The Great Canadian Towns and Villages Thread

[JHikka]

Once you get out to St. Catharines it's less GTA and more just southern Ontario growth. Very much influenced by Buffalo and Niagara. The developments in Grimsby would be more GTA-focused, i'd say. St. Cats has a great downtown, though, and it's definitely getting better these days from an urban standpoint.

Brantford has great bones and is in a perfect location for future growth but it is definitely held back by an industrial and blue collar past that wants to keep things the way they are.

The one anecdote I have is that a friend of mine was looking at a house in Prince Edward County (south of Belleville) and the realtor told them that if a house is asking for $400K it'll probably go for $500K, maybe $475K if it needs work. Everything goes for well above asking. A lot of demand is being pushed well away from Toronto whether GTA or not. It's great to see more places getting towers but there's a big difference between Kitchener building towers in its downtown and Pickering building towers on the 401.

[esquire]

^ Yeah, I realize that St. Catharines is way too far out to be a commuter town, I just meant in the sense that the rising tide of GTA real estate and condo construction is spilling over into the rest of the region.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Once you get out to St. Catharines it's less GTA and more just southern Ontario growth. Very much influenced by Buffalo and Niagara.

Uh, nobody from Buffalo is buying real estate in St. Catharines. And St. Kitts (not "St. Cats") is totally within the GTA's orbit, and most buyers are indeed coming from the GTA for cheaper real estate. Because nobody in the rest of southern Ontario is moving to St. Catharines for job opportunities.

I would include Hamilton in the "GTA." Don't have the figures, but I'm guessing that a boatload of people from Hamilton are buying in St. Catharines because prices in Hamilton are now crazy.

Buffalo is the place where Leafs fans go to see NHL hockey and maybe hit up an outlet mall if the exchange rate is good.

[MonkeyRonin]

I passed through Shelburne, ON over the weekend after visiting the nearby Mono Cliffs. Seemed like a nice enough town - I liked it a lot more than neighbouring Alliston.

It also affirmed my observation that smaller towns (ie. populations ~10,000 people or so) tend to have held up a bit better than the slightly larger, 20,000+ population type towns. They're large enough to have a critical mass of residents & visitors to support some interesting businesses, but too small to have been taken over by suburban big box developments. The result being healthier, more vibrant downtowns.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Uh, nobody from Buffalo is buying real estate in St. Catharines. And St. Kitts (not "St. Cats") is totally within the GTA's orbit, and most buyers are indeed coming from the GTA for cheaper real estate. Because nobody in the rest of southern Ontario is moving to St. Catharines for job opportunities.

I would include Hamilton in the "GTA." Don't have the figures, but I'm guessing that a boatload of people from Hamilton are buying in St. Catharines because prices in Hamilton are now crazy.

Buffalo is the place where Leafs fans go to see NHL hockey and maybe hit up an outlet mall if the exchange rate is good.

I have a number of Relatives that have lived in St Kitts for years and commuted into TO everyday. Long before it was trendy. every time I head back there I am surprised by how much growth there has been.

[Innsertnamehere]

Areas south of St Kitts like Thorold have exploded.

There is definitely a dividing line east of Grimsby or maybe Beamsville though where you really leave the GTA. St Kitts is in the GTAs orbit sort of like Kitchener but it’s not really “in” the GTA either.

A lot of people in St Kitts do work in places like Hamilton and Burlington though, but not a ton go all the way downtown. It’s just too far. And I think those are the kinds of people moving out there, ones who have jobs in the suburbs.

When I worked in Burlington literally 2 of the 20 employees actually lived in Burlington, all the others lived in Hamilton, Beamsville, Cambridge, St Kitts, etc. To access the cheaper real estate.

[megadude]

I passed through Shelburne and Alliston in the past couple of months as well. Couple of anecdotes regarding moves.

My old neighbour from Brampton, who lived beside us growing up, so like 30+ years, moved to Alliston a couple of years ago. He was working in Vaughan anyway so it's practically the same drive. He downsized to a very pleasant house, but in a newer development, so complete lack of character in the neighbourhood, unlike what would be around Main St. like you linked to. While the Brampton house is from late 70s with big trees and we backed onto a forest and perched atop a hill, so really nice deck and view. At least he pocketed some good change.

A co-worker, who is Guyanese, moved from the less than desireable area of Bramalea in Brampton to a newer house in Shelburne last summer. Might have been a culture shock, but my cousin's wife has sold developments in Shelburne and says tonnes of buyers are brown people from Brampton. Hell of a commute though. But she guessed they'd be going back to the office (downtown TO) part time, which so far is the plan starting in 2022.

My wife's Peruvian friend from Sauga moved with her Portuguese husband to Alliston so they could buy a house. He's an electrician and she's a hair dresser, so they could live anywhere really. This was like five years ago, before real estate got real stupid everywhere, so they got a decent house. Not that much of a culture shock since the Honda plant is there so there must be some decent diversity.

And someone I used to work with commuted by Greyhound everyday from St. Kitts to downtown TO every day for many, many years. Her husband was a longtime councillor in St. Kitts so they weren't about to move closer. Though there's a lot of credit union jobs in Niagara so I don't know why she didn't find one close to home.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

There is definitely a dividing line east of Grimsby or maybe Beamsville though where you really leave the GTA. St Kitts is in the GTAs orbit sort of like Kitchener but it’s not really “in” the GTA either.

This is the point I was trying to get across. St. Catharines is Horseshoe but it's not really GTA.

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

A lot of people in St Kitts do work in places like Hamilton and Burlington though, but not a ton go all the way downtown. It’s just too far. And I think those are the kinds of people moving out there, ones who have jobs in the suburbs.

Yes.



https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-r...016029-eng.cfm

[itom 987]

Tofino, BC

Tofino by CantStopDreaming, on Flickr

[megadude]

The Tofino pic made me think of another waterfront community. Lagoon City, on the eastern shore of Lake Simcoe. Very Florida-esque... in the summer time, with that canal network. Plus, their break wall looks like a dong and Florida is the dong of the US.

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https://lagooncitylife.com/


https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/704320829220790317/


https://marinas.com/view/marina/mncz...chin_ON_Canada


https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/ph...age/1161261191


https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/th...2518-318361402


http://www.lcca.ca/

[ssiguy]

Creston is a cute little town and so is Petrolia.

Creston is unique due to it's demographics with a large number of Mormons and Petrolia due to it's unique development and street grid.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by megadude

The Tofino pic made me think of another waterfront community. Lagoon City, on the eastern shore of Lake Simcoe. Very Florida-esque... in the summer time, with that canal network. Plus, their break wall looks like a dong and Florida is the dong of the US.

Crikey, I never heard of this before. Is it really worth doing this when it's only Florida-like for half the year (if that)?

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

I passed through Shelburne, ON over the weekend after visiting the nearby Mono Cliffs. Seemed like a nice enough town - I liked it a lot more than neighbouring Alliston.

It also affirmed my observation that smaller towns (ie. populations ~10,000 people or so) tend to have held up a bit better than the slightly larger, 20,000+ population type towns. They're large enough to have a critical mass of residents & visitors to support some interesting businesses, but too small to have been taken over by suburban big box developments. The result being healthier, more vibrant downtowns.

You click on the link, and it could only be southern Ontario. Nowhere else in the world.

It may not be sexy or exciting, but I don't think we do enough to celebrate how unique this is. Then again, for a continent and world awash in Hollywood images and the lure of California, southern Ontario commercial cores may not be quite distinctive enough from downtowns in the US northeast and midwest to really stand out.

I love them, though.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Crikey, I never heard of this before. Is it really worth doing this when it's only Florida-like for half the year (if that)?

I’m looking at buying this house, which is canalfront in a neighborhood that’s also Florida-esque in configuration:

https://www.centris.ca/fr/maison~a-v...=Summary&uc=19

Those canal pics with the neighbors’ motorboats, if you added palm trees it could pass for FL easily.

That’s where it is in Quebec:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.12342.../data=!3m1!1e3

[ScreamingViking]

We found Lagoon City by accident this summer, while taking a long drive. I had no idea it existed.

There are similar little communities on Lake St. Clair too, though nothing as extensive (except maybe that first one I linked, Lighthouse Cove at the mouth of the Thames). I remember seeing some of them from the train window when we used to take it to Windsor, thinking how cool it would be to have your boat right by your house.
https://goo.gl/maps/QioMXUL8bH4DGQj17
https://goo.gl/maps/DRYZNfmDEimkb5fZ9
https://goo.gl/maps/sQVWbe9mWExFAmwE7
https://goo.gl/maps/uX9gMgfZCZDaVoe68

Originally Posted by megadude

The Tofino pic made me think of another waterfront community. Lagoon City, on the eastern shore of Lake Simcoe. Very Florida-esque... in the summer time, with that canal network. Plus, their break wall looks like a dong and Florida is the dong of the US.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

We found Lagoon City by accident this summer, while taking a long drive. I had no idea it existed.

There are similar little communities on Lake St. Clair too, though nothing as extensive (except maybe that first one I linked, Lighthouse Cove at the mouth of the Thames). I remember seeing some of them from the train window when we used to take it to Windsor, thinking how cool it would be to have your boat right by your house.
https://goo.gl/maps/QioMXUL8bH4DGQj17
https://goo.gl/maps/DRYZNfmDEimkb5fZ9
https://goo.gl/maps/sQVWbe9mWExFAmwE7
https://goo.gl/maps/uX9gMgfZCZDaVoe68

And I had no idea those existed on St. Clair. That first one especially surprises me. It makes you wonder what the cost is of excavating/dredging or whatever it is they do to create these and if it's worth it. My BIL would join up with his inlaws every summer at a cottage on St. Clair for a week and fish for musky on his 14 footer. Would have joined him at least once if he wasn't the kind of guy to hit the water at 4am to fish musky spots while I'd rather go for bass in typical bass spots. And I ain't a morning person like him. Otherwise, I might have seen one of these places on St. Clair. And another thig, my wife's cousin from Sarnia won the lottery a few years ago, but only like $250k. That actually made the news in Sarnia. In the article he said he was going to buy a cottage on St. Clair for all his family. I guess he meant the local extended family as we never got an invite!

Toronto Islands has a really small scale canal and lagoon network too.


http://education.davidspencer.ca/wiki/Toronto_Island


The newest, which isn't as canal-y as others, I suppose is Friday Harbour, also on Simcoe, but in Innisfil. The place seems completely soulless to me based on pics and videos I've seen. It's why I've never bothered stopping there on the way to the cottage.


https://www.fridayharbour.com/history


https://www.simcoe.com/news-story/83...bour-proposal/


https://condonow.com/Friday-Harbour


https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/45075589...sts=1&adults=1


https://www.fridayharbour.com/

[Wigs]

was just about to say, at least Lagoon City isn't as bad as "Friday Harbour Resort"
BLECH!

$900 grand for *checks notes* a view of your neighbour's unit
$3,500 property taxes + almost $500/mo maintenance fees
https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...rural-innisfil


from the air, it looks like one of those time share scams

[megadude]

Originally Posted by lio45

I’m looking at buying this house, which is canalfront in a neighborhood that’s also Florida-esque in configuration:

https://www.centris.ca/fr/maison~a-v...=Summary&uc=19

Those canal pics with the neighbors’ motorboats, if you added palm trees it could pass for FL easily.

That’s where it is in Quebec:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.12342.../data=!3m1!1e3

I hadn't noticed that in QC before. Reminds me of NYC and Long Island. There are tonnes of natural inlets and man made mini canals there. Some residential, some industrial. I LOVE the geography of New York in that area. I spent 12 nights sleeping in my cousin's UWS apartment in Manhattan before and I had a rental car. I spent more time across the Hudson in NJ and on LI fishing with my inflatable boat with trolling motor than I did walking around in NYC proper.

I fished this kind of area once. I didn't catch anything because I had no idea what the hell I was doing for striped bass in this kind of habitat, but I stopped on a tiny island and found this mysterious beast:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@40.65841.../data=!3m1!1e3


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[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by megadude

And I had no idea those existed on St. Clair. That first one especially surprises me. It makes you wonder what the cost is of excavating/dredging or whatever it is they do to create these and if it's worth it. My BIL would join up with his inlaws every summer at a cottage on St. Clair for a week and fish for musky on his 14 footer. Would have joined him at least once if he wasn't the kind of guy to hit the water at 4am to fish musky spots while I'd rather go for bass in typical bass spots. And I ain't a morning person like him. Otherwise, I might have seen one of these places on St. Clair. And another thig, my wife's cousin from Sarnia won the lottery a few years ago, but only like $250k. That actually made the news in Sarnia. In the article he said he was going to buy a cottage on St. Clair for all his family. I guess he meant the local extended family as we never got an invite!

They're probably not very deep, maybe just enough for a 16-18' boat with an outboard motor. But that's just speculation.

Mitchell's Bay (the place at this link: https://goo.gl/maps/DRYZNfmDEimkb5fZ9) is an odd little hamlet. I found it about 5 years ago when day tripping down to Windsor and then heading to Wallaceburg and then up the St. Clair Parkway to Sarnia (which is a beautiful drive, for most of the route). The village is off on its own, but I got curious about it after seeing a road sign and then looking it up on my phone's map.

Anyway, it was really weird. I parked at the lot near the water and walked out onto the pier, took some photos, and there were all these families around there... it seemed really nice, quaint, everyone was enjoying a beautiful summer evening. But I got the distinct impression I was not welcome. People were staring at me -- clearly I was an outsider -- and one woman came over and said hello and asked if I was lost! lol I just said no, that I had never known about the village and was curious, complimented their waterfront, bid her farewell and got the hell out of there.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by megadude

I fished this kind of area once. I didn't catch anything because I had no idea what the hell I was doing for striped bass in this kind of habitat, but I stopped on a tiny island and found this mysterious beast:

Fox?