Hamilton???
 

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

Re: Hamilton???
 

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

Re: Hamilton???
 

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..

Re: Hamilton???
 

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.

Re: Hamilton???
 

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

Re: Hamilton???
 

Like Middlesborough ? you'll love Hamilton :D

Try Burlington or Milton which is a little inland.

Re: Hamilton???
 

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.

Re: Hamilton???
 

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.

Re: Hamilton???
 

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

Re: Hamilton???
 

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/

Re: Hamilton???
 

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?

Re: Hamilton???
 

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..............

Re: Hamilton???
 

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.

Re: Hamilton???
 

"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).

:)

Re: Hamilton???
 

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.

Re: Hamilton???
 

I'm not saying that Hamilton is a bad place. I'm saying that the only explicable reason for living in Mississauga, Burlington, Bronte Village and the like is that you work in Toronto and can't afford to live there. At least, can't afford to live there and have as many bathrooms as you would like. It's sacrificing convenience for square footage as well as, in most cases, the aesthetically pleasing for tract housing.

The OP is to work in Hamilton and could choose to live there or, as you suggest, in a nearby town. If he or she needs to live in a housing project then one nearer Hamilton would be cheaper than one nearer Toronto. In the circumstances, Burlington/Oakville/Bronte/Mississauga would be an even more peculiar choice of place to live than it is for Toronto commuters.

Re: Hamilton???
 

Our reasons for moving to Bronte were mainly because we wanted to bring up our kids in a nice suburb with easy access to the City. We wanted to live near the lake, with lots of parks and other facilities. Not in a concrete jungle with all the associated noise etc.

I lived in London before moving to Canada. Why on Earth would I move from London to live in downtown Toronto? If I wanted to live in a big city I would have stayed in England.

Re: Hamilton???
 

Ah, sorry, I misunderstood...

I have to agree that most of the new housing estates (oops, sorry, developments) remind me of the old song "little boxes" with no back gardens... but that is just my personal opinion. I wouldn't choose to live in one, but needs must I guess!

:)

Re: Hamilton???
 

The usual reason is to get more space. One gives up excitement for a garden and the ability to walk to most things.

And yet you're within the sprawl, it's all concrete until Pickering or Ajax or whatever it's called when you get past Scarborough.

Re: Hamilton???
 

If the OP wants to live in a new housing development, there are plenty in Stoney Creek, Grimsby, and absolutely tons in Binbrook... all within an easy 20 minute commute of Hamilton.

Re: Hamilton???
 

Geographically it makes very good sense for the OP to choose Burlington - it's twenty minutes down the road. You do know where Burlington is, don't you? You are obviously ignorant of the fact that Burlington, Oakville and Milton have a lot of employment of their own. You need to drop the idea that everyone who lives in these towns commutes to Toronto.
Are you not aware that there is a migration out of Toronto due to the sheer cost of buying even the crappiest little house (with no parking) and including the extra land transfer tax (added to the extra 8% on HST).
Tract housing is simply a way of creating new sub-divisions to provide homes, schools, recreational centres and the like to meet the demand of people who want to own their own property. They're all sold before the first sod is turned.
Design-wise they're a far cry from the brutal and featureless architecture of the '60's. Personally I have always gone for Victorian and previous era houses because I prefer the decorative woodwork, crown mouldings and other character forming features. The new houses are offering loads of character in their external and internal features - deep ogee baseboards make such a difference. There's hardwood and ceramic floors, stainless steel and granite. Recently I have seen loads in the three towns making up Halton with my sister and I have to say I am surprised and only wish I could have one built down here (as quite a few lucky people are around Bronte and other older areas of Oakville).
I drive into Toronto outside of heavy traffic areas for the theatre, dining, art exhibitions and other things and occasions. Live there - only down by the harbour (Queens Quay) maybe.
So why do you live on a scrap of land with a fairly mundane house in the middle of nowhere if you like the thought of living in Toronto?

Re: Hamilton???
 

Horses. It's not feasible to keep horses in the Beach.

Re: Hamilton???
 

Yes, I know where Burlington is, well vaguely, it's not so much a place as a continuation of the concrete, it kind of blurs into Brampton.

Can you imagine working there as well as living there? Perhaps building the tract housing or selling something from a strip mall? Ye Gods, that's a thought to make one question the wisdom of fleeing the arriving Khymer Rouge.

Re: Hamilton???
 

That's what they call a city - lots of buildings and parks and roads and people. Just like London and New York

The Beach, The Beaches, Beach, Beaches - where you used to live.

Re: Hamilton???
 

"Just like London and New York is rather a stretch" but, yes, we seem to be agreeing that moving to suburban Toronto to get away from being in a city seems a bit odd.

Re: Hamilton???
 

Good, then we can count on keeping you out of these great live/work towns and I think we'll have to dock you a few points for introducing entirely irrelevant subject matter as none of us ever fled from the Khmer Rouge.

Re: Hamilton???
 

Except that I never moved from Toronto or any other big city. I enjoy living and working in a village-like atmosphere. I have everything I need here and I partake of what ever I like of the cities to both east and west of me.

Re: Hamilton???
 

You completely misread my post.

Re: Hamilton???
 

I'm downtown reasonably frequently. In the past couple of weeks, for example, to the St Lawrence Market, the Yard, Brass Taps by Parliament, the Barbecue Hut, that Thai place in the Beach, the Feathers, but I don't see anywhere to ride except at the Ex, and that's indoors.

Re: Hamilton???
 

And you mine. My misreading was deliberate.

Re: Hamilton???
 

No, you misread:
That's what they call a city - lots of buildings and parks and roads and people. Just like London and New York
I cottoned on immediately to your avoidance of my suggestion that you try Burlington downtown.

Trouble with you <snip> is that you really are nowhere near as clever as you think you are. You bring to mind an old chinese proverb. This is the part that applies to you:
'A man who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool, shun him'

Cheers

Re: Hamilton???
 

I'm not clever enough to see what you're getting at, that much I'll give you. Are you comparing Burlington downtown to London and New York?

Re: Hamilton???
 

BC15 could you take a quick gander at rule 5 of the site rules, particularly the bit where it says "Anyone posting another members personal details without permission will have their posting privileges removed"

Thanks.

Sue

Re: Hamilton???
 

I had plenty of excitement when I lived in London. I just didn't want to bring my kids up there. So I suppose to some degree that's true. Although not necessarily for the extra space, but it does come as a bonus.

I may be within the sprawl, but it doesn't feel that way. I'm a few minutes walk from the lake, I have the escarpment just down the road. I'm about 5 minutes drive from a provincial park. I can go skiing, rock climbing or mountain biking all within 30 minutes drive, or I can get the train downtown and go to the theater or opera. I think I have the best of both worlds here.

Re: Hamilton???
 

Good for you, then.

Re: Hamilton???
 

So you live in the middle of the country and prefer the the company of horses to people? Each to his own I suppose.

Re: Hamilton???
 

You would have to go back and read many of dbd33's posts which, if to be believed, will provide you with a flavour of the lifestyle he leads/has led. I don't suggest it's wrong, it's just different from that that most of us lead, IMO anyway.

Re: Hamilton???
 

Some of my best friends are horses. They're often more interesting than suburb dwellers.

Re: Hamilton???
 

Neahhhhhhhhh............. Steady boy!

Re: Hamilton???
 

I do live in the middle of nowhere, yes. People vs. horses? Rather depends on the individuals.