JM64

This is my first post on the forum, so be gentle

Later this month I'm starting a year of study at the University of Victoria, and I'm excited and nervous in almost equal amounts.

So I was just wondering, what should I expect from Victoria? A vague question I know. Perhaps there are some people on the forum living there right now, or who have spent some time there?

It's obviously a smaller, quieter city in comparison to say.... Vancouver, but is it still a vibrant place to live? I'm also a sucker for scenic surroundings, and I heard Victoria and the rest of the Island is a great place for that kind of thing also.


But anyway, any info/advice/hearsay about the place would be useful!

agr

You might not want to leave. We spent a couple of years in Victoria, living very close to UVic. Would move back in a heartbeat if the right kind of work existed there, We're more scenery-orientated people than vibrant culture-vultures though. You can always spend weekends in Vancouver if your social life needs time in the fast lane.

Quite a few members of this site live on the Island and will give you more up to date info than I can. Good luck!

Steve_

If you're just studying I can't see why you wouldn't like it. It does rain a lot and get overcast a lot during the winter though. Downtown is a bit of a tourist trap during the summer.

The main thing I found a bit disconcerting was the traffic on Hwy 1 and 17 but coming from the UK I doubt you'll notice that. On the way out of downtown there are a couple of junctions though, Hwy 1/Tillicum and Hwy 1/MacKenzie Ave that are insane at rush hour. I just couldn't believe how badly they needed a flyover at those two junctions.

Really I think Victoria is about as close to living in the US as is humanly possible without living in the US, you can get OTA TV and radio from the US and it is very similar to Washington State.

Cruella32

I am from the UK and have lived in Victoria BC for 4 years and quite simply think it is the best place on earth!

I have settled down here and intend to live here for the rest of my life with my husband and children.

I moved here when I was 23 and we lived downtown and just loved the vibe and feel of downtown Victoria.

I am from a small town in the north of England so not really used to big cities but this is the perfect compromise for me and my husband who loves big cities.

Now we have a child and another one on the way and we live near Cook Street Village which is just our favourite place on the island.

There is so much I can tell you about but not sure what you are looking for, interested in etc.

I run my own business and a free thing I do for the people on the island is put a list of daily happenings on a facebook page - you can check it out on FB under Little Blue Man Media. May give you an idea of just how many things are happening on the island (I usually only put free things on - so as you can imagine there is tonnes more!)

UVIC is also a great university, I have a friend who works there and know a load of people who graduated from there including my hubby...

So excited for you and hope you enjoy your year on the island!

DJNG

We have lived in Canada for 3 years and our daughter is also starting at UVIC next month, she would be happy to hook up with a fellow Brit and share her experiences to date. We really enjoyed Victoria on our visit (one reason she chose to go there!). Friends that live on the Island all rave about it too.

pontcanna

Hello JM:

I think you've chosen well

I've lived in Victoria most all my life (including 6 years @ UVic) and there are a zillion things to recommend it. Glad to be of help while you adjust if you have any questions. General questions ask them here, more specific stuff feel free to PM me.

If you're a telly addict get yourself a VPN connection so you can keep up with BBC, Coronation Street etc

Phil

Steve_

Isn't Coronation Street pretty much up-to-date by now on CBC? I saw they were broadcasting it every night (or is it on in the UK every night as well now).

Auld Yin

No, it's running, I believe, about 9 months behind the UK.

JM64

Thanks for the replies everyone! I've heard it's very nice, but it's still reassuring to hear it from you all too.

Whilst when I first arrive I'll be concentrating on settling in at the university and finding a more permanent place to live in, is there anything you would recommend for me to do there? I wouldn't want to miss out on anything cool

BTJ

You could ask a professor to give you a ride around Victoria in his car...

Me and the OH went to UVic in June and one of the Physics profs spent the day with us, got us to meet lots of people and then gave us an hour long tour of Victoria. It was great! Definitely sold the university and Victoria to me...!

cityhog

May I ask what kind of jobs are available there and what kind of business you own? I remember reading a story in The Globe and Mail that didn't paint a rosy picture of the city.

Cruella32

Hi cityhog

If you do a search you should be able to see the types of jobs that are available in the city - to be honest I'm not really aware of if the job market is great or not as I've been lucky enough not to have had to look for a while - my husband works for a company in Vancouver but works out of Victoria, and I do work full time at a great company as well as having 2 small businesses that I run. I started them both as hobbies and enjoy doing them... one is DVD Montages and the other is selling beauty supplies made from minerals.
I know there are lots of jobs at the university and there used to be a lot of government jobs but I'm not sure if that is the case at the moment as I know there were a lot of layoffs recently.
I suppose everyone has a different experience of every place, and I'm not sure what the Globe and Mail said but for me personally I really have loved nearly every day of living here (other than missing loved ones back home! )

eastlands

Live about 40 mins outside vic,we go down ther a lot & if i was younger (and single) i would live there.loads to do ,good night life ect & easy to get around,mind you i did move from Manchester originally so when it rains its home from home!!

cityhog

There's no online job board for staff positions at Victoria. There's only one for faculty positions that lists just a few. Strange. Anyway, thanks for your response.

Found it here:http://web.uvic.ca/hr/postings/Caree...nities2008.htm.

Steve_

The reason why is because a lot of the jobs on the island dried up, I meet a lot of people here who are from Victoria or thereabouts who worked in the fishing industry, canning and so on.

Then there was a movement to try and get into IT because Microsoft etc. are in Washington, that did work but I get the impression it's petered out since the recession hit and internet bandwidth increased (no point coming from India - you can stay in India).

Obviously it's a small jurisdiction in terms of population so it has a proportionally smaller job market.

To me it looks like tourism and healthcare are the main things going on in Victoria at present, very popular place to retire to. For the "newly wed and nearly dead" is how I hear it described.