Goin' down the road...
Jun 13th, 2005, 05:27 AM
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Goin' down the road...
This is not strictly a travel-as-in-tourism question, but a relocation question. My wife and I are relocating from the maritimes to southern Ontario / GTA in a coupla months. We are both utterly unfamiliar with Ontario. Can anyone help us out with recommendations on good places to live, preferably outside of To, but within commuting distance (by mass transit). And places to avoid. Thanks!
Jun 13th, 2005, 05:58 AM
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The government of Ontario runs a commuter bus and train system called GO Transit.
It runs from Toronto in a variety of directions.
If you find the GO Transit web site, you'll learn a lot.
Trains are better than buses; some trains run to the end of the line sometimes of the day, and only part way other times of the day. For instance, running west out of Toronto along the lakeshore, all trains go at least as far as Oakville, but only some go as far as Burlington, and even fewer as far as Hamilton.
On weekends, all the tains stop at Oakville, with bus connections further west.
The further out you are, the less the houses cost. A house identical to mine, which is in Oakville fairly near two Go stations, costs $80,000 less twenty miles north-west of here, where the transit system runs less frequently and the ride is another twenty minutes.
Toronto is huge compared to any maritime city; if you have a job lined up, pay attention to the commute route.
All the Go Trains run to Union Station, downtown, and you might then have another local transit ride to your work.
Sometimes GO bus routes are better, if you can get off in any of a number of business areas, instead of getting all the way downtown.
There's a lot of condo apartment development downtown -- not a bad place to live if you can walk to your office, or just have a short subway or streetcar ride.
BAK
It runs from Toronto in a variety of directions.
If you find the GO Transit web site, you'll learn a lot.
Trains are better than buses; some trains run to the end of the line sometimes of the day, and only part way other times of the day. For instance, running west out of Toronto along the lakeshore, all trains go at least as far as Oakville, but only some go as far as Burlington, and even fewer as far as Hamilton.
On weekends, all the tains stop at Oakville, with bus connections further west.
The further out you are, the less the houses cost. A house identical to mine, which is in Oakville fairly near two Go stations, costs $80,000 less twenty miles north-west of here, where the transit system runs less frequently and the ride is another twenty minutes.
Toronto is huge compared to any maritime city; if you have a job lined up, pay attention to the commute route.
All the Go Trains run to Union Station, downtown, and you might then have another local transit ride to your work.
Sometimes GO bus routes are better, if you can get off in any of a number of business areas, instead of getting all the way downtown.
There's a lot of condo apartment development downtown -- not a bad place to live if you can walk to your office, or just have a short subway or streetcar ride.
BAK
Jun 15th, 2005, 02:37 PM
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OK, thanks for responding. We already have most of the generic mass transit info with relevant web sites, a mapart map of Toronto, the Fodor's guide etc.
What I'm looking for is some subjective reports on various cities, towns, districts and neighborhoods. We're looking for affordable apartments (we will not be buying), low crime and with greenspace handy. Er... hope that isn't too unreasonable/naive!
One major consideration is going to be air quality. I understand you've been going through a bad time with that, and it is dismaying to see just how much of the province is affected, i.e. it certainly isn't confined to greater Toronto.
We are considering delaying the move an extra month in hopes it won't be quite so bad come September. If there is an area with reasonably good air quality year round, that's what we'd like to find.
Thanks.
What I'm looking for is some subjective reports on various cities, towns, districts and neighborhoods. We're looking for affordable apartments (we will not be buying), low crime and with greenspace handy. Er... hope that isn't too unreasonable/naive!
One major consideration is going to be air quality. I understand you've been going through a bad time with that, and it is dismaying to see just how much of the province is affected, i.e. it certainly isn't confined to greater Toronto.
We are considering delaying the move an extra month in hopes it won't be quite so bad come September. If there is an area with reasonably good air quality year round, that's what we'd like to find.
Thanks.
