Cowtown

It depends on what part of Calgary you live in. We can walk to the shops (major ones), the movies, a variety of restaurants and the LRT line. However, one problem is that we cannot walk to Church or school- too far!

jcexit

When living in Oakville we used the buses quite often and found them to be clean and, more or less, on time. Reason why we used them? For fun and quite often at night we would walk downtown, have a pint (or two) and get one of the last buses back.

Here in Burlington we live close enough to the centre to walk both there and back. My step son relies on Burlington buses to get him to work at all sorts of different times during the day and night - he's a shift worker, a barman. More recently a family came over from the Uk and used the buses in Burlington for four weeks before they decided on a vehicle and they lived in North Burlington off Appleby and North of Upper Middle. They were impressed, but then they came from London.

jcexit

Canadian food? Maple syrup with egg and bacon for breakfast! I must ask my wife that question as she is Canadian! Otherwise it's a mixture between British and American, erring toward the American. There are lots of different types of other restaurants around: Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian and quite a few Mediterranean like the 'Rude Native'. It's just like the UK really, there are many choices - which include the inevitable pizza, oh, and Greek.

You are able still to buy a three bedroom townhouse in Burlington for under $200,000 and in fact get within walking distance of the core (15-20 mins) for between $165,00 to $300,000 (and more, a lot more, if you wish). Check out to see what's available on www.mls.ca.

Pretty Flowers

When I left the UK I didn't know how to drive, and I relied on public transport to get me out and about in Oakville and to downtown Toronto for work.

I now have learnt to drive, and have a car. I suspect that that should tell you everything you need to know about public transport in Oakville....

dbd33

That's rather what I thought, Sarah Farrand, but then I don't have to be positive, I've nothing to gain by selling any particular area.

I do know quite a few people in Toronto who don't drive but no one who lives past the end of the subway.

dbd33

This looks official

http://www.icoste.org/laborsteel.htm

bear in mind though that the building trades have lots of opportunities for cash work on non-union uninsured jobs.

CalgaryBlade

Yes and no.

Original 1 storey 1,000 sq ft homes sell for around $325K. Bare lots sell for $350K because it saves the hassle of bulldozing the house.

Quality custom in-fills go for around $300 per sq ft above grade, plus $50K for a finished basement.

20 years ago the banks wouldn't lend on properties in this neighbourhood as it was a red-light area. Now people are buying double lots for $600K and putting 5,000 sq ft houses in at $350 per sq ft. The area has simialrities to Bloor West Village, although nearer the city centre and more expensive.

Another area changing in Calgary, although about 3 years behind Kensington is Inglewood. It's known by cab drivers as "Needlewood" because of its proximity to the junkies and down and outs at the "homeless hilton". But it's changing, lots of cutesy antique shops etc. That's the place to buy for big capital gain IMHO, very close to downtown.

dbd33

Ah. The equivalent here would be Corktown; Queen and Sherbourne and the blocks to the south and east. That's currently the poorest part of the city but it's walking distance from the big bank towers and gentrification is creeping in.

Souvenir

It's quite possible to get around Oakville by bus, provided you have plenty of time on your hands and have only a limited portfolio of places you want to get to. And don't go out on Sundays.

One thing I really liked about the service was that if a bus was running late and risked missing a connection, the driver would often ask if any passengers were taking the connecting bus. If yes, he/she would radio the other driver and ask him/her to wait.

dbd33

The thing I hated about Mississauga transit was the way the driver smirked as he pulled into the GO train parking lot and paused to watch the train depart. Similarly, at the end of the day, I hated being on the train, pulling into the station and watching the bus depart. I used the time in the cold waiting for the next bus to reflect on the curious sadism of the person who arranged the timetable.

Souvenir

A lot depends on where you live. In Quebec, socialising is much more home based and tends to revolve around family. Outside downtown Montreal, I doubt you'd find much of a pub scene.

In Gatineau (pop. about 225,000) there are probably no more than 20 establishments that could be regarded as bars. Most are more like restaurants. I have come across nothing like a pub. There are a couple of "pubs" in the largely Anglo area north of Hull but they're too far away to be locals. I occasionally go to pubs in Ottawa but only if I'm there for other reasons and have time to kill.

In Oakville I went to the pub most days. Now, it's about once a month.

The idea of home drinking was rammed home to me yesterday when I was in my local gas station, which doubles as a convenience store. Imagine a shop about half as big again as a squash court. Well over half that space was dedicated to chest-high stacks of 24s. And that's not including the beer fridge, which takes up most of one wall. There are three other similar establishments within a few hundred yards, and several supermarkets, also with huge beer stocks, a few minutes drive away.

When gas stations are carrying as much beer as the Beer Store, there's clearly a fair bit of home entertaining going on.

jcexit

One assumes you actually know this from your own experiences beyond public transport in Mississuaga?