Bender
I am thinking of making the move to British Columbia from Ontario. I would be working in hi tech in Burnaby and want to know of a family orientated and safe neighbourhood with good schools.
Answer
I lived in Burnaby for 10 years and moved out of my parents' house to Port Moody recently - both cities are awesome and PoMo is a 15min drive from where I was in Bby. Anyway I lived in the neighbourhood in the Winston/Government St area - right by the Costco on Brighton by the Production Way/University Skytrain Station (like the subway in TO, you will come to know it well if you travel transit!) anyway it was a great neighbourhood and full of kids with an elementary school on Government St within walking distance from virtually everywhere there, with a great park (with a water park area!) one block down. If you stay long enough for your kids to grow up, the highschool is also within walking distance (maybe 15mins walking) and you can drive to Lougheed Mall and the grocery store there in 5mins, or walk there in 30-40 (if you're an exercise enthusiast!) If you're religious at all there is a church about 10mins (walking) away and also 15min walk to an awesome dog park situated in a wildlife reserve with EXCELLENT walking trails, and a 15 min walk the other way (or take the long way from the lake a the wildlife reserve and get there in maybe 30-40) will take you to a small horse boarding stable with a riding ring, if you have any interest in horses!
Never heard of any crime or break ins, although a bike did get stolen from our backyard which made no sense because it was literally rusted in our bushes... and they left their scooter so does that even count as theft? Haha.
Hmm what else. Oh the fire department is right by the costco which again is only a 5-10min walk if that matters... And the skytrain ("subway" I mentioned earlier can be walked to in 5-15mins depending on which area of the neighbourhood you live in.
Anyway I loved living there it was close to everything. I guess you could call it North/Central Burnaby? Never knew what to call it.
North Burnaby is also relatively nice but the closer you get to hastings (heading in the vancouver direction at least) in my opinion gets less nice, the houses are older and there are more homeless people you may encounter, though probably not in the neighbourhoods. I just personally find nothing attractive about many of the areas in North burnaby, mostly because it's more housing and not as close to everything as where I lived but to each their own.
South Burnaby is pretty crappy to be honest. I would never want to live there. Very ghetto though not sure about crime and all that but I have never enjoyed myself any time I've had to go there, and when my boyfriend and I looked at some places there to buy we were totally disgusted.
Central Burnaby as far as I know is pretty nice and we considered a place there before settling in Port Moody which I must tell you is amazing and I have heard only good things from everyone living here and in surrounding areas - Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Anmore <-- a very rich neighbourhood by the way and not THAT far from Burnaby, prob a 20-30min drive depending on how far up you live so if you have money put Anmore on your list of places to look at. Anmore as well as Coquitlam, PoCo and PoMo are all very tight-knit communities and everyone knows eachother and goes to the same schools (which are abundant in these areas!) and the same vets and the same walking trails, dog parks, beaches/lakes, etc.
There is also New Wesminster which is a very old city and has older features and various types of neighbourhoods (good/bad/ugly/etc) but they are working on cleaning up some of the "bad" areas by building new condos and giving the places a face lift to bring in younger families. My boyfriend;s family moved there when he was 10 so he grew up there and really liked it but he lived in a good neighbourhood but personally I dont think I'd really want to live there.
Basically I think you are making a good decision considering the Burnaby area and like I said there are cities surrounding it close enough that you could consider calling home too.
Sorry to make this so long but I hope I was informative enough to help you decide something.
Whatever you do don't move to vancouver despite what everyone says it sucks. I dunno though if you live in toronto or anything and like it maybe you'd like it. Just my personal opinion... I find absolutely NOTHING appealing about vancouver or even the downtown area. I avoid it as much as I can. There are some nice places though and I bet anyone reading this will freak out at my comments towards vancouver but again just my opinion.
Hope I helped! Welcome to BC in advance! Everyone loves it here!
I lived in Burnaby for 10 years and moved out of my parents' house to Port Moody recently - both cities are awesome and PoMo is a 15min drive from where I was in Bby. Anyway I lived in the neighbourhood in the Winston/Government St area - right by the Costco on Brighton by the Production Way/University Skytrain Station (like the subway in TO, you will come to know it well if you travel transit!) anyway it was a great neighbourhood and full of kids with an elementary school on Government St within walking distance from virtually everywhere there, with a great park (with a water park area!) one block down. If you stay long enough for your kids to grow up, the highschool is also within walking distance (maybe 15mins walking) and you can drive to Lougheed Mall and the grocery store there in 5mins, or walk there in 30-40 (if you're an exercise enthusiast!) If you're religious at all there is a church about 10mins (walking) away and also 15min walk to an awesome dog park situated in a wildlife reserve with EXCELLENT walking trails, and a 15 min walk the other way (or take the long way from the lake a the wildlife reserve and get there in maybe 30-40) will take you to a small horse boarding stable with a riding ring, if you have any interest in horses!
Never heard of any crime or break ins, although a bike did get stolen from our backyard which made no sense because it was literally rusted in our bushes... and they left their scooter so does that even count as theft? Haha.
Hmm what else. Oh the fire department is right by the costco which again is only a 5-10min walk if that matters... And the skytrain ("subway" I mentioned earlier can be walked to in 5-15mins depending on which area of the neighbourhood you live in.
Anyway I loved living there it was close to everything. I guess you could call it North/Central Burnaby? Never knew what to call it.
North Burnaby is also relatively nice but the closer you get to hastings (heading in the vancouver direction at least) in my opinion gets less nice, the houses are older and there are more homeless people you may encounter, though probably not in the neighbourhoods. I just personally find nothing attractive about many of the areas in North burnaby, mostly because it's more housing and not as close to everything as where I lived but to each their own.
South Burnaby is pretty crappy to be honest. I would never want to live there. Very ghetto though not sure about crime and all that but I have never enjoyed myself any time I've had to go there, and when my boyfriend and I looked at some places there to buy we were totally disgusted.
Central Burnaby as far as I know is pretty nice and we considered a place there before settling in Port Moody which I must tell you is amazing and I have heard only good things from everyone living here and in surrounding areas - Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Anmore <-- a very rich neighbourhood by the way and not THAT far from Burnaby, prob a 20-30min drive depending on how far up you live so if you have money put Anmore on your list of places to look at. Anmore as well as Coquitlam, PoCo and PoMo are all very tight-knit communities and everyone knows eachother and goes to the same schools (which are abundant in these areas!) and the same vets and the same walking trails, dog parks, beaches/lakes, etc.
There is also New Wesminster which is a very old city and has older features and various types of neighbourhoods (good/bad/ugly/etc) but they are working on cleaning up some of the "bad" areas by building new condos and giving the places a face lift to bring in younger families. My boyfriend;s family moved there when he was 10 so he grew up there and really liked it but he lived in a good neighbourhood but personally I dont think I'd really want to live there.
Basically I think you are making a good decision considering the Burnaby area and like I said there are cities surrounding it close enough that you could consider calling home too.
Sorry to make this so long but I hope I was informative enough to help you decide something.
Whatever you do don't move to vancouver despite what everyone says it sucks. I dunno though if you live in toronto or anything and like it maybe you'd like it. Just my personal opinion... I find absolutely NOTHING appealing about vancouver or even the downtown area. I avoid it as much as I can. There are some nice places though and I bet anyone reading this will freak out at my comments towards vancouver but again just my opinion.
Hope I helped! Welcome to BC in advance! Everyone loves it here!
What can you tell me about L.A., if I was to want to move there?
Vyrsace
Hi there! I am from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and I've been thinking over the past few years to move for some change. I like big cities and don't mind the metropolis mentality (as I've lived in Toronto and Vancouver as well). Los Angeles is one of a few choices on my list of places to consider moving.
What can you tell me about the generic lifestyle of Los Angeles? I'm looking for weather, ethnicities, cost of living (rent/own a house, dining, travel), traffic, employment, night life, and any other basic life necessity that people of the everyday civilized world would require.
What are the good/bad areas in the city, overall (crime, ammenities, employment, etc.)?
As a tip, skip any contrasts or comparisons to Canadian living/lifestyle. I'd appreciate personalized and detailed opinions rather than pasted URLs.
Thank You.
Answer
For a number of reasons, we get a bunch of questions asking what itâs like in LA in order to move here.
First of all, I'll tell you what it's NOT like: It's not like anything on TV. There arenât running gun battles in the street. There arenât shootouts every day. Also, you donât see celebrities just walking down the street. We don't go surfing during lunch hour. Some parts of LA are really nice, others are âghettoâ.
LA doesnât have an effective public transportation like New York or San Francisco. One reason is that LA is larger in area than either of those, without a central hub where everything is. Back in the 1960âs, we might have done it. But by the time local governments got their act together, it was much more difficult to make a working public transit system. Also, unlike NY, we have earthquakes, which makes it a little more difficult to built underground.
You NEED a car to live in Southern California. Deal with it.
The freeway traffic in LA is probably the worst thing about living here. The 405 is the worst. Know why they call it the 405? Because you go 4 o' 5 miles per hour, and it takes 4 o' 5 hours to get where you're going. Freeway Traffic is bad from 6-10 AM and bad from 3-7 PM. I don't know why they call it rush hour. It's more than an hour, and nobody's rushing, that's for sure.
The gangs in LA are the cause of many rumors. Keep in mind that there are gangs in any large town, in every part of the country. In LA, the gangs aren't really downtown, they are in South LA, East LA, and north Long Beach (an extension of the South LA gangs, actually). And here's the deal: Mostly, they just kill each other.
Gas is expensive in California. Currently, it's about $3.20, on average.
Yes, gas and real estate are very expensive in SoCal. However, this would be the best time to BUY a house because it's a buyer's market right now. There are a lot of foreclosures, and too many houses on the market. So if you have cash, it's a great time to buy. Unfortunately, most of us don't have a half-mil just lying around. Perhaps Paris Hilton (regular poster here)?
Yep, freeways are a drag, it's smoggy in summer, and expensive to live here. Yet, if it's so bad, why do we have thousands and thousands of people moving here?
Weather
Activities
Weather
Plenty of jobs
Weather
Beaches, mountains, deserts all within driving distance
Weather!
Here's my final point on the weather. In colder parts of the country, people keep their cars in their garages all winter. Kids get snow toys for Christmas. Here, kids get BIKES, scooters, and skateboards. 10 AM Christmas morning, the streets are FULL of kids on their new bikes, scooters, etc. We have a play set from Costco in the back yard. I installed a light in the yard and our youngest plays on it (sometimes with friends) at night during the âwinterâ, from the time homework and dinner are done until bed time. You can't do THAT in the snow.
The job market is good here, mainly because there are SO many people here that it creates its own job market. Then there are MANY industries, including tourism, entertainment, shipping, manufacturing, etc. Itâs an incredible economy.
However, LA is not for everyone. Every time someone posts this question, you get the LA haters who post their bile and venom. A lot of them donât know what they are talking about. Maybe they had cousin Ernie visit once, and he was plumb disappointed when he got to Hollywood and found it werenât pretty like on TV. Of course, he told all his kinfolk, and now theyâre LA experts. Some of them are people who actually visited once, and found out it wasnât like it was on TV, and it certainly wasnât Mayberry. And some actually lived here, and couldnât deal with the expense, the traffic, or the rather impersonal nature of living in a large metropolis. (You know, the kind who like to drop in on their neighbors unannounced, open the (unlocked) door, and let themselves in. Well, itâs not like that here, for better or worse. To those I would say âgood luckâ to you wherever you are, but please donât spew your venom in this forum.
In a nutshell, LA a HUGE metropolis. I live in one of the nicer suburbs, but the commute is no fun, often 1-2 hours each way each day. However, 340+ days of sunshine really helps. Yeah, it's expensive. Mrs. Obviousman and I both have to work to pay the mortgage. But is it worth it? You bet!
For a number of reasons, we get a bunch of questions asking what itâs like in LA in order to move here.
First of all, I'll tell you what it's NOT like: It's not like anything on TV. There arenât running gun battles in the street. There arenât shootouts every day. Also, you donât see celebrities just walking down the street. We don't go surfing during lunch hour. Some parts of LA are really nice, others are âghettoâ.
LA doesnât have an effective public transportation like New York or San Francisco. One reason is that LA is larger in area than either of those, without a central hub where everything is. Back in the 1960âs, we might have done it. But by the time local governments got their act together, it was much more difficult to make a working public transit system. Also, unlike NY, we have earthquakes, which makes it a little more difficult to built underground.
You NEED a car to live in Southern California. Deal with it.
The freeway traffic in LA is probably the worst thing about living here. The 405 is the worst. Know why they call it the 405? Because you go 4 o' 5 miles per hour, and it takes 4 o' 5 hours to get where you're going. Freeway Traffic is bad from 6-10 AM and bad from 3-7 PM. I don't know why they call it rush hour. It's more than an hour, and nobody's rushing, that's for sure.
The gangs in LA are the cause of many rumors. Keep in mind that there are gangs in any large town, in every part of the country. In LA, the gangs aren't really downtown, they are in South LA, East LA, and north Long Beach (an extension of the South LA gangs, actually). And here's the deal: Mostly, they just kill each other.
Gas is expensive in California. Currently, it's about $3.20, on average.
Yes, gas and real estate are very expensive in SoCal. However, this would be the best time to BUY a house because it's a buyer's market right now. There are a lot of foreclosures, and too many houses on the market. So if you have cash, it's a great time to buy. Unfortunately, most of us don't have a half-mil just lying around. Perhaps Paris Hilton (regular poster here)?
Yep, freeways are a drag, it's smoggy in summer, and expensive to live here. Yet, if it's so bad, why do we have thousands and thousands of people moving here?
Weather
Activities
Weather
Plenty of jobs
Weather
Beaches, mountains, deserts all within driving distance
Weather!
Here's my final point on the weather. In colder parts of the country, people keep their cars in their garages all winter. Kids get snow toys for Christmas. Here, kids get BIKES, scooters, and skateboards. 10 AM Christmas morning, the streets are FULL of kids on their new bikes, scooters, etc. We have a play set from Costco in the back yard. I installed a light in the yard and our youngest plays on it (sometimes with friends) at night during the âwinterâ, from the time homework and dinner are done until bed time. You can't do THAT in the snow.
The job market is good here, mainly because there are SO many people here that it creates its own job market. Then there are MANY industries, including tourism, entertainment, shipping, manufacturing, etc. Itâs an incredible economy.
However, LA is not for everyone. Every time someone posts this question, you get the LA haters who post their bile and venom. A lot of them donât know what they are talking about. Maybe they had cousin Ernie visit once, and he was plumb disappointed when he got to Hollywood and found it werenât pretty like on TV. Of course, he told all his kinfolk, and now theyâre LA experts. Some of them are people who actually visited once, and found out it wasnât like it was on TV, and it certainly wasnât Mayberry. And some actually lived here, and couldnât deal with the expense, the traffic, or the rather impersonal nature of living in a large metropolis. (You know, the kind who like to drop in on their neighbors unannounced, open the (unlocked) door, and let themselves in. Well, itâs not like that here, for better or worse. To those I would say âgood luckâ to you wherever you are, but please donât spew your venom in this forum.
In a nutshell, LA a HUGE metropolis. I live in one of the nicer suburbs, but the commute is no fun, often 1-2 hours each way each day. However, 340+ days of sunshine really helps. Yeah, it's expensive. Mrs. Obviousman and I both have to work to pay the mortgage. But is it worth it? You bet!
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