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  #21  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 2:51 AM
isaidso isaidso is offline
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Apparently Albertans have the priciest cottages, New Brunswickers the cheapest.


https://globalnews.ca/news/3541874/c...prices-canada/
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  #22  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 4:07 AM
Hali87 Hali87 is offline
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Houseboating seems to be the equivalent in BC, but most people just rent these for a couple days at a time rather than owning them. Some of the ski resort towns have a lot of seasonal residents and houses that you can rent by the night but I don't think "cottage" would be a common term.

In Halifax the odd family owns a cottage, usually somewhere else in NS but sometimes elsewhere in the Maritimes or Quebec (rarely anywhere else). In many cases these are just houses that have "been in the family" for decades if not generations that happen to be next to a beach or a lake - a few of my friends' parents have sold off their city home (or stopped renting) and retired to "the cottage". There really isn't the same "cottage culture" that exists in Ontario, summertime in NS is very much focused on the beaches and lakes, but all of the inhabited parts of the province are full of beaches and lakes so most people don't see the point of buying a cottage just to be closer to a different beach or lake. There's also a few resort towns where you can just rent cottages by the night/weekend (Places like White Point, Digby Pines, and Keltic Lodge consist of a central hotel with smaller lodges and hotels scattered around the property). They tend to focus on some combination of golf/surfing/hiking, but not really hunting as far as I know. I do know some people in NS who hunt but overall it isn't really as big a cultural thing as it seems to be in Newfoundland or Northern Ontario for example. (Non-commercial) fishing is largely the same, and a lot of people just fish in and around Halifax Harbour, including central areas like the boardwalk (arguably the most central part of the city during the summer) and Alderney Landing in Downtown Dartmouth. I'm not sure there are many other parts of Canada where you can do this, and it's only become feasible here over the last decade or so due to improved sewage treatment and changes in waterfront industrial uses and environmental regulations applicable to watercraft that have led to dramatically better water quality. Back in my teens it was common for people to get serious skin or stomach irritation from falling in the harbour, it was that polluted.

A lot of houses in the Halifax area have docks - there's a LOT of lakefront property and suitable oceanfront property in areas like the Northwest Arm, Bedford Basin, and Eastern Passage. There are also public docks and beaches all over the city, and several marinas, so the type of person/family who would own a cottage in Ontario would more likely own a boat here.
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  #23  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 4:22 AM
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Cottage seems like an out of province term in BC like from Ontario or something.
We have cabins and cottage cheese but no cottages.
Some of our cabins are on or at least overlooking the water.
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  #24  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 4:36 AM
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In Northern Ontario, we call them camps. Lots of people have them, and they're often inexpensive. The rural areas of this region see significant populations swells over the summer, some places with permanent populations in the low hundreds will see over a thousand people during summer weekends. The rural areas around the city have over 2,000 rural homesteads that are permanently occupied, and probably 3,000 to 4,000 seasonal camps among them. With a widespread network of logging roads, highways and concession roads, and hundreds (if not thousands) of lakes within a few hours drive, there actually aren't many places you can go around the city to be truly alone.

A lot of them were originally homesteads started by immigrants from Scandinavia, Finland and eastern Europe, who intended to farm the land but weren't able to because it wasn't actually suitable for farming. They couldn't sell the land, so it just stayed in the family after they moved into the cities for work, and eventually camps were built on them as a summer getaway.

People from the south called them "cottages" because they're being all quaint and shit; camps are simple, modest buildings while someone with a "cottage" has more of a small house in the bush. A large, well appointed house in the bush is referred to locally as a "lodge", and in many cases these are owned by groups of businessmen as getaways, and they often run them as small businesses, sometimes even renting smaller accessory lodges on other parts of their property to people who can't afford a real camp.
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  #25  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 2:57 PM
p_xavier p_xavier is offline
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I was always envious of people having a cottage. When younger I saw Ontarians as being rich and prestigious people. We had school days off in NB to pick up potatoes, while TV showed Ontario kids hanging out in a big mansion bordering a lake.

Well even Marine Land seemed unattainable .
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  #26  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 3:11 PM
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Originally Posted by FrankieFlowerpot View Post
Well when you live in a concrete jungle for 90% of the year - I can see the appeal.
Exactly. Just a way to escape the city once in a while.

The "typical" cottage seems pretty common in provinces with lots of lakes or access to the sea, so BC, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and a bit of New Brunswick.

Where I come from, I know a lot of New Brunswickers say "camp" instead of cottage since most of them are not on an actual lake, but in the middle of the woods, sometimes near a river.

From what I've seen and heard, Vancouver has Vancouver Island/the Georgia Strait, Toronto has Lake Simcoe/the Georgian Bay, Montreal has the Laurentians/the Eastern Townships and it's ski resorts, while Halifax has St. Margarets Bay. I wouldn't say it's common among city folks, but it's more common than most would believe.
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  #27  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 3:14 PM
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My wife's family has one. My family does not.

Only a few of our friends (40-somethings) have one.

In all cases, it correlates with the man's interest in fishing, hunting, etc. My father-in-law likes that stuff. My father does not.

My guy friends who have cottages are the ones who hunt and fish. Those who don't (which is most of us) don't have cottages.
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  #28  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 5:00 PM
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My parents used to own a cottage 45 mins north of Montreal. I have some fond memories of that place. They sold it when I was still young. The upkeep was too much, and the usefulness of the place too little, considering both my parents worked at/near downtown Montreal, and going up there every weekend was not possible.

Bottom line is, a second property is a headache. Your not there often enough, so when you are there, you spend most of your time cleaning up the place, maintaining it, etc.
However, You don't need to have a cottage to experience the cottage life. As was said, cottages an hour or two outside the major metropolitan areas are pretty expensive now, and people can barely afford one property, much less two. Hence the reason for the low cottage ownership rate. Renting one for a few days is most likely the go to option for most Canadians.

With the likes of airbnb and vrbo, it's very easy to do. On the flip side, for a cottage owner, its a bit easier now to get some additional income from a second property like a cottage, but again, it's considered a headache for a lot of people.
The word cottage is not commonly used in AB and BC. Typically it is a cabin or simply place on the lake or place in the mountains.

My parents had a place on a lake from when I was about 11 to 30. My mom took it over post divorce. I have some favorable memories there from when I was really young, but don't miss the idea of a vacation home. It became too much work. Literally half the time I spent there was doing maintenance. It also became insular as you tend to go to the vacation property rather than to other places.

Lots of people I knew in Calgary had places in locales like Canmore, Sylvan Lake, Columbia Valley, Whitefish, Flathead Lake, Sandpoint, Shuswhap, the Okanagan and even far away places like Arizona, California, Hawaii and Muskoka. Few had enough time off work to go very often. With prices being what they are, it would make far more sense to rent for a few weeks per year as that would be far less expensive than even the taxes, insurance and maintenance costs. The days of capital gains on vacation properties are probably over.
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  #29  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 5:12 PM
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I love spending time at cabins because it's like camping but comfortable. Still wander around the woods, drink beer and swim in the lake all day, but you get to sleep in an actual bed at the end of the day.

That being said, I don't think I'd ever want one. It's hard to find ones that are accessible enough to go often from Vancouver, and if it becomes a long weekend-type destination, I feel like it would force you into going there in a way, because you already have it so you should be visiting it. I'd find it hard to justify a trip to Victoria, Seattle or Portland for a long weekend when I have a cabin I'm already paying for.
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  #30  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 5:22 PM
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Originally Posted by SkahHigh View Post
From what I've seen and heard, Vancouver has Vancouver Island/the Georgia Strait, Toronto has Lake Simcoe/the Georgian Bay, Montreal has the Laurentians/the Eastern Townships and it's ski resorts, while Halifax has St. Margarets Bay. I wouldn't say it's common among city folks, but it's more common than most would believe.
St. Margaret's Bay is mostly a suburb. It is only about 30 minutes from downtown. It has cottages but these are most owned or rented by people from out of province.

Hammonds Plains and Fall River are also cottage-country-like areas that are suburbs. A lot of suburban Halifax is basically cottage country (not farmland), and like Hali87 said a lot of people in the area opt to live in a place that's kind of like a cottage, with ocean or lake access and lots of privacy and greenery. This is why Halifax has such sprawly exurbs.
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  #31  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 5:27 PM
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^ I suppose you get that in the outer parts of West Vancouver and Lions Bay as well.
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  #32  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 5:46 PM
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Camps are mostly owned by people who like outdoors activities, but I know of quite a few people who like to just go out to them and sit around and do nothing on weekends, maybe they paint or have a garden or something. You can always rent it out to someone who does enjoy those things to make extra money, too. There aren't really any land use laws in the bush.
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  #33  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 7:28 PM
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^ I suppose you get that in the outer parts of West Vancouver and Lions Bay as well.
The mainland side of the Northwest Arm has a similar feel to that part of metro Vancouver. Expensive houses, windy and hilly roads, yacht clubs, etc. Parts of Bedford have this feel as well. One difference is that around Halifax there tend to be more old houses mixed in and more villages that haven't been gentrified much even though they turned into bedroom communities.

Some 3D views of these areas:





These are not quite what I was thinking of as exurban areas, but it does seem less likely that people who have properties like this would bother to get a second place on a lake 2 hours away.
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  #34  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 7:46 PM
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but don't miss the idea of a vacation home. It became too much work. Literally half the time I spent there was doing maintenance. It also became insular as you tend to go to the vacation property rather than to other places.
.
This is part of the turn-off for me too.

We typically go to at least one friend's or family cottage during the summer, and I can't imagine being the keeper of a second property like that. I have enough trouble maintain a single property in town.

Every time I go it seems like I spend at least half my time there helping "the man of the house" do work around the cottage. I won't complain too much - after all they're nice enough to host us.

But I wouldn't want to be doing that for a significant chunk of the summer. (Lots of people go up most every weekend for about four months, in addition to extended periods when they're off work.)

Add to that the chore of getting everything ready before going. Usually on Thursday night because on Friday ideally you want to leave town right after work.

And all the crap you need to do when you get back: unpacking, washing, etc.

Except for the occasional foray, it's not for me.
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  #35  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2018, 8:00 PM
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My in-laws in their early 70s are retired. They go up in May to open the cottage for the season. And they do virtually all the maintenance. They go up from Sauga two hours north close to 20 times. The father in law likes to get his hands dirty so in his retirement he doesn't mind as much. And they do the closing down for the winter.

When they get too long in the tooth it'll be my responsibility. Hooray!

If you're someone who has 4 or 5 weeks vacation and/or can work remotely, then cottage is much more sensible.

Last edited by megadude; Aug 7, 2018 at 4:08 AM.
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  #36  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2018, 1:38 AM
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As an Edmontonian with lots of family in Ontario, I do find the weekend rush to "the cottage" something of a mania that is unique to central Canada. That said, lots of people in Alberta spend weekends in the mountain parks. Some Calgarians own condos in Canmore. The national parks themselves, though, limit homeownership to permanent residents who can prove they need to live there, so there's no scope for second homes. People will stay in hotels or at campgrounds instead (this is by far the most common phenomenon). There's no equivalent of Canmore for Edmonton in terms of owning a mountain chalet (Hinton isn't that desirable), but there are some lakes within an hour's drive (Pigeon Lake, Lac St. Anne, Wabamun, and a little further, Sylvan Lake are the major ones) that have a lot of cottage development (though we do tend to call them cabins, even if they are on the waterfront and have substantial facilities, dishwashers and other creature comforts). Owning such a property is by no means unheard of but by no means as widespread as in Ontario, I would imagine.
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  #37  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2018, 3:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
This is part of the turn-off for me too.

We typically go to at least one friend's or family cottage during the summer, and I can't imagine being the keeper of a second property like that. I have enough trouble maintain a single property in town.

Every time I go it seems like I spend at least half my time there helping "the man of the house" do work around the cottage. I won't complain too much - after all they're nice enough to host us.

But I wouldn't want to be doing that for a significant chunk of the summer. (Lots of people go up most every weekend for about four months, in addition to extended periods when they're off work.)

Add to that the chore of getting everything ready before going. Usually on Thursday night because on Friday ideally you want to leave town right after work.

And all the crap you need to do when you get back: unpacking, washing, etc.

Except for the occasional foray, it's not for me.
My mother and her best friend co-own one in the Laurentides. Lately they've hired the neighbours (who happen to live there permanently--retired couple) to do a lot of this work, which probably costs them a pretty penny, but I don't ask.

Going forward, once they age, my sister, my brother, myself, and my mom's friend's two children will presumably have to own it together and I have no idea if I would even want to take a share of the costs and responsibilities, seeing as how I've never found cottaging particularly appealing.
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  #38  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2018, 3:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Acajack View Post

Add to that the chore of getting everything ready before going. Usually on Thursday night because on Friday ideally you want to leave town right after work.

And all the crap you need to do when you get back: unpacking, washing, etc.

Except for the occasional foray, it's not for me.
I tend to agree with you, I would probably find this lifestyle bothersome. I sort of have two homes right now (I go to my girlfriend's place in Kingston every weekend) and to maintain two homes (they are only apartments, so imagine a house...) is exhausting. I would say I don't enjoy my Sundays as much as I used to due to me apprehending the drive back to Ottawa knowing I will have to unpack, do the laundry (for a second time) and all that. I feel like 5 to 6 hours of my free time is wasted every weekend. I would probably feel the same being at my cottage 2 or 3 hours away.
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  #39  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2018, 3:31 PM
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Does a second house located in Scottsdale or Palm Springs count as a cottage? If so than I would say a lot of 50 plus Albertans have a cottage.
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  #40  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2018, 3:38 PM
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Does a second house located in Scottsdale or Palm Springs count as a cottage? If so than I would say a lot of 50 plus Albertans have a cottage.
A residence in a foreign city is not a cottage, although I suppose you could find people with cottages in Arizona. Lots of people have trailers/condos in Florida where they spend the winter, but I wouldn't really think of that as a "cottage" either.
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