A great place to live

October 2006

A great place to live

Niagara peaches. Original image at http://www.niagarapeninsula.com/data/Image/peaches2.jpg

Reasons to be thankful
I've borrowed the title of this month's newsletter from Gary Zalepa, one of the candidates in the forthcoming municipal election, and I know he won't mind my doing so. It's also a phrase that I frequently use when I'm responding to enquiries from people who find my website and wonder about the posibilities of making a move to the Niagara Region.

There's no place like home, as the saying goes, and I suppose other parts of Ontario, Canada, the US, or elsewhere in the world agree with the belief. However, it's perhaps time that I put my thoughts on record as to why Niagara is such a good choice -- much as I finally got round to using last month's newsletter to list some of the points involved in reaching and making a sensible purchase.
So then, let me suggest that Niagara can lay claim to the following:

1. It's affordable
2. It's accessible
3. It has something for just about everyone
4. It's a long way from standing still, but its pace is a pleasingly slower one.
5. It can only get better.

Value for the money
Although we've experienced price increases over the years, we've managed to contain them far more than the likes of Toronto have done. There've been exceptions, such as the pronounced upward surge in Niagara-on-the-Lake during the past couple of years, but on the whole it's taken a good ten years for values to go up fifty percent from what they were. In fact, the annual average increase for at least the last two decades is no more than five percent or, in many cases, less -- as my newsletters were wont to argue in both May this year and the same month the year before.
Any change in this pattern seems unlikely and I can foresee no reason why it should occur. Despite the ongoing attraction our region has to visitors, most of them have limited thoughts of any permanent move. If nothing else, our salary levels tend to be less appealing and, short of having a pension income or being able to start/transfer a business that's easier and not as expensive to manage as in a big city, financial considerations will usually outweigh an interest in living here all the time.
Nevertheless, the financial aspects of a Niagara address are a major factor in bringing newcomers to our various communities -- and as good a reason as any for staying put if you're already here.
Indeed, I reckon it's fair to say that you need to look as far afield as Chatham to the west of Toronto or Belleville to the east of it before you'll match our average house prices.

No gridlock here
The standing joke about the Don Valley Parking Lot has no place in Niagara. For all practical purposes, we're free of any rush hour traffic. Perhaps we've lately been witness to some horrendous holdups at the border, but this has its roots in whatever games the U.S. Customs people have chosen to embark upon -- and so far they aren't offering any excuses or explanations.
Otherwise, though, the most we have to endure is a hold up because there's an accident; a relatively short term backlog at the times of GM shift changes; or the odd weekend in which everyone seems to take the QEW out of GTA -- save and except for when the Canal bridges go up (although this is invariably only when we're on the last minute for getting somewhere the other side of them).
But accessibility is another of our strong points. If people hereabouts are on the move (of which more later), one definite reason is that it's easy enough to do so. Most of the time, a steady and comfortable half hour drive will get you from one place to another. Only if you need to travel from Grimsby to Fort Erie will it take you longer -- and even then you'll have the QEW to help you eat the distance up quickly enough.
Admittedly, there are constant urgings in favour of a Mid Peninsula Highway, but the intended beneficiaries are more the long distance haulage companies than the visiting public. Moreover, I'm far from certain that it will happen any time soon, if at all, and I must admit to being less convinced of the need for it than some of our local politicians seem to be.
Meanwhile, however, our existing business people, as well as potential new ones, are able to receive and schedule deliveries with few of the difficulties that exist in a big city.

Lots of choices
From a real estate viewpoint, there's something to suit just about every taste and pocket book hereabouts. There's precious little in the way of cookie cutter subdivisions. Perhaps some new developments get close to it, but most of our local builders offer variations in house styles, settings, and prices. Maybe our collection of townhouses have a similar look to their units, but even here there are few complexes particularly alike.
But the breadth of selection goes beyond housing. We cater to a very wide range of interests. Art, theatre, history, scenery, wine-tasting, golf courses, and horse races are only part of the full list. There's the lure of the casinos and slot machines for adults, but this is well matched by the Butterfly Conservatory and the Great Wolf Lodge in the way of more family-oriented attractions. In addition, of course, there's the longtime excitment of a ride on the Maid of the Mist and the honky tonk parade of Clifton Hill.
In Niagara, it's difficult to get bored or run out of things to see and do.
Name another area, if you can, that packs so much within its borders.

Rats need not apply
Despite the go-go ambience of Niagara, the pace of business is more relaxed than in the big cities. If we don't suffer much gridlock, we also largely avoid any rat race.
Perhaps you won't get rich hereabouts quite so easily, but you will tend to live a less strenuous life. And even then there's no real reason why you can't make a fortune by having a Niagara address (and I'm not thinking of hitting the jackpot at the Casino). After all, we aren't short of garages!
But we aren't as bothered by street crime or quite so faced with the impersonal attitude of shopping clerks. There's a general air of contentment, even if we aren't as prosperous as we might be with our noses focused on a city grindstone.
All told, there's no lack of shopping, education facilities, entertainment venues, and whatever else makes life comfortable and complete. Moreover, we're only an hour or so's drive to GTA or upstate New York if we need to tap into more than we can find on our immediate doorsteps.
Country in the city -- a common phrase in the real estate business -- has a meaning of its own in Niagara. You're sort of away from it all and yet have everything you need within easy reach.

Onwards and upwards
This is a phrase I often use in the e-mail correspondence I have with clients. But it relates to the Niagara scene as well.
During the past several years, we've seen an explosion of wineries, we've watched the high-end Fallsview hotels get built, we've experienced a steady growth in housing and, despite budgetary restirictions, regular improvments in municipal services. We aren't short of Big Box Stores. Our supermarkets and shopping malls have expanded. Both Brock University and Niagara College have come up with additional programs.
Standing still we aren't -- nor are there any signs of decline. In fact, we've begun to embrace the concepts of Brownfield development, Green buildings, and similar alternative Smart Growth construction ideas.
Maybe we haven't yet fully recovered -- any more than other geographical areas have done -- from the loss of a well-healed industrial core. Indeed, GM still keeps threatening to close something down and perhaps it's only a matter of time before financial realities force it to do so.. But we've done at least a half decent job over the past twenty or thirty years in diversifying our economy. In fact, I reckon we've achieved a momentum that can only help us go on moving forward.

Hey, did I say I was sold on the benefits of living in Niagara? Maybe I'm starting to sound like a political candidate!

With my usual warmest regards -- plus a reminder to place your votes next month.