Best and worst details about your part of Canada ... (real estate, 2015)

[klmrocks]

Canada is a really big country. We might all share a federal government, a national anthem and flag, but life throughout the country can be so different. This leads to my question. If you could tell others about your town/ city/ province what would you say the best and worst details or features are of your part of Canada?

Toronto, Ontario
Lots to do, see and explore, but your likely never going to actually be able to do or see it all because you have to work round the clock (unless you win Loto 649) to afford to pay for it all . Lots of places to earn money, but way more places to spend money.

Your turn

[deneb78]

Vancouver, BC (other Vancouver posters might disagree but here is my take)

PROS:
-Decent weather in the Canadian context and mediocre weather in a global one
-Beautiful scenery
-Great recreational opportunities close to the city (hiking, skiing, kayaking)
-Good culinary scene for a city of its size
-Public transit is pretty decent for a city if its size at least by North American standards


CONS:
-Cost of real estate has reached ridiculous proportions and now the average worker can't afford even a townhouse in the city
-Job market is rather weak for a city of its size
-Very large homeless population for a city of its size and a lot of them seem to have psychiatric problems and addictions.
-Traffic can be pretty horrible even during off peak hours
-Due to the transient nature of the population in general, it can be hard at times to develop long term friendships as people seem to be constantly moving in and out of Vancouver.

[arctic_gardener]

Sask.

PROS:

Clean air and water.
Quiet.
Less nanny state interference than in certain other provinces which shall remain unnamed.
Land is still cheap by both Canadian and world standards, if you're not too close to a population center.
They know how to do Ukrainian food.

CONS:

Many people are still stuck in the 1950s in terms of stereotyping and racism. Sometimes the ignorance is just harmless, but sometimes it can be very damaging to one's self-esteem and career.
Winters are long and cold. Summers are short and not consistently warm. Seriously, southern Ontarians don't realize how lucky they are in this respect.

Horrendous culinary scene. Authentic Italian cuisine is non-existent. Greek food is ribs and boiled potatoes doused liberally in lemon juice. Alternatively, top anything with some old feta from the bottom of the fridge and call it Greek cuisine. No authentic German or French food either (esp. desserts). No good bread anywhere. Indian and Chinese food offered here is disgusting and nothing like what it should be. The only authentic Old World cuisine here is Ukrainian and they know how to do that pretty well.

[botticelli]

Originally Posted by klmrocks

Toronto, Ontario
Lots to do, see and explore, but your likely never going to actually be able to do or see it all because you have to work round the clock (unless you win Loto 649) to afford to pay for it all . Lots of places to earn money, but way more places to spend money.

You are exaggerating. Toronto is hardly the most expensive place on earth, or even on this continent. Cost of living is largely reasonable. And you don't really need to work around the clock to afford a decent life - unless one thinks owning a 2000 sf detached home with four bedrooms and two garages is a life necessity.

[Natnasci]

Originally Posted by deneb78

Vancouver, BC (other Vancouver posters might disagree but here is my take)

PROS:
-Decent weather in the Canadian context and mediocre weather in a global one
-Beautiful scenery
-Great recreational opportunities close to the city (hiking, skiing, kayaking)
-Good culinary scene for a city of its size
-Public transit is pretty decent for a city if its size at least by North American standards


CONS:
-Cost of real estate has reached ridiculous proportions and now the average worker can't afford even a townhouse in the city
-Job market is rather weak for a city of its size
-Very large homeless population for a city of its size and a lot of them seem to have psychiatric problems and addictions.
-Traffic can be pretty horrible even during off peak hours
-Due to the transient nature of the population in general, it can be hard at times to develop long term friendships as people seem to be constantly moving in and out of Vancouver.

Pretty spot on. Real estate though is getting crazy in a lot of places, but it's definitely a downside if you want to buy.

The homeless situation though seems so much bigger because it's cramped into a small downtown between to regular neighbourhoods, and a major route in and out of the city. It's just more apparent.

Although, as you can already tell, we do get a huge increase in Spring and Summer of " wanderers " ending up in Vancouver and Victoria.
You know the ones. They have pets and back-packs and are young.

"The Vancouver Homeless Count conducted on March 24, 2015 is the ninth homeless count measuring the number of homeless people in Vancouver. 1,746 homeless persons were counted, comprised of 488 unsheltered homeless persons and 1,258 sheltered homeless."

http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/vancou...count-2015.pdf

[klmrocks]

Originally Posted by botticelli

You are exaggerating. Toronto is hardly the most expensive place on earth, or even on this continent. Cost of living is largely reasonable. And you don't really need to work around the clock to afford a decent life - unless one thinks owning a 2000 sf detached home with four bedrooms and two garages is a life necessity.

This all depends on your standards of course. My expectations might be higher then some and lower them others. In my opinion as someone born and raised here (I could be really wrong about this) is that hell YES I need a nice house, car, 100 pairs of shoes, tones of clothes, perfume, jewellery, a tv in every room, to be able to go out, do and try everything there is to offer in my surroundings. As the song lyrics go ... I want it all and right now ! I grew up watching tv shows that depicted this as the norm. Why be surrounding with all these cool, interesting and exciting things if I cannot have them or try them? So even if knowingly illogical I cannot help but think I should be aiming to have and be able to do/ sample all this.

Compared to people I have known from other places as they do not see all this stuff and options every time they walkout the front door the temptation to try and have is much less.

[Zoisite]

-Very large homeless population for a city of its size and a lot of them seem to have psychiatric problems and addictions.

I just want to make a comment about the number of homeless people in Vancouver, Victoria and the general lower mainland of BC. What many Canadians don't realize is that the vast majority of homeless and mentally handicapped with addictions are NOT native British Columbians. They are people who have made the exodus to BC from all over the rest of Canada.

Some even have been "shipped" to Vancouver on one-way bus tickets provided by government social services agencies in other provinces to get rid of the burden of them. The reason why the homeless come voluntarilly from elsewhere in Canada or they're sent by their own provinces' government agencies to British Columbia is because the lower mainland of BC is the only place in Canada where homeless people can have more expectation of surviving while living outdoors during the milder west coast winter months.


So BC's government and the legitimate citizens of BC's lower mainland and Vancouver Island get stuck with the burden and responsibility of other provinces' dregs, rejects and discards.

Am I angry about that? Yes, I am. My beef is with the rest of Canada's provinces for not accepting more responsibility for their own people and not providing them with more incentives and resources to make a home in their own home provinces.

.

[Yvanung]

Montreal, QC

Pros:

- A lot of various types of cuisine
- Fantastic nightlife
- Better public transit (on the island)
- Public utilities are mostly cheaper
- Wide diversity

Cons:

- Potholes abound (for those who own cars and drive)
- Difficult to find parking
- Much more politics-obsessed than in Canada's other large cities (but not religion-obsessed though)
- Corrupt government at provincial and, to a lesser extent, municipal levels
- Somewhat weak job market

[deneb78]

Originally Posted by Zoisite

I just want to make a comment about the number of homeless people in Vancouver, Victoria and the general lower mainland of BC. What many Canadians don't realize is that the vast majority of homeless and mentally handicapped with addictions are NOT native British Columbians. They are people who have made the exodus to BC from all over the rest of Canada.

Some even have been "shipped" to Vancouver on one-way bus tickets provided by government social services agencies in other provinces to get rid of the burden of them. The reason why the homeless come voluntarilly from elsewhere in Canada or they're sent by their own provinces' government agencies to British Columbia is because the lower mainland of BC is the only place in Canada where homeless people can have more expectation of surviving while living outdoors during the milder west coast winter months.


So BC's government and the legitimate citizens of BC's lower mainland and Vancouver Island get stuck with the burden and responsibility of other provinces' dregs, rejects and discards.

Am I angry about that? Yes, I am. My beef is with the rest of Canada's provinces for not accepting more responsibility for their own people and not providing them with more incentives and resources to make a home in their own home provinces.

.

Totally agree with this. I remember hearing on the news recently about those guys who were not given help in Saskatchewan and given one way bus tickets here. It was deplorable. Other provinces need to step up to the plate and do their fair share of helping those who need social services instead of dumping them on us.

[Jesse44]

Originally Posted by klmrocks

This all depends on your standards of course. My expectations might be higher then some and lower them others. In my opinion as someone born and raised here (I could be really wrong about this) is that hell YES I need a nice house, car, 100 pairs of shoes, tones of clothes, perfume, jewellery, a tv in every room, to be able to go out, do and try everything there is to offer in my surroundings. As the song lyrics go ... I want it all and right now ! I grew up watching tv shows that depicted this as the norm. Why be surrounding with all these cool, interesting and exciting things if I cannot have them or try them? So even if knowingly illogical I cannot help but think I should be aiming to have and be able to do/ sample all this.

This is the least sound reasoning for anything ever. You don't deserve things just because you've seen them on TV. Not to mention 'cool and interesting things' are subjective and do not necessarily have anything to do with monetary value. If I would own 100 pairs of shoes, I'd feel like an awful human being. I'd literally rather go eat a snack in a park.

Sudbury, Ontario

In my opinion, the scenery in Northern Ontario is second only to what's available in BC. It's nice to have the kind of outdoor opportunities that we do. There's also a lot of weirdo artists/bands around town that are probably a product of the uniquely bizarre and decrepit post-industrial landscape and economy up here.

The bad side is the backwards opinions of the less cosmopolitan populations living in Sudbury's peripheries, the terrible public transport, and the unbelievably harsh winters.