful It's also small so you can get anywhere in short period of time. That being said the only place I would consider actually living would be Charlottetown simply because it's the most Urban area. PEI has a lot of rural communities. I've heard good things about Summerside too!
I'm sure someone how is from the island will pipe up soon and give you better information!

 

[caisland]

From Summerside here.

Originally from Moncton NB. Love the small town that Summerside is. Easy to get around. Big enough to have what you need locally.

I think it depends where you are working. I had to drive S'side to Ch'town for a couple of weeks and just din't like it. That was in summer. Not a very nice drive in winter sometimes. Only 40 minutes but when you live 3 1/2 minutes from work in Summerside, 40 seems like forever.
Doesn't get very hot in summer but it is a very nice place to be.

 

[Mrs. M. Mouse]

Not from PEI but have clients who just moved back from there. The hardest part is getting a good paying job there. They found it very expensive to live on the island and couldn't find jobs that payed well enough for them to be able to pay to even heat their home. Sad as it is...

PEI is beautiful and I would live there in a heartbeat if I knew I could provide properly for my family though!

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I'm from Charlottetown. I love it here! Just got back from Disney World and we were talking to the cab driver about how much we all love to go away (my sister, who is married with three children, her single sister in law and myself) but how nice it is to come home. We all agreed it's one of the best places to live. (Well, we probably said the best but I would not want to insult anyone! )

As far as schools go, we have some really great teachers and some wonderful schools. Everyone will have an opinion and it usually just involves their own schools. If they liked school, theirs was the best, and their rivals were the worst. If they didn't, they'll tell you to stay away from their school. I would say that each school around has some great qualities and probably a few things to work on as well.

I love all of PEI, but I like the convenience of living in Charlottetown. I have worked in some smaller communities and also lived in some litte towns as well, and I liked them, but I guess I like living here. Not downtown but in the 'burbs.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[suejai]

I'm from Charlottetown. I love it here! Just got back from Disney World and we were talking to the cab driver about how much we all love to go away (my sister, who is married with three children, her single sister in law and myself) but how nice it is to come home. We all agreed it's one of the best places to live. (Well, we probably said the best but I would not want to insult anyone! )

As far as schools go, we have some really great teachers and some wonderful schools. Everyone will have an opinion and it usually just involves their own schools. If they liked school, theirs was the best, and their rivals were the worst. If they didn't, they'll tell you to stay away from their school. I would say that each school around has some great qualities and probably a few things to work on as well.

I love all of PEI, but I like the convenience of living in Charlottetown. I have worked in some smaller communities and also lived in some litte towns as well, and I liked them, but I guess I like living here. Not downtown but in the 'burbs.

Good luck with your decision.

Thanks for answering, I kind of figured it was a great place to live. What is the cost of living like though. Are groceries more expensive than the mainland? And what about heating, electricity etc? I know housing is pretty cheap - I'm stunned at how much house you can get for so little.

 

[PEIMother]

But from "Up West" (as far west as you can go on PEI). I've lived here all my life and couldn't think about living anywhere else.

The communities are tight knit, and as long as you can put up with your business being everyone else's (to a certain degree), the trade off will be that everyone else, will help you out at a drop of the hat if ever needed (we don't need CAA here if you hit the ditch in the winter, as the first 4 wheel drive passing will hook on and haul you out!)

We have one of the highest electricity rates in Canada, and oil is probably priced higher than you are used to in Alberta. Our housing costs seem to be much lower then out West. My brother works in Alberta and built his home, here in PEI, and plans on moving back home in a year or two.

If you are fortunate enough to have background in the trades, aerospace, Gov't work, you will have a better chance of securing a well paying job.

Charlottetown will provide you with the most variety, with Summerside coming in a close second.

We took a trip to Boston last year, and my 9 year old asked where the kids who life there play as the houses and apartments had no yards. We have an abundance of space here.

Anyway, it may be worth a tip here to see if you would enjoy it (when West Jet or Air Canada put a seat sale on, but fly into Moncton and drive over, as it'll probably be less expensive.)

My two cents worth!

 

[zarvgirl]

I really don't have much to add to what the pp's have said. Agree with it mostly.

PEI is a wonderful place to raise a family and put down roots. Maritimes in general have a great feeling. Be prepared that as friendly as islanders are they sometimes are not sure how to handle people from away!!! My father is originally from Manitoba, has lived here 40 yrs., has more of an islander heart then many, wouldn't live somewhere else, but is still from away!!!
I guess it takes some work, join some community groups, church, put yourselves out there.

Now for where, really there is lots of great places, C'town offers most as it is the largest, personally I love S'side, I live in the center of town, 105 yr. old house, can walk to everything if I wanted, I can see the kids on the school playground from my kitchen window. We don't have the traffic that C'town has and it's only 45 min. away if you want any of the extra's it offers.
Our children walk to piano, dance, school, ball, church. It's great.

Housing is less then other parts of Canada, we just don't see the ups and downs as much. Seem to be steadier. Heat, electricity probably more then some places, groceries close to the same, from my comparisons with siblings that live in AB and BC.

The key is to have a good job, which there are some, again like a pp said, trades, government, aerospace (engineer, business, or machinists do well).

I guess if you think about it we have all the bonus's of being a province, provincial jobs, etc. with the population size of a small city. Good odds.

Good luck. It truly is a great family place. I couldn't imagine being somewhere else.

 

[caisland]

Hi Zarvgirl,

You're near Parkside I presume.

BTW not all posters here are 'girls'.

Guys can be addicted to WDW too!

 

[suejai]

Thanks for the info everyone

I know I would love to live in the Maritimes again. DH is from the Shediac area in NB, and we lived in Moncton for a year after we got married, I loved it even though we had a hard time finding work and had to move back out West. DH would likely keep working in AB for a few years until something came up in the area - he is a contract Safety Advisor. If we live in PEI I wouldn't have to work.

It was the house prices on PEI that got me thinking of going back to the Maritimes with the lure of being debt free. Plus we both have family in NB, the only fly in the ointment is that DH's sons live in BC. So we are torn between BC and the Maritimes. And you guys haven't made it any easier to decide