Where to move to in Canada

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
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The "old days" weren't that long ago. I came here in 87 and drove it for several years. People in the valley didn't want it fixed.

I drove it a couple of times in the 60s, there was a rumour at that time (probably a good percentage B.S.) that part of the mountain on the east side was propped up with a pole. The term "highway" was used very loosely in those days.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
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Vernon, B.C.
JLM, Blockbuster is a movie rental store.
I loved Cape Horn, but then I was never afraid of heights, cliffs, and deer trails. :D

I knew it was something but just couldn't put a finger on it (Alzheimers). The first time I drove Cape HOrn was in the middle of the night- probably good thing. As an old Highways employee, involved with surveying for new roads, I know that chunk of highway was designed and redesigned to death over many years before construction finally happened. It's a beautiful piece of road now.
 

YukonJack

Time Out
Dec 26, 2008
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Winnipeg
sensualspirit, I lived in roughly half dozen mining communities in Ontario, when I was single. After I got married, my job took me to live in Bathurst, NB, Fernie, BC, Hinton AB, and then, back to Ontario.

Two years ago we moved to Winnipeg to be close to our first and only grandchild.

I had no problem with any of the places I mantioned. Made friends. Had fun.

You know the old saying: Home is where the heart is.
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
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I don't like the new Cape Horn. But then I don't like any bit of pavement that allows people to whiz around and miss the beauty of where the pavement is. Not that I condone inattention to driving, but you can see a lot more at 20 MPH than you can at 60
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
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sensualspirit, I lived in roughly half dozen mining communities in Ontario, when I was single. After I got married, my job took me to live in Bathurst, NB, Fernie, BC, Hinton AB, and then, back to Ontario.

Two years ago we moved to Winnipeg to be close to our first and only grandchild.

I had no problem with any of the places I mantioned. Made friends. Had fun.

You know the old saying: Home is where the heart is.
Cool. Been wondering, though, you like the taste of Yukon Jack?
 

YukonJack

Time Out
Dec 26, 2008
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Winnipeg
"Cool. Been wondering, though, you like the taste of Yukon Jack?"

I'm a bit confused. When you say: "Been wondering" are you commenting on the fact that I moved several times and lived five provinces (plus Yukon Territory, which I did not even mention). You know: wandering? Misspelled?

Or did you mean "I was curious and/or I wanted to know", about how I relate to and "like the taste of Yukon Jack"?

If the former, I take your comment as a compliment.

If the latter, yes, I do, a fine drink, tastes like Benedictine at half the price.

But the biggest confusion is the fact that you even posted quoting me when your post had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with what I said.
 

VanIsle

Always thinking
Nov 12, 2008
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I assume you mean this post. No - that's not the cheapest rent at all. I work with people who only earn about $10.00 an hour and they find apartments to rent. They cannot pay anywhere near $1300.00. There are places advertized at around the $800 - 850 mark. My son is going to rent out his half duplex for about $1200.00 but it's 3 bedrooms and it will be furnished. Big difference. Usually all you get is fridge and stove if you're lucky.
I went through the local paper after typing this post. $1300.00 is high rent for this area and it is for a house. There are houses for less but not a lot. Some around $1000.00. There are lots of rentals out there right now from around $650 and up depending on where they are, how big they are, whether or not they include utilities etc. etc. I think you would be looking at something pretty spiffy if you are paying $1300.00. It's been a long time since I've seen rows and rows of rentals like I looked at last night. It wasn't that long ago that the most rentals there would be would be about 20 but there are lots of them now. That was a paper from about the middle of the month so probably people wanting to move out for month end - who knows. Anyway, it is not anywhere near what you thought.
I forgot to mention in the first place that I well knew that your post was addressed to JLM. I think if you look again you can see where I've somewhat said that in there.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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Hi all,

I'm looking to leave Ontario after living here since '84.

I left the GTA last year to move to Windsor, & didn't realize how polluted both the water & air is. My body can't handle it.

Anyway, I was thinking of BC, but my main concern is all that rain & are people really happy out there b/c of all that rain? I know that Vancouver has a very bad reputation of being nasty like Torontonians & it's too expensive anyway, but I'm hoping to maybe find a city in BC where it rains only periodically. I'm not an expert when it comes to weather patterns & geography, but does all of BC get the same constant rain?

And if it's raining all the time, generally (not always) that means there's no sun, right?

So here is what I'm seeking:

1. Much warmer than Ontario although Windsor area wasn't bad, but it's out for obvious reasons.

I have to assume BC is the ONLY province that is warmer, right?

2. Rent is reasonable & I'm looking for an area that has modern houses or apartments & the landlords respect their tenants (clients).

3. Clean water & air (not perfect, but not like Windsor), GTA is heaven compared to this entire area.

4. Near nature is ok & welcome, so long as the town is developed & takes no more than 45-60 minutes to drive into a major city that has a Costco & health food stores, etc.

5. Prefer to be near a Superstore

6. Would love it if there were farms in the area for local produce.

7. Good (not junk) restaurants in the town & city nearby.

8. Reliable high speed (I am an entrepreneur who owns sites online, so I don't need to find a place where there are jobs, but I need quality phone & high speed internet service).

I think that's it for now

Thank you


Michelle

I will start with Nanaimo B.C. because that is where I live.

Nanaimo is certainly warmer than anyplace in Ontario. Nanaimo is a city of just over a hundred thousand people that is an hour and a half drive from Victoria.

We own our home but rents seem reasonable.....Depends what you want. Respect will depend on the individual landlord.

Air and water are perfect.

Nanaimo has a couple Superstores. It also has a Costco though I don't know why anyone would want one. Lots of healthfood stores.

There are farms and farmer's markets.

There are many fine restaurants in Nanaimo.

I've been using Shaw High speed for three years now ....No complaints.

I am retired. If I worked in the downtown area, it would take me fifteen minutes to get to work.

In Nanaimo we get our share of rain in the Winter but we usually enjoy a warm sunny Summer.
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
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"Cool. Been wondering, though, you like the taste of Yukon Jack?"

I'm a bit confused. When you say: "Been wondering" are you commenting on the fact that I moved several times and lived five provinces (plus Yukon Territory, which I did not even mention). You know: wandering? Misspelled?

Or did you mean "I was curious and/or I wanted to know", about how I relate to and "like the taste of Yukon Jack"?

If the former, I take your comment as a compliment.

If the latter, yes, I do, a fine drink, tastes like Benedictine at half the price.

But the biggest confusion is the fact that you even posted quoting me when your post had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with what I said.
Sorry. I meant "cool" as in that you have been to those places & enjoyed wherever you were. and the question about Yukon Jack was separate. I was wondering if you liked the stuff or been to the Yukon, seeing as you have it as your tag. :D
 

YukonJack

Time Out
Dec 26, 2008
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Winnipeg
"Sorry. I meant "cool" as in that you have been to those places & enjoyed wherever you were. and the question about Yukon Jack was separate. I was wondering if you liked the stuff, seeing as you have it as your tag. :iconbiggrin:"

L Gilbert, thanks for the clarification. Gratified that I understood your comment about my many past addresses as a compliment.

My monicker has nothing to do with the adult beverage, although - as I said - I do like a snort of that inexpensive nectar, once in a while. It goes back to my almost forgotten sojourn working as a young miner in the Yukon Territory.
 

VanIsle

Always thinking
Nov 12, 2008
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I will start with Nanaimo B.C. because that is where I live.

Nanaimo is certainly warmer than anyplace in Ontario. Nanaimo is a city of just over a hundred thousand people that is an hour and a half drive from Victoria.

We own our home but rents seem reasonable.....Depends what you want. Respect will depend on the individual landlord.

Air and water are perfect.

Nanaimo has a couple Superstores. It also has a Costco though I don't know why anyone would want one. Lots of healthfood stores.

There are farms and farmer's markets.

There are many fine restaurants in Nanaimo.

I've been using Shaw High speed for three years now ....No complaints.

I am retired. If I worked in the downtown area, it would take me fifteen minutes to get to work.

In Nanaimo we get our share of rain in the Winter but we usually enjoy a warm sunny Summer.
Thank you Juan. I was hoping you would find and comment in this thread. You have pretty much said the same as me.
Where is the other Super Store? Or - are you just meaning big stores? I guess we should say we have (or at least did have) the most shopping per capita in Canada.
We also have Sears, The Bay, Zellers, WalMart and every store you find in any mall.
Along with Blockbusters we also have Rogers.
 

bobnoorduyn

Council Member
Nov 26, 2008
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Mountain Veiw County
Hi there,

Yes, I wanted more info on these provinces, but I don't undersand why you don't like it there if the weather is fairly mild.

You do get snow there, right?

What's the average temp. in Spring/summer?

I'd prefer a house (modern).

Oh I'm no longer brick & mortar, I sell online, so none of that matters to me except phone & internet.

Thanks


Michelle

Like I said, it is mild in NS, right now it is 14 degrees and drizzling, like it has been for the past few days. I like the sun on occasion, and when it is nice here it is really nice, but when its not, its downright miserable.

Its hard to say what the average temperature is because it varies. On the Fundy side it can get warm if there is an east wind, a south wind often brings fog. The end of July last year I left my house which is a ways inland to go to my cabin near the Atlantic coast, it was 29 degrees and sunny, at the cabin it was 12 and foggy, and its only an hour's drive east.

I don't know of may house rentals out here, or at least none I would recommend. Housing costs are quite reasonable if you look around. It all depends if you want to live in the city, (or which city). An old house in Halifax can cost plenty while newer one in Sackville can run from $185,000 and up.

And yes we do get snow out here, some years are worse than others. Many snowstorms don't come with much wind, you go to bed during a light snowfall and wake up to 3 feet of the stuff. Or when the wind blows you can have a 6 foot drift on the leeward side of your house, as we did, blocking our back door for 3 weeks.

Then there are the wicked nor'easters, where a low out in the Atlantic brings moist air in over the coast and with it a ton of rain or snow and wind, that's when our frond door gets drifted in.

Like I said too, the sunniest month is February and some of March. It is nice if you like x-country skiing and such. It can also be fairly mild, and is my favourite time of winter.
 

#juan

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Aug 30, 2005
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Thank you Juan. I was hoping you would find and comment in this thread. You have pretty much said the same as me.
Where is the other Super Store? Or - are you just meaning big stores? I guess we should say we have (or at least did have) the most shopping per capita in Canada.
We also have Sears, The Bay, Zellers, WalMart and every store you find in any mall.
Along with Blockbusters we also have Rogers.

I'm afraid you caught me Vanisle. When we lived on the mainland we had Safeway, Save on Foods, and Superstore, and we called them all superstores. Along Lougheed Hwy in Port Coquitlam the three of them are lined up in a row. I think Loblaws finally nailed down the name "Superstore". I'm surprised that Safeway is not very evident in Nanaimo. They have that one crowded little store out in Cedar
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
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Vernon, B.C.
I'm afraid you caught me Vanisle. When we lived on the mainland we had Safeway, Save on Foods, and Superstore, and we called them all superstores. Along Lougheed Hwy in Port Coquitlam the three of them are lined up in a row. I think Loblaws finally nailed down the name "Superstore". I'm surprised that Safeway is not very evident in Nanaimo. They have that one crowded little store out in Cedar

I never could figure out the importance of all these stores that sell the same thing. To be able to shop in them you'd need a hell of a lot more money than I have. I haven't found one yet I can afford to shop at. :lol:
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
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lol, one can spend a bit on gas popping from Walmart to Costco to Superstore to GCWC to wherever in order to save some dough. For us it's sometimes convenient to hit the one store that carries most or all of what we are shopping for, but mostly we support local yokels' stores.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
548
113
Vernon, B.C.
lol, one can spend a bit on gas popping from Walmart to Costco to Superstore to GCWC to wherever in order to save some dough. For us it's sometimes convenient to hit the one store that carries most or all of what we are shopping for, but mostly we support local yokels' stores.

We found Costco to be Okay when the kids were at home, but with just a couple of people, there's not much saving, I like buying in large quantity, but don't really need 75 lbs. of pepper. It's mainly good for the detergents, paper products and film for the camera is a bargain. Their meat is expensive as hell.
 

#juan

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Aug 30, 2005
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I never could figure out the importance of all these stores that sell the same thing. To be able to shop in them you'd need a hell of a lot more money than I have. I haven't found one yet I can afford to shop at. :lol:

The big food stores definitely have better prices than the smaller local stores. What I hate about the really big superstores is that they are just too damn big. If you are not in the store that often, you'll have a hard time finding anything....I know I do. We do a good sized food shopping about every month and we do most of it at the Save on. Occasionally the Superstore has a give away price on something and if we want it that is all we buy from them.
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
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Same. We grocery shop basically where prices are best for what we are looking for at the time. Sometimes it's Safeway (one of the local ones has 10% off everything on the first Tues of the month as "customer appreciation Day"), other times it's shopping at a local Pattison jobby, etc.