alcat2010

Well its something my wife and I have thought and spoke about alot, but the run down / drinking culture is not just a glasgow thing.. it scotland / uk wide.

Now I do know we could find a decent enough area / street to live, and get on with our own lives, but it seems to us no-where is untouched by the 'mentality' of the british culture.
And its our little girls upbringing we are thinking about.

For example, we have not long returned from a holiday in BC, where we spent the day in Stanley Park. We noticed quite easily that the facilities provided for families/children in a public park were far superior to anything we know here.
On a sunny day in glasgow/ surrounding areas, beautiful as it can be with scenery etc, the parks seem to attract a never ending hoard of idiots. ruining it for decent people.
Basically we feel the idiots are in a majority in UK, minority in Canada..

In my (ok somewhat limited experiences) in Canada, the people in general have a healthier respect for there country/ family life / facilities provided..

And after all that..... we wont know until we try. And were willing to give up our relatively secure careers to give it a go... for our daughters sake...

christmasoompa

I strongly disagree with this, it's not UK wide. There are plenty of lovely areas in the UK where you won't get that kind of mentality, I've certainly never experienced it and have yet to see a 'yob' or 'hoodie'! In fact, the only crime I've ever experienced was when I was living in Canada.

Now I do live in a fairly affluent area (Berkshire) but surely a more rural area of Scotland would give you something similar?

__TJ__

We have a nice house, good schools, and friends and family in the uk. We also have a crippling mortgage (over extended then, oops recession) and dh is totally undervalued at work where despite huge profits the company is cutting wages and conditions.
We don't know if Canada will be better or worse, we do know it will be different, and right now that's why we are going.
Only you can decide if it's right for you, good luck.

dbd33

[QUOTE=lmartin999;9487157] At the Harvey's at Jarvis and Gerrard they keep an appliance behind the counter for grabbing troublesome customers and steering them out of the door without having to get near them. The fear is that the customer will bite or stab the staff with a needle. I got used to seeing the appliance and thought of it in that context. It was years before I realized that it was originally designed for raccoons. The staff are from Ethiopia, it must be some tough in Ethiopia as they seem to think that dealing with crack crazed lunatics for minimum wage is a better life (children not mentioned).

It's all about where you come from, perhaps that would be better than Glasgow.

ireland2canada

[QUOTE=dbd33;9488335] <snort> I like Glasgow. I used to want to move there, for the peace and quiet.

dbd33

Yeah, I know. And, of course, the hooker Harvey's is a couple of hundred yards from the lovely cactus house and dog park. It's half a mile from those delightful but expensive streets in Cabbagetown. Selective observation, innit, just as offered by the Glaswegian.

alcat2010

If the UK is such a great place, why did you go to Canada in the first place? Im presuming you did live there?
You might live in a nice area in Berkshire, lucky for you, but do you have any idea what some Glasgows 'schemes' are like? And that type of thing IS uk wide.
But the rural areas in Scotland you refer to, nice to look at and spend a weekend in, offer very little in terms of opporrtunities for kids..

As for you never coming across a yob or a hoodie in the UK?..., I find that very hard to believe, but if it is true then Im afraid to say you must have lived a very sheltered life... again, lucky you..

There is obviously a 'for' and 'against' on the subject of emigrating away from your home country, which could be argued till you are blue in the face, but the fact is thousands and thousands of people each year give it a try, and on the whole I would say it is to better their lives...
It works out for some, it works out a negative for others.

At the moment my wife and I are in the 'for' category...

Thanks for your input to the topic, it is am opinion forum after all.

dbd33

Where do you think the poor in Canada live? In the projects, that's where, same as in Scotland.

What do you think kids do in rural Canada? Meth or Oxycontin, that's what. Same as Scotland.

christmasoompa

Because my husband was transferred with work, we weren't unhappy in the UK.

I've only been to Glasgow once, and can't comment on the 'schemes' thing, but I was just disagreeing that everywhere in the UK is overrun with yobs and crime - plenty of fab areas out there still.

OK, so somewhere else in the UK then i.e. Norfolk or Shropshire. I just meant that there are quieter, peaceful areas in the UK without the things you seem to hate about Glasgow, and it's not always necessary to spend tens of thousands and move halfway across the world to find it. There are various forum members on here who freely admit they wish they had just moved elsewhere in the UK instead of uprooting their kids to move to Canada. Just putting across a different point of view, that's all.

Not sheltered in the slightest. Lived in Oxford, Birmingham, plus various other places in the UK, but never experienced crime or a yob here, nor have any of my friends or relatives. We're all mystified by the hoodie culture the Daily Mail bangs on about!

I'm not disagreeing with your decision, you have to do what you feel is right for your family. I'm just always intrigued by those that cite negatives about the UK as their reason for leaving it, that's all.

cheeky_monkey

Pretty much describes a lot of towns and cities in Canada...minus the pubs of course

iaink

I was offered a job out of the blue, and with it came more money. I had no wife and kids or other ties to worry about back then, so I figured "why not". I didnt dislike the UK particularly, other than I couldnt afford to get on the housing ladder. I never really thought much about Canada, and only spent 2 jetlagged days here before accepting the opportunity.

That was 13 years and 2 kids ago now. I guess I like it here and everything has worked out pretty well. For me the cliches about lack of crime and stress, more space, 4 real seasons etc are all true. Much as I like to visit the UK now and then for some decent pubs and some history, and to catch up with family, Canada is home now.

BristolUK

That's pretty much me too...except instead of the job, I was offered the wife and kids.

Work was becoming more and more irritating and I was of a mind to pack it in, maybe in about 4 or 5 years time, sell my terraced house (managed to buy before the booms) and live modestly in Spain on small pension and capital.

I happened to meet a Canadian, it went from there and now I live modestly but comfortably in Canada instead.

So starting out perfectly happily in the UK, with no axe to grind (other than the job) I'm not oblivious to the huge differences in levels of unsocial behaviour and the other offputting stuff.

I never thought much of it when there but it just seems more obvious now when I see practically nothing of it.

It's like in the movies when someone says "Hear that?"
"What? I don't hear anything."
"Exactly. It's so quiet."

You don't know how "noisy" it was before.

izzi81

I'm another one currently in Glasgow and looking forward to leaving! My partner and I live in Glasgow, having both grown up in more rural areas, and we want to get back to a more rural lifestyle. Now I know there are rural places in the UK, and there are many rural areas in Scotland which are amazingly beautiful and where I would love to live. But the problem is employment. They are a long way from towns, and the transport system is such that it takes a while to get to a substantial town.

We hope to go to Nova Scotia, where we (hope we) can have the rural life we want and yet be not far from a lovely town, and also not far from a lovely city. The roads are big, and so quiet in comparison to central Scotland!

I also agree with wanting to escape the ned culture of Britain/Scotland. I am tired of unruly kids, vomit on the pavement, litter everywhere, the 'f' word as every second word I hear, alcohol as the main source of entertainment, the complaining attitude. I know I can find these in places in Canada, but our intention is to move to somewhere they are not!

My biggest worry is just the leap into the unknown... it might not work. But it's worth a try! Oh, my other worry is the cheese situation. From what I've heard it's not good...

I think we could have a living in Glasgow support group lol....

MikeUK

Just as a reference point

I would rather live in the Shiity end of Glasgow than live in the shitty end of Toronto! (read also Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary)

I spent many a nights drinking in Glasgow after working in the Tennents brewery, Drunk they may be, unpleasant certainly, itching for a fight defiantly, but the odds on carrying a small automatic pistol small !!!

There are many places better in Canada than where you’re coming from, what you need to consider is that there are places here that are worse than the shittiest dumps in Britain too..

Pick your locations with care


I married a Canadian and then followed a job here..

izzi81

I don't doubt there are nasty areas of every city... but I have to say shootings are on the increases here, plus they don't need guns here because they're quite happy to stab you with a knife, machete or samurai sword!!

We are definitely choosing where we want to live carefully, so whatever issues we may encounter at least they won't be the same ones as here