Do they still have those little old shop houses in Victoria? With living quarters upstairs and the little shop below it? there used to be so many, I'm looking for something like that.
I grew up here, 1960's -1980'S. We didn't lock our doors and you could go downtown and there were no sketchy areas. All change post 1980, when they decided to close the institutions and use the street to house the mentally ill.
Also born and raised here, moved to the Okanagan in 1970 and returned to a changed Victoria. It’s still charming - in most areas - but I was shocked by the street people everywhere. I’m furious at our local and provincial governments and so saddened by this.
A little inset map in one corner of your video that would light up and show where that area is would be very helpful. I have no idea where most of these neighbourhoods are in relation to downtown Victoria.....and I've lived on the island my whole life!
Langford is still the place to be for me. I rarely ever feel the need to go downtown Victoria, if anything I would take a bus out to sooke to get away from all the people. And honestly I never felt the need ever to have my own vehicle living in Langford, everything was in walking distance. The bus stop was like a 3 minute walk from my house. The bus could take me right downtown vic or into the heart of Langford or even out to sooke. Not to mention how late the busses have started to run. Especially main route busses.
Thanks for the comment, thats great feedback and good to hear you can get around in Langford without a vehicle and that public transportation there has improved!
here's a bit of info out of all the municipalities Saanich was the best at engaging me as a self employed artist half of my murals are there and I managed to get roughly six months of time to display my prints in both their city hall and community center's, none of the other area's made any effort.
My Aunt Kay retired in Victoria..I used to go up n visit her. I even stsyed with my Moms friend in Ladysmith as a kid. I like Vancouver Island. I need to go up n visit .
I love Victoria. Born there and lived there until 12. Happy Valley/ Triangle Mtn (One of the first houses on the Mtn). I super enjoy the new Royal Bay which is a growing area and have a couple friends who live there. Ive always found Victoria a maze when it comes to driving. Once you get the hang of the area you will get it...but it does take quite a bit of getting used to since the roads and area are built on rock. It does though create small little secluded pockets of neighbourhoods that are pretty, quiet and quaint. Tip for mainlanders...learn to drive slower. Im not a speed demon by any means, but island driving is slower and admittedly I have been caught. I go back 2-3 times a year. Me and my young son stay at Hotel Zed often. Over the last 5-6 years esp though I have seen the the Downtown core slowly fall apart. Homelessness has grown a tremendous amount and work its way further out of the city. It is a real shame that the community and leaders have not found a solution for all involved. Summer time is a lovely time to play tourist, but seeing some hotels converted to shelters has had a major impact on the surrounding neighbourhood and the businesses attached. It is tough seeing my old home struggle. I love Island life and hope to move back one day. But something needs to be done for those in desperate need.
One thing not mentioned is the awful traffic conditions. The Trans Canada between uptown & out to the Malahat. The highway has been widened several times & intersections had millions of dollars thrown at them & still this major entry & exit point can get you sitting in a traffic jam for several hours because of accidents or bad weather. Be prepared for many areas of Victoria designed to be unfriendly to vehicle traffic with 20 km speed zones on main roads, unbelievable confusing signage & roundabouts designed by someone on drugs. In some newer residential areas almost no visitor parking anywhere. If you move here be prepared for the local busy bodies with nothing better to do than stick their noses into whatever you are doing. Sidney has to be the worst for that. As an example for 35 years or so the council & citizens of Sidney have been fighting over the main street in Sidney that dead ends at the ocean. As a result this dead end street is 2 ways part way, one way in one direction then one way in the opposite direction. The whole street isn't more than a km in length. Urban planning at it's finest.
The best property in Victoria is the Chinese cemetary on the waters edge. They weren't good enough to be in the ''white cemetaries''. Looks good on Victoria...
Hi Ira , great upload , when I retire , I want to live in my van in Victoria , that is all I can afford .Where is the best place and safest place to park my van ?
Lol there's a lot of homeless people in Victoria, if your rich, have a credit card you want depleted, then by all means go, thier motto there is...sorry sir you can't be here, no trespassing, move along.
Down town Victoria is a giant no no. Drugs. Violence. Dirt zero police protection just tons of addicted men and women all bent over looking at their shoes. … just beautiful
The average rent for a one bedroom apartment is in the $2,000 to $2500 per month range. But there is an extreme lack of rentals - so finding a place can be difficult. Food prices are high, gas prices are high. Depending on your lifestyle you probably could manage - but life would not be cushy. There is a bus system - with highly uneven service. There are some bike paths and a couple of nice bike trails - but biking for basic transport is a little risky and very wet in the winter. The city is also quite hilly - so either come with legs and lungs or get an ebike. Good luck.
No chance unless you bring a tent and stay on Pandora street with the other hundreds of homeless people that come here from other shitty cities in Canada to ruin ours.
Could you please tell me how i can find house for rent easily in victoria? please help me. we will be moving to victoria in 1st of may. we are from bangladesh.
Is downtown's walk score negatively affected by the need to step over or around sleeping, stoned or mentally ill people setting up "shelters" on the sidewalks? If you or your kids don't know how injection drugs are best used, they'll find out pretty quickly downtown, and even the police can't do anything about it. How about the city planning department that's working overtime to ensure that you do your part for the environment by deliberately making driving anywhere a complete nightmare - something they're very proud of because they want bikes to be quicker than cars - incidentally, do not ever come close to hitting a cyclist, even if they ride like idiots, they have special protection in the municipal by laws. Then there's the city council - mostly way out there on the left fringe losers who want you to billet homeless people - not a joke, the last mayor suggested that older folks with some extra space should allow homeless people to live in their homes. Then there's rent - if you can't drop $1500 on rent for a small one bedroom, that doesn't come with a place to put your car, don't bother with Victoria. Do not walk away from Victoria, run. Lose the rose coloured glasses and Victoria is like a potted (?) version of Vancouver without the night life.
Please learn to pronounce “municipality” properly, there are 6 syllables, you seemed to have skip at least one. Also, your crime map only covers the city of Victoria and omits the other 12 mu-ni-ci-pal-i-ties…..
Lots of residential sprawl in Sooke, but nothing else. Sidewalks? A shared bikelane adjacent to mad max Hwy 14. Drive to Langford to go for a walk....sad.
I live in Nanaimo and I don't know if I could live in Victoria.. I'm not ever sure I like Nanaimo much but I've only lived here on the island all my life an have been to Victoria a lot visiting family an stuff but even Nanaimo has a lot of trubled people an from what I gather Victoria is even wearst....
Resources used:
VicPD Crime Map:
vicpd.ca/open-vicpd/crime-maps/
Fraser Schools:
www.compareschoolrankings.org/
Earthquake & Tsunami maps:
bcgov03.maps.arcgis.com/apps/...
cmscontent.nrs.gov.bc.ca/geos...
Do they still have those little old shop houses in Victoria? With living quarters upstairs and the little shop below it? there used to be so many, I'm looking for something like that.
I grew up here, 1960's -1980'S. We didn't lock our doors and you could go downtown and there were no sketchy areas. All change post 1980, when they decided to close the institutions and use the street to house the mentally ill.
That was the right-wing Social Credit government at the time, to cut public spending and give corporations tax breaks.
Also born and raised here, moved to the Okanagan in 1970 and returned to a changed Victoria. It’s still charming - in most areas - but I was shocked by the street people everywhere. I’m furious at our local and provincial governments and so saddened by this.
A little inset map in one corner of your video that would light up and show where that area is would be very helpful. I have no idea where most of these neighbourhoods are in relation to downtown Victoria.....and I've lived on the island my whole life!
Langford is still the place to be for me. I rarely ever feel the need to go downtown Victoria, if anything I would take a bus out to sooke to get away from all the people. And honestly I never felt the need ever to have my own vehicle living in Langford, everything was in walking distance. The bus stop was like a 3 minute walk from my house. The bus could take me right downtown vic or into the heart of Langford or even out to sooke. Not to mention how late the busses have started to run. Especially main route busses.
Thanks for the comment, thats great feedback and good to hear you can get around in Langford without a vehicle and that public transportation there has improved!
here's a bit of info out of all the municipalities Saanich was the best at engaging me as a self employed artist half of my murals are there and I managed to get roughly six months of time to display my prints in both their city hall and community center's, none of the other area's made any effort.
Great info! Thanks
My Aunt Kay retired in Victoria..I used to go up n visit her. I even stsyed with my Moms friend in Ladysmith as a kid. I like Vancouver Island. I need to go up n visit .
Please add more video on Victoria . Lot of people are fed form Vancouver and wants to move to Victoria .
I love Victoria. Born there and lived there until 12. Happy Valley/ Triangle Mtn (One of the first houses on the Mtn). I super enjoy the new Royal Bay which is a growing area and have a couple friends who live there. Ive always found Victoria a maze when it comes to driving. Once you get the hang of the area you will get it...but it does take quite a bit of getting used to since the roads and area are built on rock. It does though create small little secluded pockets of neighbourhoods that are pretty, quiet and quaint. Tip for mainlanders...learn to drive slower. Im not a speed demon by any means, but island driving is slower and admittedly I have been caught.
I go back 2-3 times a year. Me and my young son stay at Hotel Zed often. Over the last 5-6 years esp though I have seen the the Downtown core slowly fall apart. Homelessness has grown a tremendous amount and work its way further out of the city. It is a real shame that the community and leaders have not found a solution for all involved. Summer time is a lovely time to play tourist, but seeing some hotels converted to shelters has had a major impact on the surrounding neighbourhood and the businesses attached. It is tough seeing my old home struggle.
I love Island life and hope to move back one day. But something needs to be done for those in desperate need.
Thank you for the insights, and I agree the homeless problem is growing and should be the #1 concern right now of our local authorities.
One thing not mentioned is the awful traffic conditions. The Trans Canada between uptown & out to the Malahat. The highway has been widened several times & intersections had millions of dollars thrown at them & still this major entry & exit point can get you sitting in a traffic jam for several hours because of accidents or bad weather. Be prepared for many areas of Victoria designed to be unfriendly to vehicle traffic with 20 km speed zones on main roads, unbelievable confusing signage & roundabouts designed by someone on drugs. In some newer residential areas almost no visitor parking anywhere. If you move here be prepared for the local busy bodies with nothing better to do than stick their noses into whatever you are doing. Sidney has to be the worst for that. As an example for 35 years or so the council & citizens of Sidney have been fighting over the main street in Sidney that dead ends at the ocean. As a result this dead end street is 2 ways part way, one way in one direction then one way in the opposite direction. The whole street isn't more than a km in length. Urban planning at it's finest.
... at its* finest (it*s = it is)
For sure traffic in victoria is so bad, i wish they had invested in other transit more considering the city was developed before cars
The best property in Victoria is the Chinese cemetary on the waters edge. They weren't good enough to be in the ''white cemetaries''. Looks good on Victoria...
What do you think are the best (and worst) areas of Victoria?
As far as tsunamis are concerned, the southern island is fairly protected by the Olympic Peninsula.
I can find something nice in all areas of this amazing city but…my favourite place is where I’m lucky to live…Cordova Bay.👍🏾👍🏾
Hi Ira , great upload , when I retire , I want to live in my van in Victoria , that is all I can afford .Where is the best place and safest place to park my van ?
What do the numbers in walk score represent? Percentage of roads you can walk along? Please explain, otherwise those numbers are meaningless.
Walkscore is from walkscore.com and represents the walkability of the neighbourhood (proximity to stores, transit etc)
Hello. Im in ontario , love the outdoors. Would like to spend January/ february there. Where do you suggest.
Also are there lots of rentals?.
Lol there's a lot of homeless people in Victoria, if your rich, have a credit card you want depleted, then by all means go, thier motto there is...sorry sir you can't be here, no trespassing, move along.
Don’t
Too bad the crime and drug situation is so bad.
Down town Victoria is a giant no no. Drugs. Violence. Dirt zero police protection just tons of addicted men and women all bent over looking at their shoes. … just beautiful
Can an elderly family of two live comfortably in or around Victoria b.c on income of 3,500 in pension
The average rent for a one bedroom apartment is in the $2,000 to $2500 per month range. But there is an extreme lack of rentals - so finding a place can be difficult. Food prices are high, gas prices are high. Depending on your lifestyle you probably could manage - but life would not be cushy. There is a bus system - with highly uneven service. There are some bike paths and a couple of nice bike trails - but biking for basic transport is a little risky and very wet in the winter. The city is also quite hilly - so either come with legs and lungs or get an ebike. Good luck.
@caralagace : not a chance I know single people who struggle to live on 4K a month in Victoria.
No chance unless you bring a tent and stay on Pandora street with the other hundreds of homeless people that come here from other shitty cities in Canada to ruin ours.
Yea, if you have no mortgage.
Thanks for not mentioning North Saanich. Your Cheque's in the mail.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂. Uh huh. 👍👍
Could you please tell me how i can find house for rent easily in victoria? please help me. we will be moving to victoria in 1st of may. we are from bangladesh.
I recommend Facebook marketplace for rentals in Langford. Best of luck
Langford is better Well went Stu young was in charge. He needs to be in charge of the island
Is downtown's walk score negatively affected by the need to step over or around sleeping, stoned or mentally ill people setting up "shelters" on the sidewalks? If you or your kids don't know how injection drugs are best used, they'll find out pretty quickly downtown, and even the police can't do anything about it. How about the city planning department that's working overtime to ensure that you do your part for the environment by deliberately making driving anywhere a complete nightmare - something they're very proud of because they want bikes to be quicker than cars - incidentally, do not ever come close to hitting a cyclist, even if they ride like idiots, they have special protection in the municipal by laws. Then there's the city council - mostly way out there on the left fringe losers who want you to billet homeless people - not a joke, the last mayor suggested that older folks with some extra space should allow homeless people to live in their homes. Then there's rent - if you can't drop $1500 on rent for a small one bedroom, that doesn't come with a place to put your car, don't bother with Victoria. Do not walk away from Victoria, run. Lose the rose coloured glasses and Victoria is like a potted (?) version of Vancouver without the night life.
I can see my house!!
Hopefully in a "good" area ;)
Your odd mayor dosen't help. He's brutal...
🌏🇦🇬❤
Please learn to pronounce “municipality” properly, there are 6 syllables, you seemed to have skip at least one. Also, your crime map only covers the city of Victoria and omits the other 12 mu-ni-ci-pal-i-ties…..
Victoria is utterly unaffordable.
Fairfield and Rockland are the best neighbourhoods in my opinion.
Some of the most beautiful homes in Victoria!
Great video, we just subscribed. Mike and Chelsea
Thank you Mike and Chelsea, let me know if you have any questions about Victoria!
Lots of residential sprawl in Sooke, but nothing else. Sidewalks? A shared bikelane adjacent to mad max Hwy 14. Drive to Langford to go for a walk....sad.
I live in Nanaimo and I don't know if I could live in Victoria.. I'm not ever sure I like Nanaimo much but I've only lived here on the island all my life an have been to Victoria a lot visiting family an stuff but even Nanaimo has a lot of trubled people an from what I gather Victoria is even wearst....
Thanks Dylan, it is unfortunate to hear Nanaimo also has similar issues! It is Canada wide and not exclusive to Victoria or anywhere on the island.
I love Gonzalez
👀
Great Video 👍
THE BEST PROPERTY IS A PLACE DOWN STAIRS TO RENT OUT OR A PLACE OUT BACK LIKE A MOTHER IN LAW SUITE TO RENT OUT. IT PAYS YOUR MORGAGE .
Homeless people in Victoria????
No way 😮😮😮