London, Ontario Feedback request
 

We will be in London, Ontario from 15-20 September looking at properties and figuring out where we would like to live. We are looking for a ranch property with 3 bedrooms in the $400K range. A lot of our searches keep pointing to Westmont/Byron area. Does anyone live in this part of London?

What other areas would you suggest?

We are a couple in our mid 50s with dogs.

We are looking for an area good for dog walking, but close to amenities like shops, Vets, Doctors, Dentists etc.

My wife, Canadian, will look for a part time job in Finance and I will be at home taking care of our animals and looking for a 12-16 hour a week job just to get me out the house. I have worked in I.T. for 30+ years, but I am willing to turn my hand to anything. I will probably volunteer initially. So if you know of any organization that needs help, please let me know.

If anyone is available to meet up when we are there, that would be great.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

I know nothing about London except that it's to the west of me on the 401. So I just dropped by to say hi.

Are you moving from England or another part of Canada?

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

My sabbatical in London ON was what inspired us to emigrate to Canada! When deciding where to live, remember that getting from one end of London to the other can easily take 30 mins or so - so bear that in mind when you decide where to live! There's quite a bit of snow there in winter, too.

The Byron area sounds like it'd be good for you - plenty of walks by the river! We like the north and the "old North" area - north of Oxford Street too. North of Gibbons Park (Talbot Street etc) is quiet and there are good walks in the park and by the river, (you can walk down to Oxford street in the park, and a path then goes further south) though a few student houses are there too. And there's a huge swathe near Fanshawe between Wonderland and Highbury which is worth a look. (Masonville mall is large, and there are plenty of food shops nearby.)

Decide whether or not you want a condo, too. (These are houses/ranches - not just flats in tower blocks.) Condos have the advantage that someone else looks after the gardens, snow-clearance etc. - plus outside maintainance of the property. People who go to sunnier climes during the winter find this handy. If so, check out the monthly condo fees when buying - they vary enormously! And there are restrictions on what you can do.

realtor.ca lists pretty much everything - you can narrow it down to single storey and choose price bands, and the map shows you what's available.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Thanks Collie. We will be staying in an AirBnB renting house in the Old North area on Epworth Ave just 20 minute walk from Gibbons Park. We will definitely have a look around the area you mentioned. Nice to see 40 properties on realtor.ca with open houses today. is that the norm to have an open house on a Sunday?

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

I live in London, ON. I can tell you the area you're looking at (depending on where you ultimately end up) is quite leafy/green and quiet. You'll be right next to a really nice park (Springbank Park) which has it's own dog garden and several walking paths which take you right down the Thames. I believe there are several vet offices in close proximity and you won't be too far off from the local A&E (Victoria Hospital) or urgent care (St Joseph's Hospital).

There are many shops close by but the immediate vicinity is quite disappointing (shopping wise). Expect to drive if you want to get anything substantial done. The closest area (and I mean "round the corner") with any commercial activity would be Wharncliffe Rd - which is dated, dubious and a bit desolate. Up the road you'd get into the city centre which is a lot more pleasing to the eye. There are (obviously) large supermarkets dotted all over London such as Walmart, Sobey's, Costco etc. where you'd probably get most of your weekly shop done. Masonville Mall and the surrounding area are also very good. That's another area you may wish to consider as can get quite leafy and quiet there too and there are several parks sprawling through the suburbs.

The most painful thing about London is how incredibly dull it is. I'd describe the urban areas as a bit of a concrete jungle. Expect little to no culture and a robotic going-through-the-motions society. That said, I'm 28 and so my idea of a thrill is notably different from maybe what an older person might enjoy. There are also lots of students (Western University) and snow, lots of snow. I echo the above sentiment that you may wish to consider a condo as you don't have to deal with a lot of nonsense during the winter.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Thanks for the last comment. At 28 We would find Bournemouth dull, but at 55 we love it. The days of going out drinking and partying are long gone. Being both vegans we don't tend to dine out much. We love nature and the quiet life walking our dogs through leafy parks or forest walks.

For convenience we just need shops that sell the essentials. We prefer to eat local produce, so would be interested to find farms markets.

If you know any condo ranch properties that match our criteria, we would be interested kto hear.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

I absolutely understand your sentiment on the age and dullness factor. London is truly jam packed with parks and walkways so you will find no shortage of such areas wherever you live. Another area you may wish to consider is Masonville. It is mostly a residential suburb but isn't far off from anything in London and home to the Masonville Mall and Masonville Animal Hospital. It's more on the expensive side and expect to pay around 500K for the type of home you are looking for - it will be extremely safe, quiet and in close proximity to everything imaginable however.

If you're looking for organic produce, you're definitely in luck. The downtown area is hosts a huge indoor farmers market. FarmBoy (a chain) is also all organic and sometimes locally sourced. There are also several mom and pop style stalls all over London.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by ranch property. The common definition would mean large land area for raising cattle and so on. If so, you wouldn't find anything like that in Masonville or even in central Westmount. Maybe in Byron. If you just mean a huge fenced garden, you'd find that everywhere but a decent property would in most cases exceed 400K.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

From what you describe, Byron may be your ideal place. The park the previous person mentioned (Springbank) is a dog walkers' paradise and plenty of dog people and related businesses around. People tend to get a "tim hortons" and gather in the dog park (separated by big and small dogs) in Springbank. It is somewhat affluent (certainly by UK standards), dull and friendly in a hands off kind of way. There are some great health food options around, being vegan is not a strange thing at all there. But be prepared to need to drive everywhere, even if you just need a pint of milk. The farm markets in the summer are wonderful, and there are several "farm boys" around (a supermarket based on a farmers market concept)
I am actually originally from London Ontario, and wouldn't mind moving back if my husband (from the north east of england) wasn't threatening to top himself if we did.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Is that on the Poets Estate?

Coleridge Close, Tennyson Avenue, Wordsworth Drive, Elizabeth Barrett-Browning Crescent, Anon. Avenue

:lol:

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

I would maybe look at renting for a while as house prices here in London have been crazy going for 50-100k over asking price. It has slowed down a little bit but I still feel the market is overheated.

Byron and Westmount are both nice places but if it were me I'd prefer to live in Byron near Springbank park. Like someone else said if you drive there's no shortage of parks/trails to walk your dogs here :)

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Thanks for the feedback. We have noticed properties selling very quickly in London. We are flying today to Toronto and will be house viewing tomorrow in London Ontario. We need to sell our property in the UK first, then figure out how to transport our 4 dogs. Renting would be the sensible option but we need too find a suitable place for our lifestyle.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Hi glendem,

My family and I moved to Strathroy which is about 30mins from London in January.
Apparently Toronto is moving to London and London is moving to Strathroy. Strathvegas as we call it has a population of about 20k and is growing fast. Housing is going up everywhere and some of it is quite expensive but also very nice as well. It is a nice enough little town with plenty of services but not the city. Far enough away from London but not to far as we wouldnt want to be in the city anyway.
In terms of getting your dogs here we did the same thing and brought our black Lab. At that time she was only 9 months old and just under the weight for transportation on our flight as we thought!! She was the correct weight but that did not include the box!!
She then was classed as freight and had to be shipped with swiss port. We went through a company called Multi cargo and found out that it was much cheaper to fly her in an air box that we purchased ourselves otherwise they were just going to rent us a crate for the journey. As long as the crate complies with air travel standards and the dog can stand up and turn around in it you are laughing. The crates are plastic with a mesh double locking wire door on the front and are easily built up and taken down. To this day she lives in her crate in our basement. Make sure you always buy one bigger than the dogs size. On the day of our travel we arrived at the airport and dropped her off at the cargo bay said our good byes and told her that we would see her at the other side (I had three very worried kids and an even more nervous wife with me).
She traveled on our flight in the hold and we even seen her coming off on the moving walkway.
The pantomime started here. It was a good 1.5 hours for us to get through immigration in toronto. After this I put my Wife and the kids on a hotel shuttle bus and went to sort our dog out. I had to collect papers from Swissport and then take them to customs at the far side of the airport to get stamped and pay MORE FEES!!! I then had to travel back to swissport with the paperwork PAY for her to be released and then get a taxi to my hotel. I spent from 7pm to 11pm before I got back to my hotel with Pippa our lab. It was an interesting experience and cost approx $300 in 4 hrs between fees and taxis. All I seemed to be told was "Welcome to Canada"!!!
Make sure you get all your jabs and vet paperwork at home before you make the move it takes a little while to get this processed.
I hope this helps you and good luck with your move.
Our dog is a part of our family so it was never an option to leave her behind.

Welcome to Canada LOL

Regards

Farmboy

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Thanks for the feedback on transporting your dog. I "landed" yesterday at Pearon airport. now have PR status. Took less than an hour from landing to go through immigration, get my welcome to Canada pack, issued a social security number, complete goods to follow and pick up luggage. Wow ...... We were impressed with the smooth process.

Half my luggage is clothing for Autumn an now we find the next 10 days will be like summer and 25c and sunny. Canada is really showing its good side.

Farmboy, if you have a spare hour, we would love to catch up with you while we are in London. We will be viewing houses today and meeting up with family on Saturday, with no fixed plans from Sunday through to Tuesday next week.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Hi glendem,

I could make something work. Apart from Golf on Sunday morning and back for the Sunday Roast I am free in the afternoon. Sorry I love my Roast Beef!!!
If you are mobile we could meet for a coffee etc nearer my location if that works.
Perhaps if my wife wanted to go for a walk around Masonville. Its her favorite commercial escape after a week cooped up at home. It like a little taste of the high street at home for her!!!

Let me know what works for you

send me a PM

Regards

Farmboy

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Hi Farmboy, we are going to Masonville today to get a local sim for our phone. We plan on driving Around Byron on Sunday and go to a few open house viewings. If it is ok with you we could drive to Strathroy and meet up late Sunday afternoon or give you a call. Just let us know what suits you best?

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Farmboy, l have just PM my contact number here in London, Ontario

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Hi glendem I just replied.

we are good for tomorrow. Hope to see you then.

Regards

Farmboy

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Quick update on our property search in London, Ontario.....realtor.ca is a great site to find open house viewings. Most viewings are 2-4 pm at the weekends. We walked in and saw 4 different properties in less than 2 hours on Saturday. Gives you a quick way to view without arranging appointments.

We spent Friday afternoon with Stephanie Martens looking at 6 ranch style homes. The first house on Kristina crescent was beautiful downstairs, but the bedroom configuration was all wrong for us.... Odd shaped rooms.
http://www.homesinlondonontario.ca/property/607481/

We travelled all around London and learnt EOA - East of Adelaide was not the best location for properties. We can highly recommend Steph. She is very helpful and informative and really takes her time with clients. If you want her details PM me. I will add links to the properties of interest below.

From what we have seen, Oakridge and Northridge areas look the best choice.
1035 Mahogany road in Oakridge http://www.homesinlondonontario.ca/search/details/7w7/4/
1320 Rideau Lane in Northridge http://www.homesinlondonontario.ca/search/details/8qg/2/

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

One thing to remember - look at the length of your driveway. Because you'll be shovelling snow off it for 5 months of the year!

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

:goodpost:
Not just the drive and length. Worth considering if you can make a path from the drive to the door without necessarily doing the full path from the sidewalk too.

And is the driveway wide enough to push snow to the side and still have room. It's surprising how much 'narrowing' there is from accumulated snow.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

For those that don't want to sign up to homesinlondon - here's the Realtor.ca links

https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/S...Ontario-N5X1X4

https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/S...Ontario-N6P1J9

No longer on Realtor - https://www.homechannel.ca/listing/1...on-Ontario.cfm

:)

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

I like the side splits so my favorite is the first one 😁

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

I know they're in Canada but, still, aren't the kitchens in all of them horribly dated?

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Yes, we were disappointed in the quality of the kitchens seen. We will probably install a new kitchen when we find the right property.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

No idea about how dated they are. They look like virtually all the kitchens I see in so many listings. But then just about every room looks the same as any others.

They're all wooden/laminate floors and plain walls.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

When you have the original 1950's kitchen, complete with a total of 2 upper and 4 lower cabinets, they don't look so bad!

:D

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

This is the kind of bright, cheerful, modern for Canada, kitchen those places deserve:

3 bedroom flat for sale in Hornsey Lane, London, N6, N6

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

I love those kind of places. You can rip everything out and make it look fantastic!!

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

I wouldn't know where to begin with that kitchen. It would put me off. That's if the outside hadn't scared me away.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

All you need is...

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Latest update on our recce around south west Ontario.... We visited St Thomas and Strathroy on Sunday and decided both towns were not for us. Both towns are spill overs from London. Not enough facilities to support our needs. We would frequently have to drive into London to shop for clothes, furniture and culture events. Driving 30-35 km into town in summer is ok, but in the depths of winter we don't know long it would take. One thing we have discovered....it takes ages to travel anywhere with speed limits of 80km per hour on local roads and 50 km in town. Traffic in and around London during rush hour is very busy and we try to avoid traveling between 7-9am and 4-7 pm.

On Monday we drove to Kitchener/Waterloo and then visited Guelph. Down town Kitchener was ok, but the modern and upscale Waterloo area had more street appeal. Property prices were on average 50-100k more expensive than London for the same size of house. The closer you get to Toronto the more houses cost.

We then drove onto another university town ....Guelph. Down town area was more to our taste and we discovered a craft beer pub called the woolly that reminded us of pubs in the England. Guelph has a large shopping mall called stoneyroad mall, just 5 minutes from downtown, where you can get everything, similar to masonville mall in London. Guelph and south west London appear to be our favourite places so far.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

A number of posters here are familiar with the Wooly. The same people run a more formal restaurant out in the suburbs south of town; that's next to office of the vet we use for the cats and dogs. We lived in Guelph for a couple of years and still work there so if you have a question about the town please ask.

I think that the attractive thing about Guelph is that, while it's a university town with all that entails, it also has a fair amount of industry; while there is definitely an affluent hippy/hipster air to the place (six shops in the core selling only cupcakes with affected names) there are also practical shops and facilities. I expect, like me, you rushed into Bolts Plus on first sight. The university has a veterinary school, it's the place to get a pacemaker for your dog, and so, oddly, there's a horse hospital almost in the centre of town.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Great to hear about the vet options in Guelph, as we have dogs. Just to wet your whistle, here are the real ales on tap at the Wooly...... http://www.thewoolypub.ca/our-menus/now-on-tap

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

I'm in a rut with that place, always Arkell.

One weak spot with Guelph is that there's no reasonably sized off leash dog park. The official one is beside the Hanlon Expressway, that's ok, if you don't mind driving to the park and have a dog that can be reliably recalled; the area is huge and the fence porous. It's usual to see off leash dogs in the park by the river (100 yds south of the Wooly) and in Exhibition Park. The latter attracts very many dogs.

What I can say about Campus Estates Animal Hospital is that we chose them as a vet when we lived in Guelph because they offer 24 hour service. We now live 45 minutes away so for vet appointments we drive home from working in Guelph, back to the vet, passing umpteen other vets, and home again. It's a group practice offering consistent service from all of the vets we've seen. We moved from Guelph 4 years ago so have been using them for about 7 years.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Hi,

Don't want to hijack your post but we are also thinking about London (having originally considered Toronto / the GTA) so wondered what people thought of it as a place to raise a family. I am English (38), my wife is Canadian (33) and we have children who are 3 years and 4 months old. Currently living in Nottingham and hoping to move in April / May next year.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

London is very family orientated with lots of trail ways to cycle on. London is a 6th of the size of Toronto, a bit like comparing Notingham with London UK. There are lots of 2 storey family homes going up all the time, so if you want a new build you will be spoilt for choice. This all depends on your job situation, which is a big factor. For us, we do not need to work full time. We would be happy with a part time job and taking the easy life with our dogs.
If you would like more info on London just send us a message. We will be in town until tomorrow,then we will move onto Toronto for a week before flying home. So far, London has ticked most of our boxes.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

My daughter has lived in London for the past 6 years (first as a student at Western and now working there) so I've been up and down like a yoyo in that period spending anywhere from a weekend up to 2 weeks in the place at a time.

London is an enigma to me. My wife hates the place and wants our daughter to move. Much of the east side looks run down and poor. There are lots of homeless people and unsavory looking characters in and around downtown. Richmond St has some good bars and restaurants but part of it is an eyesore full of the shady characters mentioned above. I've never felt unsafe as I do in some US cities but it's something to be aware of.

At the same time, London can be a good place to raise a family as there are good areas to live in. It is a green city and there are lots of parks and trails that I have gradually discovered over time. And people do use the river in places for fishing, kayaking, etc.

Traffic can be horrendous and the public transit system is really not up to scratch. My daughter doesn't have a car and finds the bus system confusing at times (e.g. a bus route will change depending on the day or time of day) and unreliable. She uses Uber a lot.

The university (Western) and other colleges are a big part of London. Probably want to make sure you're not living in an area full of students. It could get noisy and irritating or worse - speaking from experience.

Oh, and it rains - a lot.

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

We have been in Toronto since 20 September looking at places within an hour of downtown. After much thought we have decided London Ontario is too far from our family in Toronto. Also, we have decided to rent for 12 months while we figure out long term where we want to live. We have looked at renting in St catherines near Niagara and Newmarket to the north of Toronto. Our favourite area is Don Mills, north east suburb of Toronto. It is possible to rent a house for $2500 per month on a green tree lined street. Long term, we are thinking of buying around Barrie, which is only 60 minutes from Toronto and there is a GO train link into town. House Prices are still reasonable in Barrie. Equivalent properties in GTA are twice as expensive compared to Barrie. I will start a new thread on Barrie soon......

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Just a word of warning. A few posters on this forum have little good to say about Barrie.:sneaky::sneaky:

Re: London, Ontario Feedback request
 

Define 'few' and does he say anything nice about anywhere? :rofl: