Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

The difference with such things is the easy access to them.

Deer wandering in the garden, eagles soaring above.
Live on a mountain, yet me 10 mins from downtown.
Live 10 mins from downtown yet have an amazing viewpoint over lake, mountain, city, valley, just 5 mins walk away.
World class scenery on the doorstep.
Can [choose option sail gold ski bike] all on the same day, all within reasonable <1 hour distance. None requires an arm and a leg being donated before taking up such a pastime.
Visit wineries and eat fine foods.
World class mountain biking and golf.
Afford to buy second accomodation at a ski resort should one desire.

All this for the cost of average priced home ? None of this achieveable in the UK on an 'everyday' basis.

Rich.

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

Funny that. In the UK, they send you for conselling if you try to buy eight paracetomol. Here, I can buy enough Tylenol in one go to kill a whale.

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

Yes... lived there for 7 years... I know wales very well, I also regularly work in vancouver too...

Both have easy access to great scenery the great oudoors places with no tourists... cheap housing with fantasic views

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

Uh....Vancouver doesn't have cheap housing :confused:

Having lived in/near both and explored both I think you need less of the big green pills and more of the invisible ones :D ;)

Rich.

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

And you also missed the point I was making...

That you can achive a decent standard of living in Europe too.... If you try..

and I say Europe as its comparable to Canada in diversity and size and travel ... the UK isn't

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

I should have been more specific I was comparing Wales and lower BC whilst i wrote that piece..

The original context refered to a beach on Vancouver Island not the city its self

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

We never found outlet centres in Canada. We would buy the kids shoes and our clothing at the Ashford retail centre as well. I used to go there when I came to the Uk on business.

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

The outlet centres are often over the border..I've run across a few good ones in our travels in the States...

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

But then you've no reason to emigrate. It seems to me that moving from the UK can get one an improvement in material standard of living in exchange for a loss of cultural and geographic advantages and it can get one a one time boost in social status. It makes sense to move if housing is cheaper where you're going or if you're from the wrong side of the tracks. It doesn't make sense to emigrate (to Canada) if you're materially satisfied with your lot in the UK and not constrained by class barriers or other constraints that don't apply here. I can see that it might make sense to emigrate to somewhere culturally different from the UK for the experience even if it meant a lower standard of living but Canada, no, the difference is just arguing over football vs arguing over ice hockey. Canada's got to offer more consumer durables.

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

I guess for us it wan't as cut and dried .... hubby was content with life in the UK... but I lived here in Canada. ;)

Oggy

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

There is a distinct class system in BC. Those with money. Those without. ;)
What passes for the equivalent of the monied middle classes are usually denoted by racial/cultural identifiers.

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

There's a class system in Ontario too and it's a bit more complicated than just being about money but immigrants don't easily fit and the English are seen as being much the same as each other. Thus, those of us what have harsh accents and no schooling gain relative status by moving while the educated and well bred tend to lose.

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

I couldn't agree more. In my opinion this paragraph sums up the whole situation perfectly.

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

Ah well that explains my relative failure over here. I have the worst South London accent going and am most definitely from the wrong side of the tracks, but somehow got the education back in Blighty which allowed me to move in certain circles anyway....with a few exceptions. Over here, I am no different to any other educated immigrant, with the added problem of being female in a very misogynistic society.

Re: Misconception on cost of living
 

I don't know about BC but Toronto is absurdly misogynistic. Women in business but out of earshot are all either "cutie pies" or "douche bags", I'm undecided which is worse. I'm sick of hearing that paying my children's university tuition is a waste because they're girls. The fifties feel of the country is nice when one thinks of children playing out in the street but less so when one thinks of their mothers chained to the stove.