raindropsandroses

So after thinking we'd stay here in Nova Scotia forever, it looks like we'll be on the move again in the next two years

We've looked at house prices and ICBC and we're happy with those, but I was wondering about other costs of living?

Also, any regrets or advice about moving to BC?

We're not sure yet which part of BC, but husband has been offered an opportunity it just doesn't make sense for us to turn down. We've started liquidating assets, but we're looking at making the move Fall 2020 or Spring 2021.

He's been offered his choice of locations in BC (about 75% working from home, 25% site visits within BC, travel expenses paid) so pretty much anywhere with decent travel connections would be fine, though Prince George, Nanaimo and Fraser Valley are places we think we'd like from initial short listing.

We want to be within 30 mins drive of a city with more than 30,000 people, and would like a home with acreage as we do now. Schools aren't important as we homeschool, but an area with a decent variety of activities for kids would be great.

If anyone has any input I'd greatly appreciate it thanks!

rivingtonpike

Can't speak for Prince George or Fraser Valley but personally wouldn't be rushing to Nanaimo. There must be nicer places out there....

raindropsandroses

Oh really? What's bad about it if you don't mind me asking? We've only visited briefly but it seemed OK at the time. Its very hard to tell from brief visits and google.

rivingtonpike

Homelessness (although that is a problem across the Island due to the milder weather). Scruffy downtown.
Shopping good, although very strung out.

Danny B

I have never lived in PG, but I worked there for 2 weeks back in 2009 and I thought it was a miserable place to be. Especially in the winter. It was also ranked 11th most dangerous city in Canada but take that with a pinch of salt.

Fraser Valley would be nice, only 103km from downtown Chiiliwack to downtown Vancouver and 3.5hrs to the heart of Lake Country for the weekend getaways. I can't remember if it's Chiiliwack or Abbotsford that stinks, one of them has a very prominent manure smell as you drive by on the highway.

raindropsandroses

Thank you. We would be living somewhere rural, 30 mins or so from wherever we end up, but to be honest Nanaimo was somewhere we had some reservations about. We do have friends there though, so that held/holds some appeal.

raindropsandroses

Thanks, PG seems to have had quite a lot of improvement over the last decade, or perhaps that's just optimistic thinking?

Manure smell? Sounds charming! Fraser Valley does seem like quite a good spot in general though, as you say proximity to stuff sounds great.

scrubbedexpat091

Chilliwack is the one that smells. I lived there on 2 ocassions. Not really a great place in my view. I hated living there.

As for the homeless in Nanaimo your not going to escape that in any city in the Southern part of the province. Homelessness is an issue in pretty much every city these days.

Aviator

You have to be the only ones then!

Right now Chiliwack is bucking the LM trend and house prices are holding, with good potential, the city is attracting larger businesses.
Abbotsford is now way too busy, twenty years ago it was where Chilliwack is now.
Out of the two, I would still choose Chilliwack. Fairfield Island, Rosedale, Popkum are the more rural areas, southern hillsides and Sardis are newer developments, mostly smaller lots.

raindropsandroses

Thanks Jsmith, I was hoping you'd reply. What was it about Chilliwack you didn't like, if it's OK to ask?
No, I hadn't expected to escape seeing homelessness anywhere, I volunteer for our local food bank, and poverty is everywhere.

raindropsandroses

Well, when I say happy.... I meant within our parameters for comfortably affordable vs salary, expenses etc.
I was actually surprised, I thought homes in BC were a lot more expensive, but I think I'd been applying Vancouver prices to the whole of BC.
Thanks, that's very helpful. One perhaps silly question, what are the roads like in winter in the more rural areas?
I cringe asking that a bit, but I've got a decent amount of experience driving in snow/ice/arctic conditions, and I'd assumed we would be fine sticking with our current SUV and small hatchback, is that the case do you think?

scilly

PG has improved enormously in the last 10-15 years, largely as a result of a) downturn in the forestry industry, but mainly b) the presence of the university, University of Northern BC. The university was expected to appeal mainly to students living in northern BC as they would not have that fat to travel, but strangely (to the powers-that-be anyway!). more students from "away" are attracted there ..... which means a much more cosmopolitan population has resulted, leading naturally to the growth of businesses catering to that population. There are an amazing number of good coffee shops, restaurants, etc now opening up, several orchestras,amateur/sem-professional theatre, etc.

It does suffer from a "smell" ................ the pulp mill smell, which used to be described as "the smell of money".

Nanaimo and Kamloops also still have active pulp mills in or near town that can cause noxious smells over certain areas of town or when the wind is in the wrong direction.


Regarding the comment about "manure smells" ............... don't move to a farming area unless you are willing to put up with the smell of the animals, of manure, or "farm noises".

The Fraser Valley is a very fertile valley with lots of farms still in existence

scilly

[QUOTE=raindropsandroses;12631819.............
.............. One perhaps silly question, what are the roads like in winter in the more rural areas?
I cringe asking that a bit, but I've got a decent amount of experience driving in snow/ice/arctic conditions, and I'd assumed we would be fine sticking with our current SUV and small hatchback, is that the case do you think?[/QUOTE]

Many if not most roads in the more rural areas are unpaved, usually gravel. They may or may not be cleared quickly in winter, usually taking second place to the more major roads around, or the clearing might be done by locals who put snow blades on the front of their trucks.

We used to have a cabin in a very rural area in central BC, and the most common vehicle for locals was a pick-up truck, the F150 or F250 appearing to be most popular.

You might find clearing the road of fallen trees in more rural areas more important .............. even we always carried a chain saw in our Subaru Forester. It could be useful even on the paved side roads.

You are moving to a much more mountainous region of Canada than NS, with Chilliwack being at the narrowing end of the Fraser Valley and with mountains pretty close on both sides of the river. On a clear day, you can see Mount Baker, an active volcano which is just south of the border in Washington State, less than 100 km form Chilliwack by road. Being mountainous means that there are many more steeper curly roads than I've seen in most parts of NS apart from Cape Breton.

Aviator

This cover most of BC other than urban areas. Manure smells in dairy areas happen a couple of times a year, early spring and around October, for about a week to 10 days, barely noticeable, where there are greenhouses there are often lights at night, where there are marijuana greenhouses, lights and that horrendous never ending smell.
Dairy areas in BC extend from Delta/Richmond through to Agassiz and all points in between, north and south of the river.
If one wants to avoid farming areas, there are not many choices other than major urban centres in BC.

scilly

Or the top of one of the many mountains!

I'd restricted it to the Fraser Valley because the previous comments re manure smell were about Chilliwack specifically