where???
 

hiya all

we are buying books and looking up sites and goodness knows what to try and decide where we would like to immigrate to. its between australia and canada. as none of us want to move to somewhere freezing cold, canada is limited in areas to go so we have heard and read! vancouver seems to be the place that winter is most like britain.

so looked up a few different sites telling about what vancouver is like and i am so dissappointed by what i have read :(. the crime rate, the homlessness!!!! gangs!! amongst other not so good things.

can anyone tell me how they decided which area to live in canada? were you put off a place by reading online what its like? is vancouver really that bad? we have four young children and looking for better lifestyle not just for us, but them too, great education etc etc.

any help would be greatly appreciated, we are so frightened to make that huge move and have picked the most awful place to live.

thank you again

Re: where???
 

Found job, went to it.

Re: where???
 

thanks for reply. im afraid moving the 6 of us somewhere, wont rely on just where the job is.

but thanks for reply, its interesting that a move can be based on just one thing. i hope it worked out well for you. :)

Re: where???
 

Likewise. Luck to end up somewhere I am very happy, although part of this is having a job I enjoy no doubt.


To be honest I was not greatly enthused by the thought of the canadian winter either, but now I am here I rather like it, skiing and skating with the kids, blue skies, sunshine, log fires, seasonal contrasts.

The last month or so drags, but thats OK in the big scheme as far as I am concerned....

Re: where???
 

Looked for a place with the right combination of (in no particular order):

Weather (hot summers, less extreme winters by Canadian standards)
Job opportunities
Local services/amenities
Geography/topography
Accessibility
Cost of living

Re: where???
 

aw it sounds lovely the way you describe the winter!:) thanks for the reply, you sound very happy.

Re: where???
 

thank you rich. can i ask did you get what you were after? and if so where? if we didnt have children, we wouldnt be so worried in making sure we were going to the correct place. but im sure i amn't the only one who has all these worries!:)

thanks again

Re: where???
 

Yes, made a good informed choice, so no regrets.

I'm 20 mins from downtown Kamloops, BC, a city of c90,000 and an easy mornings drive from Vancouver.

Take what you read online with a pinch of salt, there's nothing like actually visiting and experiencing a place.

Re: where???
 

We decided on Vancouver before we came. Had been before, but living here didn't match the preconceptions we had before we came - some things better, some things worse. The crime and homelessness is an issue statistically, but the general consensus (that I would agree with) on here seems to be that crime isn't really an issue for most people. Look for posts on this by dboy - he talks quite a lot of sense for a copper.

Re: where???
 

Visit the places you are considering, don't rely on books or the Internet. I would guess you'll find the same horrifying statistics about any city or town. I would walk around Vancouver at night without any worries. I spoke to my folks back in the UK and we lived in a small country town in Surrey and they won't even go out into town at night. Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, they all have their problems.

Check out the Back to Blighty section too. There seems to be way more people returning from Australia than Canada.

Re: where???
 

Hi, we too had Oz plans and due to family illness it got cancelled we decided we had to be content. However we weren't and my Bro in law kept ranting about Canada. Again I pictured snow and many layers and misery.

Having researched and made a hit list of what is important I have settled on Nova Scotia. With kids, dog, dislike of crowds and wanting to be able to get back for visits relatively easily it seemed right.

Property prices, land, waterfrontage, celtic personality, moderate climate (lot of vineyards), rural feel but with city fix, ferry to U.S.

No doubt there are prettier provinces with different economies but it seems to suit our needs. We are doing a recce next year. There are stats web sites but as said they dont necessarily tell the story, and lots of areas/towns have their own sites.

Good luck

:fingerscrossed:

Re: where???
 

thank you to you all who have replied, it has helped thank you. hobbitess, good luck and its great you have sorted out in your mind where to go. i wish we could! i have a huge fear of flying, in fact only been on a half hour flight in my life and i thought i was gonna pass out with the panic attacks! so yes canada is my first choice way over oz for that reason alone!

alan, thanks for tip, i will look out for him on here as it sounds like he will paint a true picture. :)


to the aviator, yes you are correct, i should not look up on the net and read all the less appeaing stories. we live near london, so i could get some quite horryfying figures of crime here!!!!!!!

any more advice would be great too! thank you

Re: where???
 

Does not help much perhaps with the fear of flying, but it is not much different to being on a boat, just goes a bit faster.

I just read an article on risk and peoples fears. One example was a guy who rode a motorcycle and weaved in and out of traffic, quite vulnerable, yet was terrified of flying. The boffins seem to think its a control issue, so maybe all those who hate flying should take flying lessons. :)

I hate heights, will not go up a ladder or paint the house above ground level.

Re: where???
 

My take on this is that if you crash your car you may be able to walk away, if the boat sinks, you may be able to swim, but if the plane fails you definitely can't fly.

Plus, on a "number of journeys taken" basis, flying is not the safest mode of transport. And this is the statistic that insurance companies use to calculate risk. "Go figure" as they say in North America...

Re: where???
 

More people are killed in car crashes than plane crashes each day.

Depends how far from shore you are and if you can swim.

Pretty good chance it will. Depends on what fails. Even a helicopter can fly without power in certain circumstances.

In part if a claim arises it is usually pretty big. Statistically you still have more chance of being killed in a car accident or crossing the road. In addition with air transport, there is a higher risk to property & casualties on the ground than a car accident. Also in an aircraft you are in the hands of highly trained professionals, as the passenger of US Air 1549 will attest. On the road you are at risk from every driver of an extremely wide variety of abilities. In thirty odd years, I have flown a few miles around the globe and have only had a couple of incidents. I seem to have that every day I go out on the road to drive to the airport.