victoria bc

ajibike · Feb 29, 2012

Hi I lived in Victoria for 2 years

Worked as an LPN but not for VIHA

I personally prefer living in Victoria to living in Vancouver,I am back in school and I must say I miss Victoria very much

Its a smaller city than Vancouver , its easy to get from point A to B

not too much traffic. the transit isn't as good as Vancouver though.

Cost of living is almost the same

I lived in a one bedroom in Victoria for $795/month

Now I live in a 2 bed 2 bath condo which i rent for $1100.

Umm cant think of anything else to add right now, but if you have any specific questions I'll be glad to answer them

lau&usopp · Mar 1, 2012

hey @ajibike thanks for responding.. those info that you have mentioned was very interesting. I am just doing some advance research about the city, because i would like to move somewhere lively and many things to do for recreation because i am single and will be living there by myself if ever things will pursue. if there are good malls, cinema and sports bar there, i will be happy :-) thanks again

zolly786 · Mar 3, 2012

I grew up in Burnaby, and now live in Victoria.

I did my training at Douglas, and now work at the Jubilee. I haven't worked at the General.

It's quite a bit smaller than Vancouver. But I much prefer it. I can't handle the traffic and commutes on the mainland. As soon as I get off the ferry, I get road rage.

You'll probably want to live downtown. Any other place will be too slow for you. There's no nightlife anywhere else. But there's tons of outdoor activities- golfing, hiking, biking...

Alka_Selse BSc · Mar 14, 2012

I just moved back to Greater Vancouver from Victoria. I really miss it. It's very much a city of extremes. There are a lot of young adults, and a lot of seniors. I haven't lived in the core of Vancouver, so don't know what the transit is like there, but the transit is nothing to balk at. The major bus routes run every 5 minutes at peak times and 20 minutes off hours. One thing I didn't like was that except Saturdays, the buses stop running at about midnight. Sucks for people like me who tend to be night owls. That being said, the university of victoria is working on pushing the hours back again, as they succeeded with the current hours (was previously last call 10 or 11pm or something crazy).

As zolly786 said, though, there isn't much of a nightlife. I was perfectly fine with that - I prefer quiet neighbourhoods, of which there are many. There are plenty of bars, though. I'd name a few recommendations, but I think it's against TOS. There are always music festivals, though; lots of club events throughout the year; and of course, plenty of other touristy things to keep your attention.

There are plenty of malls for the city. I used to work at Hillside Mall. It tends to attract a lot of seniors since it's right next to many of the homes, and doesn't really have any fancy stores. Some small boutiques, a zellers, shoppers, that sort of thing. Mayfair Mall is probably the main one and is located most centrally. It is definitely the women-targeted mall. A lot of clothing stores, jewelry, the Bay, the only sephora location, etc. And then there's Uptown which is all of a 3 minute drive north of Mayfair and has all the big stores - walmart, futureshop, bestbuy, etc, as well as some unique little shops. It's still under construction and is definitely very modern. It's a neat outdoor type mall, though. Butevery store has a basket of complementary umbrellas in-case it happens to be raining. Very cute.

Recreation is very...well it can be difficult to find depending on what you do. There are some theatres, plenty of restaurants, the tourist stuff. But I think, for example, the only bowling alley was recently shut down; there is laser tag, a climbing gym, MANY green spaces, the beaches, the markets, etc etc. I'm sure you can find a few things that fit your entertainments of choice. Langford isn't too far away, either - only 30 min, I think - and I'm not sure what it was to offer. Oh, and Mount Douglas is a really nice hike! It has variable hiking levels for paths to the top, too, so it's nice for those who aren't hiking inclined, but the view from the top is definitely worth the effort. :)

I can't tell you anything about the hospitals, though. I didn't spend any time in any of them! Oh! One thing to note: if you rely on the radio in your car or am/fm player, it can be very frustrating because signals from the states cross over every now and then, there are dead sections, and it can be a pain in the butt having to adjust your mp3 fm transmitter all the time also, be aware that you'll get roaming to the states on your cellphone at the southern most parts, so it's good to disable roaming if you don't have a package.

I'll post anything else I happen to think of, but for now, that's about all I have to add to zolly786 and ajibike.

lau&usopp · Mar 23, 2012

hey @Alka_Selse BSc thanks very much for that specific info, i really appreciate it. so now you are working in vancouver? the reason i posted this thread about moving to victoria is because i have been to their downtown once but i haven't seen other parts of that city. if ever things will work out, i will be living there by myself, so i am doing some little research on recreation side, lol! coz here in montreal, its very lively :-D how's your vancouver situation? just curious, merci