If you could live anywhere in Canada, where would it be?

Motorcycle Mike

Motorcycle Mike

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Theoretically speaking, of course, if you could live pretty much anywhere in Canada while keeping your income about the same (+/- a few k/year), where would it be?

I'm from a small town and have lived in the GTA for 10 years now. Every year I hate it more and more -- the traffic, the bad drivers (I know bad drivers are in small towns too, just fewer of them!), the long way to go to ride. I don't care anymore about bars/clubs/nightlife, although being in the GTA does have advantages for choice (buying crap, eating out, etc).

I think, for me, any big city would be as bad or worse than here. The scenery near Vancouver is great, but I could not stand the city and housing is too much.... so strike Vancouver out. I also don't speak any French so Montreal (and all of Quebec, most of New Brunswick) is out (my job is somewhat customer based and I would have to be bilingual to transfer to an area with a lot of French).

I'm leaning towards the interior of B.C.... or possibly Alberta, say Canmore or Calgary and live on the West side of it... keep a dirt bike, street bike, and get a sled, and life could be good -- especially after selling the house in Mississauga. Of course, I don't know anyone out that way and all of my family is in Ontario... but I could get by without seeing them often...
 
You can live in Montreal and not speak a lick of French. Traffic is crap there too.

PEI is nice. Halifax is awesome.

Might be able to find a decent place in AB near the Rockies considering the state of the economy.

Collingwood is nice.

Bc real estate is crazy but anywhere on Vancouver Island would be awesome.




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Southern interior of BC beside a lake. Close to the border, beautiful area, nice roads.

Family is what keeps us here.
 
I must say that since I moved from Mississauga to Stouffville I'm really happy there.
But yeah, never really liked living in Mississauga either.
Other than that I guess it would be in the Okanagan valley.
 
I have a good friend who lives in the south west corner of Alberta just a five minute drive from the BC border. He loves it out there but won’t bother with a street bike. Its 1C and snowing right now while we’re enjoying a bright warm sunny day. It's also expensive for basics like food and clothing.
 
I'm happy in KW. It's far enough from the GTA for comfort but close enough for convenience. 10 minutes' drive/ride in any direction has you out in the country. Our weather is pretty moderate; winters aren't too cold, summers (generally speaking) not too hot. We're surrounded by Great Lakes. We're not close to the US border. These are great communities; good schools, good hospitals etc though driving in them is being ruined to a certain degree by the white-elephant LRT projects...

The Maritimes and Atlantic region? Too cold and damp, too windy, severe winters, summer storms (watching Hurricane Matt right now...)
Prairies or Northern Ontario? Too remote, waaayyyyy too cold in the winter. Far from anything meaningful in the US.

Most places on the southwest of BC would be nice I think.
 
Blackfin said:
I'm happy in KW. It's far enough from the GTA for comfort but close enough for convenience. 10 minutes' drive/ride in any direction has you out in the country. Our weather is pretty moderate; winters aren't too cold, summers (generally speaking) not too hot. We're surrounded by Great Lakes. We're not close to the US border. These are great communities; good schools, good hospitals etc though driving in them is being ruined to a certain degree by the white-elephant LRT projects...

The Maritimes and Atlantic region? Too cold and damp, too windy, severe winters, summer storms (watching Hurricane Matt right now...)
Prairies or Northern Ontario? Too remote, waaayyyyy too cold in the winter. Far from anything meaningful in the US.

Most places on the southwest of BC would be nice I think.
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Stratford is the small town that I am from. I left because I couldn't find a good job there. I do like that area, but somewhat bored of it... most roads in grid squares, all farms outside the cities, mostly flat.

One of those small towns in Southern BC might be the ticket... a place like Grand Forks or Castlegar is only a few hours from Spokane, Washington... good riding roads, cheaper real estate. They likely get decent winters, but I didn't mind winters when I had something to do (snowmobiling)...
 
I'd love to move back to Lambton county.. Probably Sarnia/Point Edward area if I wanted to stay in the city. Some people will think the area is a hole, but really at the end of the day it's what you make it. I would never move to the GTA.
 
Right here for now.
 
I could live on the edge of any big city. I don't know how anybody can live a traffic jamb in every direction. The exotic choice for me would be interior BC, s/w Alberta. Realistically, Owen Sound sounds about right. I mean I've spent about a dozen years exploring between Dunnville, Port Stanley up to Creemore down to Hockley and whatnot. I'm sure I could do the same all around Grey Bruce and beyond. That should see me into the grave. So, Owen Sound it is. Thanks for starting this thread.
 
inreb said:
I don't know how anybody can live a traffic jamb in every direction.
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That is what kind of set me off today... being in Mississauga, I am almost at the centre of the traffic now.

I don't often tour Eastwards because I need to waste an hour or more crossing the city and almost always hit traffic, same on the return.
I typically go Northwards as it's only 20 minutes through Brampton... but I can't go to Creemore every ride!

Today I had big plans to ride along the Pennsylvania/New York border for a bit before coming home... set out to leave about 8:30am and an hour later hadn't cleared Oakville yet... started thinking of the traffic I was about to hit at Burlington, Hamilton, and finally the lead up to the border crossing and I just turned around... I had had enough.

Unfortunately my work here is in Mississauga not too far from the Etobicoke border... and I would rather deal with traffic only on the weekends or holidays, rather than the other 220 days of the year going to and from work. The only better solution is live in a place where there is no traffic.
 
Motorcycle Mike said:
That is what kind of set me off today... being in Mississauga, I am almost at the centre of the traffic now.

I typically go Northwards as it's only 20 minutes through Brampton... but I can't go to Creemore every ride!
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Luckily I'm a little slow upstairs and take comfort in the familiar so the 4 dozen different routes (most thru Belfountain btw) to Creemore are only just wearing thin. Today I did another old favourite, Ancaster, Glen Morris, Ayr, Paris, St. George, Harrisburg and Dual Sport Plus for a tire not in stock. I think you would have enjoyed it on the DRZ400.
 
inreb said:
I could live on the edge of any big city. I don't know how anybody can live a traffic jamb in every direction. The exotic choice for me would be interior BC, s/w Alberta. Realistically, Owen Sound sounds about right. I mean I've spent about a dozen years exploring between Dunnville, Port Stanley up to Creemore down to Hockley and whatnot. I'm sure I could do the same all around Grey Bruce and beyond. That should see me into the grave. So, Owen Sound it is. Thanks for starting this thread.
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The in-laws are in Owen Sound. I like to rag on it for being so far, but it is a nice little town, and it's got junior hockey. I had my son's Habs jersey signed by Guy Carbonneau, in Owen Sound. Thanks for making this post.
 
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