Canada... where to move?

[fusangite]

I'm really glad I bought my house before the market took off like a rocket. I think the value of my house has gone up at least 1/3 in the last two years (which means my property tax is happily following suit...). However, I don't get the impression that rental prices have gone up that much. I still think you can find fairly affordable apartments in Vancouver so long as you're not smack dab in the middle of Yaletown or Kits. There are some nice places in East Van and South Van (Marpole) which are quite affordable still.

As below, I'm not comparing Vancouver now to Vancouver in the past; I'm comparing Vancouver to the rest of Canada. Vancouver's rents are higher than Toronto's and, I believe higher than those of any metropolitian area in Canada besides Calgary.

Actually, unemployement in BC is at something like a 20 year low right now.

First of all, remember that in the past 20 years, government policy has very much affected this. You're only unemployed if you're eligible for EI or welfare. A minority of the homeless people begging on the streets in Vancouver are "unemployed." But more importantly, I'm not comparing BC's unemployment rate to BC in the past; I'm comparing to the rest of Canada. And for as long as I've been alive, BC has been above the national average.

 

[Pielorinho]

Moderator's Notes:

No matter how hilarious you find another nation's politics, you're still not allowed to talk about them here. I'll ask everyone to drop the politics part of this discussion and continue with talking about the interesting places in Canada.

Daniel

 

[devilbat]

Toronto is the Centre of the Universe. There is Toronto and then there is the rest of the country.

Typical Torontonian view

They hate us for this attitude - but they hate it even more because deep down inside, they know we're right

.

Well, you're half right.

 

[fusangite]

I moved from Vancouver to Toronto. Toronto is, in all ways, superior to Vancouver, except for the lack of good avocadoes in the grocery stores in the winter.

 

[Amal Shukup]

The city was manufactured to be Anytown, USA.

Ridiculous.

Toronto doesn't have A uniquely Toronto persona. It has SEVERAL personas. Many. It is described as a city of neighborhoods - each with it's own feel. There's also a faiyly hard demarcation between where people live (and live/work) and where they just WORK. Downtown core? Bay Street, King and Yonge, Eaton Centre, Town Hall? Nobody lives there - they're just big chunks (of clean, crime free) concrete where millions of people sit in cubicles during daylight hours, and they pretty much roll up the sidewalks late in the evening. Of course it's largely bereft of personality.

But that's NOT 'Toronto'. Toronto 'starts' a few blocks North, West and East of this core: the Beaches, or Queen West, or the Annex, or even Parkdale, or High Park, or Harborfront, or the Junction, or Bloor West Village or the Danforth...

ALL of which are brimming in personality and energy and life. None resembles the others. All great places to live, work, hang out.

Anytown USA? Bite me. Your BEST towns WISH they were this cool (okay, IMHO, you got some cool cities down there too - but don't diss my town, dudes.)

A'Mal

 

[mojo1701]

Ridiculous.

*snip

Anytown USA? Bite me. Your BEST towns WISH they were this cool (okay, IMHO, you got some cool cities down there too - but don't diss my town, dudes.)

A'Mal

I was just kidding. It was meant as a joke towards all the films that are produced there, but take place somewhere else.

 

[Amal Shukup]

I was just kidding. It was meant as a joke towards all the films that are produced there, but take place somewhere else.

Well, fair enough. Musta had my 'take things personally' filters set too low again. Hate it when I do that.

By way of apology, I will now 'fess up that two of my favourite places on earth are San Francisco and N'awlins...

As an aside, I went out to a film this evening (oh yeah, gotta sneak peak at HHGttG, did I), and passed at LEAST three film crews doing their thing. Mighta been a fourth setting up.

A'Mal

 

[Arnwyn]

Anytown USA? Bite me. Your BEST towns WISH they were this cool (okay, IMHO, you got some cool cities down there too - but don't diss my town, dudes.)

Musta had my 'take things personally' filters set too low again. Hate it when I do that.

Way too low. Especially when it was somebody from Brantford, Ontario who made the "Anytown USA" comment...

 

[mojo1701]

Way too low. Especially when it was somebody from Brantford, Ontario who made the "Anytown USA" comment...

Hey, hey, hey!

Did your town produce one of the greatest hockey players ever? And the telephone. Yeah, that's right.

But I was born in Toronto, and I love it.

 

[devilbat]

I hate to admit it, but I love to visit Toronto. Great city, plenty to do, lots of action. NHL Hockey (when the players decide to come back), Major League Baseball, and it's a great place to watch the visiting NBA teams. I wouldn't want to live there, mind you. I fear that the "We are the centre of the world" attitude is contageous.