ontario
 

Hi am recently starting my application to immigrate to Canada, just guiding some information on provinces, am wondering about Ontario. is Hamilton a cheaper city to live in than ottawa and toronto? such as houses/ apartments to rent? public transport? groceries.
Thank you for your time reading this

Re: ontario
 

Hi , I moved this to the main Canada area.

Short answer is; yes.

Longer answer is, there are good reasons why.;)

There is more to life than cost of living.

Re: ontario
 

ummmm Hamilton errrr yeah i wouldnt live there if you paid me. its a pretty rough town, and im from Basildon in Essex so i know rough. I went to Hamilton for a conference once and the only thing opened were payday loan shops and a strip club! even the employment office had been boarded up. and the food court in the mall the vendors used the toilet sinks to wash vegetables......nice huh! :ohmy:

pay a little more and live in Ottawa or Toronto!

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That surely dont make it a bad place doese it ? :p

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Sorry but I disagree. It sounds as if the once that you were there, the conference organizers (or perhaps your good self) made a very poor choice of hotel.

Hamilton is quite different these days to what it was 30 years ago and actually remarkably civilized.

I'd live there even if you didn't pay me.

Re: ontario
 

Probably the Sheraton - although to be fair, there's a dearth of decent hotels in Hamilton (but I understand this is changing).

Yup. I've married in to a family that's from here, links to a fair few places elsewhere, and agree with how it's continuning to improve. The bang you'll get for your housing buck here is incredible.

FWIW James St North is where the West Queen West funky creative types seem to be relocating to as they get priced out with the continuing gentrification spread... noticed this when we first moved here, and it's continuing. The monthly Art Crawl is the easiest way to see this yourself.

The downtown core really doesn't begin to show Hamilton in a good light - but it's the kind of small city that's got a lot going for it if you know where to look (and it ain't hard to find, really: just ignore the crap - and there's plenty of that in nearly every city, let alone in north America! - and it's easy to be pleasantly surprised)

Shh! Keep it down! ;)

Re: ontario
 

Haha thank you for all your information, where are the good and bad parts of hamilton? I can't find too much updated information about the place

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I'll leave this to the previous poster who clearly knows it better than I, but around McMaster is good and up the "mountain", while a bit suburban, is pleasant enough.

Re: ontario
 

Around McMaster is known as Westdale - north of Main is your best bet, some areas are a bit "student ghetto" but it's pretty easy to work out which are the student houses by upkeep ;)

Up the mountain (what the locals refer to the Niagara Escarpment as) can be OK, its a bit generic suburban sprawl though, and some parts are nicer than others. Depends what you want, though.

One are we were checking out at the weekend is around Aberdeen Ave and Locke St - some lovely places there, at the pricier end for Hamilton but still very good for what your money will get you. This area is right at the foot of the escarpment, very family/child-friendly neighbourhood (a colleague's just moved from there to Westdale as their kids go to school there and her hubby works at Mac, if it wasnt for this they'd have stayed put).

Avoid the north end, and most chunks of the east side of town (although the bits closest to the escarpment are ok, it can vary quite a bit depending on the exact area, though - but that rule of thumb should see you right, broadly speaking).

Dundas and Ancaster are two other places worth considering - pricier, but some lovely places around there. Dundas in particular has a lovely feel about it, the main street is really nice, Quatrefoil is the new swish restaurant that's getting rave reviews from the Toronto press (and telling folk it's worth the drive - this is like the Evening Standard telling people it's worth venturing o the M25 borders for a meal!) and the Dundas Valley School of Art has some decent events on throughout the year.

(BTW, if serious art turns you on, the Art Gallery of Hamilton is *well* worth checking out)

Re: ontario
 

hi trev03. i live in hamilton, and think it's a great place to be - it's certainly changed a lot in the last few years (for the better), and i think it has a lot to offer now. it's true that there are areas that are nicer than others, and it's also true that the downtown core has struggled, but one of the nice things about hamilton is that there's so much more to it than the downtown core.

i guess the best areas depend on what you're into and what you'll be doing... if you want more info, feel free to PM...

Re: ontario
 

We are also considering Hamilton as our new home :)

We will be staying with friends in Ancaster for a week, so we'll get to see how the natives live :thumbup:

I have been to Vancouver island, and driven up to Calgary on holiday, But I've never been to the East side of Canada. I fell in love with Canada when I was there, so hopefully Toronto will have a similar appeal :)

Re: ontario
 

I've been staying with my inlaws in Hamilton for 6 weeks.
The house I'm in is in a "bad" area, and some of the houses and shops are quite rundown but overall it's not that bad. It does have quite a poor vibe in a lot of areas.
Of the areas I've seen, the west side has some really pretty areas, Stoney Creek (east side) is OK and up the mountain is a noticably nicer than where we are.
There's pretty good public transport here as well. regular buses to Toronto and other area's.

But saying all that we'll be moving out of Hamilton as soon as we're settled into jobs. :fingerscrossed:

mls.ca is a good go to website for houses for sale, and you can always check google street view to get an idea of what area's are like (although the Hamiltoon pics are over a year old).

Re: ontario
 

yes, i agree.

last time i was in hamilton was way back in 2004, and it did have a run-downish thing about it then.

but many people have said that its now changed and is actually becoming a cool place to be, with some parts having changed by artsy types into the cool environment they like, bit like queen st east in toronto maybe.

at that time, i noticed there was large contingent of italians there, and obviously plenty of eateries offering italian goodies!

and yes, the mountain area is generally more nicer than all of hamilton, but house prices are of course higher.

for me? my favourite was huuuurrrrontariiiiiiiioooooo street.....!!!! just loved that name and kinda fell in love with it first time i went there for a holiday in 2000.....let me see....had madonna playing on the hire car radio....somehow it all just felt right to be there.....

stop all this misty-eyed stuff now!

;)

Re: ontario
 

i dunno much but me workin 1nce wit fella from hamiltown ontario (his names wus elvis leclerc!)......he 1nce tellins me hamiltown kinda nice, but alsoo bit like dat place inna dvd under teh volcanoe with actinman alburt finnley

Re: ontario
 

Good luck to you, but I find the notion of uprooting and moving to somewhere that 'hopefully' will work out, never having been there and on the basis that friends like it, so it might suit you too, to be a big risk.

The natives live like you'd expect - they go to work, get pissed off, come home, eat supper, worry about bills, go to bed and repeat. On weekends they try to have fun. When relatives stay they make more effort to have fun, but as a visitor you get skewed views of what life is actually like.

Don't want to rain on your parade too much, but research and determine what you want, and don't worry about what friends might have settled for.

Re: ontario
 

Thanks Rich, but we're not going into this half-arsed.

We have been dreaming of moving to Canada for over 15 years, and have researched accordingly.

Ailsa has been over to Burlington several times over the last year and loves the people and the place. So much so that we have been invited to stay with work colleagues while we research some more.

The family we will be staying with are second generation immigrants, as in, they came over with their parents when they were teenagers.

I appreciate your cautions and I agree with what you are saying, just don't think it applies to us ;)

Re: ontario
 

Thank you all very much for your replys so far, it does seam to have good and bad parts but i suppose what city doesnt? It seams well situated in ontario, all the messages recieved overall has made me more confident with the possible prospect of moving to Hamilton.

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I drive through Hamiltion often enough. It puts me in mind of the opening credit sequence of The Sopranos.

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To be fair there is a difference between passing though a place and actually living there. I know Hamilton looks pretty grim from the QEW, but then Belleville doesn't make much impression from the 401 Im sure, and its an OK place to live.

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Nobody ever does ;)

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have you even read this thread? :rolleyes:

I remember you being equally as helpfull 4 years ago when we were considering the move.

Some things never change eh?

Oh, better add another winky face, because that makes childish remarks OK... ;)

Re: ontario
 

Personally I think he had a point, its a big step to take without visiting, yes, its still "Canada" , but its 2000 miles away in a totally different province, with a different climate etc etc. Might as well be another country to be honest.

Re: ontario
 

I love that opening sequence! Must be the only serious I sat through the opning credits without fast forwarding.

Not because I love busy ports, or industry, or the odd run-down area, but because it shows in under 2 minutes, the huge diversity of a busy town, which is part of any city's heritage.

You could film that scene in almost any city in the world. Glasgow, London, Paris.

Doesn't necessarily make it a bad place to live does it? :confused:

Re: ontario
 

Err, he has just explicitly stated that his OH has been to Burlington several times over the last year and likes the place.

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Umm, maybe I forgot to write some thing on my previous posts about visiting and researching the area, because I'm getting the distinct feeling no-one has noticed that my wife has been there several times (on work, not holiday), loves it, and is taking our whole family there to reccie the place this summer.... :blink:

Re: ontario
 

Phew, not going mad then :rofl:

Thanks Novo

Re: ontario
 

Hopefully everyone likes it once they have had a chance to see it.

Has she been in the winter?

El richso point I think was simply that very few people coming over would say they hadnt done enough homework, but quite a few end up unhappy.

Re: ontario
 

Yes, she has been there during the hibernation period, lol.

We're used to cold scottish winters, so we're used to misery, lol.

Yes, I know you guys have it much worse, but you're also prepared for the weather. You're global position combined with your 250000 inland lakes makes for much snow fall (see, I do research) ;-)

I have owned a large Off-roader, of one type or another, for the last 10 years. Partly for towing cars and picking up engines, but also to ensure I can still function in winter.

This year we had (relatively speaking) pretty bad (by which I mean good) snow falls. :thumbsup:

So I jump in my Pajero, with my big chunky tyres, tow rope and winch in the back, and head through the snow to rescue my kids from school. After all, we have to close our schools in Scotland when we get over an inch of snow :huh:

Anyway, I get to the top of the road and have to turn back. The road is completely jammed with abandoned "summer cars". Why do these people think they can drive a Corsa over a foot of snow? :blink:

So, waste of time being prepared in this country, no-one else is :D

Re: ontario
 

No problem with a corsa in the snow if it has the right tires. Not everyone is unprepared but I take your point.

I dont think you can realistically compare a UK and Ontario winter, both in terms of length, amount of sunshine and fringe benefits (like skiing on the way home from work for example) Hibernating in the winter isnt a good option here, even in Ontario its too long and cabin fever will set in.

I suppose Hamilton/ Burlington will get more snow than farther along the lake just due to the geography / lake effect. I handnt really thought about it before. Where I am it doesnt snow all that often , it just doesnt melt in a few days.

Re: ontario
 

Decided there's just not enough pictures on this forum.

Here's Ailsa hard at work. You need to guess where ;)

http://www.carartz.com/other/Ailsa/niagara.jpg

Re: ontario
 

Hope she didnt park too close... you only make that mistake once I can tell you:(

Re: ontario
 

LOL, go on, what happened?

Re: ontario
 

I dont have a picture, but it was like this only about 100 times worse...

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/iaink/frain.jpg

Freezing rain is bad enough without the additional Niagara effect.

Re: ontario
 

not quite this bad though;)

http://blogs.citypages.com/gop/bad%20weather.jpg

Re: ontario
 

Oh dear. My point was that many people believe living in another country is the same as visiting when for many it is not. The comment was more tongue in cheek and light-hearted but i see you're very defensive for some reason so will leave it at that ;):p:thumbup:

Re: ontario
 

LOL, were you're doors all sealed shut?

I have a bad habit of blowing into my door locks when they freeze up. I reckon if I do that on Canada I'll need to get someone to call the paramedics, or a good mechanic to remove the door so we can all go inside to thaw out :rofl:

I'd end up being on one of those shows with dummies in ER with nails through their heads, but I'd have a car door stuck to my face.

....note to self....use de-icer, not lips...

Re: ontario
 

Remote starter was handy that day.... it took quite a while to warm up enough to be able to pull the door open. Deicer is good. not quite as good if you have to apply it to your lips I imagine... might sting a bit!

Re: ontario
 

Must be a different person from 4 years ago, I apologise.

I'm not on here to make enemies.

I do agree that holidays are different from living there, that's a given.

I could settle this whole debate by quite simply saying "we fancy a change in our lifes"

Can't really argue that one.

If it works out crap, then ach well, we gave it a shot. :thumbup:

Re: ontario
 

Holy crap! :rofl:

Why would anyone have an MGF out in that weather???

Re: ontario
 

Ill fess up that thats not Canadian ice. I believe that pic was taken near Lake Geneva... probably somebodies maids car:)

They probably didnt take it out in that weather...the weather happened while they were out;)