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Bosman · 11-06-2006, 09:34 AM

chris Wrote:I was born and raised in Kingston. Moved to Toronto in 1996 for university and stayed. If there was work for me in Kingston when I graduated I would have moved back. Ten years later I'm still in Toronto and planning for the day that I can retire to the Kingston area.

One of my lifelong friends followed a similar path to me, except he moved back to Kingston after grad. Our lives were very similar up to that point. Now they are quite different - he's enjoying the small town bringdown while I'm loving the city life and travelling, etc...

That's pretty much what happend to me. Born and raised in the Kingston area until I had to move for post-secondary education. After I finished up in Kitchener/Waterloo, I couldn't find anything in my field around Kingston, so I moved down here to Hamilton.

I think Kingston is one of the best parts of the province. It's a very laid back kind of atmosphere. Nicely situated between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. Their idea of a traffic jam is when it's close to Christmas on Gardiners Road between the Cat Centre and the Rio Can. Not to mention the real estate prices in the area are a fraction of those within 150km radius of Toronto.

But Chris, you're right. If you're looking for work, it's best to be in a big city. That's what's kept me from returning "home" to Kingston.

chris · 11-06-2006, 09:41 AM

Bosman Wrote:
chris Wrote:I was born and raised in Kingston. Moved to Toronto in 1996 for university and stayed. If there was work for me in Kingston when I graduated I would have moved back. Ten years later I'm still in Toronto and planning for the day that I can retire to the Kingston area.

One of my lifelong friends followed a similar path to me, except he moved back to Kingston after grad. Our lives were very similar up to that point. Now they are quite different - he's enjoying the small town bringdown while I'm loving the city life and travelling, etc...

That's pretty much what happend to me. Born and raised in the Kingston area until I had to move for post-secondary education. After I finished up in Kitchener/Waterloo, I couldn't find anything in my field around Kingston, so I moved down here to Hamilton.

I think Kingston is one of the best parts of the province. It's a very laid back kind of atmosphere. Nicely situated between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. Their idea of a traffic jam is when it's close to Christmas on Gardiners Road between the Cat Centre and the Rio Can. Not to mention the real estate prices in the area are a fraction of those within 150km radius of Toronto.

But Chris, you're right. If you're looking for work, it's best to be in a big city. That's what's kept me from returning "home" to Kingston.

Don't get me going on the cost of housing!
$200,000 buys a one bedroom condo in Toronto vs. a nice 3 bedroom home in Kingston.

How old are you Bosman? It would be a strange coincidence if we went to the same school at the same time. Truedell > Bayridge PS > Bayrdige SS

pigography · 11-06-2006, 10:36 AM

Raised in London, Ontario. Left to study university in Toronto and ended up staying due to work/career. But I go back to London quite often as my best friends are there, 8 weekends this past year so far (and the year's not over so they keep telling me). Probably even walked past LizardKing51 without realizing too! Confused

hock:

If I was starting a family, raising a child, I'd be on the first train back to London though - I don't want to raise a child in Toronto. But as I'm on my own, Toronto's great - never get bored in this city.

Bosman · 11-06-2006, 12:42 PM

chris Wrote:Don't get me going on the cost of housing!
$200,000 buys a one bedroom condo in Toronto vs. a nice 3 bedroom home in Kingston.

How old are you Bosman? It would be a strange coincidence if we went to the same school at the same time. Truedell > Bayridge PS > Bayrdige SS

I suppose I used "Kingston" too loosely. I was actually born in Bath and moved to Odessa shortly afterwards. I lived out my highschool days at Ernestown and if you graduated in '96 I would have missed you by a year anyways (I graduated in '02). No beef with Bayridge... we used to feed your volleyball/basketball teams... :lol:

But yes, it was a big of a culture shock moving this close to Toronto and looking at real estate. Even here in Hamilton (Ancaster, actually), you're talking 2.5x the price. Kingston's becoming a retirement town. And why not? You're a Toronto businessman all your life and can sell your house for three-quarter mil... you can buy a mansion on the lake for that in Kingston!

anesthesiologist · 11-06-2006, 12:48 PM

Hah! $200,000 won't even buy you that here in Vancouver, Chris! The market for any kind of housing is ridiculous.

There is a new development going in downtown where the starting prices/floor space are $300,000 for 400 sq ft. It really is insane.

If you want a detatched house, forget it unless you want to start around $350,000 for a 50 yr. old tear down in the low end neighbourhoods.

I can't even fathom getting any property in this market so we're going to stick to renting for a few more years at least but the real estate market is the only thing that makes living here long-term a hard decision.

lates,
aaron

pigography · 11-06-2006, 12:57 PM

Bosman Wrote:You're a Toronto businessman all your life and can sell your house for three-quarter mil... you can by a mansion on the lake for that in Kingston!

REALLY? *puts up for sale sign*
I've always wanted to live by a lake, that way I can go kayaking every morning... er except winter.

I was lucky. I bought my little bungalow in Toronto before the ridiculously inflated real estate prices... you'd cry if I told you how much I paid. This past summer, two houses on my street sold for almost half a mil - W.T.F.

kleh · 11-06-2006, 03:38 PM

born in Ontario, parents relocated to their old stompin grounds on p.e.i. in a little french community, moved to the nearest "city" when i was 20, at 25 i took off to vancouver for a year, now ive been back to the nearby city from my upbringing (about 15 mins away)

small towns dont get much smaller than around here

BuffaloHipFan · 11-06-2006, 03:54 PM

1/2 mile from the house I grew up in.

GBV · 11-06-2006, 08:37 PM

born/raised in kitchener now in guelph. i know it's not far from k-town but it was DAMN nice to get out. not only cuz k-town sucks in comparison (in my opinion) but it's nice not running into the high-school-small-talk people every freaking weekend. if i go to a bar in k-w on a weekend and i'm not drunk enough i get really nervous i'm gonna run into one of those nostalgic types who won't stop yapping about "high school days."
:lol: :lol:

robert goulet · 11-06-2006, 10:04 PM

I am a proud son of Sudbury, Ontario...now I'm living 5 hours East down Highway 17 in Ottawa...possibly one of the most boring/dangerous drives in Canada...the highlight of the trip is getting a Subway sandwich in Deep River.

Bosman · 11-07-2006, 07:44 AM

GBV Wrote:born/raised in kitchener now in guelph. i know it's not far from k-town but it was DAMN nice to get out. not only cuz k-town sucks in comparison (in my opinion) but it's nice not running into the high-school-small-talk people every freaking weekend. if i go to a bar in k-w on a weekend and i'm not drunk enough i get really nervous i'm gonna run into one of those nostalgic types who won't stop yapping about "high school days."
:lol: :lol:

Maybe Chris can back me up here, but "K-town" belongs to Kingston. I tried to explain this while I was living in Kitchener for a few years. :lol: You guys can have "K-dub", "KW", "The Kitchen" or whatever Big Grin

And you can keep your snow.

chris · 11-07-2006, 07:50 AM

Bosman Wrote:
GBV Wrote:born/raised in kitchener now in guelph. i know it's not far from k-town but it was DAMN nice to get out. not only cuz k-town sucks in comparison (in my opinion) but it's nice not running into the high-school-small-talk people every freaking weekend. if i go to a bar in k-w on a weekend and i'm not drunk enough i get really nervous i'm gonna run into one of those nostalgic types who won't stop yapping about "high school days."
:lol: :lol:

Maybe Chris can back me up here, but "K-town" belongs to Kingston. I tried to explain this while I was living in Kitchener for a few years. :lol: You guys can have "K-dub", "KW", "The Kitchen" or whatever And you can keep your snow.

I can and will. Kingston is K-Town. End of discussion. Aside from the word Kitchener starting with a K, there is no reason to refer to is as K-Town. Kingston was formally known as King's Town before it became known as Kingston. Kitchener was known as the City of Berlin until 1916... I think that settles that. :thumb:

tfoe · 11-07-2006, 10:02 AM

Born and raised in Abbotsford, BC. Made the move to Vancouver for about a year and then realized as Aaron said that I can't afford to buy in the City. So moved back out to Abby and bought a house. Don't miss the city much at this time of the year but the summer kills me. Nothing like Kits/Spanish Banks in August.

theAryanTwang · 11-07-2006, 10:17 AM

Born in Windsor, undergrad at UWindsor, working in Windsor. $200 000 for a 2-storey 4-bedroom house, 2 baths... lots of property, lots of bars, lots of friends. Don't plan on moving anytime soon.

laliber · 11-07-2006, 10:27 AM

chris Wrote:I can and will. Kingston is K-Town. End of discussion. Aside from the word Kitchener starting with a K, there is no reason to refer to is as K-Town. Kingston was formally known as King's Town before it became known as Kingston. Kitchener was known as the City of Berlin until 1916... I think that settles that. :thumb:

Comes in at #12 @ the Urban Dictionary
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=K+town&page=2">http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.p ... own&page=2</a>

Brandon the "jaded" junglist says "K-town is the dopest place on earth, yo!"

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