Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have been doing some research on where I could relocate to. Sarnia caught my eye, small town feeling, beautiful Lake Huron and I've heard the people are friendly. Curious to know how it is... how is the atomosphere? are there jobs in this location? Are there good schools for kids?
Hi! Are you in Canada now? There are a few Sarnia moms on the www.canadianparentsonline.com website and on the London parenting websites that may be able to help you out. One of the London parenting sites is www.wundermums.ca or you can try www.londonmoms.ca as well.
Personally, I have only passed through to the US so couldn't personally offer any advice.
I was born and raised in Strathroy Ontario which is on the 402 freeway which connects London and Sarnia.
Strathroy is 60km from London and 30 from London so needless to say when we went to the city it was always London but I still know Sarnia fairly well so I'll give you my thoughts,
Sarnia is major city of Lambton country which has about 130,000 of which about 85,000 live in greater Sarnia.
It's a border town with a busy highway connecting a LOT of transport traffic on the 402. It is a working class town but one with high wages as it is Canada's Chemical Valley and petrochemicals suchas Dupont. You use to be able to smell Sarnia before you could see it although I don't believe that's still the case but it tells you a lot about the city. There are certainly nice areas of Sarnia especially further up Lake Huron like Bright's Grove or down the St.Clair river like Corruna, and Courtright. They have done a nice job with the river and waterfronts but it is still a rather grimy kind of place.
The downtown is small, derilect, unattractive, and uninviting...........it's generally just be left to rot.
It has Lambton Cllege for your kids and a small satelite campus of University of Western Ontario in London but generally if kids wanted to go to university they have to leave.
It calls itself "Blue Water Country" but when they found a massive chemical blob in 1980s right off downtown in the St.Clair river that name was more of a joke.
I don't know about the employment picture, it basically depends on what you are qualified for as is the case anywhere. The city has not grown at all in the last 25 years, just stagnating population wise.
The city is basically American planning 101...............a dead and decaying downtown surrounded by malls and big box stores. The areas north of the 402 are pure residential and quite nice but generally it is a suburban kind of place.
It has a very low crime rate so if you are the kind of person who likes a quiet place and don't have a large entertainment social calender and enjoy shopping in the suburban malls then Sarnia can afford you a nice lifestlye and an affordable one. If you can live up towards Bright's Grove then it is a very nice, small cottage area.
If you demand a bit more of your city and don't want your entertainment and dining and shopping experiences to venture to far away from a mall, Walmart, or McDonald's then you best forget Sarnia.
Chatham to the south is not by the lake and is half the size but is a more historic city with a very very nice, vibrant, and active downtown with a nice Thames River valley and incredibly cheap housing.
London is slightly more expensive but still one of Canada's most affordable cities with 400,000 and is a beautiful university, white collar town, with historical buidling, great parks and greenery, a vibrant and nice downtown, and a lot of great shopping, entertainment, and restaurants and sidewalk cafes, and is one of Canada's most livable and likable cities.
In general, there are a lot nicer places in Southern Ontario than Sarnia personally it would be one of my last choices for small mid-sized Southern Ontario cities.
It's hard to compare those two because metro Windsor is 4 times larger. Both of them have been hit hard by the downturn in the economy although Windsor is beginning to rebound as new green energy industries have popped up there. Over the past decade, Windsor has redeveloped it's waterfront and it's now a beautiful stretch of parkland for over 5 km. There are many different ethnic groups in Windsor while Sarnia is more small-town in that it's not as diverse.
I'd take Windsor over Sarnia any day. Both industrial, border, stagnating cities but Windsor is actually cheaper, has a full university, more historical, has a decnt downtown and because its much bigger it also has a lot more to do.
which is better Sinnipeg or Sarnia? I would really like to go to Lambton Collage, but I'm not sure whether or not I should (because of pollution wise, is it healthy?).
Hello, I am a grade 10 student planning to go to Lambton Collage, it is expensive and I would also need to get a dorm. So is it worth going to Sarnia, just for Lambton Collage?
Does it offer GOOD courses on paramedics?
Is it healthy ??
Would you recommend it?
Are there anything nice there or nearby.
If you know of any of this, please inform me. I really want to know what Sarnia is like and whether or not i should go to Lambton. (Also, is Lambton a good school?)
Lambton college is a decent college sarnia as a whole there is pollution and it might effect you if you live in the south end of sarnia but you should be ok if your living in the north end, i would never stay in sarnia after your done college as the people here are really messed up and the economy is not good just finish school and run as fast as you can away from this place take my word
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.