terra
I am thinking about moving to Windsor. I am married and have three small kids. Please tell me everything you know about the city, like weather, people, nature and stuff. Your personal opinion is very important too. Thank you all
Wow, I am impressed with the details I got in the second reply. Thank you very much for taking time.
Answer
I live in Windsor.
First off, if you are considering moving to Windsor, I hope you have a job already lined up. You probably know that this area is very dependent on the automotive industry and businesses and factories and laying off/closing down here in high numbers. Hopefully the current labour talks will save the Chrysler plant here, but that is up in the air as well at this moment.
On the up side, Windsor has the best housing market in the country right now. Both rentals and houses for sale are very reasonable, and there are some great deals out there. With mortgage rates so low, it is a great time to buy here. There are an overabundance of rentals available as well, so they are a steal too.
The weather here in the summer can be hot (can reach in the 90's a few days each summer) and humid. Mostly summer temps are in the 80's. Winters can be cold (occasionally can dip below 0) and snowy. This past winter was particularly brutal and we had way more snow and cold than normal. March has been mild tho, so far, with very little snow.
Windsor does not have much of a downtown anymore as far as shopping. Most of the retailers have moved out to the outlying malls (we have two major malls - Devonshire Mall and Windsor Crossings - as well as a few smaller ones). Downtown is mostly restaurants/bars/nightclubs, and on the weekends, they are mostly filled with young American kids who can drink over here at 19.
The casino is beautiful (I work there), employs about 4,000+ in this city, and they are getting some pretty major acts booked in as far as entertainment.
The waterfront here is gorgeous and a real jewel in the city. They have spent tons of money on landscaping, bike paths, etc., and you can walk/bike/rollerblade right along the riverfront for miles.
The west end of the city has the University of Windsor, a mid-sized university, and a lot of the population in that area consists of students and student rentals.
Windsor is home to the 1st place team in junior hockey right now, the Windsor Spitfires, and their games are great to go to. They just built a beautiful spanking new area on the east end of the city.
I find Windsor to be a friendly city.
If you are comfortable with Detroit and its surrounding suburbs, every sporting and entertainment event is available to you within about 25 miles. I go over there all the time and have never had one problem, but that is based on your comfort level. You hear a lot of bad about Detroit, but it is overplayed, and as long as you know where to stay away from, you are fine. None of the problems of Detroit spill over to Windsor. We have the Detroit River to separate us and the border is fairly strict. Windsor may see about 5 or 6 homicides a yearly, and they are mostly domestic or, at the very least, acquaintances. There are very little random murders.
Like any city, there are good and bad areas of housing. Windsor, as well, has some nice areas outside of its city limits (Tecumseh, Lasalle, Amherstburg).
Overall, I like the city. It is just about the right size for me, but if you were coming from a place such as Toronto, you might at first find it too slow-paced. Depends, I think, what you're used to.
Hope this helps.
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!
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