Great idea for a thread Flar, I should have done this originally.
Let me introduce myself and explain why I'm moving to Hamilton.
I'm British, currently living in London (the original one
). I'm about to turn 33, male, gay (if that makes any difference, shouldn't in this day and age, but hey might as well get that out there
) and single
- though that does make the move easier!
I have a sibling who moved with their spouse and child from Vancouver to Hamilton after raving for the past year about the potential that the city had - blind move, had never been there, just had this gut instinct. My parents were a bit uncertain about it all, but thanks to Flar's phototours showing the good sides of Hamilton, they actually wanted to visit and look around. So well done there Flar!
I'm in the process of selling a rental flat here in London and when sold the equity should easily pay off a bridging loan that I set up to pay for the house that I bought for them in April (aren't I a good brother?!). In January of next year I will be selling up my own flat and armed with the equity, approximately $150k in today's money, I'll be moving to Hamilton in late January/February all being well.
Why am I moving? And why Hamilton?
I've always wanted to live abroad and have always thought I'd like to live in North America, love the accents, tragic I know, but I do (I was so disappointed when no one in Vancouver said "eh"
). Since I now have family in Canada, I've found the concept of living there very tempting, as have my parents. I'm a bit fed up of the London way of life. OK, it's cosmopolitan and there's a lot to do, but it's also incredibly expensive and very draining to keep up with. All in all I really fancy a bit of a break from it all and so I thought I'd move to Canada, perhaps even do some studying, recharge etc. If I get bored, I can always try somewhere else!
I've been to Hamilton once, in April and was really quite impressed with the city and what $150k can buy you. Mortgage free or low mortgage life really appeals to me after spending £745 per month - that's nearly $1,500 - on my mortgage in London.
I've heard all the comments about how awful a place it is. A friend of mine has a flatmate who is Canadian and says he "escaped from Hamilton and couldn't be paid to go back". However, after visiting (admittedly only for a week) and wandering around I couldn't see what was so bad about the place at all. My second night there I walked from Balsam, all the way down Main, towards my hotel near Westdale. A bit of a killer walk at between 9 and 10pm, but I didn't feel threatened or intimidated, though perhaps ignorance is bliss lol. I really like the fact that is has the big city vibe in a small space, compared to London, where you can't get anywhere without jumping on a bus or using the underground, in Hamilton I could easily see myself walking a lot more and only using public transport if I really needed to or when I was feeling lazy, it was cold or wet.
The week I was there was spent wandering around, spotting buildings from Flar's phototours, drinking way too much Tim Horton's hot chocolate and trying to work out where I'd like to be if I lived there. I didn't get to see all I wanted to, as I did have to spend some time with family and do the odd touristy thing (you can't not see Niagara Falls!). There are some neighbourhoods I really want to check out in greater detail, Locke, Hess, Ottawa, etc. My parents have already decided that when they retire they want to sell up and move to Westdale, why wouldn't they, it's beautiful there around that quaint little town centre.
All in all Hamilton reminds me of Sheffield in the UK, before they regenerated it, and since that was a "Steel Town", the comparison is quite apt. Sheffield is now the greenest city in the UK and where a lot of the old Steel Mills were are parks and leisure facilities, it has a tram system (
SuperTram) similar to the one that is being proposed for Hamilton. If that goes ahead I can see that having a huge impact on the city in similar ways to the trams that are being built in cities across the UK. Ultimately, Hamilton feels like somewhere that can only improve and I might as well buy somewhere while I can afford it
I'm hopeful that when I get there I can get involved in the community (I don't want to move to the place and stay isolated and London can feel very isolating even with all those people around you), maybe even help to improve it, make new friends and generally live a much better and affordable life than the one I'm currently living now.
Any questions, please feel free to ask.
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