Saguenay/Jonquiere What it's like to live in? (ski resorts, apartments)
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Does anyone live in Saguenay/Jonquiere? What it's like to live in there? Economy, people, city itself?
I heard economy is quite bad in Saguenay but I'm not too sure. My girlfriend is from there and she misses her family so much it's just unbearable for her. She is the girl I'd like to marry, the one and I just want to go there with her for few months till summer and live with her. I don't know any French, but planning to learn it, it will be quite useful for my career. Her family can find me a job, or at least I can work in a farm. I don't mind getting my hands dirty, actually I love it but only for a short period of time like 5-6 months.
I am not a country guy, I was born and raised in the city and even though I love outdoor activities such as camping, exploring, dirt biking, snowboarding etc., I love to be in a city. On the other hand, she is a country girl at heart and I remember how sad she was when i was moving to downtown haha.
She's going to live in the city because of her career and she will have to get used to it. But since I need to learn French at some point and want to make her happy, I'll just ask her to go live in her hometown until summer.
So how is it? She tells me people suck, economy is bad, nothing to do but I know she is a drama queen so I'd love to hear other people's thoughts.
I've driven through the town/s which are a recent amalgamation of Jonqiere,Chicoutimi and La Baie,
Camping , fishing and hunting were good, boat or road trips trips down the Sagueney or up to Lac St Jean can be scenic.I cant think of much else going on there and think your lack of French in a place thats 99% French will have you feeling very isolated..
I think your girl friend has a good description of the place, its kinda boring , If i were you i'd talk your girlfriend into just a few weeks or several week at a time visits and spend the rest of the time in Montreal.
If you are a city guy and don't know French, you'll probably be miserable there, sorry. I get bored there, and I speak French and I don't like cities. Might as well go and try if you can, but I would work on a compromise in the future if it doesn't work out. One thing is for sure, you will not have any problems learning French there in an immersion environment - but finding a school program might not be easy.
@jambo101; I heard there are some bad-ass mountains with great powder. So hurray for snowboarding Well, I'll know when i get there haha, thanks for your answer.
@aliss2; Since you don't like cities and speak french, can you describe why did you get bored there? Because I heard, outdoor activities like hunting, winter sports, fishing etc. quite popular and good over there. I live in Edmonton and I remember the first time I took my girlfriend to west edmonton mall's small, bar street she said that small street offers more than her city. I did some research and appearently over 150.000 people live in Saguenay. How come there is nothing to do there? They even have an university and a college? Do all young people run to bigger cities after some point?
And forget the school, grammar and beginning parts can be learned on internet or with dvd's, rest is all about living the language itself
And forget the school, grammar and beginning parts can be learned on internet or with dvd's, rest is all about living the language itself
I'm from the west myself, and I came to Quebec with a boyfriend and no French myself. I am also a trained language teacher though, and understanding how to learn a second/additional language as an adult was immensely beneficial. If I thought I could just learn French by living it, I would have been in for quite a rough shock, moreso than usual. It is a bit of a romantic notion in that sense. I'm sure you will understand what I mean when you arrive.
The reason it can be boring is because it's generally a small town, but being an outsider and especially one who doesn't speak the local language, it can leave you behind on a lot of things. Just small things like not being able to really read the books at the library, not being able to just pick up the phone and call a store, not being able to call 811 (nurses' line), skipping over parts of a recreation guide because it's only in French and you missed some important words, not being able to necessarily socialize at a club or bar - as time goes on, the topic of you being the English guy and having limited capacity to express thoughts can be rather mind-numbing.
Just IMO. I like Quebec and I had a good run (4 years), but I'm on my way back west to Edmonton, actually. The health care system in rural Quebec is outright awful, and I'm tired of it because we have children. I look forward to having more deep conversation outside my house, having more ability to interact and socialize in public (there is still somewhat of a barrier, even when you are bilingual - can you imagine that nearly every conversation you will have, somebody will probably bring up the fact that you are English? It's exhausting, really).
Since you guys are young still, I'd say just go. Have fun, and enjoy it. My only caution to myself beforehand was to not underestimate the challenges of the linguistic barrier though. I don't know any anglophones living here who haven't gone through some sort of depressive episode after trying to integrate in Quebec society, where you will still very much be an outsider (and I'm talking rural Quebec like Jonquiere, not Montreal)
I havent skiied in any of those but just east of Quebec City is the Mont St Anne Ski area and i can vouch for it being a great ski destination..
One other point of interest is the world famous whale watching area around the end of the Sagueney fjord at Tadoussac.
@aliss2; Since you don't like cities and speak french, can you describe why did you get bored there? Because I heard, outdoor activities like hunting, winter sports, fishing etc. quite popular and good over there. I live in Edmonton and I remember the first time I took my girlfriend to west edmonton mall's small, bar street she said that small street offers more than her city. I did some research and appearently over 150.000 people live in Saguenay. How come there is nothing to do there? They even have an university and a college? Do all young people run to bigger cities after some point?
Re: mountains (forgot to quote) -- Saguenay has quite a few ski resorts to pick from but the two "can't miss" monutains in Eastern Quebec are in the Quebec City/Charlevoix area (Mont Sainte-Anne and Le Massif).
I used to live in Saguenay, so I must be able to answer a lot of your questions
I have to admit that I am quite surprized to see a thread on this city on CD
First, I would not say that Saguenay is boring, it has tons of things to do. Downtown Chicoutimi, the Saguenay River, the Monts Valins, the Haha Bay are all beautiful places. Plus the parks of Saguenay are well maintained and wonderful during the summer and the winter... Do you like cycling? If so, Saguenay has one of the most extensive network of bike paths (for a city of its size!) and most of them are very scenic, plus, there is the Velouroute des Bleuets at less than 45 minutes away from the city. Also, there is "Le Panoramique" a mountain bike park that is free to the public right between the boroughs of Chicoutimi and Jonquière.
For snowboarding, there are a couple of city-owned ski mountains but the absolute beast in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean (no bias!) is Le Valinouet, in Falardeau. It is maybe 45mins to an hour from Jonquiere but is worth the drive: Beautiful setting, 100% natural snow (found practically nowhere else in QC) and fun paths.
I don't know if you are in the Nighlife Scene much... If so the majority of the bars and nightclubs are now in Downtown Chicoutimi.
If you wanna have any other infos about things to do here, just tell me and I'll answer you.
I don't know if you've got any qualifications for work, but if you have any experience and that you are good at what you do, you'll get hired pretty fast. Know that Saguenay is mostly white, mostly french-speaking, mostly christian and mostly middle class. Few people are poor and few people are rich there, but a lot of middle class people because the cost of living is really good (Saguenay is one of the least taxed big city in QC).
What else to say? You'll definitely need a car, Public transportation is present but deficient.
People definitely doesn't suck, IMO... Most of them are "bons-vivants" and are really nice BUT most are bad drivers (just a warning). It is true that the economy in Saguenay was bad a couple of years ago when several big companies closed their doors, but right now it really isn't that bad. Lots of jobs in the tertiary sector in Chicoutimi and industry in Jonquière. Although, it's true that a lot of the economy still depends on Rio Tinto Alcan, even if it is diversifying. For the nothing to do here: see above.
Another poster mentionned the healthcare. It isn't bad in Saguenay... There are two major hospitals (Chicoutimi and Jonquiere) and another small one (La Baie). The delays at the emergencies are long and tedious if you go there and that it is not urgent (ex: a cold.), if it is the service will be pretty fast.
Little advice: Chicoutimi is definitely more beautiful than Jonquiere, so I might suggest to move there. Some areas in Jonquiere are crappy while some others (beside of the autoroute, for example) are beautiful.
If you want any other info, just post and I'll come answer back as soon as I can!
Thanks for your beautiful answer. I only asked about jobs because it's easier to learn french when i have no choice speak french all the time I don't care about money otherwise, I'll just continue to do my own job, only on my computer this time. Not much difference.
And it'll be Jonquiere because her family lives in somewhere called Shipshaw near Jonquiere and we'll live in their farm-ish place. I can just spend time doing farm work, I like to keep myself busy.
And yes, I do enjoy nightlife. I'm 26 and honestly I can't say I am a fully grown up man haha, I love night scene and bars, flirting and everything.
What I'm wondering is, considering we have a car, is going and coming between Chicoutimi and Jonquiere every day okay? From what I've understood, you love Saguenay and don't really want to criticize it But it's quite clear you love Chicoutimi much more than Jonquiere So do criticize Jonquiere for me please
Why did you leave Saguenay? And your english is perfect!
Shipshaw is definitely very rural But (and I suggest you to go see it on Google Maps) you are close to both Chicoutimi and Jonquière by car, so that won't be a problem. Just know that if you must commute to Chicoutimi between 7:30 and 9:00AM, pass through Jonquière, not Chicoutimi-Nord (and consequently the Dubuc Bridge). Otherwise, you will be caught in the morning jam... Don't look for it; there is no evening jam.
For the nightlife, you are between two categories... There is "Le Pub", "Heaven" and "Le Bistro" in Chicoutimi (there are others but I'll keep it to what I've experienced). They are all in Downtown and pretty fun clubs; however, "Le Pub" is majorly filled with an under 18 YO crowd and 16 YO virgin chicks who dress like whores to draw attention to themselves and have a one night to then accuse the guy who had sex with her that he drugged her (sorry, it had to go out ). "Le Bistro" is more mixed, with people in the early 20s just like "Heaven" which is 21+ and strictly enforced. In Jonquière you have "Le Campus" and "Le Berlioz" both on St.-Dominique St. Out of the two, you have the choice: "Le Campus" is a little bit like "Le Bistro" for its crowd age and Le Berlioz is mainly late 20's and 30's. That's about all I have to say about clubs here.
Time for some Jonquière-bashing (). No, seriously, like I said in my other post, Jonquière has good and bad areas. It is very beautiful and I recommend you to go make a little visit to the Centre National d'Explosition at Mont-Jacob: the view is gorgeous. I would say that, in general, the area that is poorer is is circled by Harvey Blvd, St-Dominique Street and Saguenay Blvd. BUT, St-Dominique Street north of Harvey is great; it has the nice Rivière-aux-Sables Park right beside it, lot of good restaurants and a cinema; PLUS, Kenogami's Centre-ville is great too; it just has been revamped by the city of Saguenay (new sidewalks, new asphalt, new lighting, trees and benches). Now, the bad side is within the residential areas of the zone I mentionned above. Do not think it's any kind like Downtown Eastside in Van or Tenderloin in SF (); there isn't any hophead wandering the streets and you don't have a higher risk to be attacked than anywhere else in Saguenay. The only bad part is visual: these neighborhoods are constitued mostly of apartments and projects where the poorer of Saguenay live. You might hear people sreaming at each other in their run-down flat, but that's about the most terrifying thing you will hear there. In sum, the streets might be full of potholes and cracks, sidewalks might be falling apart and apartments may look cheap and run down but that's it. I suggest you go see it on Google Street View.
For Jonquière in general, my major critics are that the road layout is a bit confusing compared to Chicoutimi (because, remember, you'll need to drive ), that the Alcan complex in Arvida is a bit dirty and ugly (the neighborhoods surrounding it are great though) and that the borough itself is less "polished" than Chicoutimi I might say (less green, more industrial) but if you stay a majority of time in Shipshaw I think you'll have enough trees for yourself . Also, you might need to go to Chicoutimi often if you want major store chains (Wal-Mart, Costco, Sears, etc.)
Finally, yes, as you have seen, I quite like my natal region (I come from Falardeau, even more rural than Shipshaw and while I can plug it, there's Le Valinouët ski mountain and a nice zoo up there ) and I think Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean is one of the most underrated part of Quebec (even by its own inhabitants ). A lot of people moan that there isn't nothing to do here, that it's not beautiful, that it's far from everything, etc. while in fact they never want to do anything. While your in Saguenay, find yourself some new things to discover (I might have some suggestions when the time comes) and if there are major (and free!) events organized by the city, go take a look; habitually, they are very great. I'm not saying that you'll love it without any doubt, but I stongly suggest you to try and come see what it looks like and go out (visit!).
The reason I left is because I had an opportunity to go to school and work where the sun shines 300 days per year and where the temperature almost never dip down below 10 degrees Celcius. That's all, and the only thing I would trade it for is Saguenay stuck in Summertime. So, I greet you from Los Angeles ( I must be a hipster loving all these overlooked places), and I am now going to go cook my supper on the BBQ in my backyard where it's sunny and right around 20 degrees Celcius.
Cheers, and if you have anything else, just tell me.
PS: I'm sorry for the very long post, it will be long to read
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Well, I'll know when i get there haha, thanks for your answer.
); there isn't any hophead wandering the streets and you don't have a higher risk to be attacked than anywhere else in Saguenay. The only bad part is visual: these neighborhoods are constitued mostly of apartments and projects where the poorer of Saguenay live. You might hear people sreaming at each other in their run-down flat, but that's about the most terrifying thing you will hear there. In sum, the streets might be full of potholes and cracks, sidewalks might be falling apart and apartments may look cheap and run down but that's it. I suggest you go see it on Google Street View.
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