thundercat600

I've been looking through a few houses on Point2Homes and come across Orangeville (and surrounding areas).
I've had a browse thru the town website and it's quite appealing to me, small but seemingly plenty to see and do.

Does anyone have any personal experience of this town/area or can give any advice on whether it's not too bad or whether we should stay clear?? (i appreciate everyone's views of places are their own and people differ in opinions, but all info gladly received!)

many thanks in advance, Kristi

cov-canuck

Not a ton of experience - I went on a site visit to Orangeville's medical clinic for work in December. It was a VERY small place, parking looked to be a bit of a nightmare, but it was quaint and cute. I can certainly say that their medical clinic is top notch, very modern and well-equipped, and they have good links with the local hospitals.

Madmac

I think Dbd33 lives out that way somewhere? He might be able to give you a few pointers?

I worked beside a few people in Guelph who lived there and they seemed to like it. Half way between Toronto and Georgian Bay though it does seem to get cut off in the Winter.

Good luck.

thundercat600

thanks for the quick response.

i currently live in a small village in middle england with around 2000 residents, 3 pubs, a post office, church, chapel and a village hall, so orangeville would definitely be a step up in community size at least!

we'll be taking alook when we go out in october, but always nice to get personal views too

dbd33

I drive through the edge of it on my commute. We also go there as it's the nearest place with a Home Depot, TSC and large grocery stores (we go to Zehr's but it also has all the common ones except Costco, the nearest is in Brampton). You can get an idea of the surrounding area by the fact that we also go there because it has the nearest tack shop which, alas, is run by a dreadful woman from middle England who regards herself highly. Such people are common in Orangeville, it would not be a good place to be black or to be in search of foreign food. otoh, if it's meat and potatoes you want there are several good restaurants serving that in high style. The Liquor Control Board store in Orangeville is unusual in always stocking Fullers' products. In terms of attitude think English market town pre-Beatles, it was an Orangeville resident who recently said to me, of driving in Toronto, "I often see darkies on the road there, I aim at them". One would hesitate to boom out such sentiments in a public place in Toronto but not in Orangeville.

The core of the town, Broadway, is almost pedestrianised and very pleasant. There's a conservation area (Island Lake) bordering the town, it's undeveloped but you can sail a dinghy or rent a canoe. There's an area of houses I think called "Island Lake Estates" on the edge of the lake which is a 1950s American style suburb in the manner of Oakville or southern Mississauga; big houses, many in ranch style, with lots of trees and access to the conservation area either over the fence or at the end of the street. You can still get an impressive house there for $450,000 or so.

Much of the rest of Orangeville is recently built and consists of some of the most squalid subdivisions imaginable, they're either called something confusingly like "Island Lake Estates" or named for whatever was bulldozed in order to throw them up. At the corner of highways 9 and 10 is a new development in council house style which makes me fear for the fate of mankind, it has the aesthetic appeal of downtown Niagara Falls. otoh, if semi-rural living appeals, Orangeville is in horse country and there are some beautiful period and new houses either part of farms or on rural lots severed from farms. If considering one of those choosing a property on a paved road would be prudent.

If you have already heard of Frankie Chesler-Ortiz then Orangeville is definitely for you. If not, it's a largish town, about to subsumed into the exurbs with most of the basic facilities including an English style pub (accessible only by car!). I get the Orangeville (free) paper delivered and, as I say, I pass there every day so, if you want to know something specific I can find out for you.

If you want to know what you get for around $300,000 just north of Orangeville have a look at our blog.

julius smith

the comments about "darkies" are a bit weird coming from those people staying in orangeville--i mean, who are they to say who is a darkie and who is not! the cheek of it! they take over the darkies' country and still have the pig-headedness to shout out aloud about their racist views.
and i dont know what being in toronto has to do with it--does that mean that people in toronto have the same views but are too chicken to say them out loud?
doesnt surprise me tho--that kind of behaviour is exactly what goes on in the uk and you cant blame the cabbage-brained ones who have emigrated for not taking their racist ways with them!
mind you, in my short time there, i never heard anything like that at all.

dbd33

Eh? I don't think there are any aboriginal people in or around Orangeville, it's only in Caledonia or over by Quebec that anyone notices them. Much of the population or Orangeville and area came as part of white flight from the UK or from Toronto; their immediate fear is the population of Brampton moving north. The GTA is rife with rivalries and hatreds between immigrant groups but I don't think anyone much cares about unhyphenated Canadians, still less aboriginal ones.

I tend not to meet white people in Toronto. The Koreans on this block don't like the blacks or the queers but I suspect that's because they're Christians more than because they're Koreans.

thundercat600

thanks DBD
i've had a look thru your blog in the past and must admit i hadn't actually worked out exactly where you were!

orangeville and surrounds are on the list for the recce trip at least.
thanks for your input

dbd33

A scenic drive from Orangeville passing all sorts of housing:

- highway 10 north out of Orangeville, right on the road signposted to Mono Cliffs Conservation Area

- left at the end on Airport Rd

- north across highway 89 to the first traffic light, gas station with liquor on the corner, left on 10th Sideroad

- left on County Road 124, becomes 89 east

- right on Blind Line back to Orangeville

Generally, south of Orangeville is expensive well maintained horse farms, north of Orangeville, is potato farms, tractor breaker's yards and hoi polloi.

iambof

We were going to settle there before I got my job in Burlington.
Visited last year to see what it was like and loved it. The main street has everything you could wish for from banks to hairdressers. Very clean and tidy.
We were told about their winters being VERY severe due to the lake effect snowfalls. Great pub in the centre of town too serving english stuff.
Went again this year and still think it's a really nice place.
Oh and the main car park in town is big and free because the meters are broke (and were last year too).

Hope this helps.

dbd33

We've only been there for one winter but we're a fair ways north of Orangeville and the few locals who don't winter in the US said there was an exceptional amount of snow. I wouldn't say the weather overall was very severe but I was glad that I swapped the Mustang for a New Beetle; I think it's important to have a suitable (fwd) vehicle for the winter in a rural area.

I would look for a place on a paved road, the ploughing in Dufferin County is excellent but they only do the major roads. I'd also think about how much driveway you want to have, if it's at all long you'll need some sort of machinery to clear it and there can be quite a lot of snow. The picture is of our driveway on a day that didn't warrant clearing, to the left of the central tree is the phone connection box with a marker sticking up above it to mark it's location under snowdrifts; note that the marker thing is four feet above the two feet of the phone wiring box.

Last winter there were two days on which I didn't bother trying to get home from the office (I averaged one when I took the GO train from Port Credit) and there were several more days when the roads were closed but I went anyway. I'm not sure of the local custom as regards road closures, one time I was on the way to the Beer Store and realized that I'd just come through a "Road Closed" barrier the wrong way, I bought the beer and went back nervously looking for cops; I didn't see any but I did see several other cars that had obviously passed the closure signs. I suspect the local people don't worry about the closures, they just turn on their flashers, put one wheel on the gravel and feel their way forward.

It gets cold, and it's a damp chilling cold, don't believe the hype! The rule of thumb for horses (in metric, shock horror) is that they shouldn't stay out if it's colder than -15 or if there's freezing rain. The neighbours reckon to have bring the horses in twenty or thirty times over the winter. Still, the winter's miserable everywhere, at least in the country the snow looks nice.

clynnog

Unless, my Ontario road map is out of date, you must somewhere near Primrose, Ontario. Have you ever been to the Mono Cliffs Inn?. A great pub and restaurant run (at one time) by a crazy Aussie with quite the penchant for nice wine and beer?

dbd33

Passed it. Never been in. Could likely remedy that this evening!

Souvenir

The same applies to small children.

dbd33

And nudists.