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WhatEvil posted:Where's a good place to live? Our criteria are: I'd look into Hamilton. It's medium-sized (~500k), but close to Toronto for your airport/concert needs. The housing is a bit more expensive than it used to be, but nowhere near the shitshow that is Toronto or Vancouver. It has a poor reputation as a dirty steel city, but it's a lot nicer than generally given credit for, and is improving continually (though the steel city part is still true). Lots of nice hiking in and around the city if you enjoy that sort of thing. Plenty of engineering consulting firms in the GTA too. You can go to Blue Mountain (not really a mountain) for skiing with about a 2 hour drive, though of course it's nothing near as good as Quebec or BC skiing.
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Mar 8, 2018 07:27
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What's the best way to get the paperwork needed for PR status? I tried the school route a few years back but your government lost my paperwork for my post-grad, I'm not sure if I wanna go to school again just for another small window of opportunity and hope Canada doesn't drop the ball a second time. How do normal people immigrate to Canada?
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Mar 8, 2018 07:32
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WhatEvil posted:Currently in the process of emigrating to Canada from the UK - have got past the "do you have enough points" stage and onto the "get all your poo poo together and send it to us" stage, so all going well by the end of April we will have permanent residency on the Express Entry program, which means myself and my wife can move there with no prerequisite of getting a job first or having to stay in a particular job/industry etc. once we get there. If you're in the process of submitting your PR application now it takes 6 months after submission to get PR? So you're looking at September at the earliest, if nothing goes wrong. We submitted our PR application in February, still undergoing medical tests as for some reason Canada are obsessed with the possibility of TB. Parrotine posted:What's the best way to get the paperwork needed for PR status? I tried the school route a few years back but your government lost my paperwork for my post-grad, I'm not sure if I wanna go to school again just for another small window of opportunity and hope Canada doesn't drop the ball a second time. We got provincial nomination for PR as we wouldn't have quite got the points required otherwise. If you can get over on a temporary work permit for a while and get Canadian work experience you have a good chance.
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Mar 8, 2018 08:38
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There's a billboard between Edmonton and Grand Prairie for a Gas Station advertising that it has the best bathrooms for truckers on that stretch of road. That's my Alberta bill board story thanks bye
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Mar 8, 2018 08:47
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Robot Mil posted:If you're in the process of submitting your PR application now it takes 6 months after submission to get PR? So you're looking at September at the earliest, if nothing goes wrong. Oh yeah right. We'll be done with this part of the application by the end of April anyway. We just did the medicals a few weeks ago. Still have to tie up the last of our work history letters and such, and get proof of funds but that's it. We actually easily had enough points for Express Entry because of my wife's engineering masters and work experience. WhatEvil fucked around with this message at 09:34 on Mar 8, 2018 |
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Mar 8, 2018 09:13
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English immigrant goon: The GTA (Greater Toronto Area) might be your best bet. THere is a big building boom right now, so Civil and environmental eng jobs are easy to find if you're reasonably competent. Housing can be pretty expensive, I paid 220,000 for a pretty small ~500 sq.ft. (but quite nice) condo. You'd probably call if a flat I guess. Older town houses are in the 350-400,000 range around here. Burlington and Oakville are quite nice, and within a reasonable drive of Toronto for concerts and whatnot. There is a major airport close by, They have all the amenities, and if you need say, specialized medical stuff, you've got several hospitals in Toronto to choose from, or Mc Master Hospital in Hamilton. The Niagara Escarpment has tons of hiking opportunities, and climbing. Skiing is within reasonable drive. Either in Canada or the U.S. The border is less than an hour away. You could move a bit further out than Oakville or Burlington and housing is a bit cheaper, like in Stoney Creek for example. Hamilton is full of crack heads walking around all rocked out and poo poo. You're also far enough away from those barbaric french people.
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Mar 8, 2018 13:07
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tuyop posted:Theyre in the LRT stations in Edmonton, around campus at U of A, if you drive in literally any direction out of Edmonton but South youll see four or five within a couple of hours. Theyre everywhere. I think Albertans just learn to not see them or something, but theyre very shocking to me every time. Huh. Never seen anything like that in or around Calgary. I'd expect to see that poo poo further south towards Cardston and whatnot, because that's where crazy people live (first Mormon temple outside of the US!). As Mak0rz says, we have the groups that protest in person. They're fun because you can yell and curse at them in public if you're having a lovely day and people will be happy about it. It's very cathartic.
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Mar 8, 2018 14:53
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PT6A posted:They're fun because you can yell and curse at them in public if you're having a lovely day and people will be happy about it. It's very cathartic. I'd honestly never thought about doing this because it's the same two old crazies now standing the provincially-mandated 51 metres from the door, and I figure they'd be much happier for the attention than they would be sad about the tirade. Like a dog that barks at nothing because he knows you'll come pay attention to him for a while. Oh, and the best part about living in Canada is that nobody can legally make you acknowledge the existence of the easter bunny.
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Mar 8, 2018 14:55
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flakeloaf posted:I'd honestly never thought about doing this because it's the same two old crazies now standing the provincially-mandated 51 metres from the door, and I figure they'd be much happier for the attention than they would be sad about the tirade. Like a dog that barks at nothing because he knows you'll come pay attention to him for a while. Yeah, that'd be questionable, I'm talking about the one's that set up in the middle of a university campus or at transit stops, just to show people disgusting pictures and compare abortion to the Holocaust (I generally like to make that the focus of my rants at them, since it's especially offensive).
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Mar 8, 2018 15:10
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I'm from Yukon Territory and live in a small community in YT. It's actually a nice place to live assuming you have employment, don't mind long winters, and love the outdoors. These days it's not as rustic as everyone who's never been to the territories seems to think, so it can be a good option for anyone sick of big city living.
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Mar 8, 2018 22:27
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So a couple of people mentioned Ottawa and I thought I'd take a look at houses: https://www.point2homes.com/CA/Home-For-Sale/ON/Ottawa/Riverside-South/724-Bowercrest-Crescent/54415818.html This looks great for the money. In my area this would be something like $950k CAD. Does the area/location seem OK? Where I live ~50 miles Northish of London, this sort of money ($430k CAD) would get you about a 2 bed flat/apartment with about 800sq ft of space, with a single garage but no garden. We were looking at about 350k GBP for our next home (like $600-700K CAD) and that would've got us something like this: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64221160.html Nice area, but weird layout, 1200sq ft total, small unusable bedrooms, on a cramped plot in a cramped housing estate, and with no character. Alternatively it'd get you a 3-bed semi-detached house in a lovely area which needs completely gutting and redoing everything internally. So yeah, Ottawa on first look seems nice and also relatively affordable but you might be about to tell me that'd be a lovely area to live in or something. WhatEvil fucked around with this message at 11:04 on Mar 9, 2018 |
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Mar 9, 2018 10:21
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Gully Foyle posted:I'd look into Hamilton. It's medium-sized (~500k), but close to Toronto for your airport/concert needs. The housing is a bit more expensive than it used to be, but nowhere near the shitshow that is Toronto or Vancouver. It has a poor reputation as a dirty steel city, but it's a lot nicer than generally given credit for, and is improving continually (though the steel city part is still true). Lots of nice hiking in and around the city if you enjoy that sort of thing. This was what I was thinking when reading the requirements. You're less than an hour out of Toronto and Buffalo, and from what I saw Hamilton isn't that bad, the people are friendly and there is plenty of shopping. I can't comment on housing prices though; I've never looked because I will probably never be able to afford a house anyway.
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Mar 9, 2018 10:24
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I saw a very graphic pro-life billboard south of Calgary, I think De Winton area. I've also seen a lady in my nearby Co-op wearing some anti-Palestine t-shirt. Also trucks with rebel flag decals covering the windows.
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Mar 9, 2018 10:53
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Also is it the case that Hamilton is a "dirty steel city" by Canadian standards but still really nice compared to a lot of cities in the rest of the developed world? Cause you know, judging from Vancouver, Canadian cities are really nice compared to most places in the UK.
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Mar 9, 2018 12:26
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WhatEvil posted:So a couple of people mentioned Ottawa and I thought I'd take a look at houses: Depends on the job. Commute to downtown from there wouldnt be too bad, but if youre going east or west (most tech jobs will be either west or downtown) it might be a bit of a long commute. Transit from there isnt going to be good, so youll need to drive. Otherwise its a suburb, and if youre ok living in one theres nothing wrong with it. Not a lot of character but you get a lot of house. At that price range you could get something in the city that not as big but still nice.
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Mar 9, 2018 12:55
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Yeah suburbs are fine. There seem to be comparable places on the west side of downtown (Like Kanata area?) but to get to the same price point you have to go a bit further out (so 25 mins drive instead of 15 mins drive on the East) but that'd be fine. I just can't get over how much house you get for the money there: https://www.point2homes.com/CA/Home-For-Sale/ON/Ottawa/Kanata-Goulbourn/Glen-Cairn/127-Romina-Street/53702647.html That 4 bed house is about the same cost as what I'm hoping to get selling my tiny 2-bed flat here in the UK, and I'm not in a big city or anything.
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Mar 9, 2018 14:16
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WhatEvil posted:So a couple of people mentioned Ottawa and I thought I'd take a look at houses: No personal experience, but a friend of mine from high school lives in Ottawa right now and he really likes it. It also seems super affordable compared to most cities, so that's good.
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Mar 9, 2018 14:17
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Ottawa is lovely, a few of my army friends have done a posting there for three year stretches and they all have nothing but praise.
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Mar 9, 2018 14:19
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WhatEvil posted:Yeah suburbs are fine. There seem to be comparable places on the west side of downtown (Like Kanata area?) but to get to the same price point you have to go a bit further out (so 25 mins drive instead of 15 mins drive on the East) but that'd be fine. We have a lot of space, so we expand out a fair bit and houses get pretty big. Ottawa also has the highest median income in Canada because of all the government jobs. It's a good place to live & raise a family and stuff. Note that it can be pretty french depending where you live. South and West are almost all English, East can be like living in Quebec. French can also be relevant for some jobs, particularly government.
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Mar 9, 2018 14:52
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WhatEvil posted:Yeah suburbs are fine. There seem to be comparable places on the west side of downtown (Like Kanata area?) but to get to the same price point you have to go a bit further out (so 25 mins drive instead of 15 mins drive on the East) but that'd be fine. K. Bus service in Ottawa is fantastic from suburb to downtown, okay in an east-west direction, merely passable going north-south and "gently caress it I'll just not go" suburb-to-suburb. There are exceptions but that's the general rule. With monthly parking being about twice the price of a bus pass, and the rush hour drive prone to occasional fits, lots of downtown workers don't bother with cars. Winter driving in Ottawa's a bit of a treat; if you're timid you might want to consider a course. You'll hear Ottawans bitching about "dangerous" areas but if you're not into slinging drugs or racial slurs at people, you're not likely to have those sorts of problems yourself. There are good and bad (by our tame standards) parts of town of course, but nobody's going to just randomly hoof your door in or shoot at your car. Get on street view and take a drive up Walkley Road, or up Montreal Rd west of Blair to Dalhousie and you'll get a look at the places many of us would prefer not to live in, but I'd have no problem walking around there at any hour and I'm definitely no badass. The house you saw on Bowercrest is in Riverside South, right next to the "Limebank speedway", so you might hear bikes and hondas tearing up and down it at indecent hours. It's also within earshot of the airport (look northeast). I wouldn't be happy there because it's too far from the highway. Romina Street is technically in Stittsville, which was the "on my god it's rural here now" place until about ten years ago when the west end ran out of room and sorta moved in. It's not THAT far out there, you're pretty close to both the rink and the highway, which is good. My mom used to live out that way, they've got all the big box and chain stores that make living work, but if you wanna go out and play golf you can do without having to go buy gas first.
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Mar 9, 2018 15:18
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I'm considering a trip up to Edmonton sometime early next year, like January or February. What is there to do that time of year?
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Mar 17, 2018 18:55
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WHY BONER NOW posted:I'm considering a trip up to Edmonton sometime early next year, like January or February. What is there to do that time of year? There's an ice sculpture festival if you like ice sculptures. Otherwise, I can't think of much. I would recommend coming to Edmonton in June, July, or August instead, as those are peak festival months, and Edmonton is known as Festival City for a reason. There's the Art Walk, Fringe Festival, Taste of Edmonton, Heritage Days, etc... and there's outdoor activities like nature hikes, Fort Edmonton Park, and perusing the shops on Whyte Ave. January and February are the worst months to come in my opinion. It's very cold, and driving conditions can be dangerous, especially if you aren't used to them. How would you be coming to Edmonton? Car, plane, Greyhound? The only thing I would recommend for that time of year is exploring West Edmonton Mall. There's an amusement park, a water park, mini golf, arcades, a movie theatre, a sea lion show, an aquarium, a life sized replica of the Santa Maria and some exclusive stores. WEM could certainly keep you busy for a few days if you're interested in those kinds of activities.
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Mar 17, 2018 19:24
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I'm still in the (pre) planning stages, but I would probably fly in and rent a car. I've got plenty of experience driving in snow and ice. I assume the biggest threat in Canada is the other drivers? Just like in the states, especially after the first snowfall of the year--it's like everyone forgets how to drive on it. The reason why I'd go up Jan/Feb is I want to do some cross country skiing, and I have some friends in Edmonton I'd like to visit. I guess we could always catch an Oilers game...
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Mar 17, 2018 19:50
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WHY BONER NOW posted:I assume the biggest threat in Canada is the other drivers? Just like in the states, especially after the first snowfall of the year--it's like everyone forgets how to drive on it. Oh, you better believe it, friend!
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Mar 17, 2018 21:10
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WHY BONER NOW posted:I'm still in the (pre) planning stages, but I would probably fly in and rent a car. I've got plenty of experience driving in snow and ice. I assume the biggest threat in Canada is the other drivers? Just like in the states, especially after the first snowfall of the year--it's like everyone forgets how to drive on it. The cross country skiing and outdoor skating facilities are insanely good. If skis weren't like $500 and I hadn't moved I would have regularly gone down to Victoria Park and skied instead of other cardio stuff. We used to skate down there a lot as well. I find the festival stuff very dull but skiing around a park in the middle of a big city is super cool. You can also ski the Tonquin Valley or Skyline trails in Jasper if you have some navigation skills (you don't even really need a compass if it's clear, the terrain is so easy to read you can get by with just a map*), the right skis, and the willingness to drive five hours for the experience. Other than that I would recommend that you go pretty much anywhere else if your friends can travel. *obviously don't do this, my wife and I almost died on the Skyline in some weather because I forgot the compass. Have some pictures!  
tuyop fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Mar 18, 2018 |
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Mar 17, 2018 21:10
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Oh my god, those picture have doubled my resolve. Fortunately we have almost a year to work out the details. ...and we will be sure to take a compass 
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Mar 18, 2018 06:14
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Enjoy our mountains and please don't get lost! Although the mountain parks system have incredible search and rescue teams so you're in the best hands if you do call for help.
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Mar 18, 2018 09:25
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WHY BONER NOW posted:Oh my god, those picture have doubled my resolve. Fortunately we have almost a year to work out the details. Haha well thats good, its quite an experience. I posted a couple more and set off a minor Canada winter hiking derail in the post a photo thread like 18 months ago. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3756620&perpage=40&pagenumber=8#post467092719
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Mar 18, 2018 15:19
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WhatEvil posted:I'm guessing, from my experience/research, that Brazolot migration group is not one you'd recommend. This is old but I had to google to see who these people were, and no, they would not be on my list of recs. ALSO FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP RECOMMENDING HAMILTON TO FOREIGNERS. My husband is from Hamilton and all his family is still there. There is NOTHING there. I would go on but I am phone posting ... let me just leave it at this: about 5 years ago they had a legit ad campaign in Toronto Life magazine where the tagline was 'Hamilton - the city you don't want to visit will be the one you call home'
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Mar 21, 2018 22:01
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Multiple Europeans have asked me about moving to Hamilton. Each time I get caught off guard because why would they want to go there?
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Mar 22, 2018 15:03
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I think despite being a go-nowhere shithole town, Hamilton has become one of those towns that people have heard of around the world for no apparent reason. So when people are thinking of moving to Canada, they're all "Where should we live there? Uhhh... Ham...Hamilton? That's a place I've heard of."
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Mar 22, 2018 16:32
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I've always wanted to go to germany, I think I'm going to pick.... suburban Frankfurt!
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Mar 22, 2018 16:37
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Sometimes non-touristy, mid-level cities can be cool places to visit, just because they tend towards being inexpensive and not crowded, while still being interesting. I don't think Hamilton is one of those cities, though.
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Mar 22, 2018 16:39
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A lot of people (Americans especially) seem to want a nice small town rather than one of the big three, and Canada doesn't really have nice small towns. Besides Victoria, but they have big city housing prices.
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Mar 22, 2018 17:46
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UnfortunateSexFart posted:A lot of people (Americans especially) seem to want a nice small town rather than one of the big three, and Canada doesn't really have nice small towns. Besides Victoria, but they have big city housing prices. Ottawa I've heard is nice and if you can get work I've known people who have fallen in love with Halifax. Nanaimo isn't great but it's not bad for a small city, especially when compared to other cities of the size in north america.
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Mar 22, 2018 17:56
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Bloody Hedgehog posted:I think despite being a go-nowhere shithole town, Hamilton has become one of those towns that people have heard of around the world for no apparent reason. The only reason to move to Hamilton is if you want a city thats not as big/expensive as Toronto but still close enough to take advantage of the city. And even then, theres like 10 other cities that serve the same purpose and have the benefit of not being Hamilton.
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Mar 22, 2018 22:41
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WhatEvil posted:So a couple of people mentioned Ottawa and I thought I'd take a look at houses: Limebank road has terrible traffic during peak commute hours.
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Mar 23, 2018 12:57
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Ultimate Shrek Fan posted:Disappointed that other Newfoundlander goons didn't mention Ernie's. Or E&E's Drive-in if you're a townie. Hands down the best fried chicken I've ever had. Mary browns is poo poo in a bucket in comparison. E&E is very good, Sweet Newfie Kitchen (I fuckin hate that name) copied their chicken fingers and they are pretty close. Chicken shaggers they call em. That kinda food is my life, and I ate it everywhere when I was on the road for work. There was a really good place in Corner Brook I recently found out is closed now. I dont seem to recall anything else standing out a lot. I'd ask in each town where was good to eat, and especially when it came to pizza they'd be like "You gotta go here!" and it would end up being very underwhelming on times. I dont think I had one good slice of pizza outside the metro area. I like that someone said Ontario for outdoorsy but all we have is "small town vibes". If you are the outdoors type, there is nothing here we dont have. And if you have to go on a lake to fish or get a boat ride? Might as well be in a bathtub. You can just show up here as a tourist, go near a fishing stage and if the skipper is around they'll probably offer to take you out for a jig. poo poo that would be a definite red flag precursor to abduction and murder anywhere else is an innocent friendly gesture here.
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Mar 25, 2018 04:29
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codo27 posted:There was a really good place in Corner Brook I recently found out is closed now. For fried chicken? What was it called? Where was it?
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Mar 25, 2018 04:40
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Mudder's Kitchen. May also be closed, but there was a little takeout in Torbay I used to go to by the same name, nice old guy ran it. Great for getting Sunday dinner, and the girl I was with at the time loved their mac & cheese as well. Here local to me there is a takeout in my hometown thats only open on weekends and usually Friday OR Saturday. But man, you go there and toss in a $10 bill and you get enough food for a hockey team. There was one other place I remembered, in Harbor Breton, Scott's I believe if my memory serves going by google maps. I was a bit concerned when we pulled in and the ambulance out front, but it was just the EMTs in getting a mug up. Little known as well is how good Ches's fried chicken is. Most fish & chips places just use the same ol flavorless fish batter on their chicken but they have a different batter for it and its fuckin amazing. Hey, they dont call me the colonel cause I'm some dumbass army guy
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Mar 25, 2018 05:02
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