Island Bound

Been looking at moving to sooke on Vancouver island and have heard that sooke has a lot of native Indians living there.
Now from living in Alberta and seeing some reserves here they put the value of property down around the area and there has been some trouble.
How true is this in sooke?
Anyone's experience or knowledge of area much appreciated?

Siouxie

The Sooke region was once Native North American territory and the T'Souke Native Band is still very active in the community.

Hawk13

Haven't heard from him in awhile but try PM-ing james.mc as he lives there.

Sooke. I wouldn't say that there is a "lot" of natives there any more than Central Saanich on the Island. Property values in Sooke are lower than in Victoria because of the drive but then there are some nice ocean view, expensive ones as well. Life in Sooke is a little isolated and most people I know that live there, work there and only come into Victoria every once and awhile.

JonboyE

So was all the rest of North America.

rivingtonpike

We lived in Sooke for a while and still have friends there and visit frequently. I wouldn't say there's any more trouble with the First Nations there than anywhere else on the Island. There are lots of bands on their various reservations. Apart from downtown Victoria I don't think there's really any region that doesn't have a reservation.

I think the thing with Sooke is what you intend to do/live on a daily basis. If you are retired and can meet most of your daily needs from a small shopping mall with a mid(ish) sized supermarket (check out Village Food Market and Western Foods), some nice cafe's, a marina and usual amenities, then it's a nice place to live. Beautiful beaches, views, walks, wildlife etc. However, if you have to commute on a daily basis into Victoria, say, it's a pain and time consuming. The other consideration is that the schools aren't considered particularly good by those parents we know there. They mainly choose to put their children into some sort of private schooling.

House prices are certainly cheaper than other more central areas and as has already been posted, this reflects the travel time into the larger urban areas. If you are perhaps looking for a compromise, take a look at Metchosin. It's a bit closer to Victoria but still out to the west.

If you want any specifics, please feel free to PM me. I can also give JamesMc a call and ask him if he has any pearls of wisdom. I owe him a call anyway.

Good luck!

Island Bound

Daughter will be in elementary grade 2 and I had also read that schools are not as good.
Husband will be working in and around Victoria.
I will be opening a family day home so need a community with kids.
Guess criteria is good elementary schools , close to ocean, no crime.
Will want to buy at some point so need area that could possibly rent then but in without moving too far.
Like oak bay, and up towards Cordova bay or is it cadboro bay.
Not sure can afford more than $2000 rent .
Any ideas in areas on outer Victoria that meet criteria.

geo4

Wow. Normally racism is a bit subtler. I tip my hat to OP and some respondents.

rivingtonpike

Have a look at Latoria - cheaper than Oak Bay and the "old money" places, but being rapidly developed. Lots of nice homes and much closer to Victoria. With the new houses you seem to get a lot of house but not much garden. Langford - in my opinion anyway - isn't great, but lots of young families as housing generally cheaper. We live over the Malahat in Mill Bay. It's about 40-50 minutes into downtown Victoria. My wife commutes to Colwood and it takes her about 35 minutes. I got home this morning from Oak Bay (granted not rush hour) in 40 minutes. Depending on how deep your pockets are, Cook St Village (in Victoria) is also pretty trendy and with-it. I think you'd have lots of takers for daycare around there.

Hawk13

Unless he really likes driving, I'd pass on Sooke. For me personally, I work in Victoria and you couldn't pay me enough to even live in Langford, never mind Sooke.

Depends on what you plan on renting (how many bedrooms), but you should be able to get a place for $2K. It's the buying part that gets expensive.

Hawk13

Take note of the (granted not rush hour) as you'd be hard pressed to get to Langford in that time during rush hour

rivingtonpike

Hawk is right. You can add 20 minutes easily for the colwood crawl if coming out of downtown - especially on a Friday

The4BellsLondon

Try Esquimalt

The4BellsLondon

Ps ... I assumed this was a troll post .. Given the blatant racism ..

Island Bound

I am sorry if this offended anyone it was not intended that way or intended to be racist.
Siouxe or any other moderator or administrator can you please delete this whole thread so no one else can comment or get offended in any way.
Thanks in advance and sorry to anyone I have upset...

getoutofbritainquick

Not sure why you would say Langford is not great and you keep on saying schools are poor. I don't particularly like Oak Bay other than the coastal road which is very nice. Not much there in terms of shops, its expensive, old and looks rather run down, other than being next to Uplands which is very high end. Langford has had a good deal of money spent on the area over the past few years and has some of the best new real estate the Victoria area. Access to shops and facilities is probably the best in the Victoria area and the schools are not bad. I have 2 children who both go to local schools and are doing very well. Belmont is old and being replaced with a new school in West Hills in 2015. Access is good although the traffic can be heavy if you have to travel into town during rush hour but you can work around this by changing your travel times. My wife travels from Bear Mountain to the Royal Jubilee every day and the traffic is nothing like Vancouver by comparison. There is something for everyone in the area from affordable housing to million $$$ mansions (and there are lots of them in the area). I travel through Sooke every week as I manage the Jordan River Hydro station and its one of the best parts of my job traveling along the coastal road. Stunning beaches and scenery are in abundance. Sooke is approx. 20 minutes from Colwood and there is a new technology park being built off the Leigh Road interchange which I am sure will create many high quality jobs. 2 of my crew live in Sooke and they love the area. If you have to work in Victoria then traveling from Sooke is a bit of a drive. I had a mechanic working for me who recently retired who travelled all the way from Victoria to Jordan River every day! My admin travels from Duncan to our offices on the West Sannich road. People do travel because they don't wont to live in a city. The are many fabulous places to live in the Victoria area and as always its what works best for you. Don't be put off by other negative comments and check it out for your self. You will be surprised what you can find.