z31maniac said:
yupididit said:
In reply to infinitenexus :
Is Cleveland really that expensive? I was under the impression that Montreal was like NYC/LA expensive.
That's what I was thinking.
So I went and looked, 3 different COL websites all put Montreal as cheaper.
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Canada&city1=Montreal&country2=United+States&city2=Cleveland%2C+OH#:~:text=Cost%20of%20Living%20Comparison%20Between%20Montreal%20and%20Cleveland%2C%20OH,you%20rent%20in%20both%20cities).
Cleveland is billed as having super cheap housing, which is one of the reasons we moved here, however I quickly found that it's for the same reason Baltimore is often listed as having lower-than-average housing costs: If you're okay with buying a house in an area that looks like a warzone in a failing school district, then the houses and apartments are cheap. If you want lower crime and good schools, be prepared to pay. A lot. Cleveland is still cheaper than many other American cities, but it's not without problems.
In Montreal, as with much of Canada, buying a house is very expensive. They have strict building codes, being so cold and whatnot, and there aren't a ton of unoccupied houses on the market, all of which drives the prices up. If you want a small rowhome in Montreal, be prepared to pay a lot. If you move to the suburbs, house pricing becomes more realistic and the houses are larger and have garages, etc. Still pricey, but an attainable goal.
That link shows some of the major differences between Montreal and Cleveland - or any other American city, really. Renting an apartment in Montreal is almost laughably cheap. In 5 minutes of searching I found a 900 sq ft 2 bedroom apartment in a safe neighborhood with good schools nearby, for the equivalent of $1048 USD. Also, with a new baby that'll cost us more here in America - in Canada they literally pay you when you have a kid, since they understand that raising a kid right can be expensive. I checked on their gubmint website and right now we would get roughly $450/month for 1 child. While the comparison of onion and bread prices is interesting, what's more important is that daycare is much, much cheaper in Canada, healthcare is paid for via taxes, utilities are cheaper, etc. If you want your child to go to a private school here, you'll pay a ton - I've looked into private schools around Cleveland, since a lot of the public schools are poorly rated. In Quebec, the provincial government caps the annual tuition rate for private schools at roughly $380/month. That's not the cheapest price, but that's an attainable goal compared to the $1000-$1200/month for private schools in the Cleveland area. Montreal is also a tech hub, with a ton of IT jobs that pay better than in Cleveland.
In short, if I could pick up right now and move to Montreal with an equivalent job and magically become a Canadian citizen by snapping my fingers, I would make more money, have cheaper bills and MUCH cheaper child care in my future, better schools, far lower crime, better benefits, and would live in a city with more incredible culture, food, art, and music than I would know what to do with.
The immigration process is lengthy and while not overly difficult, definitely requires a good bit of effort. In about a year, I can start. Until then, time to learn and save! Sorry for writing a novel, I'm kinda bad about that haha.
