Moosemug

Has anyone moved from Oakville to NOTL? We used to live in Oakville, moved back to the UK, and are now moving back to Canada. Oakville house prices have gone crazy so we are thinking of NOTL as it has beautiful walks, cycle trails etc. but it is quieter and further from TO. Difficult to compare the two places … Any thoughts/experience anyone?

Siouxie

Will you need to commute for work anywhere? If not then there are lots of places to choose from, depending on what you like to do and the type of area you are hoping to live in.

NOTL is lovely, but full of tourists especially in the summer and is quite expensive for housing. Have you considered anywhere just outside the area, such as St. Catherines, Fort Erie, Grimsby etc., or if you like quiet, Thorold, Port Colbourne or Port Dalhousie - or further along Lake Erie to Port Dover (one of my personal favourite places)?


You could also go 'the other way' to the other side of Toronto, where housing and the pace of life may be slower / cheaper than Oakville - Peterborough, Kingston, Belleville. Brockville etc.,

Moosemug

Thank you Siouxie! Not sure if my previous reply went through so sorry if I am repeating myself! Lots of good ideas there. I haven’t heard of Port Dover, I will have to check it out. I hadn’t thought of Kingston but it’s very nice there so is a really good alternative.

I am I said

They are quite different places and where you are in your life informs which makes a better location. Oakville is for families, people with careers [& money], people who need to be able to take the children to all those things people take their children to. With a touch of public transport.

NOTL is more like Windsor [I have lived in both] but more remote. It is clogged with tourists and twee shops. If the plays of George Bernard Shaw are your thing, you will have plenty of extracurricular activity [and I do hope they keep the floors and chandeliers just as shiny as when I used to wash them as a teen...]. The Parkway is a beautiful drive, but driving at 15 km/hour behind a queue of drivers who appear to have never before seen a tree or a river gets old in a hurry. The wineries are nice, but hard to believe you would be there every week [then again...] I cannot imagine anyone moving to NoTL without an explicit reason.

If you want cheaper and still in the Golden Horseshoe [is it still called that?], consider Vineland, Jordan, Beamsville. Or St. Catharines, although the house price rises there are eye watering as well.

You will need a car in any of those places.

Moosemug

Thank you. Checking out the wineries every week. Now there’s a thought … 😁 🍷

glendem4

We moved to St Catharines North End from Toronto in 2020. We love it here. Only 5 minute walk from the lakeshore and 20 minute walk into Port Dalhousie. We have a beach to enjoy in the summer and plenty of nature walks and vineyards to visit in the fall. St Catharines has all the convenience of a big town. NOTL is lovely to visit as a tourist, but impractical as a place to live, as you would spend most of the time driving into Niagara Falls or St Catharines for groceries and other shopping activities. House prices have gone up crazy in the last 12 months. Luckily, we bought at the start of 2020 before everything shutdown. Another good feature is the micro climate in St Catharines. The weather is worse in winter If you live south of the escarpment in Welland or Port Erie. It can be sunny and blue skies near lake Ontario shoreline, but snowing and cloudy on Lake Erie side of the golden horseshoe. Oakville is great for families and those who want to commute into Toronto. With more people WFH, finding the right location to live is more important than ever.

Piff Poff

That 1st bunch of places are on my consistent searches, second set is maybe this will have to be considered as the house prices have gone mad.lol

Siouxie

I hear you on house prices - they have gone to ridiculous levels all over Ontario this year

Piff Poff

I'm hoping they come down a bit, not just gor me but for the youngsters that want to buy and also those that rent as rents have increased too.

I am I said

Somewhere off Westgate Park Drive?

DandNHill

I love Port Dalhousie. Went there just a couple of days ago for a walk. We’re currently in Hamilton and are planning our move to the Niagara region when youngest son finishes high school in 2023.
i need to be in that area due to work otherwise I would be very tempted by Norfolk County.

glendem4

Obviously, you know the neighbourhood.

I am I said

Yes, from when it was mostly fields and housing construction [insert standard text implying how much better things were back then]. The plaza with Bugsy's in it was a canning factory where mischievous young boys could source free fruit, tinned or otherwise. Or so I am told.

There are worse areas to grow up, the lake and the partly built houses were the main sources of entertainment, in any season.