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| Subject: Southeast Ontario Impressions |
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Just returned from week tour and wanted to share impressions of southeastern Ontario for immigrant livability (at least my opinions).
Toronto - True, lots of people. But well organized, eclectic, diverse, and lots to see and do. A little scrappy here and there (i.e., Younge St.), but still very inviting for walking, exploring, and seeing all kinds of things. Quite livable and never felt unsafe anywhere. Streetcars add nice touch and great overall public transportation.
Interesting and livable neighborhoods along Bloor st. near Bathhurst intersection. A hip (yuppie) area for sure. Large century homes along side streets look quite expensive and very well kept, with large trees, greenery, cats lounging around on porches, and surprisingly quiet and peaceful. Yet just steps to everything. Bloor St. offers everything you´d every want. Ethnic restaurants, middle eastern delis and grocery, stage theater, plays, shops of every kind, etc.
Toronto overall well recommended, even though seems more intense than last time visited years ago. Should be good for jobs of all kinds, professional or otherwise.
London - yech. Downtown rundown, dirty, lots of people aimlessly loitering, panhandlers asking for donations on every block, stepping over questionable stains on sidewalks, seedy. Didn´t check out periphery and side areas much, or university area since who wants to live in a city where central downtown area is so bad.
Kitchener/Waterloo - Ok. Nothing special. K more than W. Main steets interesting, but that´s about it. Overall neither town all that appealing.
Guelph - very nice. Takes care of itself, well-organized, nice downtown area, beautiful University (of Guelph) campus area (reminded us of Cambridge in UK), professional area, things to see and do. Only an hour drive to Toronto, so have fairly easy access to the large city (public transportation to Toronto too). Jobs in Brampton, Mississauga, and Vaughn within easy commute. Pricey housing, though, with people living a little too much on top of each other in the new developments (what´s with that? Land must be valued like gold in this area). Recommended for suburban life with good Toronto access, but could be too expensive for those just starting out.
Mississauga - Good area just outside and easy commute to Toronto. Well kept and more like a bedroom community. Seemed like Bombay west, with much Indian mix and population. Lots of new housing construction that used to be affordable but is getting up there in price.
Orangeville - Nice. Homey well-kept town about an hour or 2 from Toronto. Small town feel, limited public trans to Toronto (but long commute). A little more pure Canadian. Lots of new construction (homes). All shopping needs are there. Increasingly popular for people wanting to get out of Toronto for more peaceful rural feel, yet can drive to Brampton, Richmond Hills, etc for jobs.
Sarnia - depends (on what you want). Small town on Lake Huron and Michigan border not near any big city. About an hour or so from London. Chemical refineries on south shore (some pollution) is a negative. Very scenic, livable, and pollution-free Lake Huron north shore within easy commute to town. Jobs much more limited, with only 78,000 population. Right on U.S. border. Much cheaper housing. Looks like a misplaced American town. No all that much to do, though. More pure Canadian with not so much immigrant mixture or culture.
Hope this help a little for those looking at Ontario, and also hope didn´t offend anyone in areas I wasn´t thrilled about. Views here more from American point of view rather than overseas countries, so maybe slightly different values.
[09-07-2008,16:01]
[**.47.173.225]
Richard |
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(in reply to: Southeast Ontario Impressions)
wondered where you were hiding! Great observations. wish there was a way to make this a sticky.
based on what you saw, what is your personal 1st and 2nd choice?
[09-07-2008,16:32]
[***.20.92.250]
Sharon |
(in reply to: Southeast Ontario Impressions)
Good write up, Richard.
So what does all this mean for you? Did your trip help you clarify what you are looking for?
[09-07-2008,16:33]
[**.72.64.243]
wannabecanadian |
(in reply to: Southeast Ontario Impressions)
well written so Richard as you said there are lots of ordinary and professional jobs there so wont u prefer new immigrants to land in Toronto. it seems that you really liked that place. well thanx for writing abt your experience.
[09-07-2008,17:13]
[***.101.129.197]
sss |
(in reply to: Southeast Ontario Impressions)
Hi guys, yes going did help clarify. Probably Guelph near top with us overall, mostly for access to Toronto resources yet nice livability of the town. The eliminations is what was most surprising. Since every place has pluses and minuses, comes down to what tips balance positively. But then where the good job offer is has to come ahead of everything.
Congrats wannabe on New Brunswick job offer for your husband. Please keep us informed of how everything goes there. Always wanted to check out NB and NS, but never able to make the trip. Sounds like great opportunity for you guys. BTW, when we took our stuff via uHaul the first time, we didn´t organize anything in any particular order, and the officers didn´t never wanted to take a look. This was the case on subsequent trips as well.
[09-07-2008,18:59]
[**.47.173.225]
Richard |
(in reply to: Southeast Ontario Impressions)
Thanks Richard! We are super excited and everything is super crazy all of a sudden. We´ll leave in about 3 weeks, as he starts his job in mid August. If you ever are able to make it out that way, do let me know! :)
Glad that you might have settled on a place to concentrate on. I hadn´t been to Guelph, and it sounds nice. We liked that whole K-W area, of which Guelph is sort of part of. I agree about London--the downtown reminded us of Rochester NY, gritty and sort of run down. But I´d heard so many great things about it, so you never know.
Thanks for the tip about the UHaul. We had intended to hire movers to do the hard stuff for us, but we can´t find anyone who goes to NB. I think it would be too expensive anyway. Glad to hear that UHaul shouldn´t cause too much stress or tax my organizational skills (or is it organisational skills?!).
[09-07-2008,22:03]
[**.72.64.243]
wannabecanadian |
(in reply to: Southeast Ontario Impressions)
Richard,
Good assessment.
Though my assessment is just the opposite about London and Toronto (they aren´t comparable fully though).
I didn´t visit London since 2005 Christmass. London downtown is fair sized compared to the city size, though I didn´t know the recent deterioration that you observed. This may be due to slowing overall ON economy. You missed one of the nice part of the city though, the University area. To me the neiborhoods are more attractive than Toronto, with lot of green spaces and less crowd. Yes, if you like night life or downtown then London can´t be Toronto.
I wish you would visit the eastern suburbs of Toronto like Oshawa, Ajax, Whitby. Downtowns are dull there too, but not that dirty as they are relatively new.
[10-07-2008,11:11]
[***.254.208.246]
DC |
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