Jo Nicho

Thanks for all your replies, I am leaning towards Kingston at the moment. Although Brockville looks gorgeous - but a little small maybe!! Had a look at some of the ski resorts in New York state and Quebec, and they look OK!!

And yes - a trip, or reccie - as they seem to be called is a good idea. We have now reluctantly decided to save up for a home exchange trip next summer and then come over - all being well - in 2011!! Me thinks we were getting carried away with ourselves - you all speak good sense!!!!

And yes York (England), and Yorkshire are gorgeous, and if we could choose anywhere in the UK to live it would be here, but we feel that Canada can offer us a different lifestyle.

We were hoping to come over on a temp work visa (husband a nurse) and were going to rent - and then apply for permanent residency - have other people done that??

Thanks again, Jo.

kirstya

My other half is formerly from York , his dad just moved from near Stamford Bridge. Myself is from Dewsbury.

We came to kelowna without seeing it first . We had other choices of places to go but having spoke to family and friends it was Kelowna or we not coming. But each to there own and we havent got kids. Kelowna is an outdoor place in an outdoor area. You just come here to play and have a long holiday (which gets interupted by the odd bits of work) . The uni campus is expanding ALOT . The hospital is currently expanding alot so should be some work there in the future. The whole place is still growing , may of slowed down in the current climate but theres still stuff happening.

now what was it i said in another post,
9 ski hills with 2hrs for the winter
200 lakes within 2hrs for the summer.

Oh yeah we here on a TWP and about to go for PR once some final paperwork is sorted.

comet555

I should also mention there is a Physchiatric hospital in Brockville, I only mention it because of the work factor. Kingston is big enough that I'm sure they'd probably have one of their own. But with the prisons around I'm sure work could be found!

Brockville is lovely, although I'm a bit biased. It's got about 24,000 people if I remember correctly. It's just the right size for me, although it certainly wouldn't be for everyone. For me Kingston was a nice 45 minute trip up for an evening out or for a day out shopping. Not something you'd do all the time but at least the option was there. I'm hoping to move back to Brockville by Christmas 2010 if all goes well (by that I mean talking my husband into it!).

Essex_Man

I just had to clarify



Brockville is dirt cheap for a really nice house.

I'm clad I didn't put you off. I try to. Overall Kingston is Small and Nice. Just was a bit boring for me. The Downtown is even decent. It's even nice sitting and having a picnic at Lemoines point....Everything is 10 but no more than 20 minutes away. There is even a Pen. That looks like Disney land castle....Kingston is whats called a Pen Town. Pen as in penitentiary. It also has lot of real old stone buildings downtown. Oh here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston,_Ontario <--read this....

Essex_Man

Oh and I'd almost forgot, you can go to wolf island for the day. the ferry is right down town.

VCox

http://forums.castanet.net/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=18749


I can relate to some of the opinions in this thread. A nice place to live in terms of what's around - scenery, surroundings, access to the great outdoors. As for the day-to-day mundane stuff, it could be better.

I'm also from Yorkshire, not far from York. Give me the Yorkshire folk, and the Kelowna climate and access to wilderness, and life would be perfect

dewdrop

I agree with kingston NOT being close to anything!!!! cities etc???

we do live closer to Toronto, but still have that small town atmosphere, for the children...and enjoy being close to one of the cities toronto...theatre, amusement parks for the children (Canada's Wonderland) skiing (blue Mountain), and the sites of Toronto...which is only 1hr tops to get too. Kingston wouldn't be my first place to pick...unless of course you have work lined up.

When my parents first immigrated here in the 70's they chose Whitby, ONtario..with commuting links to Toronto..if that's where you'll work.

good luck.

misplacedheidi

I live in Kingston and am from Yorkshire originally.
It is small City. There are only 117,000 in the City of Kingston area.
It is a nice place on the lake and was the 1st capital of Canada.

Architecture isn't bad. The rest of the stuff posted is pretty accurate. There are lots of civil servants in the town and lots of people who work for the military, university and government. Hence it is a very stable town for jobs IMO.
There are also lots of seniors here and also lots of golf courses. INdeed most of the seniors are snow birds who leave for the winter anyway.
We have 5 prisons (I think) and they are all full of bad people!

To me it doesn't particularly matter where you live. Canada is great for quality of life and most towns would be fine. The majority of humdrum child activities go on everywhere. If you have kids you meet loads of people through school/activities and these people are great. The weekends when you are not doing something (with the kids) are when you explore and to be honest, it makes very little difference if you sit in a car for 1.75 hours to Ottawa or 2.5 to Toronto. You know that you are going to be travelling to see somewhere else.

Never been to Kelowna.....
HTH

flashman

Wrong !!! Kingston is close to NAPANEE - The centre of the universe !

clynnog

and Deseronto

flashman

Yeah I forgot about Doasyawanna. Used to live there. Was a member of the Royal Deseronto Yacht Club.

kancell

hey, if you are looking for a house swap you could contact these people. the emailed us but we already had finalised a house swap to ottawa. i think they were interested in a 2-3 week swap in mid-end July. place looks lovely, and i'm sure the kids would love the pool!

http://www.1sthomeexchange.com/11895.html

if you are interested and want their email address send me a PM

comet555

Just in case anyone was interested in that little tidbit I thought I'd update that I think the physchiatric hospital is going to close in the next couple of years. So Kingston would probably be better for work in that field now.

iaink

Cant remember any forest fires in Kingston either, but then again, not sure how Kelowna is for ice storms...

kate holt

so kingston would or wouldnt be better for work in that field now it the phys hospital is going to close? im confused (.com)