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Backgrounder: Ready for a change (Part 1)

(Note: This post was written by Laurel Regan and originally published in a separate blog called “Why Windsor…”, which was later merged with Alphabet Salad.)

To my way of thinking, answering the question, “Why Windsor?” begins with addressing the issue, “Why not Victoria?”

I’m a BC girl, born and raised. Apart from a four-month summer job in Banff, Alberta, I’ve lived all of my 44 years in various areas throughout the province of British Columbia, and have been in Victoria for nearly 30 of those years.

There are a multitude of things I love about living in Victoria. I love that my immediate family and some of my friends live here too. I love the beauty of our little emerald green corner of the earth. I love that it’s such a lovely place that people actually spend their vacation time and money to visit it. I love the temperate climate – blossoms on the trees in January and generally non-extreme temperatures throughout the year. And I love, love, love the easy, immediate access to the ocean and the fresh, salty seaweed scent in the air. Victoria is definitely a special place.

But there is a growing catalogue of issues about the reality of day-to-day living in Victoria that I most definitely do not love.

I am horrified by the fact that the average price for a single-family home in Greater Victoria is currently $641,780, making Victoria one of the most expensive places in Canada in which to live.

It frustrates me that in order for my husband and I to simply take our car off the Island… and return home after being on the Mainland… we have to shell out nearly $150 in ferry fares and several hours of precious time. (Car trips up-Island are always another travel option, but… been there, done that.)

Though Vancouverites might scoff, I’ve grown weary of the months and months of grey, rainy, soggy weather our city experiences every winter. We have little to no snow, certainly, but regularly go weeks with no sight of sunshine or blue skies.

So, in summary: Victoria is a beautiful, vibrant city full of character and charm and familiarity. Spring and summer months are generally very pleasant, but winters feel long and dark. And it costs a whole stinking lot of money to live here.

And I am ready for a change.

(To be continued…)

Laurel Storey, CZT – Certified Zentangle Teacher. Writer, reader, tangler, iPhoneographer, cat herder, learner of French and Italian, crocheter, needle felter, on-and-off politics junkie, 80s music trivia freak, ongoing work in progress.