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-   -   Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/canada-56/wheres-best-place-live-vancouver-island-446603/)

shoequeen May 2nd 2007 6:52 am

Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 
Hello everyone

What a wonderful website - everyone seems so friendly!

My husband and I are in the process of emigrating to Canada, with a particular interest in BC. We have visited the area many times, but I have not been to Vancouver Island.

We have been looking at the mls.ca site, at a place called Duncan. It looks great on screen, and the houses are absolutely beautiful, but can anyone tell me what the Duncan area is like to live in?

Also, silly question, but what exactly are the rules on washing lines?

Love to hear from anyone who could help!

Robin (The Gadget family) May 2nd 2007 7:19 am

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 
Hi Shoequeen and welcome to BE. This is a start and will give you some general info if you haven't already found this site. There are lots of other sites resulting from my Google search on Duncan, Vancouver Island too, so have a look.

We have family up in the comox valley and are applying via PR at the moment so won't be there for a few years yet.

Searching on this site using the tool above may tell you who has already made the move there.

Watch out - you'll be a BE addict before long! :p

Robin :)

gloveman May 2nd 2007 2:15 pm

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 
Hi there, we are moving to Merville which is between Comox and Campbell River in a couple of weeks. It is lovely - near the ocean yet only 15 mins from Mount Washington ski resort. Victoria is lovely too. We have been to Duncan and it has a nice town centre which a lot of Canadian towns don't but we were told by the locals that it has a particularly big drugs problem. One woman told us she would not walk out by herself other than in broad day light. You don't get that impression whe you visit the town - it seems nice and friendly so I don't know how bad, bad is.

We are really excited about going - not sure what the spiders are like but I am more concerned about the bears!! Angela

shoequeen May 2nd 2007 7:06 pm

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 

Originally Posted by gloveman (Post 4728254)
Hi there, we are moving to Merville which is between Comox and Campbell River in a couple of weeks. It is lovely - near the ocean yet only 15 mins from Mount Washington ski resort. Victoria is lovely too. We have been to Duncan and it has a nice town centre which a lot of Canadian towns don't but we were told by the locals that it has a particularly big drugs problem. One woman told us she would not walk out by herself other than in broad day light. You don't get that impression whe you visit the town - it seems nice and friendly so I don't know how bad, bad is.

We are really excited about going - not sure what the spiders are like but I am more concerned about the bears!! Angela

I've heard the bears are cuddly ...... I've got one on the sofa in my lounge and he's really well behaved :rofl:

canuckgirl May 2nd 2007 8:38 pm

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 
I hate to rain on you parade but Duncan is one of my least fav towns on VI. I live in the incredibly wonderful city of Victoria (expensive though!) and have friends in Duncan.
Duncan has a very red necky feel to it (for the island) and has a shabby feel to it IMHO. The countryside is beautiful though and it is only 45-60 minutes north of Victoria.
By far the nicest small towns or cities on the island are Qulaicum (geared to retirees and expensive but lovely) and the Comox Valley.
Only my opinons of course!

Oh and Duncan does have the ugliest but largest hockey stick in the wold! :thumbup:

ellsie May 3rd 2007 5:32 am

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 

Originally Posted by canuckgirl (Post 4729882)
I hate to rain on you parade but Duncan is one of my least fav towns on VI. I live in the incredibly wonderful city of Victoria (expensive though!) and have friends in Duncan.
Duncan has a very red necky feel to it (for the island) and has a shabby feel to it IMHO. The countryside is beautiful though and it is only 45-60 minutes north of Victoria.
By far the nicest small towns or cities on the island are Qulaicum (geared to retirees and expensive but lovely) and the Comox Valley.
Only my opinons of course!

Oh and Duncan does have the ugliest but largest hockey stick in the wold! :thumbup:

Duncan was the one town I didn't like when we went down to Victoria. It struck me as shabby too but that's first impressions. Check out www.campbellrivermirror.com on april 25th. Campbell River has 2nd best quality of life in North America according to British mag Foreign Direct Investment. :eek: Now that is a surprise! I didn't know it was that good!

jempee May 14th 2007 9:11 pm

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 

Originally Posted by shoequeen (Post 4726528)
Hello everyone

What a wonderful website - everyone seems so friendly!

My husband and I are in the process of emigrating to Canada, with a particular interest in BC. We have visited the area many times, but I have not been to Vancouver Island.

We have been looking at the mls.ca site, at a place called Duncan. It looks great on screen, and the houses are absolutely beautiful, but can anyone tell me what the Duncan area is like to live in?

Also, silly question, but what exactly are the rules on washing lines?

Love to hear from anyone who could help!

Hi. we are not far from Duncan (about 20 mins away) but i work at a specialists office in Duncan. As far as i see it there is a high number of natives that live in Duncan close to the town. But the outskirts are nice and there are some nice areas to buy in(so im told). I have walked in Duncan in the dark and not felt threatned. That said i certainly would not want to live in down town Duncan but there are plenty of nice places around just a little way out.

claire in worthing May 15th 2007 7:47 am

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 

Originally Posted by shoequeen (Post 4726528)
Hello everyone

What a wonderful website - everyone seems so friendly!

My husband and I are in the process of emigrating to Canada, with a particular interest in BC. We have visited the area many times, but I have not been to Vancouver Island.

We have been looking at the mls.ca site, at a place called Duncan. It looks great on screen, and the houses are absolutely beautiful, but can anyone tell me what the Duncan area is like to live in?

Also, silly question, but what exactly are the rules on washing lines?

Love to hear from anyone who could help!

We're planning on moving to the Comox Valley in the next couple of months - we think it's a great place - ski resort up the road, lakes mountains and the ocean. Everyone's very friendly and there's a nice feel about the place.

sans May 19th 2007 7:01 am

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 

Originally Posted by shoequeen (Post 4726528)
Hello everyone

What a wonderful website - everyone seems so friendly!

My husband and I are in the process of emigrating to Canada, with a particular interest in BC. We have visited the area many times, but I have not been to Vancouver Island.

We have been looking at the mls.ca site, at a place called Duncan. It looks great on screen, and the houses are absolutely beautiful, but can anyone tell me what the Duncan area is like to live in?

Also, silly question, but what exactly are the rules on washing lines?

Love to hear from anyone who could help!

Hi i have been here just 3 wks and i am so glad i made the decision to settle in Nanaimo. Was hell bent on Victoria but got priced out of their, so hummed and arrd over afew other places, but each time we came over saw the biggest changes in Nanaimo and once i got myself off the Island highway and bothered to really look at the place, we realised what astunning place it is. But then its a stunning Island and what flicks my switch isn't necessarily going to do the same for you. Guess what i am trying to say is dont be to hasty, take your time in finding the right place for you!!! Good Luck :D

ellsie May 19th 2007 6:52 pm

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 
Hi Sans, glad you found a place to rest your bones. Hope you will enjoy Nanaimo.:)

sans May 19th 2007 11:38 pm

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 

Originally Posted by ellsie (Post 4803436)
Hi Sans, glad you found a place to rest your bones. Hope you will enjoy Nanaimo.:)

:D Thanks ellsie.......I'm sure i will love it here expecially once everything else is sorted in uk. One day my house W.I.L.L sell i'm sure. Hopefully see you at the next meet up ? ;)

ellsie May 20th 2007 5:59 am

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 
I hope so too! :thumbup:

Maple Leaf May 24th 2007 4:16 am

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 
Hi there and welcome!

We are moving to the island next month. My husband got a transfer from the interior.

We first thought about Victoria...lovely city..but not being city people...(been there done that) ..we started to look out further...and got further and further away..till we settled on Lake Cowichan..a 20min drive inland...from Duncan. he will commute to Victoria and i will either work in the lake area or drive to Duncan.

We found housing is much cheaper...and also...we just loved it! the people were realy friendly and there is all the services there...dentist dr's shopping etc...(lake cowichan)

It wasn't our first choice and will it be our last....? we dont' know. All we do know is that is going to be home for a while at least.

When it comes to hearing others people thoughts on places ..may i suggest ..thinking..that each person has there own opinions and what suits one may not suit another. I have seen some realy nasty and shocking things said in not only this forum but others too about where people live.

From my own experience i can say that the people we have met in general on the island are very freindly and happy to help. We went to Campbell river last weekend and we realy loved it. The island seems to have a different feel to it than other places i have been. I wish you well on your venture!

ellsie May 24th 2007 5:18 am

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 
Give us a shout next time you are in Campbell River. Hope you enjoy your new home :)

maddhobs Jun 1st 2007 4:36 pm

Re: Where's the best place to live on Vancouver Island?
 
Hi,

We live in Cobble Hill, which is just South of Duncan and we absolutely love it! We have been here 3 years and tell everyone it's the Best Place On Earth!

My wife is a realtor and she is noticing a big rise in house prices and the amount of people coming to the Cowichan Valley (the area where Duncan is located within) from other areas. Some of her clients are from Victoria and find it is getting too pricey so they are moving to the Cowichan Valley and commuiting to work. An advantage for this is that we are about halfway between Victoria and Nanaimo so you can have a choice of which direction to commute if necessary, though of course there are jobs available here as well.

I noticed there was a remark concerning the First Nations in an earlier reply. The people of the Cowichan Valley are proud if the Cowichan Tribes and in fact next years Indigenous Games are being held here. The Cowichan Tribes own and operate businesses (including Cherry Point Vineyard one of the best and most popular not only on the Island but BC) and living amongst the First Nations community was a big reason for us moving here.

The beauty around this area is outstanding, the people are friendly and there are lots of things to do. Perfrect!

I hope I was able to help.


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