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  #1  
Old Posted Oct 12, 2014, 8:54 PM
karbje86 karbje86 is offline
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Moving to Alberta VS British Colombia

Hi there,

My bf and I are planning to move to Canada from Norway next year.
We are planning to spend several weeks in Canada next summer, visiting different cities to get an idea of where we could see ourselfs living the most.
However going on vacation and moving somewhere is quite a different story, so I would highly appreciate some tips and insights from someone who is familiar with these places.

Obviously getting a job is a major priority but he is in the hotel business so I don't think that would be tha much of an issue. I run my own business so will be able to work from home.

A few years back I lived in Winnipeg for a year, def not a city I would reconsider. You had to drive everywhere, the weather was very cold and the overall appearance of the city was quite pore and filthy in my opinion. People were not that friendly either.

The cities we are curious about in Alberta is St.Albert/ Edmonton and Calgary. I would assume that the weather would be similar to Wp but we could always manage that if there's something else making up for it:-) I've read a lot about St.Albert lately and it sounds and looks (from pics and videos) like a great place. We are both faily young (28) without any kids, but are looking to start a family within the next few years. Not exactly into clubbing, but enjoy being active and working out. I love all the big city amneties but i don't want to live right in the middle of it, that's why I was thinking this might be good? Calgary also looks like a nice city which one is better Edmonton or Calgary? Is the weather the same ect.

When it comes to BC we've both been to Victoria and absolutely loved it. It reminds me of home, with the ocean (love the ocean) and the mountains. But the realestate prices are insane. And the jobs from I've heard doesn't pay that much. PPL seemed a bit fed up and not too friendly either (peak week of the summer so prob feed up by all the tourists lol).

Nanaimo is also under our radar as well as Kelowna. SO to sum it up:

Kelowna
Nanaimo
Victoria
Calgary
Edmonton
St.Albert

Which one would be a great place to start a family ???

Appreciate any help or advice :-
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  #2  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2014, 12:20 AM
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Rogie Rogie is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by karbje86 View Post
Hi there,

Nanaimo is also under our radar as well as Kelowna. SO to sum it up:

Kelowna
Nanaimo
Victoria
Calgary
Edmonton
St.Albert

Which one would be a great place to start a family ???

Appreciate any help or advice :-
Not taht I'm a fan of the city, but there are still some good deals to be had in Nanaimo and it's not that hard to get to the mainland. Kelowna can be pricey, but nice enough if you can stand heat. I prefer Kamloops personally.
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  #3  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2014, 2:47 PM
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I'm sure I'll get railed on for this, but if you didn't like Winnipeg for driving and cold, you wont find Edmonton/St Albert much different. Big prairie car-orientated low density city, cut from the same suburban era as Calgary, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon and many american mid-west cities too.

However all your listed cities would be fine for raising a family.
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  #4  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2014, 7:29 PM
deedub35 deedub35 is offline
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I lived in Edmonton all my life. In 2008 I got married and in 2009 we moved to Kelowna.

Sure everything is 7% more due to the PST and gas is a little more expensive but after 5+ years here I can honestly say that the only thing I miss from Edmonton is family and friends.

The weather is fantastic. We are active outdoor people so the proximity to the lake, golf courses, trails, and ski hills is great.

Kelowna is a city based on tourism so finding a job in the hotel business would be easy.

Good luck!
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  #5  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2014, 9:07 PM
karbje86 karbje86 is offline
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Originally Posted by deedub35 View Post
I lived in Edmonton all my life. In 2008 I got married and in 2009 we moved to Kelowna.

Sure everything is 7% more due to the PST and gas is a little more expensive but after 5+ years here I can honestly say that the only thing I miss from Edmonton is family and friends.

The weather is fantastic. We are active outdoor people so the proximity to the lake, golf courses, trails, and ski hills is great.

Kelowna is a city based on tourism so finding a job in the hotel business would be easy.

Good luck!
Thank you appreciate your respond! Kelowna sure looks like a lovely city, and sounds like it would fit us well. We will def make sure to stay there for a few days to check it out. I assume we would both feel more at home in bc compared to Alberta, I just thought it might be a good idea to start out there bec of the higher salaries and the lower tax systems. But I assume overall that doesn't matter at the end of the day. How are the winters in Kelowna? Thank you for your help, appreciate it!
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Old Posted Oct 13, 2014, 9:09 PM
karbje86 karbje86 is offline
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Originally Posted by feepa View Post
I'm sure I'll get railed on for this, but if you didn't like Winnipeg for driving and cold, you wont find Edmonton/St Albert much different. Big prairie car-orientated low density city, cut from the same suburban era as Calgary, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon and many american mid-west cities too.

However all your listed cities would be fine for raising a family.
Thank you for your reply!!:-) That's what I thought, was just hpoing someone would tell me differently;-) I guess we just have to go and experience some of the cities to get a feel of what would suits our lifestyle the best. Appreciate your help, thanks again!!
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  #7  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2014, 9:14 PM
karbje86 karbje86 is offline
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Originally Posted by Rogie View Post
Not taht I'm a fan of the city, but there are still some good deals to be had in Nanaimo and it's not that hard to get to the mainland. Kelowna can be pricey, but nice enough if you can stand heat. I prefer Kamloops personally.
Thank you for your respond! I've read about Kamloops in the past, looks like a nice place as well. Got several great options I suppose. How is the weather there during the summer/winter? It's not too far away from Kelowna am I right? Nanaimo looks very nice. I loved the island, and the real estate prices seems to be a lot lower than Victoria. I think Nanaimo or Kelowna would be the best picks at this point, but I'll look more into Kamloops as well. Keeping my options open:-) Thanks again for your help!!
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Old Posted Oct 13, 2014, 9:58 PM
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Kamloops and Kelowna are hot and sunny in the summer but Nanaimo is more mild than those two in the winter. Its rarely below zero in the winter.
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  #9  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2014, 10:05 PM
karbje86 karbje86 is offline
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Mild winters are def to prefer! Thank you for your reply!:-)
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  #10  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2014, 2:56 AM
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I also love kelowna, when I m 65.
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  #11  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2014, 3:18 AM
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I grew up in Victoria, lived in Edmonton, currently reside in Calgary and my girlfriend is from Kelowna.

I was on the island last winter for work, between Victoria and Nanaimo but working in Victoria.

If your not running a business, I wouldn't worry about "lower taxes" as generally goods are more expensive in AB than BC. If you don't believe this do the math on the stats canada's CPI, and my income tax went up when I moved to AB (no not because my income went up).

Thing about Nanaimo is the cost of housing is quite a bit lower than Victoria, in addition it is nice having two ferry terminals to get to Vancouver.
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  #12  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2014, 3:27 AM
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Hallsy's Toupee Hallsy's Toupee is offline
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I used to love Kelowna as a teenager. For me and other small town Albertans, it was like California with its hot weather, beaches and buxom blondes!

But now, decades later, I dislike Kelowna for the most part. Sure it has nicer weather, the lake, the beaches and the wineries. But there are many things that put me off.
It's a massive tourist trap.
Apart from its small sliver of downtown, it is unwalkable.
It's more like a really huge town instead of a city despite the population.
Traffic is horrid.
Poorly planned sprawl (especially West Kelowna).
Cost of living is ridiculous.
I still find it a bit too redneck.
Even though it gets sold as a wine lover/foodie's paradise, I see nothing but the usual chains (Earls, Cactus Club etc).
Worst of all, Bedrock City closed about 15 years ago!

For me, it's like that old saying: nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.
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Old Posted Oct 14, 2014, 3:37 AM
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Hallsy's Toupee Hallsy's Toupee is offline
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As for Nanaimo and Victoria, both are quite nice - I especially love Victoria for its old world charms. My only gripes is that housing is pricey, and the ferry crossing between the Vancouver Island and the mainland is getting more expensive (over $80 for a car and two occupants)
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  #14  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2014, 12:00 PM
karbje86 karbje86 is offline
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Thank you for your informative respond, highly appreciate it! As for Victoria, I absolutely loved it, but yes the real estate priced are beyond crazy. U have to pay 5-600 000 +, and still have to do some renovating!!! Nanaimo looks nice, regret that we didn't stop by to check out the city last year, and the prices lower indeed. How u ever been there? How is it compared to Victoria?

Thanks again!
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  #15  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2014, 12:08 PM
karbje86 karbje86 is offline
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Thank you for your respond, appreciate it!

I do run my own business, so dont know how that would affect me, would have to look into it. Anyhow it's gonna be a lot cheaper than living in Norway. You pay no less than 28% income tax and up to 50% even if your running a business or not. The salaries in bc esp victoria seems to be a lot lower though than AB, or is this just BS?:-) That's were we ultimately would like to live, but considering the high real estate prices and with the lower income, it's just not that appeling anymore:-/ The housing prices are def cheaper in Nanaimo, and it looks like a nice city. HOw would you compare those two? How are you liking Calgary compared to the island?

Thanks again, appreciate the help:-)!!!
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Old Posted Oct 14, 2014, 12:18 PM
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Both Kelowna and Nanaimo have two major new hotel towers each being planned / soon to start (the ribbon cutting ceremony has already been done for one of the projects in Nanaimo) so they both look to be good markets in the near future for the hotel / hospitality industry.

Nanaimo has mild winters with day time high temps around 7 and lows around 1, but they are very overcast and rainy. On the flip side summers are very sunny and often have drought like conditions. Afternoon temps average around 24 and lows around 13.

Kelowna is colder in the winter with grey skies, but much less precipitation. Average highs are around 1 and average lows around -6. But winter is much shorter than in much of Canada (especially compared to Winnipeg). Summer is decently long, hot, and sunny. Average daytime highs are around 30 and overnight lows around 14.

If you want to work in Kelowna, I recommend living in Penticton. It is about a 40 minute drive south of Kelowna and is a much more friendly, walkable, and beautiful location IMO. It is much smaller than Kelowna, but for me it is much more comfortable and has more character. (Penticton is more laid back while Kelowna is a little bit like Canada's Vegas, it is the party city for Western Canada.

That said, I do like Kelowna and it is improving immensely over the last few years (and they have many more good downtown plans in the works).

Overall, for your preferences and situation, I would go with Nanaimo or Kelowna via Penticton
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Old Posted Oct 14, 2014, 12:24 PM
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Nanaimo is a little rougher than Victoria, but it is also cleaning up a lot and it has a very charming downtown core. It is about 1/3rd the size of Victoria. Of course the great thing about Nanaimo is it is central to many great places for day / overnight trips on the south coast. Victoria is only an hours drive away, Tofino (west side of the Island) only two hours away, Vancouver just a ferry ride away, the northern Gulf Islands are right there, etc...
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  #18  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2014, 3:13 PM
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Weren't there plans to build one or two new luxury hotels in Nanaimo? I think I remember one was a Hilton. They would be good employment draws for those experienced in the hospitality industry.
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  #19  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2014, 8:07 PM
sdimedru sdimedru is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hallsy's Toupee View Post
I used to love Kelowna as a teenager. For me and other small town Albertans, it was like California with its hot weather, beaches and buxom blondes!

But now, decades later, I dislike Kelowna for the most part. Sure it has nicer weather, the lake, the beaches and the wineries. But there are many things that put me off.
It's a massive tourist trap.
Apart from its small sliver of downtown, it is unwalkable.
It's more like a really huge town instead of a city despite the population.
Traffic is horrid.
Poorly planned sprawl (especially West Kelowna).
Cost of living is ridiculous.
I still find it a bit too redneck.
Even though it gets sold as a wine lover/foodie's paradise, I see nothing but the usual chains (Earls, Cactus Club etc).
Worst of all, Bedrock City closed about 15 years ago!

For me, it's like that old saying: nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.
instantly childhood memories rush back.... wow thanks for the trip!

back to the thread....

All things considered, with your described situation, as an Edmontonian/Albertan... I would reccomend the BC coast provided you're ok with the cool wet weather.

To be honest, not much beats a beautiful Edmonton summer (Calgary is nice too) but the winters sure can drag on.
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  #20  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2014, 9:41 PM
karbje86 karbje86 is offline
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Originally Posted by sdimedru View Post
instantly childhood memories rush back.... wow thanks for the trip!

back to the thread....

All things considered, with your described situation, as an Edmontonian/Albertan... I would reccomend the BC coast provided you're ok with the cool wet weather.

To be honest, not much beats a beautiful Edmonton summer (Calgary is nice too) but the winters sure can drag on.

Thank you for your respond! I'm so conflicted, lol! I def have to just take a few weeks to get to experience all these cities. Based on what we are looking for, I do think bc would suit us the best. But at the same time my mind still goes back to St.Albert. I've never been there though so might not like it in real life. The things I do consider a plus with Edmonton esp. is the shopping amneties,seems like lots to do, am i wrong? also lots of good fitness centers (since I'm doing fitness for a living). We are quite used to cold winters with lots of snow, I would def prefer not having that, but if it rains every day that's not good either, lol guess you can get it all!
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