Danny B

Instead they find expat websites and only mix with their own..

Howard1944

Bigotry is rampant within the U.K, Remember, No Irishman Wanted.

Scots and Welsh have always been treated like second class citizens, they happen to be white, but they have always been looked down on.

Canada is a land for Immigrants, some came from Refugee Camps, from squalor, they had to fight to survive, old habits are hard to lose.

Czech girl hated it here, same country where we were faced with a flood of Immigrants trying to leave.

Canada is what you make it, whining Poms with toffee noses are a great reason to leave the UK.

I can live anywhere, I have been everywhere, on balance, Canada is the best, on balance.

We are universally well liked and well accepted, can't say that about the Brits, read the Australia section.

PeterF

It seems this thread is living on regardless, quite a hot topic

I have to say the OP appears a bit arrogant to me though. He tells people coming from London how great it is there and somehow armed with a copy of the economist he tells us all that our experiences are a figment of our imaginations.

To be honest, I love London and would quite happily live there all my life if I could, even though it has problems. But based on the OP's 'real life' experience 12 years ago as a student he cannot see that some people do not have the finances to maintain a life in London.

based on his position of having a successful internet business, he believes anyone can have the life of Reilly there.

What good is it to live in a place that is full of life, when you cannot join in.

I want to start a family with my wife, we cannot afford to lose a wage in London and I don't feel that we could give a child what it needs in London, when you struggle to pay the bills.

I could move outside London and quite honestly I don't want to. I would have to move a long way, maybe back to my origins in South Wales to achieve this.

Small town Canada is where I am and I feel that this is the better option, who knows if its right or wrong, its only an opinion.

At least 'happy slapping' has not reached this area, I have not read of anyone urinating on dying women in the streets because 'its a laugh' here. I believe overall Canadians appear to have a better grasp of responsibility on raising children.

maye I'm wrong, time will tell.

dbd33

I don't like unhyphenated Canadians.

AdrianTO

Where in Canada are you planning to move to? In many areas of Toronto, and probably Vancouver and Montreal as well you will find that this is the exact same scenario. And these are not necessarily the lower income areas. This is the same story even in many upscale neighbourhoods. My brother sends his son to a French immersion school in Richmond Hill. And I would say that 90% of the students are Chinese. In other areas, there is more of a mix, but 80 to 90% of the students come from a background where english is a second language. Sure, you can move to some remote part of Canada. But, then why bother coming here?

Out of curiosity, why did you reject some of these places?

iaink

Define "remote" in a country of nearly 10 million sq km.

I can think of many reasons...but I'm not going to post them yet again.

dbd33

I think that might be the good reason for moving to Canada. If you move to a Canadian city it's always going to be uglier than London, offer less entertainment than London, have less parks than London, generally be less impressive as a city than London; you may as well move to Manchester or Birmingham. The remote parts of Canada offer a different experience than one can have in the UK, it may be that the people who try such locations are driven mad and flee to civilization but they haven't just had a life similar to their old one in a lesser place with more stuff.

AdrianTO

I am not saying that they are a figment of your imagination, what I am saying is that those are YOUR experiences, but they don't reflect the economy or the country as a whole. As a whole, the economy is booming, crime and poverty are down. That directly contradicts what many are saying. So, people's personal situations might require improvement. How is this the fault of the UK?

I travel to London often. I was last there last 2 years for over a month. Besides, I have numerous friends, acquaintances and relatives that live there. Many of them enjoy the quality of life that you claim to be out of reach in the UK. Many of them live in London and the surroundings. Here are some examples.

- One guy I know works for BT in West Ealing. Lives 15 mins away. Bought a house a few years ago for around 250,000 Pounds. Gets back home at 3 PM. Spends a lot of time with his family. Both his kids are doing very well at school. His brother, same thing, lives somewhere in Uxbridge, works close by, drives a BMW, wife works part time. Not particular well off, either of them. Very middle class.

- My cousin, lives in Datchett. Moved to the UK about 10 years ago from the USA. Owns a house there that is worth close to half a million pounds. Works close by. His wife has an MBA, but she doesn't work. She stays home and takes care of the kids. How can he do it? He went from the USA with nothing. Has no intention of going back.

So, either you have been very unfortunate. Or you have made some very bad decisions. To say that there are no opportunities and it is impossible to have a quality of life in the UK and even in London is exaggerated.

bazzz

Good point. We should all move to London and buy million-dollar houses.

I'm not sure what your point is other than that you know some rich people. Well done.

fuschiagirl

Bazz - for once I agree with you

Oakvillian

Well, yes, West Ealing is quintessentially middle class. But you say yourself they bought the house "a few years ago" for 250k. I would imagine it's worth a lot more than that now, and is beyond the reach of people in the position today that your friend was in those few years ago.
Again, though, half a million quid isn't realistically within the reach of ordinary mortals. So we assume your cousin has a very nice well paid job in Slough, then, I'd guess for one of the many tech/telco companies in the area. CA are on the way into Slough from Datchet, for example, or Fujitsu is just over the Datchet Road roundabout (I used to work just round the corner). Good for him, but you can't really use that as a basis for comparison.
Or, perhaps, your two examples are unrepresentative and meaningless.
I don't think anybody has said that. What has been pointed out is that the quality of life offered in Canada, by the measures that matter to the people who choose to move here, is greater.

R I C H

I broadly agree with your last point Adrian, but the previous one is debatable.

Unless the individuals you mention have ever taken the opportunity to emigrate and use the buying power of their equity to create a new life for themselves elsewhere, then how can anyone assume that London is 'better' for them than Canada? If the guy that has a GBP250k house is unmortgaged, then his equity will go a long way to buying a much nicer environment to live in over here (IMO). If he's perfectly happy with congestion, damp, grey weather, an increasingly nannied state existence then good for him.

Not sure what BMW ownership has to do with anything?

iaink

Offered as evidence of terminal middle classness I suspect?

I don't understand why this thread wont die. It serves absolutely no purpose.

PS..good one Bazzz, worth waiting for!

R I C H

You can pick up old Beemers for under GBP1K - they're hardly aspirational anymore, are they? Too many on the road to be even vaguely interesting.

Circular arguments with individuals that have entrenched views live long on the internerd.

I might send Bazz karma

AdrianTO

What makes you think they are rich? That is my whole point. As I stated in my post, they live a very middle class life style. They are not rich at all and can still afford a lifestyle that many of you people claim to be out of your reach in the UK.

I know what you consider "rich people" as well. I didn't even post about their lifestyles because I understand that they are the exception. For example, a guy that I went to university with runs a Specsavers franchise. He came to see me when I was in Spain. We were out and he came across a condo he liked, he went in and bought it on his Visa debit card. He had that much money in his checking account.

But these earlier examples I gave are hardly people that I would classify as rich.