NEIL_FAMILY

HI EVERYONE
HAVE BEEN LOOKING INTO THE BIG MOVE TO CANADA AND AM CURRENTLY LOOKING AT PLACES AROUND THE TORONTO AREA WE HAVE SEEN THE CITY OF HAMILTON AND WAS LOOKING FOR PEOPLES EXPERIANCES OR LIVING CONDITIONS I HAVE TWO YOUNG CHILDREN TO CONSIDER AND I AM AN ELECTRICIAN BY TRADE SO IF ANY ONE HAS ANY VIEWS ON THE WORKING CLIMATE FOR SPARKS THIS WOULD ALSO BE OF GREAT INTEREST.
THANKS FOR EVERYONES HELP.
THE NEIL FAMILY

ray1968

Any of the trades there is usually plenty of work about however you will have to be certified in the Province in which you intend to work. Hamilton is a bit of a depressing looking place to be honest - property there is pretty cheap. Burlington would be a better bet IMO as a place to live esp if you have kids and theres lots of development so likely a lot of need for sparks

m4mm4l

Hi,

We moved into Mount Hope near Hamilton about a year ago and have been very happy there though Hamilton itself is a little run down compared to Toronto but we rarely have to go there as everything we need is on upper james street and we're straight onto highway 6 to toronto.

Work wise, there is massive demand for sparks generally throughout ontario, you do need to be licensed but if your 17th edition or whatever it is these days, it wont be a problem. Aecom are a big employer in the construction industry and have a history of employing UK immigrants.

Hope this helps..

Dorothy

Hamilton? Just say no. If you want to live in the GTA look more Burlington or surrounds.

Oh, and your caps lock key seems to be stuck.

reeni

Hamilton is not too bad.
Good transit system, the Mountain area is the better place to live in Hamilton.

I guess it would compare to Leeds or Sheffield. The house prices for buying a all across the board.
www.mls.ca

Renting is not to bad, apartments will be the least expensive. Avoid Downtown to live, especially with kids.

The schools are hit and miss, my teen is in a very good school up on the mountain. He has really blossomed since going to Westmount.

As for Jobs, the market in Canada right now is kind of at an impasse. There is enough jobs to keep most people employed. But too many jobs for the gov't to create more work. So it maybe hard to find work. Check this out every few day to get an idea:
http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/rch-eng.asp...=50&Student=No

Good Luck with your choices!

reeni

ascotbilly

Like Middlesborough ? you'll love Hamilton

Try Burlington or Milton which is a little inland.

dbd33

Like Milton Keynes? You'll love Burlington and Milton.

My view of the suburban wasteland surrounding Toronto is well known but, even accepting that there are people who are willing to live in Burlington or Milton, I can't see the point in the OP considering such places. The case for such suburbs is, in short, that tolerating the commute to Toronto allows you to have a house with two bathrooms, albeit one in an unattractive housing project. If one is to work in Hamilton then there's no need to commute to Toronto so one has the option to live somewhere attractive, such as the better parts of Hamilton or in a smaller town, Guelph, Fergus, somewhere like that. If what one wants is a poorly constructed piece of tat sandwiched among many other poorly constructed pieces of tat, then Grimsby offers the "features" of Burlington or Milton but at a lower cost; three bathrooms instead of two.

laidback4

I work in Hamilton and commute there every day. It's fine to work in but I'd never consider living there as it's a very depressing city. Whoever described it as being like Middlesborough is fairly spot on, especially the north side. Towns around it are nice though, such as Dundas, Ancaster, Caledonia, Paris and Cambridge.

BC15

Not content with being one of the foremost time wasters on BE you're now a self-proclaimed construction expert, eh?

Siouxie

Having lived in Hamilton for over 8 years I find some of the comments quite amusing...

Hamilton "downtown" has some good areas, some better and some worse. It has some great architecture (used for many films and adverts) and although a little run down in places there are plans for improving the area in place. The houses do tend to be very close together with little or no parking but the people are very friendly... I wouldn't want to live downtown but it's not terrible!

Hamilton "west" has some beautiful houses (huge!), some good pubs and nice areas. Dundas is lovely, a small town feel just outside the city... Ancaster is really expensive and has a lot of "big box" stores with lots of traffic jams. Burlington is nice but the house prices and property taxes are higher than in Hamilton, even though it is a part of the city officially.

On Hamilton Mountain the houses are mostly detached, have good size "lots", lots of parks, good schools and good transportation.

We have beaches, the Royal Botanical Garden, more waterfalls than anywhere else in Ontario, great parks, lots of community festivals and free concerts, beautiful coves and little crime.

Yes, the area around the steel factories is horrible - there are areas that are run down - but it's getting better.

Would I like to live in Dundas? Absolutely... but the prices of houses there are a lot more than Hamilton Mountain.

Just my 2 pennyworth!



Edit: some links to Hamilton:

http://www.tourismhamilton.com/
http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/
http://www.cityofwaterfalls.ca/
http://www.rbg-tour.com/
http://www.myhamilton.ca/

dbd33

Design, rather than construction.

You're the guy who lives amid:

" identikit housing, strip malls every other major intersection, chain eateries amongst the big box stores. Dundas at Trafalgar has a gas station, two supermarkets, a Canadian Tire, a giant Wal-Mart, and a plentiful array of smaller strip-mall fare including car dealerships, chainstore bars and restaurants (a Kelsey's and a Keg, a DQ, a couple of pizza places, etc). Not exactly aesthetic nirvana."

are you not?

BC15

That's Oakville and it's a very handy shopping area. I live on the Lakeshore in Bronte Village.

"...Not exactly aesthetic nirvana."

You'd know, wouldn't you <snip>?

Yawn..............

dbd33

Well, yes. Any casual visitor would know that.

Look, I can see that for people working in Toronto who have limited funds distant suburbs may be a tolerable option. However, the OP is going to work in Hamilton and so has no need to put up with such a place. He has a wide range of options.

Siouxie

"Such a place" ? Hamilton isn't a bad place if you choose your area!

Anyway, where the OP decides to live is really dependant on the state of their finances and requirements for housing... if the OP has a limited amount of money then buying in Hamilton (preferably on the Mountain) would not be a bad option.

If the OP has a lot, then yes ... go for Dundas or even Woodstock / Paris /Guelph (as long as they don't mind the commute in winter).

John_B

I live in Bronte too, but to the west a bit. Bronte is a great place to live. It has a small town feel, it's on the lake and has a lot of character. Nothing cookie cutter about Bronte. Nice selection of restaurants, a couple of decent pubs (especially the Coach and Four).

It's also only 35 minutes from downtown TO.