What can you tell me about London, Ontario, Canada?

Question

I am considering going to grad school there. What is the city like? What do you like or not like about the city.

Answer 1

London has a population of almost 400,000, so mid-sized, depending upon where you're from.

It's a well-off, but not wealthy city, mostly conservative (again, depending upon where you're from). The industry that exists there is mostly in the smaller towns surrounding London, but there is still some industry (auto plants, for example).

I disagree that there is no traffic. There is no traffic in the suburbs, but in the downtown core, it's like any other city.

Western is a good school, depending upon what you're studying, and it has a strong graduate studies program. I would say about 70% of chain stores are found in London--there's an H&M, but no Mango, for example, so depending on how important that is to you...

it has a solid night life for students, but mostly the same bar over and over...there's about 8 or 9 bars in the core, not much elsewhere.

What do I love about London?

-Close to Toronto.

-Decent shopping

-Good festivals in the summer

-There are some good hiking/biking trails.

What do I hate about London?

-Transportation by bus is nearly impossible. It doesn't get any worse in Canada than London. There is no set schedule, tickets are $2.50 each, and the routes are not laid out in a logical manner.

-I really don't like the atmosphere of Western at the undergrad level--I find it very s****. and high culture. This might be different in grad school.

-It's a very conservative city, politically.

Answer 2

London is a medium sized Canadian city with almost no industry whatsoever, and no traffic at all.  It's a wealthy city where many Canadian corporations have their main offices.  It's also a big university town (Western University).  Many young people due to the schools.

It's a clean town and the people are very friendly.  The amenities are impressive as well.  All the biggest stores and names you're familiar with in the USA as well as restaurants, bars, and night life.

They have a very good hockey team too.  The London Knights, who play in a brand new arena facilty downtown.