Hamiton -

Good -

beautiful quaint city with wonderful century old homes
close enough to the States that a day-trip for shopping isn't a problem
world renowned university McMaster well-known for its' medical sciences' field

Bad

traffic - both in the city and on the QEW - my parents travel a great deal from KW and whenever they are in the area complain that the traffic is really terrible.
supressed economy - that 's why the homes are so cheap
POLLUTION

Ugly
POLLUTION, POLLUTION, POLLUTION, - not just from the steel mills surrounding the city, but the pollution also comes up from the States. I have friends born and raised in the area and now have kids of their own who finally moved away because of the thick red haze that hung over the city permanently

Unless, you have a serious reason to move there - why not consider other areas - the Elora Gorge area is really beautiful - wonderful camp grounds that I used alot as a kid - wonderful area to take kids and picnic and walk the trails. KW area is really great (although I may be a bit biased), Guelph is a beautiful area, Hespeler, although a very small area has beautiful old homes - even London (where I went to high school is a great place.). St. Jacob's, Conestoga - all these areas are really wonderful - and close to the Farmer's Market which is a real blast!!!!

If you're finances allow why not come for a investigative visit and get a feel for the land - only you can make a decision about what's best for your family.

We're not going to decide where to live before arriving for good, which I hope will be in November or thereabouts. The Hamilton cty website says they are doing something about the pollution, but I might try to do a bit of research about pollution levels in Hamilton compared to, say Brampton or Mississauga, which are the only places in Canada where I have spent any time at all.

The thick red haze could look rather beautiful in photos at sunset, but that's probably not worth destroying the children's lungs for.

Unemployment levels are about thre same in Hamilton as in the rest of the area from Toronto, from what I can gather - about 7%. I need to look in to it more, as I said, but some personal views are always helpful. Thanks.

You seem to be stuck on the West side of TO. Any particular reason?

Just because that's where Mrs Rhodes was brought up (Mississauga) and her parents and sister (with husband and three children) now live in Brampton. We'd like to be within easy reach of them, though how easy we would like the reach to be remains to be seen...

If I may be so bold.....I think that the message we are trying to convey is
that in southern ontario, nothing is really that far away - you can be as close or as far away from friends or relatives as you like. Personally, I would never live in or around Hamilton with kids (but that's just my opinion).

Even check out the different little cities that comprise Mississauga - like Port Credit, Lorne Park (where I spent a number of years growing up), Clarkson and Oakville, Lovely places - there are so many options - why not get a map of southern ontario on the internet and check everything out - you may be pleasantly surprised!!!

We haven't ruled anywhere out in the general vicinity. I like old Georgetown and some of the villages between there and Brampton, but it will depend on all sorts of factors, but mainly where I can find a job (if anywhere). I do sometimes pick a place at random , like London or Stratford and do a search on MLS. That's fun, if not necessarily particularly helpful.

Hamilton is alright, but too large population wise, canadian standards, more than 600k people, and they all seem to be downtown, the police there are always busy.

Most folks that want a bit of quietness live up the hill, which is kind of like the exclusive area. Nice college and university there, Mohawk and mcmaster. I won't live there to be honest. You mentioned brampton, that is just as bad, with a lot of violence and other issues.

London is nice, but to far west, quite a drive from Toronto. A lot of subdivisions there, closer to windsor and detroit, and a lovely park, for cycling, picnic and running.

London is great - Stratford is a very cute little town - especially if you like the Stratford Festival - there's also a little part across the street from the festival where there's a pond or a lake (I can't remember - but Ocean will know) - and they have swans swimming there - also little tables for picnics in the spring/summer and if the swans are in a good mood you can actually feed them......but don't get too close.

You are also close to the KW area - with the best german food this side of Germany and the farmers market - a real market held in a hundred year barn with little heat - and when you go in the winter - you will see farmers inside and outside in the snow and cold weather selling their wares!!

Stratford is not too far from london. Yes stratford is a nice little town, and they have a festival there every year, along the way there, is a town called shakespear, and that is where we saw a brit with a sore that sells everything british, I was able to get my fix of walkers crisp there, and other stuff.

The tri-cities are full of germans, and the run most of the factories round here, the most popular one being ATS automation.

The pond in startford....had a stroll there with the missus a couple of times, and a meal in one of the restaurants on the high street there.


http://www.sentex.net/~lwr/pans/festgardpan.html

I have to put in a few words in support of Hamilton. I have lived here for the past year, and previously have lived in Toronto, plus the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Of the places I have lived in Canada, I prefer living Hamilton, particularly the west end (away from the steel works), mainly because the scenery is more varied than most other cities of south-western Ontario, plus there is easy access to the lake, and the cost of housing is lower than Toronto.

Hamilton has a very poor reputation in Toronto, mainly because of the view of the steel mills from the highway that runs between Toronto and the Niagara region, but I find the west end (Ancaster, Dundas, and the area around McMaster University) to be a very pleasant place to live. The Niagara escarpment runs thru the city, which creates a green, forested area, right through the city, plus there are lots of bike and hiking trails very close to where I live.

Hamilton is not perfect (if I could afford to, I would move back to California, where I lived for 5 years), but it's worth considering if you intend to live in Ontario.

Dave.

You found a "brit sore" did you??????

The most important question......were the swans still there and moody as ever?

Hamilton is nice in it's own little way, but it's hardly london ontario, or stoney creek. My inlaws live up on the hill, and the areas you have described are very nice indeed.

There are also some subdivisions being knocked up round there, my sister inlaw is moving out of hamilton, to go to Brantford, which is beautiful too, and a lot quieter, with new subdivisions being knocked up round there on bigger lots for a lot less price.

Actually, Stoney Creek is part of Hamilton.

Actually last time we were there ( last month ), they swam over to hello to the mrs, those things are getting bigger, people are feeding them too much

Yes, they are very spoiled.....perhaps that's why they're so tempermental......but great fun for the kids....