Damn loopsrider, you seem unhappy with your lot in life. You remind me of an ex-pat that always compares everything to the way things are back home. The OP is coming down here for wife's school so maybe details like the etiquette of buying a stranger a drink at the bar aren't a make it or break it issue?
BC income tax is lower than AB, unless you are making greater than $125,000. Beyond that, the difference isn't that big. http://www.ey.com/CA/en/Services/Tax/Tax-Calculators-2012-Personal-Tax
Fruit and veggies, at least were I live and down through the Okanagan, are much better than in Alberta. Maybe Kamloops gets the shaft there, I don't know. A little while back, listening to CBC, they had a report saying that a BC family of four would have the cheapest monthly grocery bill living in the southern interior. (However, after being at some of the grocers in the lower mainland, I think they could have the edge if they shop at the right places).
Point 9 is a con? Everyone I know in Edmonton will likely be having kids in their late 20s to mid 30s, just like any other larger centre, from Victoria to Halifax. Small town people are often married by 21 with two kids and sometimes regret that later.
Nah, I'm pretty happy with my life… I have the ability to change it if I really am that unhappy. Very easy for me to find work elsewhere. I still like it here enough to stay but am considering a move. I just was honestly posting my impressions of this place… some people ignore that stuff… I actually envy people that have permanent blinders on once in a while.
My point #9 is a con IMO… at least in my little world. As I said, it could be specific to my situation. Each to their own… My point was people here seem to have kids later in life than communities where young families are set up (house, career, etc…) earlier in life… mainly because of higher earnings (like most of Alberta)
Maybe I had a hell of a grocery store back home and didn't even know it… :lol: Seriosly tho…. it actually is something we noticed here. A bit more expensive and quality is a bit less.
Your tax calculator is a long ways off… I have compared my actual pay stubs with other people in my trade from Alberta. I pay about 10% more of my gross income to basic income tax here in B.C. Maybe someone on Alberta can give us a percentage of basic income tax that comes off their gross income… Things may have changed since I compared.
My mentioning of buying a drink is trivial… I was trying to put across the take (not give) attitude of here. Be it professionally or socially it is a "take" town… especially from the "have nots"… and there are a hell of a lot of them here.
Tru kicks ass
beautiful weather
the bus is alright if you live in the right part of town
the forest around here is beautiful
probably one of the best places around to get cheap/quality weed
lots of babes at the river in the summer
its not in the praries
ps. loopsrider are you actually complaining about people having bon fires? that's just part of summer around here, get used to the smell it aint going anywhere
I think you missed my point. I don't have any problem with bonfires… how fucking old and miserable do you think I am? :lol: As I mentioned I live slightly rural. My problem is everyone avoiding dump fees by burning piles of smudge (AKA Rotting horse shit and straw) and piles of garbage at night to avoid flack from the TNRD and neighbors. Every fucking night at this time of the year it seems this vally is full of smoke. You confirmed my point on air quality actually whe you said… "get used to the smell it aint going anywhere"
I avtually went back in your posts and pulled this gem out of them…. Oh the irony after defending kampoops! :lol:
"If you can afford to avoid Prince George, I would suggest avoiding Prince George. Its like the Kamloops of the north, but way worse."
Your post makes you out to be a young little feller… get out and live a few places before defending this place. You my friend are one of the people I talked about in my point #1 and point #6… you're the grasshopper.
I also noticed you mentioned_ "back when you were 19" _in one of your old posts…. Seriosly??? You talk like you're fucking 16 y/o with comments like what you posted…..Fuck man… grow up and quit being the grasshopper….
Honestly I have experienced points 1,2,4 and 8 in multiple places in BC.
My wife will be a student.
We actually just got back from Kamloops after looking at some properties. We keep getting drawn to the Brock/Westsyde areas because of the larger yards. But 30min+ bus commute is an issue. But it is still better than the 1hr drive + 25min LRT ride that she dealt with before.
I would urge you to spend an afternoon in Brock and walk around for a while… It smells pretty bad (especially near the river). I have co-workers over there that are really unhappy. The guys I know that live there have had a lot of problems with the scum of downtown North shore making their way out there to do B[HTML_REMOVED]E's and break into vehicles. When we first moved here we were looking for an apartment while our house up North was waiting on a sale. After driving through a few of the apartment buildings in Brock and seeing all the tempered glass in the parking lots from side windows smashed out, we headed to Sahali to look for a place to stay.
Westsyde is a ways out, but we have honestly looked at a few places out there. Like you said… larger lots and they are usually established with trees etc.. The road out there gets pretty busy during peak times. We did a dry run at one of the peak times (7:45am) one morning driving up to the Aberdeen mall (I work near there)… 35 minutes via the Halston connector/Hwy 5/Hwy 1. That's the only drawback of out there IMO. I wish they would put a bridge across North of the Dunes golf course.
I missed where you mentioned you were an HD tech… Not a lot of field work here compared to up North. That equals less opportunities for overtime, travel pay etc… The $ per hour can be similar to elsewhere to lure workers in…. just don't count on the extra hours and be prepared for layoffs during slow times.
Sorry to be so negative… It isn't all bad here. It has it's quirks tho… evrywhere does.
Anyway… It's Saturday night for fucks sake.. I have better things to do!…. good luck with the move!
