Winnipeg-Should we move or not? (middle-class, apartment, high crime)

[PlanetEarth]

Hi,
We are living in Ottawa and I have got job in Winnipeg. We have recently immigrated from Europe.Ottawa is nice place and we are not sure if we should move to Winnipeg. If any one can advise who have moved recently or lived there for a while,if Winnipeg is city worth moving to work,live and spent rest of our life's there? Also I understand the airport does not have many direct flight to international destinations like to Europe or Asia, does anyone know if new airport will increase this traffic?And finally how are people to new immigrants, we found Ottawa to be nice to us?Please help and advise!Thank you

[Lake12]

I expect the new airport may bring some new services, maybe even to Europe in a few years but I would doubt WPG will get Asian service anytime soon. Still, you can make connections through Minneapolis, Toronto, Calgary, etc.

There is an increasing immigrant population here (the province is working to bring the total to 20,000 new immigrants per year) and people seem pretty accepting. Winnipeg doesn't have a great reputation, but offers a pretty nice quality of life. The city has a high crime-rate but this is almost entirely restricted to the North End. In terms of weather, winters are cold, but summers are usually hot (this spring was cold, however), and there are many beautiful lakes and beaches within a few hours driving distance.

If you were interested in moving, I would suggest looking to the south-west or south-east. Waverley West is a new community that is being built in the south-west. It will eventually be home to almost 40,000 people and is in nicest area of the city. Sage Creek is a new community in the south-east that also looks nice.

[PlanetEarth]

Are there enough jobs in Winnipeg and is it able to attract companies to open offices? I find that if I am moving to Winnipeg and staring job, in case if I do not like the job then at least I can find another job as it would be too much for my Family to move some where else. So it is important if some one can please if Winnipeg has good economically in terms of attracting new investments and creating of job? Please advise!

[ZX14TJ]

Employment outlook will vary depending on your profession. What type of business/position are you in?

[PlanetEarth]

Well I am in Business and IT as Project Managing, Business Process etc. So do you suggest there are quite few jobs in my areas. Please remember when I say IT it does not mean I am programmer or system analyst. I am basically from Business but I understand IT and how they work, in short middle man between the two. Please advise

[Frank_Carbonni]

Originally Posted by PlanetEarth

Hi,
We are living in Ottawa and I have got job in Winnipeg. We have recently immigrated from Europe.Ottawa is nice place and we are not sure if we should move to Winnipeg. If any one can advise who have moved recently or lived there for a while,if Winnipeg is city worth moving to work,live and spent rest of our life's there? Also I understand the airport does not have many direct flight to international destinations like to Europe or Asia, does anyone know if new airport will increase this traffic?And finally how are people to new immigrants, we found Ottawa to be nice to us?Please help and advise!Thank you

I used to live in Winnipeg for many years so I can give you some hints.

I cannot speak too much on how easy it is to find a job in your line of work, you will have to look up job websites to find that out.

As for the new airport or extension or whatever. I doubt it. Because of Winnipeg's location it will always have a lot of direct flights to major North American cities, but it will never have many direct flights to Europe or. It is almost dead center on the North American continent and it just wouldn't make sense.

Winnipeg is pretty accepting of new immigrants. You won't be mistreated or anything. Also, if you are from certain European nations, you might have easier time. Winnipeg has a large population of Eastern European immigrants and people who are descended from Eastern Europeans, mostly Ukrainians and a significant number of Russians. I knew there were a quite a few support organizations for Ukrainians when I was living there.

Also, keep in mind that Winnipeg is a blue-collar working-class and middle-class city. Don't expect things like a lot of trendy nightclubs or five-star restaurants or things like that. There are a lot of good restaurants serving North American cuisine and various ethnic restaurants, but they are very causal places.

The upsides to Winnipeg are that it is a pretty cheap city and pretty accepting of immigrants, it is certainly less expensive than most cities in European and it is cheaper than many cities in Canada and the US. Housing is pretty affordable. About 7 years ago, I knew someone who was paying about $500 a month for pretty nice one bedroom apartment in an area within walking distance of a shopping center and was surrounded by a number of convenience stores and so on.