Q's from a BC guy here......whats the area like? It looks pretty nice to me and I noticed real estate is way cheap. I like warm, I imagine it can get pretty cold there but as long as summer gets toasty warm and the water is nice to swim in its all good! Hows the fishing? Hows the City crime wise also? Ive just been looking around and am getting sick of BC real estate prices to live anywhere decent, also noticed in some pics I saw of around Thunder Bay it seemed to be somewhat mountainous?
thanks
Al

 

It's really flat, no hills. the biggest hill for the kids to tobogan on is the overpass on the highway. but yes Essex county is seasonably warm. we do have our cold days but winter is only about a month here and in that time usually the most snow we get is no more then 1-2 " we do get more freezing rain then other areas do tho.

 

Windsor usually escapes from the winter storms, unlike London 2 hours up the road Has the snowbelt shifted?

 

it's not all that bad here. Winters are pretty mild. Problem is the job market right now. Last I saw Windosr had the second highest unemployment rate in the country. All depends on what you do for a living. If you're a skilled tradesperson like me jobs are easy to come by. Depends on how much you want to make an hour though. Are alot of $9/hr jobs.



Jim

 

Where in BC are you from? Isn't there "anywhere decent" in Northern BC? I thought real estate prices were somewhat depressed up north due to saw mill closures?

Thunder Bay is a beautiful area, but it feels isolated compared to SW Ontario, where you are a half hour from everywhere. My wife and I considered TB but we already have too many roots here.

You're best bet would be to take a vacation trip to the areas you're interested in to get a feel for them.

 

yeah, loudfords, thats what I was thinking also. Im in Quesnel, its an hour south of Prince George, 4 hours north of Kamloops, 6 hours north of Kelowna and Vancouver. I grew up in the okanagan (Kelowna) so its hard for me to find anywhere comparably nice in Northern BC, the okanogan is just way too nice. Prince George is the only city comparable in size and though its not a bad place at all, its just not my cup of tea.
As for the rest of northern BC where real estate is cheap, the towns are tiny where youre far from everything...though old fords seem to be out back in everyones fields (score).

I work in the oil patch, operating heavy equipment. Though this winter is slower than ever and I havent worked at all since March. If I knew how to run logging equipment I could be working tho.

The only thing I can see about the area around Windsor is the lack of forest to go out and get lost in for a weekend with the hubs locked in. Thats why TB caught my attention, and it seemed to be a little more hilly, with more smaller fishing lakes and forest near, but like someone mentioned...its out in the middle of the toolies on its own. Not totally bad either as long as TB has most everything a guy needs.

Going to have to chalk up a trip to Ontario on the drawing board for the future. Thanks guys.

 

depends on what type of heavy equipment you're talking about but I know the owner or a large paving compay here so i moght be able to help you out that way. But defintely take a trip here first!



jim

 

I'm still looking for a place to lock the hubs in. I usually go for a trip up to my parents near Lindsay to try out the 4wd. I just don't have the time much anymore for that trip to go play in the mud. I hear some parts of Michigan are pretty good for that but that's gonna end soon without a passport.?

 

that wouldnt be good, cant get a passport here for a while yet. Impaired driving charge...stupid teenage years.

 

no cross border shopping for you real soon then.

 

yup kinda makes it hard right now to cross the border with any charge becuse of stupid things we did in our youth!



Jim

 

well now that all depends. See even though a Canadian pardon isn't recognized in the States you're name is only in their files if you've tried to cross the border. If you haven't tried to cross the border then it's not in their system. So if you get the pardon and haven't tried to cross he border then your slate is clean!


Jim

 

Ok but they also just made it so that if you don't have a passport you can not fly into the states as of today and will be next year unable to drive into the states without one.

 

thats how I thought it was anyway lol.

 

Was the year that Chrysler (huge employer in Windsor) nearly went belly up. Windsor had an unemployment rate of 25%. Only the most skilled and senior employees managed to survive the axe. Guess how I know this.
Read this & do yourself a favour.
http://search.sympatico.msn.ca/resul...en-CA&cp=65001
To the point... http://www.pardons.org/content.phtml?page=03
Long shot on whether or not I can still get in touch with a person in Human Resources at Chrysler.
Aside from all the bs, southern Ontario is a good place to look for work. There's always a better chance of getting work near Toronto, or any larger city.
If you are serious about planning a trip to Ontario, check out the Ford and Mercury Truck Nationals (mid August) thread here on the Ontario board. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...nationals.html If that time of year works for you, then maybe you could hook up with Snowking and convoy together. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...k-factory.html
AL.
P.S. ... Can you guess where Green Giant Corn comes from?