Alright, that's it. I'm moving to Canada.

adam525i said:

yupididit said:

infinitenexus said:

Oh crap, this is a fantastic house on 2 acres outside of Moncton, for $190K. Now we're talking. Definitely gotta check this area out, although it's too far to drive there. We'll have to plan a flight.

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/24284516/1249-route-933-haute-aboujagane

 

 

The furniture, walls and fixtures reminds me of a crack house lol. But, it is 190k so...

Your local crackheads must have their E36 M3 together!

LoL presentation means a lot. Obviously I've seen worse but this is def reminiscent of some I've been in as far as junky furniture placement and broken fixtures. 

Keith Tanner said:

Newfoundland, that's some sort of bastardized Irish or something. But if you think people are friendly in Windsor, you won't believe Newfoundland.

Yes, b'y!

I refer to the Newfoundland accent as "mumbling Pirate".

Come on up to Canada, we need more competent, employable people up here!

You can come visit us in Saskatchewan any time.

We're the farm by the tree. 

To give perspective, my property tax on a 45 year old house on a 7000 sq ft lot in BC is $3800 a year. The tax on my 44 acres in Sask with a 60 year old house, a 100 year old barn and a 30 year old quonset and covered riding arena is $1200 a year and my place is too small to qualify for farm status. Farms start at 1000 acres there.

Garbage, water and paying the fire department are my problem out there though.

Come on up! LOL

I'm another Ottawa native, though I moved away in 2016. I'm in Peterborough now, 90 minutes to downtown Toronto, 3 hours to Ottawa, and most importantly, 30 minutes to Mosport. 

I'm also another person that did French immersion throughout school, and it has been beneficial in my professional life. Even if you don't know the dialect, knowing the language is usually enough to communicate effectively in most scenarios.

I'd be happy to offer up any local assistance possible if it's needed, and if any of the otherregional GRMers are passing through, I've always got beer in the fridge and tools in the garage.

It's kind of funny that my sister and Brother in-law live in Toronto and were trying desperately to move to Cleveland, but my Brother-in-laws job wouldn't let them transfer. They were pretty upset. Atleast they got a bigger place in Toronto.

In reply to trigun7469 :

So the OP has stated his desire to move to Canada rather than the US.  Out of interest, what were your Sis and BIL's reason for wanting to go the other way?

BTW, I am not saying either group is right or wrong.  As stated up thread, I'm an immigrant myself.  I also know several people who have done the opposite of what i did, and moved from the US to the UK.  It should be noted, no one is wrong to want to make any of these moves and no one should assume anyone who leaves one country for another is disillusioned or hates the place they are leaving.  I still love the UK, but on a personal level I'm suited to life in this country and love the USA as well.  I only say this, as many people get offended if someone doesn't think everything about their home country, or adopted country, is perfect and start calling for people to leave/go home, assuming a desire to be else where represents a hatred of where they are.  It doesn't.

In reply to trigun7469 :

I have to ask, why on earth would anyone want to move from Toronto to Cleveland? I know Toronto is a huge city and is obscenely expensive, but Cleveland got its nickname "The Mistake on the Lake" for a reason!

Just for some comparison, Toronto has over 6 million people and had I think 43 homicides last year. Cleveland has 380K people and had 170 homicides. The list goes on.

infinitenexus said:

In reply to trigun7469 :

I have to ask, why on earth would anyone want to move from Toronto to Cleveland? I know Toronto is a huge city and is obscenely expensive, but Cleveland got its nickname "The Mistake on the Lake" for a reason!

Just for some comparison, Toronto has over 6 million people and had I think 43 homicides last year. Cleveland has 380K people and had 170 homicides. The list goes on.

Slight correction: the city of Toronto has about 2.6M people, the GTA (greater Toronto area) has 6M+ people. That 43 is probably just city of Toronto.

In reply to P5Racer (formerly BMWGeoff) :

You are correct, I was looking at the Toronto metro area. Even with that, the statistics still paint a harsh picture for Cleveland.

I really like the thought of French immersion school for my son. I want to give him all the advantages I can in life, all the stuff I wish I had experienced as a child. My childhood was mostly hamburger helper and getting beat with a belt, so that shouldn't be too hard to improve upon. Growing up bilingual will be good for his brain development as well!

I moved from Canada to the US, but it was for a specific job. I'd happily go back if it weren't for the fact that my desert-bred wife wouldn't make it through the first winter. There are definitely things I like and dislike about both countries, none of which are strong enough to make me move on their own. 

I go back and forth regularly as well. I think home in BC will always be home, but i really like the areas of the US I visit regularly. The border doesn't indicate crossing in or out of Utopia. You grow into an area or you dont, and I think that has a lot more to do with job, money, friends and family, and social life than geographic location. 

infinitenexus said:

In reply to trigun7469 :

I have to ask, why on earth would anyone want to move from Toronto to Cleveland? 

It's not Toronto, but my older brother left Windsor and after a couple of years in Boston, then 5 years just north of Detroit, he moved to Cleveland for work and he loves it there. He's actually in Hudson, so really more of an outlying suburb, but it's a beautiful town with low crime, great schools and the people are friendly.

yupididit said:

adam525i said:

yupididit said:

infinitenexus said:

Oh crap, this is a fantastic house on 2 acres outside of Moncton, for $190K. Now we're talking. Definitely gotta check this area out, although it's too far to drive there. We'll have to plan a flight.

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/24284516/1249-route-933-haute-aboujagane

 

 

The furniture, walls and fixtures reminds me of a crack house lol. But, it is 190k so...

Your local crackheads must have their E36 M3 together!

LoL presentation means a lot. Obviously I've seen worse but this is def reminiscent of some I've been in as far as junky furniture placement and broken fixtures. 

Quit sounding like dicks...current owners bought the house a decade ago for 87k and are now trying to sell to people "from away " due to the housing market being hot.

You think the kind of person who buys an 87k house has money for new furniture? 
 

Edit: my comment above is probably a bit harsh. But I stand by my statement. This is someone trying to make a few years salary by selling a house. If you don't like old furniture don't come to the east coast. 
Any of you who don't mind people who live within their means is welcome to my home whenever you're in the neighborhood. Old sofa is still pretty comfy. 

It's a nice house. Sure, the paint might be less than ideal colors, but that can be fixed for about $60/room or $100 for a large room. I don't care about the colors. The house itself is quite nice, and the price is fantastic. Add in that it's in a very safe location with great schools right outside of a city and you'll realize that house is a deal you probably couldn't match in America—even around Cleveland, which is known for lower house prices, getting into a safe neighborhood with good schools starts at over $300K. Oh, except this house is also on two acres, which you won't find anywhere around here unless you're an hour away from the city. The furniture isn't even really worth commenting on, since it's the house that's for sale, not the furniture. If I had a job offer in that area, I'd take that house in a heartbeat.

The wife and I talked a bunch about our move and what locations we prefer. Moving is going to cost thousands of dollars, and trying to visit all of these areas is going to tack a big chunk on that. So for now, we're planning on moving to Windsor. Sure, there're better places in Canada, but that's the easiest and most affordable way for us to get into the country. We plan on living there for roughly a year, then we'll try to find our forever home somewhere else. Gatineau is a strong contender for the future, as are a couple of other places.

In reply to 1SlowVW :

Don't need money to move furniture out the way for pics. Or scotch tape a fixture to the wall for pics. Like I said, presentation. I grew up poorer than poor, I get it. But I also learned to work with what we had, too. Don't be a dick, dude.

Having domiciled myself in several countries during my 60 years, a point worth mentioning about Canada is that once you are here, nobody cares where you are from. If you are here you are one of the team. Very few places I have been are that quick to adopt newcomers and most will tap you as an outsider for ever. Whatever "melting pot" mythology the USA ever had, pales in comparison to the way Canada absorbs cultures.

In reply to NOHOME :

This is true. In the United States of America, we're so obsessed on being American but we hardly let anyone claim to be simply "American". 

In reply to infinitenexus :

For some Canadian Immersion that you can do from home...  

I'm lucky enough to get Windsor CBC TV at my house.  I don't watch it a ton but one of my favorite shows is Still Standing with Johnny Harris.  A 30 minute show where he visits Canadian Small towns overcoming in the face of adversity.  There's no direct American comparison.  Maybe a little like dirty jobs and a little like the old "On the Road with Charles Kuralt."   Since everything is stolen, it does strike me that this would be an easy format to repeat in the US.  However, where would you play it in the US.  Not nearly enough false drama for Discovery Channel, etc.  

A one minute show trailer

Here's a link to a quickly found episode on YTube.

yupididit said:

infinitenexus said:

Oh crap, this is a fantastic house on 2 acres outside of Moncton, for $190K. Now we're talking. Definitely gotta check this area out, although it's too far to drive there. We'll have to plan a flight.

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/24284516/1249-route-933-haute-aboujagane

 

 

The furniture, walls and fixtures reminds me of a crack house lol. But, it is 190k so...

Reminds me of a lot of houses in my area, In rural Ontario. I assume rural areas throughout the country look equally modest. 
 

New Brunswick real estate has gone crazy as people from Ontario and BC cash in on the insane local markets,  move east and buy for pennies on the dollar.  One of my best friends retired there about 4 years ago when prices were still cheap. He bought a nice bungalow on a large lot on the Maine border for $60k. 

John Welsh said:

In reply to infinitenexus :

For some Canadian Immersion that you can do from home...  

I'm lucky enough to get Windsor CBC TV at my house.  I don't watch it a ton but one of my favorite shows is Still Standing with Johnny Harris.  A 30 minute show where he visits Canadian Small towns overcoming in the face of adversity.  There's no direct American comparison.  Maybe a little like dirty jobs and a little like the old "On the Road with Charles Kuralt."   Since everything is stolen, it does strike me that this would be an easy format to repeat in the US.  However, where would you play it in the US.  Not nearly enough false drama for Discovery Channel, etc.  

A one minute show trailer

Here's a link to a quickly found episode on YTube.

If you can find the episode where he goes to Calabogie, Ontario (season 5, episode 12) watch it... he goes to the racetrack there and gets driven around in a Gallardo... it's also the track that Multimatic used to develop the most recent Ford GT.

Calabogie's a pretty fun track for a track day, and I'll bet it would be a riot in a pack during a race.

Keith Tanner said:

Calabogie's a pretty fun track for a track day, and I'll bet it would be a riot in a pack during a race.

I haven't had the pleasure yet, but I'm hoping to take part in the Lucky Dog race there in early October.

In reply to P5Racer (formerly BMWGeoff) :

I did catch the episode with a driving instructor in a yellow Lambo in the snow.  I caught it on the regular broadcast.  
It's hard to pull free episodes online down here.  Many seem to be behind subscription services.  

In reply to John Welsh :

See if you can get the CBC Gem streaming app... not sure if it's available south of the border, but worth a look.

yupididit said:

In reply to NOHOME :

This is true. In the United States of America, we're so obsessed on being American but we hardly let anyone claim to be simply "American". 

 

LOL, I may have been born in the UK, but if people ask me I'm American.  Contrary to many born here who identify as 'Irish/Polish' or similar as one great great grandparent came from each of those countries.