With the soaring costs of 'big city living' going through the roof, many are being forced, or are simply fed-up, and are looking elsewhere in order to save their hard earned dollars. I for one am definitely fed-up with the city and need to get the hell out of Dodge! So let's take a look at the most popular places in Canada people are heading too.
As I have mentioned before, my dream has been to be off-grid, on a beautiful spot, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, away from people, and raise my family in a very small town environment. I have been in the big city all of my life and it most certainly is not for me. Country living is in my blood. Unfortunately, life has gotten in the way and our careers have held us in the grasp of the big city of Toronto. But with the cost of living seriously out of control, we need to get out.
Last October, it was announced that the average rent for a one bedroom apartment in the GTA was now $2300.00 and the average price of a detached home was $1.2 million. This is absolutely ludicrous. Big city living is seriously getting out of reach for many and they are heading to some much smaller towns across Canada with much more affordable living costs, 19 of which are in Ontario!
Wednesday, U-Haul released a migration trend report of The Top 25 Canadian Growth Cities. Due to their expansive network of locations and being one of the most popular truck and trailer one-way rental companies, it certainly makes them an authority on migration data trends.
I definitely agree with several of these destinations. If we could manage it, my place of choice would be out west with my newly found immediate birth family - no question about it. I would even go out to Prince Edward County where more of my family live and have lived since coming to Canada in the mid 1800's. Our original choice, before I found my family, was Northern Ontario but it would be incredible to be able to be so close with them and share our lives together. We have been separated for far too long!
A lovely log cabin, farmhouse, modular or Tiny Home, close to the water or through a winding road surrounded by trees, would be a dream come true. Seeing many of the old family homes on my recent visit to Prince Edward County, made my heart ache to be a part of that life. Not knowing my birth father, as he passed several years prior to finding my birth family, my grandmother took my mother and I out to see his beautiful home on the water that he had built in his later years. It was so lovely. Oh, if only I had that connection to my father. And on such a gorgeous spot too. Priceless. I also got to see a house, recently restored to near original, that my bloodline lived in for almost a hundred and fifty years. Wow, how those walls could talk!
Unfortunately, we didn't win the recent $70 million lottery jackpot and cannot offer to buy any of these properties by throwing money at them and demand that they move out, let alone, build a beautiful house in the woods. Even going off grid isn't as cheap as people think either. One of my favourite shows on TV is Building Off Grid. You get to see, first hand, all of the ideas, styles, modernization's, and dramatic changes that people make in their lives to be able to live the wonderful off-grid lifestyle. But even many of them still cost a pretty penny. You still need to buy the land, prep the land, buy the materials and hire machinery and hire help for construction. In actuality, the costs can be near the same as buying an existing home or building a new house, in these rural areas, especially if you are including many of the modern conveniences of a conventional home. Yet, its still a fraction of the cost compared to the average city home price. I don't know if I could fully live off the land like having a homestead. Slaughtering my own food would not be for me - too many years in the city LOL! But, a bit of farming and a day trip to the general store and to the butcher will suit me just fine! Let me know in the comments if you would go off-grid, and if so, where would you head to make your home in Canada?
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