How "siloed" are you?

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by esquire

I'm keeping an eye on you now

I would liken it a bit to being from a small town and being one of a few in your class to move to the big city and attend university, travel the world, etc. After that kind of experience it's tough to really connect the same way with the people back home who went right to work and never left, even if some of those people who stayed went on to become very successful in their own right. Maybe people in the military or police forces feel the same about others who've never served that way.

I'm from 10 miles outside of a small town. I moved away and went to university and currently in the mob (AKA the CAF).
I was back in the old stomping grounds last summer and I can still connect with the folks I grew up with. But I've also made a lot of connections here in Ottawa with people who are not from a small town and not military. Maybe they just find me a curious anachronism?

And I wasn't one of the "few who left", I think about 75% of my class of 65 students are no longer in the area.

[240glt]

And I wasn't one of the "few who left", I think about 75% of my class of 65 students are no longer in the area.

Same here. Most of my friends from high school left Vernon within a few years, for school or other opportunities, most to Vancouver or Calgary but some to other large cities. Some stayed behind and did well, but most left.

For the past number of years a lot of them are going back to raise families, be closer to parents etc.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by 240glt

Same here. Most of my friends from high school left Vernon within a few years, for school or other opportunities, most to Vancouver or Calgary but some to other large cities. Some stayed behind and did well, but most left.

For the past number of years a lot of them are going back to raise families, be closer to parents etc.

A large number of people my older brother's age have moved back to SW MB to retire. All the amenities they need (especially the 18 hole golf course), housing is damn cheap, and Minot ND is pretty close to get a cheap flight to anyplace warm USA.

[240glt]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

A large number of people my older brother's age have moved back to SW MB to retire. All the amenities they need (especially the 18 hole golf course), housing is damn cheap, and Minot ND is pretty close to get a cheap flight to anyplace warm USA.

Housing is definitely not cheap in the Okanagan, that's for sure. But there is enough business and industry that people are able to get good work out there if they have the right experience and background.. still not a good place for young folks but there are opportunities out there.

We were thinking about moving to Vernon when we leave Edmonton but have since decided on the Nelson area, primarily due to land costs. And I prefer it down there.. not as busy.

[GlassCity]

With regards to social class in relationships, my friend group has always been diverse, with friends from working to upper-middle class families. My own family is middle/upper-middle I guess. But all my friends are basically still the ones I had in high school. Will be interesting to see how these class/social structures develop in our relationships as we continue to grow up, and enter our own classes independent of our parents'.

[kool maudit]

My work is extremely international but heavily class-siloed; I live in a foreign country and have not spoken my native language in much of my public daily life for decades but Denmark is homogeneous and I am of a related ethnicity such that I am often mistaken for being from here by locals. A bit of an odd case, maybe, but the silos are visible as outlines.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by Acajack

On the Quebec side of the river we don't have gigantic areas of 100,000+ people that are almost all at least middle and often upper middle class like Kanata, Orleans and Barrhaven.

You are right, but le Plateau is the only are that comes pretty close to qualifying. The difference is there is way more rental units in le Plateau than in, let's say, Kanata. But I would consider most of the people renting there lower middle class to middle class, still saving to buy that first property.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by le calmar

You are right, but le Plateau is the only are that comes pretty close to qualifying. The difference is there is way more rental units in le Plateau than in, let's say, Kanata. But I would consider most of the people renting there lower middle class to middle class, still saving to buy that first property.

Isn't the Le Plateau area just standard-issue suburbia?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by le calmar

You are right, but le Plateau is the only are that comes pretty close to qualifying. The difference is there is way more rental units in le Plateau than in, let's say, Kanata. But I would consider most of the people renting there lower middle class to middle class, still saving to buy that first property.

I guess Le Plateau might qualify. It's quite small though but it is quite isolated from any parts of the city that are working class or poor. You also need to go outside of it for a bunch of essential stuff which is not so much the case for Orleans-Barrhaven-Kanata (even high school when you're a kid).

[niwell]

I've been thinking about this and in some ways I'm fairly siloed, but in others maybe not that much. Geographically I definitely am, and if I were to make a map it would be almost identical to Monkeyronin's (we definitely live in the same general area). Maybe add a bit East of the Don River, but that's just semantics.

In terms of close friends and acquaintances it's a bit more varied. I'd say about half have somewhat similar professional careers, but the others work in the service sector in some capacity. Granted, these are people in their mid 30s who are fairly successful in that field - band management, head of sales at a craft brewery, executive chef and so on. With some exceptions most rent and only a few people I know have kids, though more and more are headed in that direction. Geography and shared interests is the main connecting thread here. Outside of work I don't really hang out with anyone who lives in the suburbs, even though this is not a conscious choice in any way.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Isn't the Le Plateau area just standard-issue suburbia?

It is indeed, Le Plateau is largely middle class with some limited pockets of upper-middle class residents. But it has also a very low percentage of working class or poor residents. To my knowledge there is virtually no social housing in the neighbourhood.

Originally Posted by Acajack

You also need to go outside of it for a bunch of essential stuff which is not so much the case for Orleans-Barrhaven-Kanata (even high school when you're a kid).

The commercial offer is still incomplete, but we will see what happens with the last phase of the development (Coeur du Plateau). If I recall correctly they are also planning to build a high school there, but I might be wrong on this.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Isn't the Le Plateau area just standard-issue suburbia?

Yes, but that's exactly what we're talking about. Comparing it to Orleans-Barrhaven-Kanata. Which are basically the same but much larger and also way more self-contained.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by le calmar

It is indeed, Le Plateau is largely middle class with some limited pockets of upper-middle class residents. But it has also a very low percentage of working class or poor residents. To my knowledge there is virtually no social housing in the neighbourhood.



The commercial offer is still incomplete, but we will see what happens with the last phase of the development (Coeur du Plateau). If I recall correctly they are also planning to build a high school there, but I might be wrong on this.

Yes, there are plans to build a high school, and also a library and maybe even an arena complex. All of which Le Plateau is lacking if it is to become a more self-contained community, in addition to a bunch of other amenities - both public and private.

[Bcasey25raptor]

I tend to only prefer women doctors since I feel uncomfortable around men who know me in that kind of intimate way.

Also a level of ageism abounds, men over 40 make me more uncomfortable than men in their late teens, 20s, and 30s.

Probably because i'm a young woman so my fears have a level of justification.

I also am less likely to trust someone who seems to talk a lot of about things they seemingly know nothing about. When I visited family in Calgary and met a lot of her "Redneck" friends, I felt like my IQ was falling just by being around them. I've been so used to the intellectual urbanity I'm used to in my urban home, but despite also being poor, I just can't relate with other poor people and working class people on that level.

[urbandreamer]

It makes sense that you're more comfortable with 60+ set since these are the folks that taught you how to work, live, learn etc. I certainly am much more comfortable talking to a 54 year old than a 24 year old. Things like relating to 80s/90s music, pre internet & cell phone communication, old TV shows etc.

It's hard to take someone seriously that doesn't remember what a cassette player sounds like blasting an early 90s techno mix tape in a 1979 Pontiac Parisienne....