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Well, as for housing bubbles, our economy's pretty solid. Prices are high, but not likely to plunge, don't really believe there is any bubble. So buying in a moderate market like St. Catherines or Hamilton might be the ticket, even if you decide to sell in two years or so. Burlington won't be any bargain, I expect, although good for commuting.
But overall, renting is not a bad option. Despite keeping your child settled in school, if you decide you really don't like a particular area or town, you can move.
I'd say rent, because you really don't know where you'd rather live, before you actually live in a city for a while. Unless you are extremely familiar with your future city/metro, what you spend on a year of renting while getting to know the area, as well as deciding on which part of the city/suburbs that best suit your lifestyle and needs (and budget) is a bargain--especially when you consider all the closing costs and legal/real estate expenses that go into buying (and re-selling) a house/condo that might turn out to be a bad choice.
ajl22586, I am sorry that you don't like living in Canada but I love it up there. I love the weather, the people, the cultures, and the urban environments. I love how orderly and clean it is, while still affording more personal freedom than the U.S. I also refuse to continue contributing to a country with a felony murder rule, absolute prosecutorial immunity, tax dollars spent on concentration camps like Guantanamo, a huge military-industrial complex, a huge disparity in wealth, unlimited corporate spending on campaign ads, the worst of the drug war, the world's highest incarceration rate/prison industrial complex, no universal health care, a highly unequal public education system, unaffordable college/university tuition, a high rate of gun violence, police who disrespect and violate the rights of people with impunity, high property taxes spent on corrupt contracts, no free public skating rinks, decaying urban cores, poorly planned suburban development with no regional oversight, corrupt federal politics, voluminous federal law and regulations that no lawyer let alone layperson can truly understand, incarceration as a penalty for tax violations, mandatory detention for asylum seekers, and countless human rights violations across the world.
I will say that NH is one of the best states in the U.S., and the scenery is wonderful. But my experience was that Ontario is a far better place to live and raise a family.
What I don't understand is how one could simply pick up their life and everything they own and aimlessly move somewhere without at least experiencing what life is like there. Seems like a rather immature way to live one's life but that's just me.
Sometimes people need a change, and opportunity pops up in a new location. Not everyone has the luxury of experiencing life in a new location before making a decision to move. While I have had the time and money to travel extensively and explore possible places to live, not everyone does. In the New Hampshire fellow's case, his wife is from Toronto and the health care situation caused them to move to Canada.
To be honest I shouldn't be doing as much bitching as I've been doing on these forums. The situation was that my wife is Canadian and from Toronto and I'm originally from NH and we had to come up here because we were concerned of the burden of medical expenses when she got pregnant with twins. Coming up here has been a real shock in terms of the unbelievable differences between small town NH and southern Ontario.
I don't find that this area has any charm to it whatsoever, but it doesn't help that we're stuck in Mississauga most of the time. Even people from the GTA hate Mississauga I've found. In any case, I find that the drivers are incredibly rude and drive recklessly, the people can be very cold/distant, many "two-faced" coworkers (never had that experience before), a complete lack of anything to do that involves the outdoors, the homes lack the quaintness that you find in NH, a bloated bureaucracy at all levels, unbelievably high cost of living (hydro costs just went up I believe), etc.
However, I should emphasize that my wife and I have paid a grand total of $0 for countless OBGYN visits prior to her delivery, labor and delivery with c-section, private room for two nights and three days, and all our pediatrician's visits. So I think I will take a break from bitching for a while.
Maybe I'll try being more constructive by asking this question: does anyone know any areas around the GTA that sort of resemble New England?
Oh, and Northbound81, I agree with your criticisms of the US 100% by the way.
But with yesterday's election I wonder how long Canada will be a beacon for those seeking to escape all that you mentioned.
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