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I have visited London a few times. It's very nice over there. Especially the area around the University (Western). Large parts of the city are suburban in nature but the downtown core has some tall buildings. Just east of downtown is a slightly run down area but it's not too bad. The big box stores seem to be in the south part of town off Wellington and the 401. London has one of the best high schools in Ontario as far as test scores go.. and the area is surprisingly white-collar. It is also very affordable as Ontario cities go... housing is cheaper than in Niagara and way cheaper than in Toronto though not as cheap as in Windsor. Overall London is a great place! I think the biggest downside of London is probably the landscape... it's more or less flat in that part of Ontario and it's quite a way to any mountains or the escarpment. It also unfortunately has some of the highest air pollution levels in Ontario since the wind blows a lot of industrial pollution into London and it also lies in a snow belt so you'll find a lot more snow than places like St. Catharines or Toronto. That is the extent of my knowledge about London. Maybe some locals could pipe in and give some more insight.
I have visited London a few times. It's very nice over there. Especially the area around the University (Western). Large parts of the city are suburban in nature but the downtown core has some tall buildings. Just east of downtown is a slightly run down area but it's not too bad. The big box stores seem to be in the south part of town off Wellington and the 401. London has one of the best high schools in Ontario as far as test scores go.. and the area is surprisingly white-collar. It is also very affordable as Ontario cities go... housing is cheaper than in Niagara and way cheaper than in Toronto though not as cheap as in Windsor. Overall London is a great place! I think the biggest downside of London is probably the landscape... it's more or less flat in that part of Ontario and it's quite a way to any mountains or the escarpment. It also unfortunately has some of the highest air pollution levels in Ontario since the wind blows a lot of industrial pollution into London and it also lies in a snow belt so you'll find a lot more snow than places like St. Catharines or Toronto. That is the extent of my knowledge about London. Maybe some locals could pipe in and give some more insight.
London is not completely flat. The Southwest part of town is pretty hilly and scenic. In fact, a recreational area called Boler Mountain, which is very popular for skiing and tubing is in this part of town.
Poor air quality has not been and issue for me and I have a very sensitive nose, except for the smokers I occasionally run into downtown. London is a relatively green city (hence the name "The Forest City") and it is completely surrounded by farmland for miles.
What's London like? I've always been intrigued by this city... it looks like such a beautiful, quaint city to live in!
I been living in London for about 9 months now and really like it. It's a big little city if that makes sense. It's proving to be a great place to raise a family. If your single I hear the bar/club/cafe/restaurant scene is pretty good because of all the college and university students (50,000 plus) mainly from Toronto.
I wouldn't recommend Kitchener-Waterloo or London to anyone unless you like being surrounded by university students and white trash who love NASCAR and UFC -- it's like Canadian Alabama here
I wouldn't recommend Kitchener-Waterloo or London to anyone unless you like being surrounded by university students and white trash who love NASCAR and UFC -- it's like Canadian Alabama here
London, ON (and KW) just keep on growing and growing though... Something must be attracting folks to move there... Looking at the price and quality of the housing the value looks much better than anything in Western Canada...
K-W is growing because of Research In Motion -- that may change in the near future
As many as 40% of RIM's employees live in Toronto or Mississauga (the GTA) and as they grow older and have families many choose to move out to KW to be closer to work.
This is fueling most of the growth - that and other Torontonians sick of paying so much for houses.
Guelph is far far nicer than KW and I would recommend it over this area.
We have a massive shortage of family doctors, crappy roads, terrible retail, and very few decent restaurants.
You'll end up in Toronto frequently unless your idea of "fine dining" is kiddie funtime night at Casey's Kelsey's Boston Pizza or other assorted crap (they're basically Canada's answer to Applebees)
K-W is growing because of Research In Motion -- that may change in the near future
As many as 40% of RIM's employees live in Toronto or Mississauga (the GTA) and as they grow older and have families many choose to move out to KW to be closer to work.
This is fueling most of the growth - that and other Torontonians sick of paying so much for houses.
Guelph is far far nicer than KW and I would recommend it over this area.
We have a massive shortage of family doctors, crappy roads, terrible retail, and very few decent restaurants.
You'll end up in Toronto frequently unless your idea of "fine dining" is kiddie funtime night at Casey's Kelsey's Boston Pizza or other assorted crap (they're basically Canada's answer to Applebees)
What would happen to the region, London included I assume, if RIM were to be bought out or fall flat... RIM is losing market share and the Playbook does have some nasty reviews so far and is late to the game...
What if Apple incorporated a proper keyboard to the IPhone and RIM died? Would the rest of London and KW die with it or is there more going on?
London would be minimally hurt as they rely more on the insurance industry, UWO, and the medical facilities associated with UWO. There are a good number of commuters to KW from London but most end up moving here (401 west during the winter is no fun)
If RIM falls flat or is acquired, say goodbye to Canada's "Tech Triangle" and much of the grant funding for U Waterloo, which comes from RIM
The next largest local tech company is Open Text but they only employ 1500 in Waterloo.
The region would go back to being anchored by Manulife and SunLife and most of the RIM employees would probably flood the Toronto job market and end up either at subsidiaries of American firms in Mississauga (VM Ware, Intuit) or the IT/PMO groups of the larger banks (BMO, CIBC, TD) - it would be a fairly ugly sight but this happened to Nortel too although Ottawa is a much more diverse job market.
Many of us are very worried about recent reviews of the Playbook, myself included given my employer ;-)
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