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We've been waiting for the Island to "grow up" for some time as it is IMO a better place to raise a family. I've monitored the development pulse in recent years and it has been picking up. I would certainly like to move there and not have to pine for the services and amenities in Vancouver every weekend to hop on the ferry, and it's not quite there for me yet, but with all the new high rises finally coming up including the Hudson and the Mayfair redevelopment I could seriously consider it as a self-sustaining destination over the next decade.
We've been waiting for the Island to "grow up" for some time.......
Personally I hope to God it never does "grow up" in the sense that you are talking about. The way it is now and always has been a slow 'grower' plays a huge part in its nostalgic charm and beauty and peacefulness. When it becomes more 'citified' and developed with more concrete jungle and more populated with spoiled hyperactive people who insist on all the modern amenities and entertainments of big city life it will cease to be the idyllic place it is now. It will become ruined and ugly and no longer a good place to raise a family.
My SIL lived there for at least 20 years. I don't think she felt trapped but after her husband died, and without children, she moved back to Manitoba. She still visits there frequently and stays with friends. Her first winter back in Manitoba, she cried every day and wondered why she had sold her house there
Do yourself a favor and stay far away from Vancouver Island. It's not a big island as some would have you believe, it's tiny tiny tiny and very limiting. The weather is some of the worst in the Americas. Unless you're tremendously rich you will have to live from hand to mouth. Don't get me started on the lack of congeniality of the locals!
All that being said, I can't keep a straight face. I'm simply being selfish as I've found it to be the most wonderful place on earth. I'm a U S citizen with wanderlust for the place and it's people and said those terrible things to keep folk away so that it can remain wonderful for the day I can move there and beg them to grant me citizenship. Please forgive me V I, BC.
Personally I hope to God it never does "grow up" in the sense that you are talking about. The way it is now and always has been a slow 'grower' plays a huge part in its nostalgic charm and beauty and peacefulness. When it becomes more 'citified' and developed with more concrete jungle and more populated with spoiled hyperactive people who insist on all the modern amenities and entertainments of big city life it will cease to be the idyllic place it is now. It will become ruined and ugly and no longer a good place to raise a family.
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This is understandable, and I think dominates civic debates in Victoria, but I think is difficult to avoid as a result of the spillover of housing demand in the lower mainland and increase in commercial interest. I'd be very surprised to see DT Victoria's skyline not change dramatically in 10 years. I think as long as demand and growth is concentrated in the small dense pocket of downtown, there will remain plenty of small idyllic communities just surrounding it which are perfect for a quieter, slower life. Looking at recent development approvals in Kelowna vs Victoria, you can tell the council is very different between the two
Personally I hope to God it never does "grow up" in the sense that you are talking about. The way it is now and always has been a slow 'grower' plays a huge part in its nostalgic charm and beauty and peacefulness. When it becomes more 'citified' and developed with more concrete jungle and more populated with spoiled hyperactive people who insist on all the modern amenities and entertainments of big city life it will cease to be the idyllic place it is now. It will become ruined and ugly and no longer a good place to raise a family.
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Totally agree. I'm also wary of a bridge going to the Sunshine Coast or Vancouver Island.
It's so wonderful to have these peaceful, wonderful places so close to Vancouver. My favourite is Salt Spring Island. Idyllic just about covers it. Going again in June to sit overlooking the ocean from a porch with a glass of wine, while my Thrifty's store pub pie warms in the oven. Going to several of the excellent bakeries, buying local cheese, enjoying the public market days and basically chill out.
I purposely take the milk run ferry route, rather than Swartz Bay to Fulford Harbour. it takes 3 hours and stops at several other islands, but you can feel the stress leaving you the closer you get to Long Harbour.
My SIL lived there for at least 20 years. I don't think she felt trapped but after her husband died, and without children, she moved back to Manitoba. She still visits there frequently and stays with friends. Her first winter back in Manitoba, she cried every day and wondered why she had sold her house there
There are still some affordable places on the Island. Has she checked to see if it's possible to move back?
Have you been to Vancouver Island or any of the Gulf Islands Netwit?
There are still some affordable places on the Island. Has she checked to see if it's possible to move back?
Have you been to Vancouver Island or any of the Gulf Islands Netwit?
She's almost 86 so she isn't going to move back. She thought she should die where she was brought up and close to old friends and relatives, not that she shows any sign of dying. People just worry when they get older who will take care of them.
No, I haven't. Everyone says Tofinio is my kind of place though. I will have to check it out one day.
I personally would love to see a bridge or tunnel from the lower mainland to the island. It would help the economy and make it easier for goods and people to go back and forth. After the Confederation bridge was built to PEI, it helped a lot to increase tourism and grow the economy. All that being said, I doubt it will get built anytime soon as the cost of construction is too high compared to the Confederation bridge and there is too much seismic risk. So we will have to settle for the status quo for the foreseeable future.
She's almost 86 so she isn't going to move back. She thought she should die where she was brought up and close to old friends and relatives, not that she shows any sign of dying. People just worry when they get older who will take care of them.
No, I haven't. Everyone says Tofinio is my kind of place though. I will have to check it out one day.
86! Yes that's not an age most people want to be moving at.
Tofino is lovely. It's very popular in summer and during winter storm watching season. You might actually prefer the smaller and quieter Ucluelet.
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