MarylandNed

Are you sure it's not just a case of the winters finally getting to you? I know many Brits who arrived thinking it was a novelty. The biting cold can be refreshing when combined with bright, blue skies (the like of which are rarely seen in the UK). Snow somehow seems like a refreshing change from the UK's rain/drizzle. But, unless you embrace them and ski, skate, ski-doo or play hockey, eventually the Canadian winters wear some people down. Once that happens, you start looking at other aspects of life in Canada and finding fault with them too. It could be that you just want to move back the the UK to be closer to friends & family.

jossie

When you say "Canadian Winters" this is generalizing. It's been around plus 10 degrees here (southern interior BC) for at least the last 3 weeks and people have been out golfing for the last month. Winters are very harsh and long in some parts of Canada but in others they are mild and short. If anyone was to consider moving back to the UK because of the Winter here then I would suggest they give one of the locations with a milder climate a try first.

MarylandNed

Yes, I am generalizing. It's true for MOST (not "some parts") of the country so I would say it's a valid generalization. Also, Vancouver winters are usually cloudy and rainy which to me is just as depressing.

jossie

Now you are generalizing about BC Vancouver is the rainy part. The interior is very dry - hence all of the forest fires we get each year. It is currently 9 degrees and bright sunshine outside. I can't remember the last time it rained.

MarylandNed

Yes, I changed it to Vancouver. Perhaps I should have said Calgary winters originally. This place is crawling with pedants!

Steve_

Can't say it's become less appealing other than people blathering on about the "downturn", which imho is actually something of a good thing given that the city manager was pleading with people not to move to Calgary during the summer because they couldn't cope.

[quoteI'm talking about the cookie cutter growth of new estates,[/quote]

Kind of a given for any growing city.

Oh god, not this one again. They aren't high. Some limited things are higher than they might be in the UK but they definitely aren't higher than the rest of Canada. Go to a grocery store in Vancouver, then tell me if you think they're high. "Thrifty Foods" (aka Sobey's, both owned by Empire) has WAY higher prices than Calgary imx.

Okay this one I agree with and moreover it's going to take a hell of a long time before the C-train gets any better. Although it does depend somewhat where in the city you live. But once again - compared to Vancouver...

Yeah but at least we GET a summer. There are plenty of places with worse summers.

What in size? Can't say I've noticed that.

What? Calgary has a really low crime rate and yet again, gangs here are nothing compared with the Fraser Valley. Which I also wouldn't say is exactly a high crime area. I cannot fathom how anyone would say Calgary has a high crime rate.

You could say that about any growing city really.

Mmmm... admittedly it's better in Montréal and Toronto but I wouldn't say it's worth moving over.

Do they? My friend in the US actually got similar dental work done to me recently and she paid 25% more in the US.

Well at least it gives everyone something to talk about. And by "downturn" we mean we might actually be able to cope with the influx of people, finally, personally I'm not sure it's a bad thing. If it goes on long enough, we might actually see an outbreak of democracy.

Actually I think this winter is quite mild. Started off a bit crap.

Nope, I think you're just getting bored or something.

The point is, where is better in any significant overall way? I do like the idea of living somewhere a bit warmer during the winter but in every other way it's arguing over minor details really.

jossie

Sorry

Steve_

Um... I've got some bad news for you...

The dominant ethnicities (other than First Nations) in Alberta are British, German, French - then Ukrainian. Couple of premiers back was Ed Stelmach, of Ukrainian extraction. The Ukrainians were among the major settlers of western Canada, especially Alberta and Saskatchewan. 10% of the population of Alberta said they were Ukrainian on the last census.

The Canadian govt. is falling over themselves to help the Ukrainians because there are so many Ukrainians here. Far more so than the British govt., imo. They're constantly having a go at the Russians.

If you don't like Ukrainians, this is not the place to be.

dave2003

Some would say that Calgary has lost its sheen, but a little perspective is in order. Back when I first arrived as a boy, Calgary International airport was a collection of wooden huts, called McCall Field. At that time, one of the first of the "cookie cutter" sub-divisions, Acadia, was under construction. A three-bed detached bungalow cost about $28k. Passenger trains still ran to Banff, Red Deer, Edmonton and a few other smaller locales. I think the population was about 300k. The tallest building was the Grain Exchange building, though the Husky Tower was being talked about.

C.O.P. was a little hill called Paskapoo, with a pommel and rope tow. Calgary ended in the west at Bowfort Road. Pubs were ghastly-closed at 11 or 12 pm, no windows (as if drinking were sin not to be seen) and if you slipped your bum off the barstool, and drank standing up, you were cut off. Oh, and they were closed on Sundays. However, there was a Jewish deli on 8 Avenue, where, if you were desperate for a beer on Sunday you could a order a pizza and a jug of beer. Same in Banff on a Sunday-everybody went to Bumpers in Banff after skiing-same routine-order a pizza. Beer stores-all government run, mostly closed at 6 pm, and always on a Sunday.

Rush hour-it lasted about ten minutes. My dad's car was a monster Galaxie.

By the time the '70s arrived, jobs, jobs, jobs, everywhere. Even then, before Klein's famous ('80s) "let the Eastern bastards freeze in the dark," Calgarians were moaning about all the newcomers.

The riverside pathways, limited then, were red crush, but lots of joggers as it was just coming into fashion. Eau Claire was a collection of tumble down buildings and bus barns-always reminded me of a demolition site. We had two cable companies, and perhaps six channels. The C-Train, did not exist. And only got underway to seal Calgary's bid for the '88 Olympics.

But I was young then, out skiing break-neck speed in the mountains and never gave much thought to how lacking Calgary was compared to our London home. Now I am very cautious when I go outside, having slipped on what seems like year round ice. Last week I slipped on the ice outside the library, and two young ladies helped me to my feet, "oh you poor old thing." Really, I am not that old.

Last February I flew back into Calgary, from a reccie to my intended home in England. As the plane came into land, I looked out the window, minus 30, snow and ice everywhere, and the vista was endless 'burbs and beyond, dirty brown mechanically divided countryside. Very different to the take-off from London, green fields following the natural contours of the land.

The jobs will return, oil and gas will pick up again, but none of that will change what so many describe as a soulless downtown, a place of one way streets the better to move commuters in and out-and little to no street life.

It's little things I miss about England-visiting a pub in very rural Wiltshire, on Christmas Eve, walking down a sunken lane in Kent, going into a small shop and seeing the large selection of newspapers to suit all tastes. And knowing that I am no longer an immigrant, a stranger in a strange land.

No doubt some 30 or 40 years hence someone will make the same comparisons and comments about this time that I have.

MarylandNed

ann m

I hope it's not the winter that's finally got you down OP - this one has been tropical - a welcome relief.

OK, last year was awful!

JJHJ

This is in a training capacity only. Canada is considering doing the same.

Boneyboy

It's interesting to read on here and many other posts how the word 'soulless' is used to describe Canadian cities and towns. I am in agreement that it's the correct description for many of the places I have lived and visited. I have traveled throughout BC and Alberta and in my opinion 95% is 'soulless'. To me, it's the lack of atmosphere and vibrancy that is lacking in these places and it doesn't matter if it's a small rural community or a big city, they all seem to be lacking something. Maybe it's the Canadian personality that creates this feeling? Canada is beautiful.....but soulless.

cbrown89

I can only speak for Calgary but imo the city is a business hub to be used for just that and nothing else. There are so many areas around Calgary though with restaurants and pubs which to me is foreign why go to a pub that you can only drive to? I think it's just a different type of layout. I am guessing Montreal and Toronto would be different? Have a bit more culture maybe...

JJHJ

I'm Canadian and I can tell you I have no soul. Having a soul is altogether overrated as far as I'm concerned.