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Okay so we (56 year old mother and 17 year old me) live in Sudbury right now but we want to move somewhere else. It should be somewhere not too big (less than 200,000) and not too small (more than 10,000). We want to be able to rent a house for a good price. There has to be an art gallery or at least something for visual artists. It should be accessible and it would be nice if it were somewhat close to a larger town, especially Toronto.It should be peaceful and it should have nice places for people who like hiking, fishing and other outdoor activities (ski hill is a plus and so are nice parks). We don't care about nightlife and all those thingies. The roads should be suitable for cyclists (Sudbury is so bad for that! I just ride on the sidewalks here). It should be nice and not stuck up like Barrie (no offense lol). It shouldn't be overly crime ridden.
I know this is alot to ask but I'm trying to narrow it down as much as possible. Thanks!
At 17 your decision should be based on what you intend to do after high school. Go to college? Work at Tim Hortons? No point moving to a small town then dumping your Mom to go off to college or to a job elsewhere.
Barrie has a lot of what you are looking for, and would also accommodate you for post-secondary learning if want to pursue that. But, I agree Barrie is really stuck up. I've had the misfortune of spending several years in Barrie and it's definitely not for me. It's got a bit of all kinds of people, but is definitely a blue collar city and gets cold, snowy winters. Not that there's anything wrong with blue collar workers - I was one for several years and I still like driving a 4wd pickup truck. But I also like the finer things in life too. And I prefer milder, shorter winters (or ideally, no winter at all), so a snowbelt city is the wrong place for me. Plus, I just never really clicked with anyone from Barrie. Odd, considering there are so many different kinds of people from so many different places moving to Barrie, which is a rapidly expanding city. That's another issue with Barrie - it's sprawling. But, you said you probably wouldn't consider Barrie anyways. Good choice!
St. Catharines might be nice, but so is Hamilton. I'm 38 and have elderly parents and we were seriously considering Hamilton. It may still be an option, but has been put on the back burner for now. It's not my ideal city, but I could live with it, at least for a while. It also offers much of what you are looking for, though not sure how many galleries/museums there are. Skiing is not too far away. I'm not a skier, but I believe there is skiing within a reasonably short car ride. Hamilton housing prices aren't as bad as Toronto, but they're no bargain either. Manageable, but not small town cheap.
EDIT: Hamilton may be a bit bigger of a city than you are looking for, but there are several outlying areas that are nice too, and close to the ammenities of Hamilton. Right next door is Burlington, seems nice. In teh other direction, Stoney Creek (really part of Hamilton though) and scenic Grimsby, Beamsville, etc. Definitely small townish though, you'd have to go to nearby Hamilton or St. Catharines or Niagara Falls for some of the ammenities. My parents have considered all of these towns in the Hamilton area in the recent past as we're planning a relocation too. Though, I have my eyes set on the west coast.
London! Yes, it is bigger, but there are wonderful communities like St. Thomas that feel small-town and you will have access to city of London services and schools.
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