Sudbury, Ontario, Canada ...

I came here to Sudbury in August of 1991 ... I had just met my boyfriend (Dan or Dancr-TB name) in 1990 in Ottawa and he asked that I move with him to his hometown, a place I reluctantly called my hometown but it's been 17yrs in SUDBURY ... When sitting on that date long ago (Summer 1991) he posed the/that question to move to Sudbury, I wasn't thinking of the loss of friendships I had built or my own family (in Ottawa), all I thought of was this wonderfull guy who could potentially leave me if I didn't go ... so I sadly left, knowing in a year if I didn't like it I here in Sudbury, I could return.  Well, I seem to be doing this again 'a 360', hubby got a job in Calgary ... so I think LOL I should move again .

.. now (September 2008) I should change my sentence from 'reluctantly call Sudbury my home' to 'happily call Sudbury my home' ...  a move from Ontario to Alberta puts a bit of worry into me ... maybe I can make some new friends in Calgary through the Calgarians on TB!!

I must say Sudbury has improved since the days long long ago in the 70's.  When I was a young girl mom, my brother, and I moved to Chelmsford (a town outside Sudbury).  My father was posted to Alert (in the North Pole) and mom was expecting a 3rd ... so we took a ship then train from Gander. Newfoundlandin to Chelmsford, Ontario.  I was in Grade 3 and 'the picture' we had of Sudbury then was barin and empty of trees and foliage .

.. empty of fresh green grass, trees, shrubs, plants and moss ... the mines over many years had detroyed the natural vegetation that existed here ... but surprisingly, when I arrived in 1991 (to present-2008) I found Sudbury had improved and daily I would  notice moss etc. growing on my tree(s) in the front yard ... I must say it's a healthier place to live now, but in the past the effects of breathing in that air from the copper,silver, gold mines many people are afflicted now with cancer as a result of the environment that existed  then.  There is a filtering system at all mines in Sudbury and in 2007 Sudbury was 'at the top' for all we've done environmentally; now other cities are following the changes Sudbury did to ensure a quality environment for their residents.

Loving politics and knowing a bit of the political history in Sudbury, I reluctantly stayed away from joining any political group here in Sudbury, for when I first arrived I found it to be solely Liberal Dominated Place.  I must say ... people here aren't like are in Ottawa ... if a Liberal incumbent is great in Ottawa, people vote Liberal; if a Conservative incumbent is great in Ottawa, people vote Conservative; if a NDP incumbent is great in Ottawa, people vote NDP ... the people in Sudbury are also driven to vote here by who their workplace union supports ... I hope in the future it's a Liberal, Conservative, NDP, Green Party, or an Independent that wins based on their values and not what everyone

A negative I find here in Sudbury, people here won't meet others in the North end of Sudbury (5/10 minutes away) or if they live in the South end and vice versa .

.. if you live in the opposite side of this small city you still can't get a ride ... I guess 'me' coming from Ottawa where I did meet my friends in the West end of Ottawa (eg. Nepean or Kanata 30mins from East end) I would still drive there even though I lived in the East of Ottawa, no questions asked, but people here find that to be hmmmm TOOOO FAR ... eg. "that mall it's not in the direction that I live, let's meet somewhere else"

My family will drive to Toronto and surrounding areas, distance has no meaning to me/us, for if it did the thought that travelling from Sudbury to China, Las Vegas, Chicago, or San Franciso, Michigan, Oregon, Washington State etc., was far, then travelling would have been out of the question a long time ago, but I love travelling .

.. I'm a Travbuddy!!!

The positives of Sudbury: I find it is a safe place to live in; when I go to bed I don't always lock my door and during the day if the kids forgot their keys I will lock the back and keep the front door unlocked knowing they can get in and that anyone just walking in would be seen by my neighbours ... My 70+ yr old neighbour for the last yrs of us living in Sudbury was still clearing our driveway of snow ... I was happy for his help, but when I found out he had a heart condition I no longer wanted him to do it and the past few years the girls and I would clear his driveway with our shovels.  In the summers he and his wife would allow the girls to use their inground pool, it's nice to know neighbours that will go that extra mile, mind you I never maximized my use of their pool .

.. I didn't like feeling I was 'invading their privacy' .  While on vacation they would bring our garbage to the roadside for us even when we forgot to ask them ... Sweet old man and his wife, they have a 'heart of gold'.

It's now been 16 years in Sudbury (2007) ... housing prices everywhere are 'sky-rocketing' ... in Sudbury a good huose will start at $225,000 ... and the worst thing is, if I do move back to Ottawa (having family and friends) yet a good house there may start at $325,000 OUCH ... just the housing market alone holds us back from returning to Ottawa ... in recent news (fall 2008) the Conservative government has change the policies on the hosing market.  Now we need 5% down (gone is the days of 0% down) and mortgages can't be stretched over 40yrs it can only be mortagaged for a maximum of 35yrs .

.. a young family, from Sudbury, who travels, hmmmm I ask "where is a good place to live"???  Actually Eric from Travese City mentioned, in July 2008) how their housing market prices are very low ... perhaps we'll have to move to the States ... time will tell, for now I anxiously watch the dollar, and the housing market, but realistically/honestly I am looking more at airline costs for travel, that savings acc't for a house is at the bottom of my list because of the many places Dan and I still want to tour within this world outside of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada!!

p.s. I now live in Calgary and on this 14th day of February 2009 I chuckle inside knoing that housing prices in Calgary are so so high ... the house I rent, well we pay $2000CAD per/month and if we want to buy this older 1987 house, he'd want 450,000 at least .

.. hmmm ... to expensive ... we rather buy new if it's that price ... our perception of the housing market quickly changed when we moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada (west) from our sweet cozy home in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada (east)