Piff Poff

As many of you know we are looking to move to Ontario (Last week preferably). Looking on Realtor.ca we are finding that there has been quite a jump in prices to our previously prefferred area and with the downturn in Alberta the house prices are, well they are just not what they were - luckily we invested wisely (phew).

So we need to open up our search area, hoping to visit if not move this year, next year we will move as it was always if we haven't don it by 2020, then that's the year we go. Ideally we want to be within an hours drive to a train station that will take us to a major airport (YYZ) and somewhere where winter doesn't go for 8 months, not so worried about volume of snow as we will get a snow clearing company. Would also like a fairly vibrant area with stuff going on.

We will more than likely rent for a year 1st in the Niagara region as I am hoping to go to school there.

daveincolchester

Look into where we live.
Locally known as the "Sun Parlor"
As far south as you get in Canada.
Windsor is the main City, but you are only half an hours drive from the wine route and Lake Erie.
Vineyards and farm fields.
Craft breweries.
Small historic towns.
Across the river to the States.
Longer summers/shorter winters.
We love it here.

JamesM

There is a Hooters. A fun family focused sports bar.

Hurlabrick

Wwe are very happy here in London, ON. Decent sized city (450k pop). Seasons not severe and easy drive to beaches on Huron or Erie. Loads going on and a vibrant city within striking distance of TO either by driving 2.5 hours or great train. Reasonable local airport with low cost flights to many Canadian destinations.

scrubbedexpat091

I liked Port Hope & Coburg, both are in the train to Toronto although no clue how long it takes to get to YYZ, on the lake, quaint little town.

I rented so no idea what real estate prices are like to buy.

shelley748

I live in the 1000 islands area and love it. We are close enough to Ottawa 1.5 hrs by car (international airport there)- can get a train from Kingston to Toronto 4 hours, hop across the border to the USA to see friends, love the countryside, house prices not too bad at all, winter is bearable.

Hurlabrick

Kingston is also a very nice town. Right on the lake, easy access to USA and about 1 hour drive to Ottawa airport. I don't live there, but we did give it serious consideration when we were location hunting.

Ottawa perhaps does not meet your 'not keen on long / harsh winters (paraphrasing here!)' criteria.

Siouxie

I like the Hammer and Dundas and Burlington - Dover's pretty good too

Lots to do - lots of concerts, festivals, old car shows hiking trails, cycling areas, plenty of live music opportunities within the area or 20 minutes drive. It's on the lake, beaches, pubs galore, restaurants galore, easy commute to Toronto - get the bus or the train, it's about an hour; an hour from Niagara. 30minutes to Caledonia to go to the reserve and watch a pow wow or sit with one of the native stone carvers and hear his stories then take a a nice run to Port Dover / Dalhousie / Colbourne (another nice town, cheap housing). or a slow drive to Dover and Turkey Point..Long Point... Lake Erie. You can drive to London, Paris, Stratford, Hastings, Brighton, Woodstock! Lots of lovely areas within a couple of hours.. including St. Jacobs market..

Housing has got more expensive in Hamilton but you can go to Brantford and still pick up a reasonable property...



The thing I like about the Hammer is you are midway between Toronto and Niagara... but also an easy run up to Lake Huron

Paul_Shepherd

I think it comes down to what you do for a living, some people are lucky enough to be able to live anywhere and not tied to location by the type of job they do. Next its whether you are a city or country person, or maybe flexible, they are both two very different ways of life, and suit different people with different needs, country is great for outdoors, peace and quiet, more friendly and a more simple life, but can be limited in what you like to do, city has more opportunity, more diversity and more choice, but is very busy, not a friendly and kind of in your face 24 7

Obviously you can get a lot more for you money property wise in a rural area than what you will in a city area. I think once you have those two main boxes ticked you can make a more informed decision.

I enjoy aspects of country and city life, which I find is rare, I have found that in Canada, most Canadians identify themselves as a country person or a city person, and both think that the other is wrong lol So for me personally a smaller but good size town near to a big city but not too near suits me.... but my job doesnt afford me that luxury so unfortunately I have to where the work is. I think if I had the choice I would opt for somewhere around Ottawa or maybe Kingston.... Ottawa doesnt feel like a city in the way Toronto does it has a friendlier feel to it, but has everything a big city has, Its not too far from Kingston, which I have only viisted once, but really like the place and importantly is on the lake (for water activities) so I do like Kingston too.

Ottawa is also near to Montreal, which is a great city, and has a more European feel to it. Only down side with Ottawa is the winters can be a little more harsh, but not like Prairie or Maritimes harsh, and they have great summer too....probably equal in duration to winter as is the case with most of southern Ontario..

Piff Poff

Thank you all for your replies, it's much appreciated as always. As for winter, just don't want ones that last forever, fed up with being cooped up for 6 or 7 months and deciding not to go for a day trip because it's snowing badly AGAIN.

We were looking at the Niagara region, with a desire to have waterfront, garages and parking, the wish list has changed a little, still would like waterfront and garages and parking but a much smaller place, but by looking on Realtor.ca it's apparent that unless your spending a lot of money, then your looking at a reno - at least new kitchens, there are so many bad bad bad kitchens in Ontario.

Not too concerned about finding work, OH generally gets offered work wherever we go, we would like to do our own thing though. He has even got a standing job offer in the UK which is incredibly tempting.

scrubbedexpat133

We moved to Windsor last September and are loving life here. Windsor is a medium sized city (275K) that has everything that you would want/need day to day. The place is doing well economically right now and the job market (depending on what you do) is also strong.Housing here is a bit mental in terms of the speed of the market, ,multiple offers and going well over asking price. However this said it is still very affordable compared to other Ontario cities. There is plenty going on here and the population is diverse so lots of different restaurants and cultural events happening. It is across the river to Detroit. You have access to a Big US city and all the things that brings without some of the problems that can come with it. There is a huge performing arts scene. Loads of theatres and music venues. Restaurants, Cafes and Bars galore. Multiple Sports teams and fantastic shopping. Moving here from New Brunswick was like being let out of prison! We go over there frequently and it is a breeze either in the car or on the bus. Speaking of busses if you are in town then the bus network is decent and affordable. We use it a lot on the weekends. $9 will get you a family pass for 2 adults and 2 kids unlimited use until end of service that day.

Windsor has a Via rail station with multiple departures to Toronto Union station it takes roughly 4 hours and then connect to YYZ with UP train. There is a high speed train in the pipeline that would link to Toronto. However the abomination that is the current Premier may shred that as well. There was recent talk about linking passenger rail service to Detroit and Chicago.There is also a Greyhound bus that will take you direct to the airport in about the same time again multiple departures daily. Detroit Airport is a major hub and you can fly direct to many North American (cheaply) and Global destinations. It is about 40 minutes away border crossing allowing. Windsor also has a small airport of its own that you can fly to Toronto, Montreal and holiday flights 'down south'.

There are a ton of places that you can drive to from here - Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara/Buffalo, Boston, New York, Philadelphia,Washington,Virginia Beach, ,Cleveland,Pittsburgh,Columbus,Knoxville, Cincinnati, Atlanta,Louisville Nashville, Memphis St Louis, Indianapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis are all withing 12 hours of here. Not to mention all the pretty green bits, oceans lakes, rivers and mountains in between.

The weather here is fantastic. The winter was much much much much......much easier to deal with after 8 years in New Brunswick. Milder and not much snow. I used my snowblower once and only had to use the shovel to clean away the smattering of snow a few times. The winter here is as good as it gets this side of the country. We dont seem to get prolonged periods of very cold weather. Days when most of the country is well below freezing we can be around or or above the freezing mark.

Good luck with your move

Siouxie

Have a look at some of the smaller towns around Erie and area - Port Rowan... Long Point... Fort Erie... Dunnville.. Port Stanley.. Port Colbourne..

This one might be right up your alley!
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-house-for-sa...ationFlag=true

Piff Poff

thanks for your detailed response, i had said to OH we should revisit the Windsor area. So I really think we should now!

that looks like it would be on our to view list for sure!

no good name

My part of Canada has a Tim Hortons, a Walmart, Pizza Pizza, Mr Lube and a Canadian Tire all within walking distance.. It is SO awesome.

Siouxie

And that is helpful to who, exactly? I'm sorry that Canada hasn't worked out in the way you hoped but no need to pee on everyone else's cornflakes