Alright, that's it. I'm moving to Canada.

infinitenexus said:

In reply to P5Racer (formerly BMWGeoff) :

You are correct, I was looking at the Toronto metro area. Even with that, the statistics still paint a harsh picture for Cleveland.

 

My time in NE Ohio left me with the sense that Cleveland isn't that different from a lot of American cities like my own (Oakland, CA) which is to say that depending where you are it can be a really nice place or a Sh--hole. I've made my peace with that, but some will not/cannot. What soured me on the region was the weather.  That stretch of Ohio would go solid months of overcast. So it'd be 30 degrees in Cleveland and everyone's at home watching TV or self-medicating. Then I'd drive up to visit friends in Toronto, and while it'd be significantly colder, the sun would be out and everyone would be cheery. 

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

The 8 months of cloud cover is why I'll be leaving Pittsburgh one day. It's mentally taxing. Or at least it is for me. 

Scotty Con Queso said:

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

The 8 months of cloud cover is why I'll be leaving Pittsburgh one day. It's mentally taxing. Or at least it is for me. 

My family is very good friends with a family of Pittsburgh refugies. They love the town and almost all things Pittsburgh, yet will not consider moving back. I wonder why

Thanks for the link, John! The Wife and I will check it out later.

Got an email from an immigration lawyer my wife hit up. He's happy to answer some questions once we pay the retainer fee of a thousand bucks. Total cost will be in the 3-8 thousand dollar range. I'll do without, there's enough free information on the internet and literally hundreds of thousands of people that successfully do it on their own each year.

Kreb—I think one of the big issues is that the price gap between craphole and nice neighborhood is getting larger and larger, especially when you factor in things like school zones.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the city with the highest homicide rate in Canada. In 2020 it was Thunder bay, with 6.35 per 100K residents, which is just below the US average of 6.5. Then, I looked up the homicide rate in Baltimore, where I lived for nearly a decade and met my wife. 57.1 per 100K residents. I decided to check out Cleveland, which was 42.2 per 100K. How about Tallahassee, around where I grew up? 9 per 100K, so much better but still worse than Canada's most murderous city apparently. Windsor is 0.3 per 100K.

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

Pittsburgh is a great town (to be from)! 

In reply to infinitenexus :

Have you thought about looking for virtual job fairs in Canada? 

And how willing are you to work for an American company while living there? I admittedly do not know how that affects your taxes.

But, now that you have your foot in the IT door maybe I can send you some leads. Or email me your resume. I think I still have the old one from 2019-ish.

In reply to yupididit :

I hadn't thought of a job fair, thanks for that! I'm gonna try to look some up and at least get some more information. I could technically continue working for an American company and live up there, but it would make immigration a bit harder. It's a points system and you get extra points for having a Canadian job offer. Also, I think I'd have to pay taxes in both countries if I had an American job, not entirely sure though. Ugh, I guess I need to update my LinkedIn. I haven't been there in more than a year.

In reply to John Welsh :

Just started watching this, it's pretty great.

IT's all interesting stuff on murder rates, but really both Canada and the US are very safe in the grand scheme of things, especially when looking at now compared to the past.  Also murder is only one form of violent crime.  The UK has a very low murder rate, partially because of restrictive gun laws.  But look at the number of serious crimes like stabbings, and beatings (I mean serious beatings not a a black eye and busted lip in a punch up) etc.  I just looked up some numbers and did some calcs.  It looks like the UK has approx 67 stabbings per 100K people.  And that's with any blade over 3" long being illegal to carry.  I'm not trivializing death and murder, but I think, unless you're planning on moving to the worst possible neighborhood in a city, generally safety concerns are overblown.  And if you're on an internet forum and discussing different cities, regions and countries, then you're probably not talking about having to live in the worst areas.

infinitenexus said:

In reply to John Welsh :

Just started watching this, it's pretty great.

If you watch a lot of it, it's a big lesson in how diverse the country is. Northern Territories and Maritimes and North Pacific are all very different from Toronto. 

yupididit said:

In reply to 1SlowVW :

Don't need money to move furniture out the way for pics. Or scotch tape a fixture to the wall for pics. Like I said, presentation. I grew up poorer than poor, I get it. But I also learned to work with what we had, too. Don't be a dick, dude.

Blame the listing agent ? 
 

Sorry was a bit on edge yesterday and read into your comments more than I probably should.

Offer of an open door is also extended to you if you're  ever around. Happy to shoot the E36 M3 about 80s euro cars with anyone. 

In reply to 1SlowVW :

It's all good. I could've done better at getting my point across than comparing it to a crack house lol.

Keith Tanner said:

Calabogie's a pretty fun track for a track day, and I'll bet it would be a riot in a pack during a race.

Can confirm.  Elevation is epic.  Blind corners are epic.  Crowded track with elevation and blind corners?  Priceless :)

yupididit & 1SlowVW 

2 people I greatly respect on this board have a slight misunderstanding and then resolve it with sincere apologies like 2 gentleman. Thank You to both of you. I am so happy to see the kind resolution to that very minor issue.

In reply to NY Nick :

Lest we not forget, this thread is filled with Canadians, you know, overly kind and overly polite.  That's not to say these two gentlemen are not already kind and polite but I'm still gonna claim a Canadian influence.  

In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :

From the road and mountain biking world, I follow a lot of Brits and it seems like theft is a big issue in the UK.  Arguably more so than in the US.

Scotty Con Queso said:

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

Pittsburgh is a great town (to be from)! 

Worst decision I ever made was coming back. Now I'm stuck here probably till I die. 

Required TV watching for anyone looking to move to Ontario or the Prairies: Schitts Creek and Corner Gas. Also, going back a bit, Meatballs was VERY clearly filmed in Ontario cottage country.

In reply to John Welsh :

Well I am Canadian and my wife tells me I am an inconsiderate, opinionated, argumentative, cynical jerk.

Keith Tanner said:

Required TV watching for anyone looking to move to Ontario or the Prairies: Schitts Creek and Corner Gas. Also, going back a bit, Meatballs was VERY clearly filmed in Ontario cottage country.

The Red Green Show.

I don't care what small town in Canada you're from, everyone knows Stinky Petersen or Moose Thompson

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

She's obviously biased.

If you're a fan of that low key type of humour, and you like Still standing, you might also like this

Rick Mercer

Funny guy goes to events around the country, hangs out with the locals, hilarity ensues.

In this episode he came out to one of our races.

He seems to like motorsports

Can't forget about Letterkenny!

In reply to Peabody :

I was at Varney Speedway (Full Throttle Speedway now) the night Rick was there filming, he was funny and added to the show but the crowd and the racing at Varney were way more entertaining than him that night lol.

I will admit to being partial to this Rick Mercer segment https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JrS1QEkU2Fw

Nuytco has an incredibly non descript base of operations and sometimes you could see a hard suit out in the parking area just hanging around.