Moving to BC: best place to live for riding?

PB Forum :: Canada - West
Moving to BC: best place to live for riding?
Author Message
flag jeff444
O+
Posted: Jan 27, 2014 at 3:40 Quote
sushifor2 wrote:
Surrey is loaded with gangs, drug addicts and crime. Plus it doesn't have much to offer mtb wise. Don't buy a house there because you'll deeply regret it. Basically anywhere in metro Vancouver (except Surrey and Richmond) are all ideal. Squamish, whistler, Sunshine Coast and the valley are also great if you like the small town atmosphere
well I do know there are nice areas in surrey and shitty areas just like every other city.
However we are now looking at other locations like the Fraser valley or maybe Burnaby, don't need destination ridin out my front door just a decent place to ride on days we can't travel. Cheers for all the great info!
flag sushifor2
Posted: Jan 27, 2014 at 9:39 Quote
South surrey is nice but far away from any mtb scene. Maybe just under an hour drive to the shore
flag pete-moss
Posted: Jan 28, 2014 at 7:56 Quote
I stayed at my father in law's in south surrey/white rock while in trade school. It's actually pretty nice down there, quiet, pretty suburban, close to the border but definitely flat and far from decent riding. I looked forward to coming home to squamish on weekends.

Squamish has world class riding year round if you want, and close to whistler and north shore. More and more people commuting to vancouver from squamish. Consistently takes me 45 minutes to get to work on the east end of the north shore, no traffic.

Burnaby is a pretty central location - you got burnaby mountain for after work half decent rides, and shore isn't far. Housing on the North shore is damn expensive too, keep that in mind.
flag jeff444
O+
Posted: Jan 28, 2014 at 9:39 Quote
lennyandcarl wrote:
I stayed at my father in law's in south surrey/white rock while in trade school. It's actually pretty nice down there, quiet, pretty suburban, close to the border but definitely flat and far from decent riding. I looked forward to coming home to squamish on weekends.

Squamish has world class riding year round if you want, and close to whistler and north shore. More and more people commuting to vancouver from squamish. Consistently takes me 45 minutes to get to work on the east end of the north shore, no traffic.

Burnaby is a pretty central location - you got burnaby mountain for after work half decent rides, and shore isn't far. Housing on the North shore is damn expensive too, keep that in mind.
lololol if u saw my ride after work here in Ontario you would more than gladly take any Burnaby riding
flag valleyrider
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Posted: Jan 28, 2014 at 22:26 Quote
jeff444 wrote:
sushifor2 wrote:
Surrey is loaded with gangs, drug addicts and crime. Plus it doesn't have much to offer mtb wise. Don't buy a house there because you'll deeply regret it. Basically anywhere in metro Vancouver (except Surrey and Richmond) are all ideal. Squamish, whistler, Sunshine Coast and the valley are also great if you like the small town atmosphere
well I do know there are nice areas in surrey and shitty areas just like every other city.
However we are now looking at other locations like the Fraser valley or maybe Burnaby, don't need destination ridin out my front door just a decent place to ride on days we can't travel. Cheers for all the great info!

The shitty areas are larger than most Wink
flag OoB4K3RoO
Posted: Mar 30, 2014 at 10:53 Quote
Hey all going to be doin a season next year in whistler just wondering what's the best way about finding work, is there places out there that do seasonal work I.e chalet etc also what would be best thing to do for accommodation? Any info or help would be great thanks not done anything like this before
flag kevin267
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Posted: Mar 31, 2014 at 10:35 Quote
You can skip through the classifieds to get an idea of jobs, look at whistler craigslist and the pique news websites. You can also look at them for an idea on accommodation but I would pre book at a hostelfor a week then look for long term places in person when you are actually here, instead of forking over a bunch of rent without seeing the place or even worse sending rent money to a scammer.
flag caribooyj
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Posted: Jan 18, 2015 at 12:11 Quote
edwardbear wrote:
... my question is about the riding community vibe, and bike shop participation.

Williams Lake

dh vs xc? both
racer vs rec? both
cliquey groups? no
secret loam trails for select groups? no
quad/mc/horse conflict? nothing major
building and maitenance opportunities? yes!!!
(paid crews?) paid vs volunteer groups? both

these things make or break a riding community for me. breweries or a brew pub, good food , etc are a bonus too. then of course skiing-dh,
xc, yes
back country.....amazing
hiking, kayaking, etc...... yes, yes, yes
where do you live and why do you love it there? The Cariboo!
flag dclinton
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Posted: Jan 18, 2015 at 16:07 Quote
whoa, can't believe I forgot about this thread for so long. :/ nope, haven't quite got out yet, still in stoon. i was planning, like, /really/ far ahead. Razz that being said, i'm graduating in a few months, want to work here for a bit and save some money and buy a bike from the LBS I work at before I head out. I'm thinking end of summing would be most likely to happen.

for the dude who was wondering, my degree is in Physics, so I feel that I could probably get some kind of technician/technical position with a bit of word-smithing on the resume. I wouldn't mind doing bike wrenching, but yeah, slightly higher pay grade would be nice :/

So far Kamloops and Fernie are actually my top choices right now, though to be fair I kind of forgot about Squamish. Family has always skied at Fernie and I got to ride there last summer. I love the feel of the town, and there's tons of trails nearby. However, it's far away from pretty much everything and I could imagine finding a job would be very difficult in such a small place.

I think I'd have a lot better chance to find work in Kamloops, and they have that wicked looking Bike Ranch right in town. also, more central BC, so easier to get to resorts.

I think if I wanted to forgo a good job and just bum it proper for a while, Squam would be the place to go, even if it is also the furthest from my family in Calgary (honestly not that big of a deal). I'd say Kamloops seems to be highest on the list right now, but not by much. My mind could change a lot in the next few months. :/

As y'all might be able to tell, I have no clue what I'm doing. Razz
flag dclinton
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Posted: Jan 18, 2015 at 16:10 Quote
edwardbear, were you asking me those questions? if so..

i'd prefer DH, but I'd love to be able to get some good backcountry exploring in as well. my ideal DH trails are hand-crafted runs in the forest, not smooth bike park jump lines. prefer a more chill crowd, but i do want to start doing some racing too. i also really, REALLY want to get in on trail building/maintenance. i imagine the only way to get in on this with zero experience is to volunteer? so yeah, volunteering. Razz
flag dclinton
O+
Posted: Jan 19, 2015 at 10:53 Quote
edwardbear wrote:
dclinton.....good luck with your finals.. kamloops,or kelowna are good choices for work that has good riding. squamish is close to vancouver where the work is, and has great riding. i rode fernie this summer on a house hunting trip, and although the riding and scenery were amazing i doubt you would find work . good luck. they are both good choices. talk about wordsmithing. i certainly can not convey my thoughts. i was not asking those questions of you or thomas, just suggesting how divided our riding communities can be and how i was looking for a utopia where egos don't create cliquey groups that a fat old guy could never enter if he was to move to their great riding area. again best of luck and happy trails wherever you end up.

thanks for the well-wishes my friend. i think i will probably end up in kamloops, seeing as it has some of the best job opportunities (i don't have a car, which would be pretty much a necessity to live in squam and work in van). if i had $10k in my bank account heading out then i would probably head straight to squamish, but alas i will be pretty next to broke and thus a job would be nice (to put it lightly Razz )

thanks for all your help everyone!!
flag bigredride
Posted: Jan 24, 2015 at 17:40 Quote
jeff444 wrote:
sushifor2 wrote:
Surrey is loaded with gangs, drug addicts and crime. Plus it doesn't have much to offer mtb wise. Don't buy a house there because you'll deeply regret it. Basically anywhere in metro Vancouver (except Surrey and Richmond) are all ideal. Squamish, whistler, Sunshine Coast and the valley are also great if you like the small town atmosphere
well I do know there are nice areas in surrey and shitty areas just like every other city.
However we are now looking at other locations like the Fraser valley or maybe Burnaby, don't need destination ridin out my front door just a decent place to ride on days we can't travel. Cheers for all the great info!

Well let me say i think Surrey would be a mistake. Ive lived in the Lower Mainland for 42 years so I know the scene! As it is, I am also in construction and my wife is a school teacher! I live in Maple Ridge, a suburb of Vancouver but north of the river nd against the mountains. More rain than Surrey but LOTS of good riding really close. We have PoCo (Burke Mtn), BCIT Wood Lot (Maple Ridge) and a bunch in Mission - 20 mins east. Its a pretty good community - a lot of the suburbs are bedroom towns but most construction is in the valley so you may work out this way. I do, haven't commutted to Vancouver in years. And construction is busy. Harder for your wife to find work. She won't get a job in Vancouver, much more likely in suburbs.

 


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