Not sure if you remember me…when you and your pals started up WOMH in 2009, I contacted you to let you know that I too had a blog about lovin’ Winnipeg (olivebits.blogspot.com) and that I would have been happy to guest-blog the “mature” (read 40-year old) perspective. In my blog, I wrote many love letters to my new city…I grew up in Vancouver and didn’t know a thing about Peggy! Though you think you may have had a different opinion re Vancouver (the snobbery and dogs wearing pants)if you had grown up there, that likely wouldn’t have been the case. I watched it morph from a laid-back, friendly, outdoorsy city to the same suffocating, self-involved, dog-as-accessory city that you described. We had two young kids and weren’t prepared to drop $750,000 to upgrade our 2-bedroom 700 sf house to a 3-bedroom house. So we looked at all the housing prices across the country and packed ‘er up. We now own a beautiful heritage home AND a cabin. We don’t camp overnight (or even an hour) to register the kids in any activity. Those Mountains? Lovely. The ocean? Nice. But I can relax at my cabin and watch the waves of Lake Winnipeg crash as loudly as any ocean waves. You have a good thing here, fair Winnipeggers. I think the tides are turning in your favour…

I think a lot of people move west for the climate, and I don’t blame them! Today is one of the first really snowy days of winter, and I feel a certain pang for the mild West Coast weather I got used to. Only you can say for sure whether staying in Winnipeg is right for you, but sounds like you’ve got the time and energy to wait for a bit before deciding. Why not have the best of both worlds? When the time is right, keep and rent out your bungalow here and rent something on the coast and see how you like it for a year. Rent *is* high on the coast — especially if you want to live in Vancouver in a location that’s close to good transit and close to the ocean (which makes it easy to not have a car, and to enjoy the gorgeous environment at a moment’s notice). But it is doable and I certainly felt it was worth it the years that I lived there. I hope that you find a place to retire to that makes your heart happy!

I’m pretty much a homebody in Winnipeg (hibernating remember?) and after working with kids day in and day out, I usually take refuge in my small but well appointed bungalow with a finished basement in River Heights. In summers, I love to garden and take pride in my yard, but wonder if “maintaining” a house is what I really want to do in my golden years.

I had realized how liberating it felt while visiting Vancouver. I enjoyed the diversity of peoples, great restaurants, transportation and everyone seemed to have a purpose for being downtown. It’s so cosmopolitan. In Wpg., I NEVER go downtown, unless to the odd concert at MTS Center. For the Forks, I’ve “been there and done that”. I don’t care for the Folkfest or Folklarama and will occasionally do a Fringe Show. One always needs a car to get around in Wpg., while I would be ready to do without it in Vancouver.

Over the next several years, I’ll be doing my “homework”, so to speak, regarding my future. I don’t plan to buy anything out west due to outrageous prices, but I’m pretty sure that with my pension and other investments, I should be able to afford a decent rental, like a townhouse. BTW, I have a partner 10 years my junior who’s also willing to move if and when it’s time (he dabbles in the film industry), we have no kids but a young pooch; we have some family in Wpg. that we don’t really see all that often (too busy, I guess), plus a few close friends. So, nothing is really begging us to stay. They’re always a phone call away – no matter where we would be living.

I’m feeling that perhaps, with the new locale in Vancouver, as well as the more moderate weather and the beauty of the mountains, I might find some new meaning in my retirement years, albeit the higher cost of living. The winters in Wpg. are long and cold, but I do agree people are indeed friendly and it’s a great place to raise a family. It’s true, no matter where one lives, it’s what you make of it.

To stay put, or to stake my sorry cold butt out west when I retire?? Time will tell. Thanks for your input.

My girlfriend, a local BC’er, can’t seem to understand my obsession with moving to Winnipeg after graduating. It was great to find a voice, one of the few, that seems to reassure my imminent decision. Thanks for that. : )

Later.

Take an excel spreadsheet and put together life Vancouver VS life in Winnipeg considering all hidden costs.

Example:
-Average house in Winnipeg is about $275 000 for a small family unless you are ready to buy old crap.BUT
-Plus property tax ( 3 times more expenseive than Vancouver). Take into consideration average property tax for this kind of house is $3000 a year, Vancouver is $1800.So withing 20 years, you’ve paid out
ave of $90 000 only for owning the property
, whereas in Vancouver you pay more of your money towards your ownership of property that is reinvestable
-Plus heating-you pay up to $200 per mont hduring the winter season…which is almost half year.
-Snow shoveling/removal.
-Plus , really you HAVE to buy a house, as you do not have any other options: no good condos that would be less than 35 yeares old, or no good townhouses to choose from.
-Plus winter clothing, that you don’t need to own in Vancouver, another $1000 a year at least per family.
-Plus gas costs to heat up your car all the time.
-Winter tires
-Again, you HAVE ot have a vehicle, otherwise you will not be able to move around, especially in winter…Vancouver? Easy (speaking of going green)So put together car loans and depreciation costs, gas and insurance with total spend up untill $2500 a year, that you just might not need in Vancouver AT ALL.
-Travelling:everywhere is expensive from WInnipeg, as it’s in the middle of nowhere. Vancouver? Why would you ever travel…all right, drive down 10 hours and you will get to beautiful California not beautiful Minneapolis with snow up to the 3rd floor. So put that together and you wil figure that you HAVE to pay average of $2500 for travel expenses per year for 2 people if you like to travel.
-BC:Higher wage rates in general and more areas for professional growth IF you own large variety of skills.

Reasons I’m typing that: I am a professional economist working in teh industry where if you don’t put all of possible costs of the business deal together before you agree to the contract, you loose big time.In business we all know that cheaper price is 20% to 50% of your consideration when you review the business offer.Then you add up to see the real price that you will have to pay.
I really wish people would always see hiden costs in everything and they could make better and smarter decisions.

I immigrated to Manitoba 4 years ago because it was fast, easy and it was good starting point for an immigrant, as honestly guys, it’s so easy to compete with Winnipeggers as they’re SO LAZY.
Got Canadian education and experience (easy, as I could find a job even without experience, as there is not enough competition and skilled labour), well now thank you very much I had enough of that….
bye-bye Winterpeg with constantly complaining and stressed out people who never had any real issues in life,
-cheap and lazy lifestyle where everybody only eat at somebody else’s house as there is not much to do,
-line ups to Tim Hortins in -40 in old rusty trucks
-gossiping at work about everybody as this helps you to feel your life less meaningless and boring…
-did I forget about winter, when you try to clean up your car in -40 when it’s dark and windy outside???
I can only say that I can see that this city is for very lazy, unskilled people who doesn’t want to do anything , talk useless things and looking for new reasons to somplain all day instead of working, not to try to get more education and to sit in house all the time watching TV going out only for more food and more movies… Enjoy your life.

…moving to Surrey , BC within couple of months.
Job-same, but salary is 18% higher for the start comparative to what I had after all of the increases here for last 3 years ) and YESSSSSS planning to buy a nice 10 year old condo, which could only be my dream in Winnipeg and I hate houses..