BristolUK

Exactly. My agreement with it was why I didn't respond to you but to Moses who appeared to be using it to disagree.

Terrible if they come from DeLuxe Fish and Chips, not bad if from Boston Pizza. Better if from the seaside town of Shediac 25 minutes away.

Which is about as far as I had to go when I was living in Totterdown as the local chippies were bloody awful.

el_richo

People still go to Boston Pizza?

BristolUK

It's still open since I went two years ago. They can't be trading off my money since then.

Moses2013

You started comparing Moncton and Bath, so what's your point? I just said that you might as well compare Bristol to Ottawa then. Fact is that you can't go by population, size etc. Some places are always more desirable than others. I could also start saying that you can get a 4 bed detached house in the capital of Northern Ireland for the same price as you paid in Moncton, so again no comparison.

BristolUK

Similar size population. Seems a reasonable comparison to make when comparing cities. Some ignorant people see low prices and talk about rural living, living out in the sticks and all the rest of the nonsense, so I was just saying how where I live is a city the size of Bath.
Why? One of many cities in the UK and the nation's capital. Yes, comparison is worth it because comparison shows them to be completely different.

Well of course some places can be more desirable than others. But there are certain benefits from city living and they tend to show themselves when living in a city.

Some people have this weird idea that low prices mean nobody wants to live there. That's what you said and it's not true.

I'm sure you could. I doubt it would compare favourably in other cities like Vancouver or Toronto. But that's the point which you seem to be missing. There are other cities and they are perfectly decent places to live with the benefits of city living. And there are many perfectly good houses here - detached - in nice areas, for a whole lot less.

christmasoompa

So on one hand it's about 'similar size population', then on the other you say 'comparison shows them to be completely different'? You seem to have different rules for each comparison and can't have it both ways!

If you're saying that you can't compare Ottawa with Bristol because Ottawa is Canada's capital, then you also can't compare Bath with Moncton IMO, because Bath is a world famous, very desirable and beautiful city, hence house prices are driven by that rather than just amenities.

Bottom line is that you can get really good house prices in both the UK and Canada, but it depends on the area.

Moses2013

If you want to compare, then you will have to calculate wealth, salaries vs. cost of living, job availability in area, housing availability, crime rates, traffic, infrastructure, history, culture, climate/environment etc. You say there are other cities and they are perfectly decent places to live with the benefits of city living:That's why it's a city?????????? As christmasoompa mentioned, Bath just attracts richer people for many reasons. You say similar size population seems a reasonable comparison to make when comparing cities. Not really, because would you compare Beverly Hills CA with Campbell River BC?

BristolUK

The word 'Compare' has two meanings. One is to liken while the other is to show the differences.

I liken the population of Bath and Moncton. A comparison of London and Bristol shows the differences

But my comparison with Moncton and Bath was nothing more than population. Purely on the point of city living, nothing to do with other things.
Bath also has a major street homeless problem with many beggars. (or it did when I was last there)

Absolutely. I've been making that very same point. It's just that far too many people seem to think cheap housing in Canada must mean undesirable areas. They're wrong.

dbd33

Well, not far wrong. Housing is generally cheaper in Canada than in the UK and the bad bits of Canada are generally not as rough as the bad bits of the UK (considering all of the UK against the parts of Canada where the white people live).

However, in both countries the less desirable areas have lower prices than the more desirable ones so Country Antrim is cheaper than Kensington and Moncton is cheaper than High Park. It may that an "undesirable" part of Canada, such as Oshawa, isn't frightening to someone from the Short Strand but it is scary for people from Toronto.

Canada is all middle so, if you come from somewhere horrible it's a step up, if you come from somewhere fabulous, it's not.

BristolUK

Well of course. But less desirable isn't the same as undesirable.

It might very well be that cheap in Toronto is a slum area that people only live in because that's all they can afford. Just like a cheap area of London may be a dump where the only people living there do as they have little choice.

But a cheap part of Canada is still very desirable in terms of quality of housing; jobs; access to transport; hospitals; schools; universities... basically all those things that one needs to live and to live well.

It doesn't mean it's rural or isolated which seems to be the assumption on this forum.

It's still city living. It might not have a natural history museum, a national art gallery, a theatre royal...but it still has 95% of what's needed and if you can afford to live there and live well, then you do the other 5% on vacations.

JamesM

Hooters it ain't

dbd33

I don't think this holds, except in places like Eastbourne, Miami Beach, Palm Springs and Victoria BC where most people have stopped working and are waiting to die.

You're ok in Moncton because you don't need a job but someone who does need to work would face slim pickings. Oshawa, which you mentioned upthread, is a rust belt town; the car factory closed and it got rough and cheap. Newfoundland was a cheap place to buy a house when the fisheries closed but now that there's a search for oil offshore and consequently lots of jobs, it's expensive. Fort McMurray was very expensive until recently when the jobs left.

Canada's not different from other places; if there's work property is more expensive, if there's none it's cheaper. If there's work then facilities follow, once the work goes so do the services. Cheap houses mean there's no work to be had and probably little in the way of infrastructure.

BristolUK

From the Hubbards thread.

Moncton. Slim pickings.


See above.

scrubbedexpat091

I didn't find Oshawa scary, but then I have been to some pretty rough areas of the US and so far nothing in Canada has come on par with the bad parts of Milwaukee, Chicago, and Los Angeles.....

Moses2013

I suppose it's always personal choice and desirable doesn't always mean it's good for all. County Antrim looks far better to me than big cities, but most people want to live in cities. Even when it comes to music, is it good because it's in the charts? It's pretty hard to compare two different countries and even in a so called undesirable part of the UK, you're still close to desirable cities in Europe.