Reacting to Comments About Where I Live | Victoria BC: Pros & Cons 

Dear Aloha'mily, I've lived in BC all my life and I am very old now so that is a very long time. When I worked I had an office in both Victoria and Vancouver and travelled between them almost every other daily. My business took me around the world and I spent considerable time around the world. I ended up in some pretty sketchy places where I was concerned for my wellbeing but the only place I was ever robbed was outside the Victoria Library in early evening in daylight ... haha.

Stumbled on your post. Great content. I was born and raised in Sidney, B.C. and miss it a lot. I've lived in Melbourne, Australia for the last 21 years. Have made frequent trips back. All going well, the family and I will be moving back to the island in the future.

I aM in Victoria and im loving it here..felt so good i bumped into your channel

Thank you for your informative video :) We are moving from a coastal town in Australia to Victoria, my children are 19 & 21 and im wondering if there is a decent nightlife. We dont expect big city night life and where we're from we dont have that either, but are there good options if they want to go out at night, also does the island get music festivals in the summer? Huge thanks this helps so much!

Great video. I’m a British expat as well living in Calgary. Eyeing up a move to Victoria/Nanaimo. I loved visiting there a few years back and a lot of aspects remind me of home.

I just found your channel and I really like it ... I'm an international student from latin America and I hope to arrive in Victoria at the end of the year ... keep the good work up!!

Thank you! Keep going. It's been interesting

Thanks for your insight Emily :)))

Hi Aloha'mily, thank you this a great video 😊 Question for ya. I am moving to Vancouver island soon. What city/town would recommend? Anywhere with arts/culture and okayish night life would be ideal. Thanks!

Excellent video, thank you for your perspective :-)

I just came across your video. I just moved to Victoria just over three weeks ago from Toronto. Its so interesting, i agree with everything that you said. One thing I wanted to add was that commuting from westshore (Langford) was a bit of a trek. I stayed in an airbnb for the first 2.5 weeks and found that you really need a car if you are out that way. It was super quiet though. Im now downtown which is much more my style, i like to walk and/or bike everywhere and my apartment is just a short walk to the ocean. After living in Toronto for more than 23 yrs on my own, I really got sick of the rushed lifestyle. Im still trying to get out of that mindset. Have you been to witty’s lagoon? Or gone on the galloping goose trail?

ha, you shoulda seen the highways on the island before they built the new super highways. They used to wind through the sleepiest neighbourhoods and were typical 1 way each way back roads like 30+ years ago probably when they started building them. I think ill retire on the island, but I have unfinished business in Vancouver. The island is just so much better for me, and i already know the entire thing back to front. I used to fish a lot in Port Alberni, but id probably settle in Courtney or Duncan, Sooke maybe. Something like that. close but far.

I like hot southern Ontario summers. I know Victoria doesn't have that but is it still hot or more like a London UK summer? And I noticed bits of the Victoria area are classified as having a Mediterranean climate. Is that accurate in your opinion? Can you grow palms in all of Greater Victoria or is it really just small pockets where that is possible? I've been looking at real estate. The topography seems to vary quite abit.

I have been looking for information about moving to Vancouver Island for quite some weeks and I was so happy to see your video! Have you ever visited Nanaimo? I am thinking on moving there from Ontario and I am just a little scared about the life in the island and employment and things like that. Any tips would be immensely appreciated!!

Hi..I'm from Bangladesh..and I want to study in UVic and can u tell me plz About that can international student get part time job in Victoria???

Hi, I will. Move to Victoria, and I am very nervous!

Thank Alohamily for the video. Please if you can make a video for newcomers from other provinces? Some advise/suggestions?

Watched your videos blog 3 times now and Love it! You are very personable and your slight accent is appealing?!?! :-)

Victoria is polite yet unfriendly, the sort of place where you go to retire and live away from it all, or when you're young and have solid means and can just "chill." Not for you if you're a high-strung over-achiever or someone who considers "friends" only people who talk of more than just the weather. Yes, cliquey and snobbish, but the right place to stay if you love nature more than people.

I had to chuckle over Victoria coming to a screeching halt when it snows :) But in all honesty, even Edmonton has problems if it snows when the temperature is around the freezing point as the snow instantly turns to ice as soon as something touches it because it is so full of water. Once it gets a bit colder the snow is drier and is much easier to deal with, you know, it’s a dry cold :D

Nice to meet you! I'm another Victoria youtuber!!! lived on the island most of my life.

Very informative 👏 video. I m a new subscriber

Hey Emily - My partner and I are looking to move to North Park Victoria in less than a month, its all come quite quickly and we are trying to figure it all out asap. From what I’m reading North Park has a high crime rate and I was wondering if you could shed any light on this for us please. Any info would be greatly appreciated!?

If you live in Victoria BC, don't expect to ever own a home. You'll need to spend a good one million dollars or more to even get a knockdown house, and that assumes the inventory is there (which it usually isn't). Even rentals are insanely expensive (~ $2000 per month for a small one-bedroom apartment) and the wages are unusually low, so just staying afloat is difficult.

Thanks for this informative video. I suggest you to make some outdoor videos too. You can make some footage in nature , near the ocean or anywhere else except home. This will be more attractive. Good Luck 👍

Victoria seems super chilled based on all the videos I've seen of it + some online research. Its truly a little slice of sunshine on a rainbow. A moving company's blog, of all things, put it quite well when they called it a "Small city with big city amenities". I can see myself living there in the near future and I'm awaiting the last word regarding my PR application, so if all goes well I'll mostly move to either Victoria or Vancouver. The beauty of Victoria is that it's full of Canadians, so it'll help me get a feel for my new home if I live in Vic. Besides, I'll never be able to get on the landed property ladder in Vancouver but with a job I'll be able to buy a house with a yard in Victoria- even close to downtown. But Alo, I'd like your impression on what it would be like living in downtown Victoria. I've heard different things, so your impressions are welcome. Thanks if you made it this far😊

Hey! Can you also make a video about the job opportunities in Victoria for immigrants

Spent 2 weeks in Victoria recently unfortunately it was in the Royal Jubilee hospital!

The comments about Greater Victoria are not all positive. It does have some issues about lack of work and social life advancement opportunities.

I live in Victoria bc have my whole life lived in fern wood,cook st, dt and other places

Victoria is nice. It’s small but pretty spread out. I’m in North Van. Lived in lower mainland all my life … it’s so incredibly pricy here but I don’t think I’d want to live and raise kids anywhere else.

Regarding Safety - the cops will tell you the city changes at about 02:00 from a safe friendly city to one where the thugs come out. Because most people aren't walking around then, it is considered a safe city. Regarding animals in the city - Marmots are fun, but not all of 'em. Do a search or two for cougars running through downtown - one through a woman's apartment. Regarding cold - Goldstream park gets wind all the way down Saanich Inlet - it IS cold, with wet, ocean saturated winds.

I have a TEDx Talk in Victoria in 2017. Fun but feel it’s too small coz I’m used to Toronto life.

Hi this is relly fine vidio so i like it

Hi Aloha Mily! I am from Mexico, and My Husband and I are planning to move to Victoria the next January and study a post degree and raise our two little kids there . In base of your experience, is Victoria a good place to raise a family? Has Victoria job opportunities? Many thanks! 🙌🏼

Bumper sticker, Relax This Ain’t The Mainland

My husband and I are moving to Victoria this fall from Toronto! Worried about being able to make friends - would love to be friends with you! :)

Vancouver has the richest municipalities in Canada, the worst crime and drug ridden area in Canada, worst traffic, the most STD infested municipality in Canada - Whistler, BC has the only Desert in Canada, Okanagen, largest isla.....etc

You are beautiful. I will be back In Vic soon and we should go out. ;)

Colwood Crawl...

Ok, you may have heard this before, but you remind me of Kate Beckinsale. Not the accent really but you look like a little bit.

stay far far away from Shirley Zailo

Hmm.... You can call yourself a Victorian if you want, but plane and simple your not an islander. It just shows. Take care.