toronto is WAY too expensive... any cheaper places within an hours (or an hour and a half) drive from city of toronto ?? (apartments, insurance)

[AlsoNotMe]

Originally Posted by winoceros

Maybe not, there are too many variables there. Should you also include your morning routine? How long does it take to shower, ****, shave, eat breakfast, clean the cat litter, go to the gym, go for a swim, drive to the train station 45 minutes early, wait on the platform for 45 minutes, take the train for 27 minutes to union station, get a cinnamon roll at cinnabon, get on the subway to Queen station, have a smoke, and then take the elevator 27 stories to your office?

The long and the short of it is you have to do what works for you. For me, I found the train to be a great alternative from Vaughan where it was something like a 36-minute ride to downtown Toronto and I worked not too far from Union Station. It saved a lot of time and expense. The train isn't perfect, and it will depend on where you need to go, but if you are going to the dowtown business district, the train is a fantastic option over driving.

Hey winocerus ease off there. There are people reading this who don't live here and think that Oshawa or Vaughan is literally a half-hour away from Union Station at rushhour. My question was simple, it said from the time you leave the front door to when you get there. If you say it's an hour commute, it should take from 8am - 9am with some reasonable assumption (not hopping on one foot, moving straight there, no trips to the bar on the way).

You have to include in all the other parts of a straight there commute. To look at the commute and only include the part of the trip that's on the train would be like telling someone the drive from the top of the dvp is only 15 minutes by counting only the time you're moving, not stuck in traffic. I'm not even sure why you're so mad. Sometimes I drive and sometimes I take public transit. This forum is really for out of towners more than locals who know all this already.

[winoceros]

Originally Posted by AlsoNotMe

Hey winocerus ease off there. There are people reading this who don't live here and think that Oshawa or Vaughan is literally a half-hour away from Union Station at rushhour. My question was simple, it said from the time you leave the front door to when you get there. If you say it's an hour commute, it should take from 8am - 9am with some reasonable assumption (not hopping on one foot, moving straight there, no trips to the bar on the way).

You have to include in all the other parts of a straight there commute. To look at the commute and only include the part of the trip that's on the train would be like telling someone the drive from the top of the dvp is only 15 minutes by counting only the time you're moving, not stuck in traffic. I'm not even sure why you're so mad. Sometimes I drive and sometimes I take public transit. This forum is really for out of towners more than locals who know all this already.

My point was that it's too hard to say "can you do this in one hour?" Well, yes you can if you live a short distance from the train station and you're able to get there as the train is pulling up and then you work a short distance from Union Station. But in almost any other situation, no. But if you consider the amount of time it takes to do all the things involved in taking the train vs. the time and cost of driving in Toronto's horrendous traffic and then paying $15 for parking downtown, it's totally worth it.

[AlsoNotMe]

RE: "My point was that it's too hard to say "can you do this in one hour?""

But it wasn't me who said it. Another poster said it takes an hour, and I was just asking if that was really true. Your response "but in almost any other situation no" is a fine answer. I was just asking for clarification.

For another example: I LIVE in Toronto, and WORK in Toronto, and I still can't get to work in less than 40 minutes. The commute really can't be underestimated, especially if you're coming from other parts of the country/world that don't put up with this.

[Annuvin]

Originally Posted by AlsoNotMe

@ Annuvin - is that really true in your experience?

If you leave the front steps of your Oshawa house at 8am, you really walk in and sit in your desk chair at your office at say Bay/King at 9am?

The GO commute from Oshawa Station to Union Station in Toronto is 60 minutes. I work a 5 min walk from Union, and live 10 minutes from the Oshawa GO station. If I leave my house at 5:25, I willl be in my office at 7:00.

[AlsoNotMe]

Thank you Annuvin. I find this post much more clear than your first post which said the commute is one hour. An hour and half trip (3 hours a day, total) then makes more sense to me.

So you have to leave the house at 5:25am? Crazy! What if you left at 8am?

The other thing for people who don't live here to know is that everyone I know who takes the go train (a) arrives early and (b) lives and dies by the clock in the afternoon. Many trains it seems stop running around 7pm (someone correct me) sometimes work runs late etc or there's an afterwork party etc. It's nice to not be on a clock.

[szug-bot]

mandem, i often scoff at any warning of a canadian city or neighborhood as sketchy, or "dodgey". Crime just CANT be that bad in Hamilton compared to what a lot (but not all) americans and possibly english as well are used to and tolerate.

i suggest you seriously give Hamilton a look. it is my favorite place in the golden horseshoe, being a city with much to offer but still a little worn and jagged (ie. not perfect, which i do like).

my former job sent me to Hamilton a number of times. the people there, like in my hometown here in the states, are a mix of all things good and bad, but overall, a good bunch. you would reap the benefits of the more reasonable cost of living, over years. i never found issue with getting around the area - its easy to navigate and get used to.

having lived in a hyper-growth, high-demand area, i can tell you the commute would suck the soul out of you, but listen to the advice of the good people here - study up on GO or other means of commuting (car pools? telecommuting?). they may make the hamilton commute worth the hour+ each day.

welcome to north america - i think you will love ontario...and i cast my vote for Hamilton.

[Annuvin]

Originally Posted by AlsoNotMe

Thank you Annuvin. I find this post much more clear than your first post which said the commute is one hour. An hour and half trip (3 hours a day, total) then makes more sense to me.

So you have to leave the house at 5:25am? Crazy! What if you left at 8am?

The other thing for people who don't live here to know is that everyone I know who takes the go train (a) arrives early and (b) lives and dies by the clock in the afternoon. Many trains it seems stop running around 7pm (someone correct me) sometimes work runs late etc or there's an afterwork party etc. It's nice to not be on a clock.

I have to leave at 5:25 because my job starts at 7:00 AM and I work until 7 PM. After 7:00 PM, the eastbound GO Service runs fifteen minutes after every hour until the last train at 00:15. If you happen to miss that, there is one last GO bust that leaves Union at 1:20 AM.

All in all, the GO system is fairly reliable and there is hourly service if you want to hit the downtown pubs for a few ales after quitting time.

[mellabella]

I would go wit Whitby. Taking the Go train to Toronto from Whitby usually ensures you get a seat as the GO starts in Oshawa and isn't full when it hits Whitby. It is full by the time you get to Ajax/Scarb or closer. Whitby is nice.

[Chris_A]

Hamilton is a nice place near Toronto, besides it has the GO Service so you can travel at any time and at a cheap price. I lived there and I enjoyed my time there. It was very easy to hang around and you can find affordable prices there in anything (housing, stores, schools, etc).

[AlsoNotMe]

What about with traffic, travis3000? My educated guess is that to get to say Bay/Bloor by 9am you'd have to leave around 7am at the latest on a Tuesday morning. Thoughts?