Well....A meal at the Little Texas bar and grill, and the Caper's restuarant doesn't hurt, we enjoyed that. The Quinte Mall wasn't all that though
The canadian heritage gallery is also worth a visit if you are into that sort of thing. Here is a picture of Belleville from 1880. There is also the Glanmore Historical Museum Located at : 257 Bridge St. East, Belleville. One block north of the Hospital, its not exactly huge, but full of information

Still not for me though

Mick, I cant believe you liked Little Texas! It's so redneck, not what I thought you were into at all. Still, it has both types of music...country AND western!

Only way it reminds me of the UK is that there is a fight in the carpark every Friday night at chucking out time!

Where is the heritage gallery, I havent heard or seen anything about that?

Iain

Ah.....Its the Scarlet pimpernel, i thought i was on your ignore list, just can't help yourself can you?
Anyway....everyone has their own opinion about me, and that is great. We were getting desperate for something to eat when we were there, so we just sort of stopped there, i did say to my wife there was something eirie about the place :scared:

I wouldn't say i will go back there again, but the food was nice on that day, probably our lucky day. The heritage gallery is actually in Bowmanville, which is not exactly Belleville, here is the location:

Canadian Heritage Gallery,1987 Highway #2 Bowmanville, ON.

Scarlet pimpernel...like that Yes, you are still on my ignore list...and still the only one on it, but that doesnt mean I dont look at the odd post now and then.

I havent been to Li'l Texas for a long time, maybe its changed. Surprised you didnt try the "Ponderosa"...that's the one most people with canadian connections go "hang on a minute...I thought they closed them all in 1990..." when they see it, see Belleville really is like taking a step back in time

Anyway...next time I'm down the 401 I'll check out the gallery in Bowmanville.

Iain

You might want to try the Winchester Arms .on HWY 2 next time

I know exactly where you are talking about,From the East or the West on Highway 2 drive down towards the Hospital. From the 401 highway take the exit by Quinte Mall & go south until you hit Dundas Street (Highway #2).The pub is on the South side in a freestanding Elizabethan Building next to a plaza about a quarter mile west of the Hospital. In my own experience, i have found that pubs/restuarants with arms at the end of their names, always turn out to be a let down, and that goes back to when i was in london UK.

They have got them all over the place, there is one in Alliston too, and some other places. I 'll give it a go next time we are in that neck of the wood. The king george inn in coburg is alright though

You could compromise by selecting a town with the right size for your business and then commuting from a smaller place which suits your lifestyle. Along the 401 a 1/2 hr one-way commute will take you 50Km or 30 miles. For instance you could have a business in Kingston and commute from Gananoque or Napanee

You should also check out Niagara Falls:

http://www.niagarafalls.ca/economico...omprofile.html

and for some of the recent developments in Niagara Falls:

http://city.niagarafalls.on.ca/econo...ts/casino.html

Hi Iaink,

Hmm, well, ideally somewhere with a reasonable sized population, good scenery with ski-ing opportunities in winter, within reasonable distance of big cities, decent restaraunts / bars and other activities, somwhere family oriented. I like the idea of living somewhere where I can own a few acres of land, but still be within easy reach of the centre of the commmunity. Somewhere a bit multicultural. Good job opportunities (should the business plan fail!), friendly people.

I had thought of Belleville, does it meet much of my criteria anyone?

Thanks for all the help!

Hello there,

If reasonable sized population, good scenery with ski-ing opportunities in winter, within reasonable distance of big cities, decent restaraunts / bars and other activities, somwhere family oriented is what you are looking for, then Belleville doesn't exactly provide all that.

There is only one theatre nearby, Toronto is 2hrs away, if you want to call kingston a big city fine, but IMHO its not. Most places shut down at 5/6pm on weekends, in bigger cities, this is not the case, and some are not even open at all. I live in an area of about 110k, and everything is well open on weekends, and TO is only 45mins away.

Ski-ing and scenery during winter will be hard to come by, because the lakes are all frozen, and sandbanks that is one of the summer hangouts, is closed during this time. Mate...why don't you come down here for like a month during the winter time, which i believe is the best time to sort out an area, and see things for yourself.

What someone else is telling you might be different to what your family will like, and don't forget the kids, you don't want them being bored out of their minds :scared:

Don't let the forum be your last resort You asked for scenery, how about this from my part of Ontario

Reasonable size is a relative thing. Belleville is a bit of a regional center, but its not huge, certainly not as big as Kingston.

Skiing in Ontario is a bit tricky. If you are expecting the rockies think again. There are some good areas up near Collingwood..Blue Mountain etc, and a few north of Kingston(Pakenham?), but generally the keener skiers I know got to Mt Tremblent etc in Quebec, or up state NY...lake placid etc, half a days drive away. The guys at the local ski shop (College Sports) recomend Sir Sams, near Peterborough. You have to remember that in Canada people tend to drive a lot further than would be considered normal in the UK, partly because its a huge country, so stuff is a lot more spaced out, and partly because the roads and traffic volume make it a lot less stressfull, just set the cruise control and away you go.

Locally there is the very small Batawa skihill, which I guess is OK for learning, but not hugely exciting for experienced types. Lots of OK cross country though locally, which is what I do to avoid winter cabin fever, and the same areas are good for biking in the summer, until you get a flat and are eaten alive by the Mozzies!

If sking is going to be really important then think Calgary / Vancouver, for proximity to the rockies. Skating on the harbour is cool though, even though i suck at it!

What is a reasonable distance to the big cities? Belleville is 90 to 120 mins to Downtown TO, 2h to Ottawa, 4h to Montreal. For the amount if time I want to spend there thats close enough.

As far as stuff to do, there are a number of OK restaurants and bars (nothing like a UK pub though really, although the Winchester does have UK beer, but not the atmosphere) there is an excellent newly refurbished theater in the downtown (The Empire), several nearby festival theaters in Stirling, Cambelford, AmDram in Belleville, another professional theater in Picton, and the Grand in Kingston. Belleville also has a multiplex cinema, most of the local towns have cinemas, and there is still a drive in theater near Picton (The Mustang), which is kind of a cool throwback. Lots of good cheap golf courses keep me out of trouble in the summer, and the area is hugely popular with boaters and fishermen. Sccenery around the lake (Bay of Quinte) and the Trent valley is pleasant enough, nice lakes, rolling treed hills, but its not the jaw dropping scenery of the Rockies by any means. Sandbanks and NorthBeach are nice in the heat of summer.

After being here 6 years, I still have no idea what "family oriented" means, as far as I can tell the whole country is family oriented. In Belleville / Trenton there are all kinds of little league sports, and other activities for kids, but really it depends if there is something in particular you are looking for. I am certainly quite happy to raise my children here, although that will involve a certain amount of "Mums Taxi service", which I guess is the price I pay for living somewhere where I get wild turkeys come to my backyard.

Belleville is somewhat multicultural, but obviously not on the scale of Toronto. There is a large korean pop, and a lot of portuguese, brits, 2nd Gen Dutch etc, judging by the local adult soccer league demographics. This all tends to show up most at the waterfront and ethnic festival in July. As far as job ops go, there is a reasonable industrial base, and the market is not flooded with new immigrant as everyone tends to head to the major centers at first. I have not had a problem here, but it depends on your salary expectations. Lots of hourly jobs ($12/hr), but fewer management and technical positions, but then there are fewer applicants for them too.

Definitley a good place if you want cheap land fairly close to the center. I live in the country about 20 min drive from my work in Belleville, and have a 3 bed raised bungalow on 3/4 acre overlooking the River which cost very little. A newer property down the road is on the market now for $175k.

Really I am no in a positon to tell you if it is what you are looking for, some people would hate it. The only way to be really sure would be to spend a bit of time visiting different areas. I suspect it may be a bit too small for someone used to the conveniences of city life in the UK, as nothing too exiting happens here on a regular basis,( they still report stolen cars and snatched purses on the local radio news!) but it has everything I want, and if I want the big city I jump in the car and am there in 2 hours, and usually I am only too glad to be leaving again a few hours after that! If I just want a movie or a show and a good meal, then I can get that in Belleville.

Iain

Wow mickj - whereabouts in Ontario do you live out of curiosity? - looks nice. As far as the ski-ing goes, Im a bit of a beginner, so its not too high a priority - cross-country would probably do!

I am used to living in a Town in Scotland with a population of about 45,000, hence the desire to avoid major cities. It would be nice to be somwhere a bit more lively though, as its pretty lifeless here. The nearest City is Glasgow, about 90 minutes away, so having to travel a similar distance for big-city stuff would be no hardship.

Im planning a visit to Ontario this year at some point, probably in summer, so I can camp out in order to keep costs down. Was thinking of flying into Ottawa, and travelling through to Toronto, takig in as much of the area as possible.

iaink - thanks again for the insights. As far as salary concerns go, Im not too fussy. Im currently working as a computer programmer, but would like to try something completely different - prehaps start up my own business. However, it would be good to get some money coming in in the short term when I arrive. Do you know if it is generally fairly easy to land an hourly paid job in the Belleville area?

Again - thanks for the info.

Not a huge demand for IT here. If you want an hourly job, Stream International would probably tear your arm off if you know about computers. I have heard it described as a "high tech sweatshop" which is not encouraging, but they are a large Tele tech support center with a large (1000 + people) center in Belleville, and they support Dell amongst others. Try www.stream.com

The automotive suppliers in town also use a lot of temps from the agencies like Kellys, and often hire full time from the good ones. Obviously you need to be flexible regarding hours etc at first to get a foot in.

Picture below is a nice sunset taken from the wier about 500m upstream from me. Nice view...shitty camera!

Iain

You might want to check out the following :
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news:alt.jobs.toronto
"alt.jobs.toronto" Toronto Jobs
"carleton.jobs" University of Carleton (Ottawa) jobs listings
"hamilton.jobs"
"kingston.jobs"
"kw.jobs" for the Kitchener-Waterloo region
"niagara.jobs" for the Niagara Falls, Welland region
"ont.jobs" for Ontario
"ont.jobs.offered" for Ontario
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"tor.jobs.offered" for Toronto
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