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Pekka
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em seu burro dos pais!
Feb 2002
time: 07:36
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Right.. as most of you know, this is where my dream starts. However, I've been doing a lot of research over the time, and it seems like the green card and all that is far reach UNLESS I get to be transfer student in the Uni of my choice, Berkeley (CA).
So.. if that plan fails, I might be looking into going over to Canada. What is the main difference between Canada and US as far as employment goes, also job opportunities and salaries in the field of software engineering (or other IT related stuff).
Then, what are the best places to live or/and study (in case I don't get to Berkeley)?
I appreciate safety, good opportunities to do sports for example hiking possibly, maybe there's sea access.. not necessarily though. Maybe there's snow in winter too? It can't be 100F all around the year for me. It's just too much. I can't take it.. I'm a snow caveman afterall. I survive in 0F naked, not 100F.
Other things I appreciate is.. well, nice community of course, low crime rate at least in violence and drugs, awesome nature, or at least possibility to get to nature relatively fast, good school districts.. stuff like that. Good houses, possibly not the most expensive ones in the country. Anywhere from over 500k for a house starts to be expensive. Somewhere between 200k and 500k is moderate.
Also, about sports, it doesn't hurt if there's good hockey, or maybe even NHL near, less than hour drive away.
It helps, if you can snowboard there also, in few hours drive away.
It should have nice and friendly atmosphere, and ... preferrably good income region.
So.. Canadian and US cities... let's hear'em!
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molly bloom
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Lundenwic
Oct 2001
time: 15:36
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Vancouver, Pekka.
You can go and play winter sports on Whistler mountain which is a short drive from the city, you can sunbathe naked on Wreck Beach, you can eat a variety of cuisines, visit Chinatown and Japantown, it has a choice of universities, it was where they filmed a good part of the X-Files, you can go boating, yachting, waterskiing, play golf, hockey, baseball, rugby, they have a sports stadium affectionately known as the S & M marshmallow, and you're a short flight away from the island of Sointula off Vancouver Island, which as the name might tell you is full of Canadians of Finnish descent.
Oh, and it has a great museum of anthropology too, and very good looking women.
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Asher
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Calgary, Alberta
Nov 1999
time: 22:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Pekka
Well, I do mind a pay cut. Toronto you say... Well, cities close to the border, Detroit is out, there's just no way around that. Most anything else is under consideration. |
Toronto (specifically Markham) are the tech centers of Canada. Ottawa to a much lesser extent.
Most of the major players have large software/hardware engineering centres in Markham or around it: IBM, ATI, HP, Sun, etc.
Actually, IBM has 3 large facilities in Markham (a town of under 200,000 people): A 2,500 person software lab (where I work right now), a 4,000 corporate HQ for Canada, and a large callcenter/distribution center.
There's TONS of small companies around here too.
From personal experience, most of the good tech jobs in Canada are in or around Toronto.
Vancouver has some notable exceptions...like EA Canada.
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dejon
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I am a born and raised Vancouverite who moved to Toronto 2 years ago. We actually moved for my wife's career (advertising), but I have also benefitted. (I am a software developer.)
Vancouver definitely fits your initial description better, but you will make more money in Toronto. It should be noted that part of the reason is that the work culture in Vancouver is more laid back - far more a normal 9-5 atmosphere than Toronto, which is more 8-6, or until the job is done.
Obviously, even more money awaits in the States, but the downside is that you have to live there.  Higher cost of living, high crime... I could go on but the resident 'Poly Americans might lynch me. 
As for the comment on Vancouver crime - it is predominantly minor property crime and autotheft, the former to fuel drug addiction and only in particular neighbourhoods, which can be avoided. As for autotheft, just don't drive a popular car.
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dejon
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Also, here are my impression of Canada IT industries:
- Montreal is Telecom & Engineering
- Calgary is Utilities (Oil, Energy)
- Toronto is everything but has most of Finance
- Vancouver is Web, other cutting edge stuff, and some of many other things
These are very broad generalizations, as every city has a little of everything, but you get the picture.
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The Emperor Fabulous
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Apolyton's Resident Actor-in-Training
Aug 1999
time: 00:36
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Boston is THE college town in the United States. I just moved into my apt here today. I love it here: just transferred to Emerson College (a communications and performing arts college...unless that's what you're in to, you shouldn't come here). But Beantown has Boston University, Boston College, Northeaster University, Berklee School of Music, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bunch of other, smaller schools. The only rivals Boston has in colleges are NYC and Chicago, which is saying something for a city of only 500,000.
Plus, its a safe city, has good public transportation, and a ****-load of things to do if you're 18-24. I suggest you look here.
EDIT: Cost of living: its a slightly expensive town, but not so much if you live in one of the suburbs, like where I live (Allston, right on the subway 20 minutes from my school which is very good). A recent list a few years back said Boston was one of the best places for expatriats (American nomads) to live, IIRC.
Oh, and this is where many of the best Stand-up comics got their start: its a hub for stand-up. Dennis Leary went to my college.
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PLATO
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Of the occupied South
Dec 2002
time: 23:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Pekka
I appreciate safety, good opportunities to do sports for example hiking possibly, maybe there's sea access.. not necessarily though. Maybe there's snow in winter too? It can't be 100F all around the year for me. It's just too much. I can't take it.. I'm a snow caveman afterall. I survive in 0F naked, not 100F.
Other things I appreciate is.. well, nice community of course, low crime rate at least in violence and drugs, awesome nature, or at least possibility to get to nature relatively fast, good school districts.. stuff like that. Good houses, possibly not the most expensive ones in the country. Anywhere from over 500k for a house starts to be expensive. Somewhere between 200k and 500k is moderate.
Also, about sports, it doesn't hurt if there's good hockey, or maybe even NHL near, less than hour drive away.
It helps, if you can snowboard there also, in few hours drive away.
It should have nice and friendly atmosphere, and ... preferrably good income region.
So.. Canadian and US cities... let's hear'em! |
Knoxville, Tennessee. Under an hour to great hiking (Smoky Mountain National Park). Several great lakes nearby. Housing is very very affordable. ($500K will get you a very nice place on the lake with a dock, etc...) College sports are incredible. Pro sports available (including Hockey) in Atlanta, Nashville, and Charlotte...all within 3-4 hours drive. University of Tennessee has agreements with Oak Ridge National Lab for joint studies. Very low crime rate. Great place to live.
http://www.utk.edu/
Last edited by PLATO on 02-09-2004 at 07:04
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Guynemer
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Pekka, I lived for over seven years in Ann Arbor (until just a few months ago), and spent all of my life before then just 20 minutes away.
I can not recommend it highly enough. The cost of living is high, but that's only in comparasion to other Midwestern cities; compared to Berkeley, it's cheaper than dirt. It's a small college town (pop--110,000), but it has just about everything you could need; arts, food, sports. The University of Michigan has consistently one of the best college hockey teams in the country, and the atmosphere at Yost Arena simply can not be matched.
Plus, it's at the outer edge of a major metropolitan area; the Detroit area in all has about 5 million people. Anything you can't find in Ann Arbor (and I'd have a hard time thinking of anything, apart from casinos), you'd find in Detroit. And, Canada is just across the river.
Ann Arbor 
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General Ludd
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Minion of the Dominion
Aug 2001
time: 05:36
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Sudbury
Pros:
A nothern town. (meaning down-to-earth people,a generally laid back atmosphere, and a relatively low cost of living)
Wilderness. (Lot's of lakes and hills. Good opportunities for hiking, camping, ect... not far from the famous algonquin national park.)
Bilingual. Half the population is francophone (everyone speaks english, but for many it is a second language)
It has a history of finnish homesteading that might appeal to you. There is probably a sizeable finnish community here, although I don't know for certain.
Good winters with lots of snow.
Big on schools. It has a university and two colleges
Cons:
It's an old-time mining town and encompasses alot of rural areas. (meaning more than an average amount of hicks and rednecks)
Polluted landscape (it's been cleaned up pretty well, though, and I'd actually say that it's cleaner here than anywhere in southern ontario.)
Motor heads. You'll see everything from riced up pick-up trucks to SUVs with monster truck engines in them, combined with crazy drivers and bad roads.
A dead town center, where all the downtown buisnesses are going out of buisness and 'box store culture' is taking over.
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Velociryx
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of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:36
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Well, I would recommend Columbia, SC, but I fear our climate may not be very to your liking.
On the plus side, we have tons of beautiful, scantily clad women here, and although the wages in SC are somewhat lower than elsewhere in the states, the cost of living is also a good deal lower (example: In the Bay Area, California, a decent home will run you an easy 250k. Here, you can get vast estate for that same money (starter homes run 60-80k).
We have a "bush league" hockey team, and you'd be an all-star, for sure. 
On the minus side....climate. You're from the great north, and we only have about two weeks worth of weather you're accustomed to a year in these parts. The rest of the time, you'd find it miserably hot, and in July and August, you'll swear you're living in Hell on Earth. Takes some getting used to, but if you stay mostly inside for those two months, the rest of the year is pure heaven...
-=Vel=-
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Lancer
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Oregon Coast, USA! or Bohol, Philippines!
Apr 1999
time: 05:36
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"In Canada, sanity is the norm rather than the exception"
Except of course in Monteal. Their idea of sanitary is to occasionally piss on each other to cover the stench.
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02-09-2004 05:48
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