I have just been offered to posts one in langley and one in chilliwack, can anyone tell me anything about these places ? Will i still be able to see the snow on the mountains

Hi

Only in Winter, except for Mt. Baker in the South. Both small Fraser valley towns, Langley is closer to Vancouver, about 55 Kms 85K pop, probably has more services Chilliwack is more farming about 100Kms from Vancouver pop 70K.
Depending what area of either both are fairly rural, with 16% seniors in Chilliwack.

I visit Langley frequently for business, and it always feels like another suburb of Vancouver to me, albeit with more open space/farmland on it's outskirts. Chilliwack is more rural and feels properly separated from the 'burbs, but if you crave city type amenities it's not a particularly quick drive to get downtown.

I would choose Langley over Chilliwack.

Chilliwack is too small and too far away from Vancouver for my taste.

Chilliwack is good if you want to be a corn farmer though.

They are both in Canada.

Lyns, old bean. Use a bit of common sense in posting on here. Or google.

Chillwack over Langley any day. When we moved from Abbotsford we looked at all communities between Langley and Chilliwack. We chose Chilliwack because it is more rural and separated from the suburbs of Vancouver. Langley does have more amenities, as well as higher congestion and mountain views in some areas, such as Walnut Grove & north of the freeway. In Chilliwack they are on your doorstep.

Property in Chilliwack is more affordable than Langley, especially the rural parts of Langley. Being a small community it has amazed me how many people know each other. Chilliwack is growing fast now with several larger companies locating here and more new sub divisions going up. It is still close enough to get to the US border (as close as Langley), shopping in Abbotsford about 30 minutes away. If commuting to Vancouver then it is perhaps a bit far out, I travel to Vancouver for business, sometimes several times a week, but would not want to do it everyday. Other than that we very rarely go to Vancouver, on the few occasions we do the drive is not that bad.

If you have not been to either community, I would suggest visiting to see for yourself and talk to people who actually live in the communities you are considering.

This is our view.

The 'Wack is very much small town rural, though it has a surprisingly pleasant downtown core. In addition to everything said above, it is also a very religious town. My OH sells in antique shows. In Vancouver customers buy all day on Saturdays and Sundays. In Abbotsford, Sunday mornings are dead because everyone is in church, but Sunday afternoon is good business time. In Chilliwack Sunday mornings are dead too. Sunday afternoons are crowded, but it's lousy for business. Everyone leaves their wallets or purses at home because it's sinful to buy and sell on the sabbath.

Langley is mixed urban/rural. It is being heavily developed in the west and becoming more a suburb than a place with it's own identity. It is also becoming more culturally diverse. Chilliwack is just a little too far from civilization for my taste, so I would choose Langley. However you might love Chilliwack to bits so, as Surrey Expat recommends, you need to visit and see.

Surprisingly Abbotsford is considered a more religious community than Chilliwack. I don't think religion has much to do with people being cheap though. The malls are packed on Sundays.

We don't all fit into this stereotype either!

Langley (Walnut Grove):



Langley (township):



Langley (Fort Langley):




Chilliwack:







Neither would be particularly described as cosmopolitan or attractive to people craving urban lifestyles, but Langley is closer to Vancouver. It also has the beautiful Fort Langley townsite and national historic site. Langley was very rural but now has a lot of urban sprawl. Some would deem the place characterless, but at least it's cheap - mostly young families who can no longer afford houses in Vancouver and immediate suburbs are moving further out to Langley. Lots of big box stores along the highways.


Chilliwack has a rich agricultural history. It's surrounded by farmland and the smell of cow manure can be strong in the summer months. The demographic is more white and Christian than anywhere else in the area (Abbotsford wins the bible belt title but has a significant Sikh population that Chilliwack lacks). Abbotsford is much larger than Chilliwack and it's located a short drive west of Chilliwack, while Langley lies further west of Abbotsford.

If you're living in Chilliwack, you're not going to be venturing into Vancouver often, so I hope you enjoy big box retail. However, you do have the benefit of being the last large community in the Fraser Valley before you hit the mountains to the east, so vacationing in and around the mountains are much more immediately accessible.

Note that Chilliwack has worse air quality when the winds blow all the smog from Vancouver and the suburbs eastward where it collects at those mountains in those photos (the mountains act as a basin). It then sits over Chilliwack as a brown haze.

So, present company excepted of course, if you are good God fear’n folk, drive a big pickup truck, like country music, are worried that Stephen Harper is dangerously left-wing and think a partially restored ‘72 Mustang makes a perfect front yard ornament (and have a strong chest), you'll be fine in Chilliwack.

Contrary to what some might say, Chilliwack is not full of 'big box' retailers, although there are some and there is plenty of good quality shopping throughout the valley. The only time we went shopping in Vancouver was for some high quality furniture, could not find it, then tried Coquitlam, Surrey, Langley, ended up finding what we wanted in a family run business in Chilliwack.

Hope is at the end of the valley and gets the worst of the air pollution. This is where the valley narrows and then splits up the Fraser Canyon and out to Princeton.

As I have mentioned earlier, before deciding on any community it is best to visit, talk to people who live there and make up your own mind.

Chilliwack area yesterday. And we got some snow in the mountains, where it belongs.

As I've said before - not sure if it was on this thread or another - Chilliwack is a great community, has everything I want, and we are planning on retiring there when we get our house sold. I've spent lots of time there, having had a trailer at Cultus Lake for many years. I've never before heard it referred to as "The Wack" and sure hope that phrase doesn't catch on. The aerial views are good, and one looks like it was nicked from the website of the company I worked for! Buying out there now would be a good investment, I believe. But as was already said, you have to visit these areas yourself and make up your own mind. Good luck.

Unfortunately 'The Wack' it is - my teenager & friends calls it this all the time, ugh!

Hope you were not thinking my pics were 'nicked' ? They were taken yesterday, processed last night and posted today. If you know anyone looking for pics, always willing to talk fees.

nothing useful to add but I would love to live somewhere called "chilliwack"

"where do you live ?"

"CHILLIWACK!!!"

Anyhoo, joking aside, Chilliwack is in some very pretty country. This is Chilliwack Lake. It is my desktop background, and the reason God gave us 4 wheel drive.