Moving dilemma - Burlington ON or Guelph ON?

Question

I am currently in London Ontario and am looking at moving to either Burlington or Guelph due to a job opportunity in downtown Toronto. While Burlington offers better commuting options to downtown Toronto, Guelph offers cheaper real estate plus better work options for my wife. Guelph also seemed to be a more relaxed city - something we enjoy about London.

I therefore want to find out which city is more family friendly - we have a 5 year old daughter. I have not really been around much in Burlington or Guelph and wanted to ask what are some of the nicer neighborhoods in the two cities? What are some of the good private/public schools in Burlington? I will be taking a tour of the two places but needed some input on where to start with my search.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I think of Guelph as a hick town with little culture for those out of frosh year. Also, the commute would be insane. Even if you were just going to Yonge and the 401, if you leave anytime after 6:30 am, or before 7:00 pm, count on 2+ hours each way ... very expensive with gas going up.

Burlington on the other hand is extremely family friendly, and rapidly growing. If you don't like subdivision life and big box stores, it may not be for you. But the commuting couldn't be easier if your job is on the subway line or near Union Station.

I live about 40 minutes closer to Toronto than Guelph and the commute is the single worst part of my life. I despise it. Especially as someone coming from London, remember, this is Toronto. There may be 300,000 pissed off, law-avoiding drivers sharing the 401 with you each and every day of the rest of your life. You will soon learn to hate all of them ;-)