So it might be logical to consider moving elsewhere but we know we never will.
Anyway just for the purpose of daydreaming, this year's median-multiple report came out with a few suggestions on places where you'd be less-badly-shafted for your rent-mortgage costs versus what you earn.Montreal's median-multiple is unchanged from last year at 5.1.
That means that it you took the entire median household income and put every cent on it towards the median price of a home in Montreal, it would take 5.1 years to pay off.
Last year the Demographia median multiple report noted that our median household earnings was $54,700 and the median home cost $281,700, resulting in the same 5.1 result, so nothing has changed.
If you want to get richer than you already are, here's some places to consider moving to and to stay away from:
Last year I interviewed one of the authors and he suggested that if Montreal wants to give citizens a better deal, it should allow more construction in certain areas outside of Montreal.
If you can get it together to move someone, particularly the USA, these are the places where you're most likely to prosper.
Yeah, I want to move to Detroit. triple the crime rate and fatality rate; auto manufacturing jobs that have entry pay less than a Bell or Telus call centre in Montreal, abandoned suburbs the size of the West Island. But I guess would not really have to work much if got a cheapo fixer-upper, and spend my money on cool semi-automatics to defend my castle! Yeah here I come Ted Nugent, Michigan is the future!
ReplyDeleteWhy not just live on a small boat docked in a local marina?
ReplyDeleteIn winter you could park it inside one of those storage-depot lockers and live there until spring when it's back to the marina.
Whoever wrote that needs to learn how to spell. It's Fredericton, no k.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder all those places are listed as "affordable." A church service directed by a slow-talking, deadpan minister is more exiciting than living anywhere on that list.
Without a doubt to me the best place to live in Canada is Vancouver Island. And it is affordable.
ReplyDeleteRight now the temperature is 2 degrees. What we call a cold day. There isn't any snow on the ground at all.
You could play golf if you wanted to. Up Island is Mount Washington with excellent skiing if we want to see some snow.
Most people on the island live minutes from the ocean.
Deep forests, lots of lakes and streams, oodles of sandy beaches, all kinds of wildlife, salmon fishing, whale watching, plenty of hiking trails, and great restaurants.
Vancouver Island has it all! And it is just a 1-1/2 hour ferry ride to the city of Vancouver.
And...you get a good bang for your buck on real estate.
The one negative is that we get a lot of cloudy days in the winter. The answer to that is a 1 or 2 week trip to Mexico in the winter.
I am not in the real estate or travel business but if you are ever looking for free info about vacationing on Vancouver Island feel free to contact me. What to see, where to eat, that kind of thing.
Oh...there is another negative I forgot. Vancouver Island is not the best place to look for work. It is hands down the best place to retire to in the country.
Not that I specially crave Big Macs, but there is nothing wrong with pickles in hamburgers.
ReplyDelete* * *
A friend just finished paying a downtown condo in Ottawa, 7 years after buying it. No wonder the bank hates him...
* * *
Sprawl is bad. Very bad.
But how can you develop Montréal more? Of course, the obvious is to allow an extra story everywhere.
But there is another solution: close Dorval airport and redevelop the land sensibly (read: with mixed-use, with shops on ground floors and offices on upper floors of corner buildings).
Can you imagine how much that land is worth???
With the proceeds, you simply extend the Deux-Montagnes train line to Mirabel, and finally get to fully use that white elephant.
Bonus: no more noisy aircraft over Villeray, the West-Island, Ahuntsic and St-Laurent (my aunt lived right under the glide path, near Décarie. She said that they didn't notice the planes anymore, so every time I went there, whenever a plane went by, I said "oh, an airplane". She always got pissed off around 20th).
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"Right now the temperature is 2 degrees. What we call a cold day. There isn't any snow on the ground at all."
A winter without snow. That must be unbearable. Especially with the rain.
emdx....Snow is nice when it is fresh and white. Not so much when it turns grey. I don't miss the huge ice puddles on the roads in Montreal at all. You can adapt to rain out here. You don't have to shovel it. We do get a bit of snow about 2-3 times in the winter but it is gone in the matter of days. When you get older, freezing your ass off isn't that much fun. I don't miss the long springs either in Mtl. where the grass is mushy into May.
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago when I looked, you could buy lots of triplexes in Grand'Mere for under $70,000. Of course, it was a bit far from lots of things we like in Montreal. But inexpensive nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteI second your comments, Colin. Montreal and surrounding area was depressing once the leaves had fallen. Everything was brown and grey until the first snowfall, which could come as late as mid-December. That's about two months of brown and grey.
ReplyDeleteLikewise with the long spring. That blackened urban snow is often still lingering into early April on lawns in the shade.
On the west coast, lawns and everything are greenest in the winter with the rain. The rain is not as much as people think. Often there is more grey sky than actual rain. The rain itself is rarely the torrential downpours of Montreal but more often a gentle drizzle. Often times, it's so gentle that film crews continue working because the rain doesn't show on film or video (except in long shots).
You don't have to shovel it. You don't have to move your car from one side of the street to the other at 7:00 AM or 7:00 PM. You don't have to worry about your temporary garage collapsing under a heavy snowfall. (You don't even need the temporary garage). You don't have to do a broad jump to get over deep slush puddles at street corners. Your spring jacket is just fine as a winter jacket.
Well, I lived in Vancouver for 5.5 years, and it was depressing I found but I have always been susceptible since a kid for feeling crappy when it rained. And rain it sure does. We on average get 60-100 hours more of sun each year here in Montreal than Vancouver I think.
ReplyDeleteOne fall it was grey grey and rained every single day from Sept 19 to Dec 16! It did not rain and get sunny then rain, I mean rain all day drizzle, hard soft - it was horrible.
Yeah, it is warmer but dampness is hard to dress for. That is why 1 to -8 here in MTL is worse than -15 for me. It is more humid closer to '0'.
I am a big outdoors person, and walking, hiking cycling 60-80km in rain is not enjoyable. Additionally for me was Vancouver&West Coast feels cut off. 400km of Coastal Mountains cutting you off from the rest of BC, then water to the West. Yeah, Seattle is close but it is not NYC or Boston which are accessible to MTLers. People in Vancouver would say "Victoria and Vancouver Island - full of the newly wed or nearly dead!" as it was less expensive to live. Overall, the scenery is stunning out there, and when sunny it easily is the most beautiful area of anyplace in the world. And the pot is pretty good people say.
Robert...
ReplyDeleteIf one is prone to depression or moodiness the west coast of Canada may be quite difficult to adjust to. Coming from eastern Canada you have to do some adapting.
I am sure you will agree that a lot more Quebecers have chosen to live in BC than the other way round.
By the way 100 more hours of sunshine amounts to about 8 more days a year.
(Linda did some checking on the net. She couldn't find Montreal, Average annual sunny days...Sherbrooke, Quebec 1850 hours, 297 days. Victoria, BC 2193 hours, 317 days.)
It really isn't much of a chore dressing for the rain. We don't need boots, mitts, or a heavy coat for starters.
Vancouver Island is crawling wuth retirees. They are our main industry and they mostly seem to get by in winter here.
I have a golden retreiver who needs a long walk every day. There are forest trails minutes from my front door. Rain or not we are gone for an hour or so.
I fully admit that a week or 2 in mid winter in places like Mexico is a good idea for west coasters. It breaks things up.
I am sure you are not cycling 80-100 km in Montreal in the winter. Vancouver Island has an express highway and a highway that runs along the ocean from Parksville to Campbell River that goes through smaller towns and has spectacular views. It is a a bikers paradise.
I have never felt isolated living on the west coast. Vancouver is often named 1 of the 3 prettiest cities in the world. Seattle is only a couple of hours away. New York or Toronto are about 8-9 hours away from Montreal.
Nobody says newly wed and nearly dead anymore out here.
So...lets talk summers. Last summer I was in Montreal and southern Ontario and found the high temperatures and humidity almost unbearable. Almost debilitating. For the past number of summers we have had spotty weather through most of June and then almost 2 months of solid sunshine. The difference out here is there is almost no humidity and there is almost always a light breeze. Much more comfortable to enjoy the outdoors.
In my next life I am going to be a lawyer.lol
And yes.... the pot is pretty good! When you smoke it everything is sunny.
Robert said:
ReplyDeleteWell, from what I remember the highway out of Victoria is quite dangerous and has had quite a few tragic accidents. I dk if it is anymore than other highways but it was two lane not divided I thought. I don't like cycling on high speed 2 lane highway roads and like, most serious cyclists map out lightly trafficked roads using cycling club reference maps that note such factors.
I visited Van Island a number of times when I lived in Van city & had friends who had moved there from TO, Ottawa and Montreal in the 90's. Some chose Victoria because it was cheaper than Vancouver. Oh, that saying about Vancouver Island was from local Vancouverites in jest. Maybe not current 15 years later. Most of them moved back to Eastern Canada and USA and points beyond, but we were in our late 20's and wanted a more dynamic life/career feel perhaps. It was a bit too laid back for my taste I guess. Yes, even though Boston or NYC is 6-8 hrs by car, it is an hour by plane or so. All of us were in the arts, architecture, music etc. and I guess found the energy, and creative atmosphere more inspiring in NYC, MTL or Toronto. Of course, the cost of living is part of the equation. As witnessed by the amount of creative types, musicians, artists, theater actors etc who have moved from the West Coast to MTL, and even Edmonton in the past few years (note the closing of the Vancouver Playhouse) the energy level is often cited as a reason as well as the cost of living. Of course the indie music scene may be peaking here in Montreal but that is another topic. Yes, I used to cycle all winter outside on stripped down mountain bike. Many people in Montreal cycle all year round. Cold does not bother me nor the heat, I am not sure why. Perhaps because played sports skiing, hockey outside till feet were frozen as a kid, or cycled played tennis for hours on end in 30c humidity, I got used to it. The healthy human body actually adapts to weather temps if it is repeatedly exposed to it. Though many would disagree I suppose - like my mom! Now there is so much more high-tech clothing available for cold-weather cycling. I don't have that bike anymore, but might get another winter bike.
I have a super light down jacket that hardly weighs anything, wore it today just with a t-shirt on underneath and it was -13 and walking felt fine. The down Canada Goose jackets are warm to -40 and do not need layering. Bending over to put rubber boots on or snow boots, a jacket and scarf /hat takes me about a minutes or less. Isn't really a factor for me. Where you feel comfortable does comes down to 'feel' something which is subjective. Actually planning to move on from MTL for new experiences maybe Iceland, Sweden or Columbia.
Robert...
ReplyDeleteI like this good natured back and forth.
You should google biking on Vancouver Island. My guess is that you have never been on the Galloping Goose Trail or cycled the Gulf Islands. Vancouver Island has all kinds of great places to cycle. Maybe you just didn't know when you chose a busy highway.
You kind of moved the goalposts when you said you can catch a plane to New York. You can catch a plane to anywhere.
For some reason you seem adaptable to extreme humidity and freezing cold but can't adapt to light rain.
I have done a lot of hiking including the West Coast Trail. Forests have canopies so even if it is raining you rarely get soaked. The light rain is also kind of refreshing because your body gets heated when you hike for hours. You just put on a sweater when you stop walking so you don't get a chill.
Toronto and New York do offer better opportunities for theatre types but you can't say the arts are non existant in Vancouver. The dynamics of cities in Canada has changed over the past few years. Last year my daughter was in a production of Cats in Calgary.
BC and Alberta have better economies than Quebec and Ontario with the latter 2 receiving equalization payments.
I wish I had a buck for every former back easter I have run into over the years out here on the west coast.
Lastly, you can't be that much in love as to where you are living if you are planning on moving to another country.
Well, I suppose bringing planes into the equation is moving the goal posts. As for humid weather, 28c, 30c etc, sunny and humid is for me preferable because I find it is easier to be outside and feel relaxed. Sitting in the rain reading a book is not my cup of tea. Rain is ok once in a while, but Vancouver has its own micro-climate and gets more rain (reportedly) than the Sunshine coast or Van Island, and is grey more due to the clouds settling against the North Shore mountains. Though the from my informal weather watching in the past years it does appear they are getting more warm to hot days and longer periods of sunshine. Climatic change...who knows.
ReplyDeleteThe activities I liked to do I simply do not enjoy doing in the rain. I have done tons of activities in the rain - it does rain out here... Mountain biking in rain soaked slick slopes on the North Shore (Cypress Mountain etc) was fun, developed great technical skill but is much more dangerous. Also always having deal with rain on the cycling glasses makes visibility difficult - car spray etc. Though one does not need to wear cycling glasses all the time. No I did not explore a lot of Van Island unfortunately by bike but yes it is stunning.
Anyway, I never said the arts are nonexistent - as I said I lived there... but from radio shows, interviews, articles and word of mouth, there has been discussion of late in the artistic community about the recent exodus of artistic producers to Alberta, Ontario or Quebec or elsewhere. If that is happening - what does that questions does that raise. That is all I was noting.
Yes, the BC economy is reportedly stronger, but much of it is based on two things. Resource extraction (trees, mining etc), and speculative real estate. Both are highly cyclical and are boom and or bust. Though Van city is somewhat protected by the geographical limits that prevent horizontal sprawl. Alberta is a one trick pony - oil, oil and oil. Sure its great the AB economy there is booming but it is fairly one dimensional. Not necessarily the climate I want to live in. Before I moved to Van city, Alberta (Klassy Klein) was blasting the BC government because so many unemployed workers were moving to AB taking jobs or going on welfare. Then around 1992 or so, BC was putting up firewalls to keep Albertans who were moving en masse to BC due to slow economy there so they would not get welfare easily or take jobs from BC workers. Modern economies need to be diversified to avoid the such fluctuations. Denmark, Sweden etc (admittedly small), nonetheless truly promote intellectual, creative, knowledge based economies that are not based only resource extraction or financial speculation, real estate, derivatives etc. As we have seen in the collapse of the US economy in many areas based on real estate (Ie: Phoenix, Las Vegas) that lack any other reason for growth in the economy is a fragile bubble waiting to burst. Quebec, and Ontario also need to do more in diversifying the economies, but are more so than AB or BC even if not as strong right now.
Lastly, I never stated I am in love with Montreal, Quebec or Ontario, I just like the feel of MTl and living here. Planning to live somewhere else is not a negation or writing off of my attachment to my home city, it is about my interest in different experiences. Different experiences provides knowledge. Knowledge provides insights, insights provides happiness. That is why I tried Vancouver and other cities I have lived in. Some people like to set on a piece of land and never move, others like variety. I am the latter.
Robert
Robert...
ReplyDeleteObviously whatever you are doing for a living is portable enough that you can move to another country for a while.
My guess is that you are single and don't have kids which would allow you to make those choices.
Good for you that you want to see the world.
Just because someone has chosen to have roots somewhere diesn't mean that they can't travel.We are off to Mexico tomorrow.
By the way seeing someone sitting in the rain would be a rare sight anywhere.
With what you have written so far you seem to simplify things.
Resource extraction and real estate are not the only things BC has going for it as far as a healthy economy.
First of all Vancouver is a huge port city and the gateway to the far east. Tourism is another huge industry. There is also a lot of high tech stuff going on here.
There was a time when Montreal and Toronto dominated everything Canadian but there has been a dramatic shift to cities like Calgary and Vancouver. I think Calgary now has more corporate head offices than any other Canadian city.