Best place to live in Victoria?

Category: Local Questions & Answers

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2/18/2009 Cassandra .. says:

Thinking about moving to Victoria. Have only visited the main touristy areas on the waterfront. Love the feel of Victoria and think it could be the change we need. So we're looking for some ideas about the best area to live. Young/middle aged couple, grown kids (who will NOT be joining us!), looking for something quiet and suburban, but not too boring! Close enough to cool places to eat and go out.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!

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   2/18/2009 Graham I. says:

   Fairfield around Cook Street Village is a nice area walking distance to town and the Water with a little shopping district included - demographically suitable for you - urban but Victoria Urban that may pass for suburban most places.

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   2/19/2009 Cassandra .. says:

   Thanks!
   Is Victoria an expensive place to live? It dawned on us that it may be because of it being a tourist destination.
   I am trying to learn as much about the area as possible.

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   2/19/2009 Graham I. says:

   Expensive?  It depends where you are coming from.  Its on an island so its expensive to get on and off.  It probably is expensive - but if you like the lifestyle then its probably still a very good value

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   2/19/2009 Cassandra .. says:

   I like the idea of Victoria being peaceful compared to a big city such as Vancouver. We are coming from Seattle and I really want to get away from city life. Plus I love the British-ness of Victoria.
   I thought about the being on an island part, how hard is it to get on/off the island? I see that there is a ferry of some kind to Port Angeles, and of course the Clipper, but what about say, getting to Vancouver?
   What do you consider expensive? Like how much for basic groceries? Average apt. rent/home cost?

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   2/21/2009 Jeff "the Walrus" E. says:

   Hi.  Cook street is a great suggestion.  Also try Fernwood village.  Both are 15 - 20 min out of DT.  I would love to live in either spot!!
   
   There ferry to port Angeles is cheap, but it only goes twice a day.
   
   hope this helps!

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   2/22/2009 Cassandra .. says:

   That sounds great, we are contacting a real estate agent in Victoria for more info. Anyone else have anything to tell us about living in Victoria?

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   3/8/2009 J.D. C. says:

   Victoria is a great place to live.  I lived there in my teens and early twenties.  
   
   The neighborhoods recommended above are great.  They are older established neighborhoods (don't have that icky "suburb" feel), are very close to downtown, and are quite pretty (lots of large trees, nice old buildings).  They are E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E though.  Don't expect to find a decent house cheaper than half a million.
   
   People have funny ideas about transportation!  Vancouver Island has three quarters of a million residents - they do not all rely on the clipper which goes to the US.  There is a ferry every two hours (every hour in tourist season) to Vancouver from Sidney (~30k north of downtown).  There is also a ferry to Vancouver from Nanaimo, about 100k north.
   
   Great climate (rainshadow), nice parks, heritage, nice ocean, outdoor rec. opportunities, culture, lots of restaurants, lots to do, varied demographic, diverse & stable economy (lots of gov.) - a great place.  I'd love to move back, but doubt I'll ever be able to afford it.
   
   Good luck.

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   3/8/2009 Cassandra .. says:

   Victoria IS beautiful. Someone recently told me that it's cheaper than Vancouver..??
   Where would one find the affordable homes in Victoria? Half a mil is pretty much a pipe dream.
   
   I like the idea of an island. Not really concerned about "getting off" it.

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   3/22/2009 Neil B. says:

   Hi Cassandra,
   
   House prices here have leveled off and even dropped a bit as of late. Now is the best time to buy in several years. By the sounds of the kind of life you'd like to have here you should probably be looking at Fairfield (which is the central section of the Southern part of Victoria.) It will be a bit more expensive than some other areas but it's a well established neighbourhood with a variety of smaller "village streets" (ie Cook Street Village). It is close enough to downtown that you can walk, ride a bike or bus easily there, plus you're just a few blocks from the ocean. Considering that living in Fairfield you can do without a car (or at least use one very rarely) you could save a fair amount of money that way, plus you save sanity but not having to drive everywhere. I've had a few friends who have bought places out of town to save money but then end up driving a ton (or foregoing doing things because they're too far out of town) and it's driven them nuts. Most of them have moved back to town. The rest should be back in the near future.
   
   I think Victoria is a bit cheaper than Vancouver, both in terms of real estate and overall cost of living. It's FAR cheaper than Vancouver when you factor in transportation & parking. And when you consider the comfortable lifestyle one can have here Victoria wins hands down. I've lived in a number of places around the world but I Victoria is my home and base.
   And the weather is much better here compared to Vancouver.
   
   In terms of being expensive relative to the grand scheme of things in North America, Victoria is somewhat more expensive than other places but it offers So Much in terms of quality of life that you'll see that it's worth it. (For what it's worth, a friend of mine has moved to Calgary for work and actually finds it FAR more expensive than Victoria in most every way.)
   
   Getting off the island is easy enough to do, but you're right Cassandra, living here is so nice that for most things you don't need/want to leave.
   
   All in all, Victoria is a great big town and little city. It has almost everything but not so much that it's overwhelming or inaccessible.

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    3/22/2009 Cassandra .. says:

    Thanks for the great info Neil. We are preparing our paperwork and hoping that it all works out. Looking forward to a change.

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