Recommend US town near Canadian border to retire (crime, co-ops)
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We’re just early exploring. We live in Orange County CA—love the access to great restaurants, hate the US political craziness, guns, etc. If I could I’d move to Vancouver or Toronto, but cant afford an investment visa necessary.
Are there towns near the border that are…
- easy and fast access to Canada (where could shop/hike)
- safe
- good schools (daughter may be finishing high school)
- Chinese and Japanese food/groceries as wife is Taiwanese
I’ve read about towns in VT or ME that straddle the border and (pre pandemic) people could easily shop in Canada. Of course those will be far from Canadian cities.
Towns along the Vermont border are very close to Montreal (under an hour in many places). But you'll probably be better with Upstate NY considering what you're looking for. The Buffalo area would probably be good.
Point Roberts and Bellingham. Washington state to B.C. mainland (Vancouver, Mission, Maple Ridge, Burnaby, Chilliwack). I lived in Vancouver for about 13 years.
My pick: Port Angeles on the gorgeous Olympic peninsula that stretches into the Strait Juan de Fuca of the Pacific Ocean. Take the ferry to Vancouver Island and BC's capital, Victoria. I lived on this peninsula for 5 years.
Ogdensburg, NY is only 3 miles from Prescott, Ontario via 1.5 mile long Ogdensburg'Prescott International Bridge . I've been over this bridge several times in my life back in the 70s. Toronto isn't the only city in Ontario. Nor is Montreal the only city in Quebec.
Point Roberts and Bellingham. Washington state to B.C. mainland (Vancouver, Mission, Maple Ridge, Burnaby, Chilliwack). I lived in Vancouver for about 13 years.
My pick: Port Angeles on the gorgeous Olympic peninsula that stretches into the Strait Juan de Fuca of the Pacific Ocean. Take the ferry to Vancouver Island and BC's capital, Victoria. I lived on this peninsula for 5 years.
Ogdensburg, NY is only 3 miles from Prescott, Ontario via 1.5 mile long Ogdensburg'Prescott International Bridge . I've been over this bridge several times in my life back in the 70s. Toronto isn't the only city in Ontario. Nor is Montreal the only city in Quebec.
These are great ideas. I’d never noticed Point Roberts, it looks like it’s basically part of the VAN metro area.
We are about to go to Vancouver for Xmas, I’m going to check it out.
Anyone know how easy the border crossing is there? I’ve done the Blaine crossing many times, just didn’t know if Point Roberts has its own. Seems like it would have to.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thorvitz
We’re just early exploring. We live in Orange County CA—love the access to great restaurants, hate the US political craziness, guns, etc. If I could I’d move to Vancouver or Toronto, but cant afford an investment visa necessary.
Are there towns near the border that are…
- easy and fast access to Canada (where could shop/hike)
- safe
- good schools (daughter may be finishing high school)
- Chinese and Japanese food/groceries as wife is Taiwanese
I’ve read about towns in VT or ME that straddle the border and (pre pandemic) people could easily shop in Canada. Of course those will be far from Canadian cities.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Well it's a very long border and a big country, is there a particular part of Canada you prefer to be near? Based on your food preferences it sounds like being close to BC would be the best bet, so you have Bellingham, WA as a good option.
If you want to be near Montreal, there's the Champlain Valley in Upstate NY and Vermont where interstates 87 and 89 have easy access to the city (60-90 minutes). Burlington, VT and surrounding Chittenden County would have the best school districts. There's also St. Albans VT and Plattsburgh, NY which are closer to the border, but amenities will be more limited to which you'd rely on border crossings for more amenities and food options as this area falls short of having good Asian grocery stores. You basically have Costco, Trader Joes, and some health food co-ops in addtion to the mainline stores in the Burlington area.
Keep in mind you're restricted on particular food items that you can bring back into the US, are subject to agricultural inspection, and they would probably confiscate and discard things like fresh produce and meat.
If you're interested in Toronto, then Buffalo will give you good access to the GTA along with having a medium sized metro with a decent amount of amenities on its own and an airport with a good amount of direct air service. Hope you enjoy snow!
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 12-03-2022 at 06:00 PM..
I think you’re right—my gut is northern WA given need for well-stocked Asian markets, eateries.
I feel like VT will feel too isolated - plus guessing mosquitoes will be pretty bad in summer, if it’s anything like my childhood south of Boston. Buffalo doesn’t feel safe especially if the goal is to get away from the US problems. (I realize there’s crime everywhere but US guns/political violence is sickening to me).
Point Roberts seems awesome. You’re geographically detached from the US and reliant (in a good way) on Canadian shopping and services. I’d love to hear from people who’ve spent a lot of time there or Blaine/Bellingham.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Champ le monstre du lac
Well it's a very long border and a big country, is there a particular part of Canada you prefer to be near? Based on your food preferences it sounds like being close to BC would be the best bet, so you have Bellingham, WA as a good option.
If you want to be near Montreal, there's the Champlain Valley in Upstate NY and Vermont where interstates 87 and 89 have easy access to the city (60-90 minutes). Burlington, VT and surrounding Chittenden County would have the best school districts. There's also St. Albans VT and Plattsburgh, NY which are closer to the border, but amenities will be more limited to which you'd rely on border crossings for more amenities and food options as this area falls short of having good Asian grocery stores. You basically have Costco, Trader Joes, and some health food co-ops in addtion to the mainline stores in the Burlington area.
Keep in mind you're restricted on particular food items that you can bring back into the US, are subject to agricultural inspection, and they would probably confiscate and discard things like fresh produce and meat.
If you're interested in Toronto, then Buffalo will give you good access to the GTA along with having a medium sized metro with a decent amount of amenities on its own and an airport with a good amount of direct air service. Hope you enjoy snow!
I think you’re right—my gut is northern WA given need for well-stocked Asian markets, eateries.
I feel like VT will feel too isolated - plus guessing mosquitoes will be pretty bad in summer, if it’s anything like my childhood south of Boston. Buffalo doesn’t feel safe especially if the goal is to get away from the US problems. (I realize there’s crime everywhere but US guns/political violence is sickening to me).
Point Roberts seems awesome. You’re geographically detached from the US and reliant (in a good way) on Canadian shopping and services. I’d love to hear from people who’ve spent a lot of time there or Blaine/Bellingham.
Yeah, northern WA is great. Mosquitoes are significantly worse in northern New England than in northern WA - there’s also black flies and ticks you have to worry about, which are pretty much nonexistent in the PNW. The close proximity to Vancouver is a nice benefit.
Blaine, WA is probably the way to go if you really want a town on the border.
Also, my understanding is US Citizens can live in Canada 6 months out of the year without getting a visa so a 2nd home there may be a better option than simply moving close to the border.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kitty61
Point Roberts and Bellingham. Washington state to B.C. mainland (Vancouver, Mission, Maple Ridge, Burnaby, Chilliwack). I lived in Vancouver for about 13 years.
My pick: Port Angeles on the gorgeous Olympic peninsula that stretches into the Strait Juan de Fuca of the Pacific Ocean. Take the ferry to Vancouver Island and BC's capital, Victoria. I lived on this peninsula for 5 years.
Ogdensburg, NY is only 3 miles from Prescott, Ontario via 1.5 mile long Ogdensburg'Prescott International Bridge . I've been over this bridge several times in my life back in the 70s. Toronto isn't the only city in Ontario. Nor is Montreal the only city in Quebec.
Just my .02, but I thought Port Townsend was a lot nicer than Port Angeles. Neither are close to the border unless you take the ferry to Victoria.
I don't get the OP's preferences. No matter whether you can occasionally go get coffee at Tim Horton's and get your tires changed at Canadian Tire, you'll still live in the U.S. with U.S. politics and U.S. society. People in SE Michigan or the Buffalo area can go to Canada easily and yet the average lifestyle is quite quintessentially American. Living close to Canada isn't really making your life more Canadian or reducing your exposure to America.
People in communities like Pt. Roberts were hit *hard* by the pandemic as well. The crisis showed that even though Canadians and Americans are neighbors there, at the end of the day the border is a very significant barrier that you ignore at your own peril.
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