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My husband works for a Toronto-based company that wants to promote him, and they prefer that we move up there (we are currently in NYC). I’m not super excited about that prospect, but I’m always open to exploring new opportunities and I‘m always open to being surprised, so we are going to go visit (he has been there a lot but I haven't).
We’re kind of over city life in general and we were planning to leave NYC next spring anyway, so we would not prefer to live right in Toronto. We’ve been leaning toward the Hudson Valley, because we want something rural (we don’t care for suburban life), but not Walmart rural, if that makes sense. We love that the HV has art, theater, history, culture, good restaurants, etc. So my question is, does the greater Toronto area have anything similar to the Hudson Valley? What is the commute from those areas like for someone who needs to go into the office a few days a week?
Toronto is ringed by varying degrees of suburbs and exurbs. It is not the Hudson Valley. It’s its own thing. Development stretches out across Lake Ontario as well as away from it.
One benefit is that Northern Ontario is a lot closer to the Toronto area than the Adirondacks are to NYC and nothing beats a summer weekend on one of the thousands of lakes that make up what is colloquially known as “cottage country.”
I think you’ll likely find what you’re looking for here, but it’s not going to be as “old” as the towns along the Hudson Valley. Many of them were founded 200+ years ago. Not much here that is that old outside Toronto proper.
If you are looking for a sophisticated rural area I would suggest Niagara on the Lake. It is a very quaint area with a very nice historic village, wineries and has live theater every summer. It is about a 2 1/2 drive from Downtown Toronto in typical weekday traffic but much less during off hours ( like 90 minutes). If you only have to do that a couple of times per week it might be worth it
If you are looking for a sophisticated rural area I would suggest Niagara on the Lake. It is a very quaint area with a very nice historic village, wineries and has live theater every summer. It is about a 2 1/2 drive from Downtown Toronto in typical weekday traffic but much less during off hours ( like 90 minutes). If you only have to do that a couple of times per week it might be worth it
Ooh, that does look really cute! In my googling, I see talk of a potential ferry to Toronto in the future. That makes this an intriguing option, for sure.
These look great! What would you say the commute is like from Campbellville and Caledon? Google says about an hour drive to the downtown area, but I know how that goes. Is it reasonable to drive to the train and take the train in? My husband would likely be going into the city 3 days a week or so. An hour commute is doable. We wouldn't really want to push too much further beyond that (been there done that in the DC area years ago).
These look great! What would you say the commute is like from Campbellville and Caledon? Google says about an hour drive to the downtown area, but I know how that goes. Is it reasonable to drive to the train and take the train in? My husband would likely be going into the city 3 days a week or so. An hour commute is doable. We wouldn't really want to push too much further beyond that (been there done that in the DC area years ago).
For Campbellville I would drive to the Milton Go Station ...it is a short drive...
Milton Go train is about 1 hour to downtown Toronto.
For Caledon I would take either the Go Bus to Toronto...takes about 70 minutes...
or drive to a station on the Kitchener Go train line ..similar time ...about 70 minutes...
Campbellville is a bit shorter and easier commute than Caledon,
both are just over 1 hour.
It’s a pretty little town, right along the Niagara Escarpment, very close to Hamilton, which is a decent town in its own right, and has quick and easy access to Toronto via car or train.
Other than Niagara-on-the-Lake and some of the other older, quaint, somewhat wealthy towns on Lake Ontario, Dundas might be worth checking out. Besides that, has the OP considered some of the smaller, more upscale, less crowded suburbs of Toronto, like Oakville, King City, Burlington, and the like? Oakville, in particular, is one of Toronto’s wealthiest suburbs, especially close to the waterfront. It also has a nice little downtown, with old shops, restaurants, and parks. I know quite a few people who live over in Burlington (it’s not quite so expensive) but spend a lot of time in Oakville.
My husband works for a Toronto-based company that wants to promote him, and they prefer that we move up there (we are currently in NYC). I’m not super excited about that prospect, but I’m always open to exploring new opportunities and I‘m always open to being surprised, so we are going to go visit (he has been there a lot but I haven't).
We’re kind of over city life in general and we were planning to leave NYC next spring anyway, so we would not prefer to live right in Toronto. We’ve been leaning toward the Hudson Valley, because we want something rural (we don’t care for suburban life), but not Walmart rural, if that makes sense. We love that the HV has art, theater, history, culture, good restaurants, etc. So my question is, does the greater Toronto area have anything similar to the Hudson Valley? What is the commute from those areas like for someone who needs to go into the office a few days a week?
Thanks so much for any insights you can offer!
The Toronto area may be able to offer things for you. You just have to find them. Toronto is a very large region. It is hard to get a true rural feel from any part of the region. There are many parts of the region that are more rural than others, but they are more likely to be suburbia than true rural.
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