where would you choose to live!

[aaronandterri]

Hi
Were in the uk, and would like to live in canada Trying to choose bewteen ontario and alberta , for base office, where would you choose and y?

(of course anywhere nearer to disney would be a bonus!)lol

 

[declansdad]

Why only those two areas? It would help to know a little about your criteria.

 

[tone.def]

As someone who lives in Ontario (Toronto), I'd love to live in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland or Alberta... in that order.

Alberta is currently the boom area, but that'll blow over in a few years - we'll run out of oil there eventually! A word of advice - don't go there without a place to live in advance.

You'd be closest to Disney in Ontario. If you end up in Ontario, Ottawa area is very nice as is southwestern Ontario.

 

[aaronandterri]

husbands company has ties in that area.All said though am looking all over but have been to those places.

My criteria is proper seasons! warm summers cold winters , dont mind some snow, good schools , and nice area, good value for money housing, but semms anywhere is good compared to uk, with exchange rates prices seem great, also have family in cambridge, have visited alberta, calgary and ontario, so that why mainly those two areas, Am going to BC in the summer though, SO is still a possibility, dont want to be too remote as have children who will need to mix and make friends.

 

[KRIS10420]

My criteria is proper seasons! warm summers cold winters , dont mind some snow, good schools , and nice area,

BC would be the place for you then and only a 2 hour flight to Disneyland.

 

[sean-1966]

I live in Niagara and love it. Alberta is nice if you like the outdoors. Hunting, fishing, skiing that sort of thing. But it can get darn cold in the winter. I don't like the cold so it's not my type of place. I live as far south as you can live and still be in Canada. I'm actually further south than a lot of the States . Great summers with the lakes nearby. Good beaches. Winter is cold but not as cold as out west. Damp though. I can go on. I've been all over the world with work and I am still convinced that this is the place for me to live. When I get older I'll probably be a snowbird in the winter but Niagara will always be my home.

 

[aaronandterri]

Niagara sounds like a nice place, weve only been to the falls!

and bc 2 hours to disney - wow could be the clincher !

Think i need to think some more- trouble is weve been to a few places in canada but as a tourist, its completly diffrent lol, am going this year for a month and we plan to travel around a lot have hired one of those vans for a few weeks, and have a couple of other places in mind, just wanted to hear from real canadians what they felt!

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

Cambridge is a nice city in Ontario to live in - Guelph is that much closer to Toronto and is also a good place to live - good value for $ with housing in both of those cities then you are close to your family that lives here too!!

Cambridge and Guelph are also about an hour and a half to 2 hrs from Buffalo and Buffalo = cheap flights to Orlando

I had friends that moved to Calgary due to her dh' job and they ended up moving back to Ontario b/c house prices were ridiculous in their words.

 

[aaronandterri]

HI
House prices r a big part of it, we want 5 plus beds and a nice sized garden, and the aim is to have as little or no morgage if possible at first.
The exchange rate is good for us at the moment .

I agree about calgary in the short time weve been looking have already seen a change in the prices there, but coming from the uk, even that doesnt seem so bad, We live in london in a 4 bed victorian house, but desperatly still need more room, ! At least the houses r much bigger out there.

The kids would dearly love a pool, but its not an essential!

iS BUFFALO Very cheap for flights then?

I find flights to canada from the uk rather expensive at the moment!

dvc MEMBERSHIP, seems more attractive if were nearer to disney as well, would be able to go more often !

 

[drag n' fly]

HI
House prices r a big part of it, we want 5 plus beds and a nice sized garden, and the aim is to have as little or no morgage if possible at first.
The exchange rate is good for us at the moment .

I agree about calgary in the short time weve been looking have already seen a change in the prices there, but coming from the uk, even that doesnt seem so bad, We live in london in a 4 bed victorian house, but desperatly still need more room, ! At least the houses r much bigger out there.

The kids would dearly love a pool, but its not an essential!

iS BUFFALO Very cheap for flights then?

I find flights to canada from the uk rather expensive at the moment!

dvc MEMBERSHIP, seems more attractive if were nearer to disney as well, would be able to go more often !

What is your budget. How much are you prepared to spend on a five bedroom house with a garden?

 

[SaraMc]

Im a big fan of the niagara area of Ontario as well. We live just outside of it. The only thing we dont like about this area is 2 things. 1. the closer you want to live to Toronto the more housing costs and the traffic can be a bit much at times.

 

[SandraC]

I currently live in Mississauga, Ontario....a suburb of Toronto. One and a quater hours to Niagara Falls, 1.5 hours to Buffalo, 5 hours to Ottawa, 6 hours to Montreal.

I was born and raised in Montreal...moved to New York, Winnipeg, Manitoba and North Delta, BC.

My fav place to live is here is Mississauga. I am close to all conveniences, yet still close to nature.

I got Buffalo to Orlando flights for March $59 one-way. I'm paying $542US airfare return for four people. Can't beat that.

Blessings, Sandra

 

[Tantor]

(Putting on my flame suit)
I love southern Ontario.
I was born and raised in Vancouver (for 33 years)and have been back every year since. I would not live there again. It has gotten so big in such a short time that they do not have the roads to accomadate the traffic.It has really gotten very crowded with all the people moving there for the milder climate. The homes are expensive and gas is 20 cents higher than we are. I also found that I had no idea how much it rained there till I moved here. When it snows there it is very hard to drive in as it is quite slushy and with the hills it can be very dangerous.
Don't get me wrong I do love Vancouver and the scenery is beautiful (second to none). I have family that still live there.

 

[SeanK]

If i had to choose (and i did) i would pick Alberta! Right now is booming with Jobs and Employement. We picked Calgary over Edmonton because calgary has chinooks which makes for real warm winters. (It's going to be +10 next week)

Oh and your close to Disneyland and Westjet fly's direct to Florida.

 

[belleincanada]

I've lived in Toronto, Ontario my entire life (mainly the suburbs around it), and I love it here.

Toronto (and the surrounding area) is one of the largest multicultural cities in the world - turn a corner, and you can get whatever kind of ethnic food and experience you want. I find it's a rather respectful city, and big, but not overcrowded like London or New York. And to reiterate what others have said, it's a 1.5 hour trip to Buffalo where you can get GREAT fares anywhere in the USA (including WDW ) and WDW is just a 2.5 hour plane ride from the Toronto airport.

It's a beautiful province here, great seasons - nice people, good schools, etc.

Enjoy!

 

[almacdonald]

Another vote for Alberta! It's the middle of January and it's +7 degrees here but there was snow on the ground when I left for work this morning! I like that it's not one big sprawling metropolis where one city runs into another. There are wide-open spaces, fields, farms, forests, mountains, lakes... it's awesome! There are also more jobs than people to fill them. One downside is that housing prices are maybe a little higher than places like the maritimes. I'm sure that no matter where you choose, you'll be pleased with the spacious rooms, separate laundry rooms and hot water pressure here in Canada! Oh, and most larger cities have direct flights to both Orlando (Walt Disney World) and LA (Disneyland)!!!

 

[calgarygary]

As a person who has lived in all 3 areas, and really prefers Alberta I'm going to surprise you by recommending BC. Southern Ontario, is a fast paced life style where the majority of the population live to work (ie. the commute to work and the work day comprise most of their day). Saying you don't mind the cold and experiencing -30 Celcius plus a wind chill are two different things so as much as I love it here in Calgary, I wouldn't recommend it to you. The BC coast is closest to the weather that you are used to and also provides the type of gardening that you are most used to.

 

[coastgirl]

Agreeing with Calgarygary. We lived in Toronto area, Newfoundland, BC, and now in Nova Scotia, and if I could afford it I'd be back in Victoria BC in a shot. Housing is very expensive there but if Calgary looks good, Victoria would look the same! Lovely weather, as close to winter as you want to be (a few dustings of snow a year usually, though this year is worse). Very pleasant and refined, not a metropolis but a good level of services, very beautiful. I also quite like Vancouver and though the infrastructure doesn't match Toronto, if I had to pick a "real" city I'd pick Vancouver. My bro lives in Calgary, though, and raised his boys there, and loves it (except for its relatively conservative politics, if that matters to you).

 

[mtmbyck]

One of your posts suggests Disney is 2 hours BC (by car??)from Ontario. Just making sure you realize that even from Southwestern Ontario, you have a 24 hour drive or a quick 2 1/2 hour flight. Most seat sales can get you there return for less than $200 out of Buffalo or around $300 out of Toronto/Hamilton. Southwestern Ontario is amazing. I am in the greater Toronto area and you haven't seen beautiful until you spend a day up in the muskokas along the water.

Good luck. Personally, I love the UK.

 

[digskat]

Ontario is a big enough province, that just dividing North and South doesn't create enough areas. There is Northwestern Ontario, along the Manitoba Border, which is lightly populated, and great for hunting and fishing. There is Eastern Ontario (Ottawa) which is quite beautiful, and allows easy travel to Quebec. THere is the Metropolitan Toronto area, in central Ontario. It is a little more hectic. This is nothing like the vast majority of the area, which is the Southwestern portion of the province. Southwestern Ontario is not "Live to work" or "Hustle and Bustle", it is Festival Country. It is the largest farming area in Ontario, Cottage Country, and Ontario's Vineyards. A 5 bedroom house in Stratford (45 minutes from Cambridge and 85 minutes from Toronto), with a pool, will run about $350 000. Add another $150 000 for a similar home in Calgary.

Check out their website www.city.stratford.on.ca/

Another Southern Ontario city is London. A couple hours from Toronto on the 401. Top end University and decent housing costs.