Animal

Hi all,

I am currently in Vernon BC on a 2 week recce with my family after 'landing' last week (I'll post of my experiences when we get back).

Anyway, we were concentrating on the Okanagan region and been here ,Penticton & Kelowna. Out of the 3 we prefer Kelowna BUT whilst here i received an email from a company in Coquitlam and the VP wanted to see me.

After the 4 hour drive from Kelowna at 4am in the morning for a 1 hour meeting before driving back in the snow with roads shut, it was quite an experience

Anyway, it seemed to go well and they've asked me to apply for a specific job they had advertised and were going to open again just so I could apply.

Due to this we are going over to that area a couple of days before we return to look around. Does anybody have any ideas of where ?

I've been told Langley & maple ridge. We prefer the new type neighbourhoods. What are the schools like (15 year old starting grade 10 in September)? I'm hoping to book a hotel later on today for the 2 nights we'll be there. What about Coquitlam itself?

I've no problem with a 30 minute or so commute if it means a nicer area etc.

Any quick help would be great.

Cheers

Ian

ExKiwilass

Coquitlam is fine. It's a suburb of Vancouver. There are newer neighbourhoods in Coquitlam though it will be more expensive than Langley or Maple Ridge. Schools are good as far as I know. Coquitlam is closer to Vancouver than either of the other 2 cities.

jerry brewer

Hi
A few pointers as I see them, Coquitlam due to the job location, an easy commute makes any job more enjoyable. (It would be my choice in your circumstances ) There is in the future supposed to be a skytrain extension to coquitlam, so it could be a good choice.
Langley and maple ridge are also apparently good areas, but the commute would be longer,and highway 1 can sometimes be a bit of a problem, although they are better access if you want to go over the border to the US.
Probably others here can give you more advice, as I have only worked in the areas and used highway 1 a lot, and my info comes second hand.
Good luck with the job offer and move.
cheers
Jerry

Alan2005

What's good about Coquitlam is that you can get to places outside it quickly. The place itself is just your typical Canadian urban sprawl.

Langley looks ok in places; but I don't know much about it. I've only driven through it.

Maple Ridge is ok. It's where I live, but some parts of it I don't like. Many of the new sub divisions are your typical cookie cutter places with small gardens etc. The town centre is friendly enough, but can feel a bit run down. The pluses are the rural living without too many of the big downsides of rural living. Peace and quiet etc.

If you are working in Coquitlam, you could also consider a reverse commute from downtown.

singingringingtree

We've had a good look round that area and so far Port Moody ticks all the boxes for us, particularly north PM, Heritage Woods area. Little more pricey than Coquitlam, but go to the right bit, over the border into Coquitlam and the prices are lower.

Funky Florist

Blimey. Looks like we might be following you all the way from North Essex to Vancouver!

jerry brewer

Hi
If youre going north of Port moody, Anmore is a very nice place. Some awesome properties there, some have inside pools, and some come with back-up generators.
cheers
Jerry
cheers
Jerry

brizzle

Really the suburbs are all pretty similar. Not sure what it is you're looking for, but Port Moody and newer development areas of Coquitlam sound like they might be up your alley.

Not many people have an opportunity to live close to their work. Why choose to commute if you don't have to? The only reasons I can think for you to look at places like MR/Langley, is that you want somewhere cheaper, or acreage etc. Otherwise I can see little point. Why not look at the other side i.e. Burnaby. Not as new, but you'll be closer to downtown if that appeals.

mattieuk

I can second Anmore being bloody beautiful - if money were no limit, I'd probably live there!

For a new immigrant though, I'd have a good look around - rentals (other than basement suites) are not the most plentiful in this neighbourhood from what I've seen. Some breathtaking houses there though.

Lychee

I agree, stay in Coquitlam. Perhaps even rent a house (perhaps even smaller than you were initially expecting) in Coquitlam at first and become familiar with the community before deciding on Maple Ridge or elsewhere. I wouldn't settle anywhere until I became familiar enough with the lay of the land and the transportation networks.

Animal

Thanks for all the replies.

I won't be buying anything without renting for 6 months.

We've got nearly 3 days there so a short time to look around.

All depends on the job at the end of the day

canadian_bacon_boy

I have sent you an email to your private address so get back to me when you return.

As you know we are going out on 7th March for 2 weeks and we are staying in Heritage woods in Port Moody.

We have arranged to view 9 schools in the tri-cities area and have lined up around 10 meetings to do with jobs.

The house we are renting for our stay is owned by a realtor so we will be viewing some houses in the tri-cities areas as well. Port Moody is very nice, but a house that will accomodate a family of 4 will cost you around $800'000. That is allot for a new immigrant I feel and as such we will be looking all over the area.

The only method of transport outside of sitting in a car for hours to get down town is the west coast express which runs from early morning until 6.20pm. This is backed up by a bus service which runs until about 8:30pm.

This will change in 2014 when the evergreen line is completed which will link the skytrain to the tri-cities area. But the stations for the current west coast train run from the west to east of south end of the region, so living in anmore or heritage woods in north moody would mean a drive park up and train.

Looking at statistical data obtain from the tri-city council the vast majority of people work outside of the area and commute by car. This maybe due to coast or other habits but for me $178 for a 28 day tickets seems fine.

You could work in burnaby but the salaries my not be as high as downtown and for me the area is not even remotely as nice as coquitlam, moody and poco.

I will email on what I find when we return bu my gut feeling is that the tri-cities area is very much what we are looking for, but only time will tell.

singingringingtree

I wonder if you would mind sending me details of the realtor who has the house for rent in Heritage Woods? We are not sure whether to buy before we go or take a short rental and then look round, but that is the area we are interested in. Not planning on going for another 2 years though.

We were very impressed by Heritage Woods High School - it was the setting for the film 'Joh Tucker Must Die', so the kids loved seeing it.

ExKiwilass

Make absolutely sure the Evergreen Line is going in if you are counting on it. I don't think they have all the funding they need yet, but if they do, that's great news.

I'd be surprised if there is any difference between salaries in DT Vancouver and Burnaby. The two cities are right next door to each other. Literally. I've never ever heard of a salary differential. Burnaby has quite a few headoffices, like Electronic Arts, McDonalds etc.

Just curious - where did you visit in Burnaby? It has some very nice bits and some notsogreat bits, but then so do PM, Coquitlam and Poco.

mattieuk

Yup the Evergreen line seems to be Metro Vancouver's version of Wembley, in regards to delays and uncertainty about the thing getting off the ground. Definitely wouldn't buy anywhere, with the necessity that it gets built - although it may be of help in a few years, there is no definitive time line, and funding is still up in the air to say the least.

With regards to Heritage Woods, its a lovely place - at work I believe we have one of two strata communities on the books, and haven't heard anything negative about them at all. The only downside is the pricing. Good on you for renting for at least 6 months - there's nothing worse than buying and wanting to sell quickly as the property you have is in the wrong place for you, especially with North American closing costs!

Burnaby is definitively a city of two sides, there is some absolutely love areas, and some real seedy places. On personal preference, as a rule of thumb the business and seediness of some areas along Kingsway would definitely scare me away from living there, but where I live (Cariboo Hill) is a lot quieter, and more of a family neighborhood - likewise with some areas of North Burnaby and neighborhoods around Burnaby Mountain which I've heard is lovely to live in.