My granddaughter is studying 9th-grade Geography, and they are currently looking at population density in Ontario. The trend is for the population to increase in the urban areas, and decrease in the rural ones. Rural usually includes small towns.
Not every small community is in decline, however. In fact, a number of the Valley communities are growing rapidly. It’ll never be like living at Yonge and Eglinton, but an increasing number of people want to move to Carleton Place, Arnprior – or even Almonte.
You may be an anti-trendsetter if:
- You are a downsizing retiree. Almonte (especially the newer parts) has been a retirement haven for quite a while. We were among the first “immigrants” to arrive in 2005. We didn’t downsize all that much, but our bungalow was a much better choice to age in place than the two-storey house we had in Georgetown.
- You can bring your job with you. A doctor, dentist, lawyer, or even a teacher can usually find a job in the area. It’ll be in some service capacity if you are looking for casual work. Almonte has some micro food-processing companies, but I don’t think they pay all that much. Large employers are closing down their satellite factories in a lot of small towns.
- Your job can be done online or you can work from home. The internet service within the town itself is pretty good. Move out to the boonies though, and it’s a whole other story.
- You don’t mind a bit of a commute. Folks moan about traveling from Almonte to Ottawa daily but it’s nothing like the commute into Toronto from say Brampton.
If you do decide to move to small town Ontario there are a few things to keep in mind:
- You should lower your expectations a little. You may not have your choice of food options, big-league sports, or Broadway shows here. Almonte does have an active arts scene, with lots of festivals. You could see if any of that would be of interest.
- Don’t expect low prices for homes, or low rents. The Valley towns are too close to Ottawa for that to happen. Certainly, prices are lower than in the Big Smoke – but bargains are not easy to find.
- It may take a while to fit in. These smaller communities are rather clannish, and let’s face it – they aren’t dying to see you move here. You are competing with them and their kids for scarce real estate.
- If you are not comfortable with pickup trucks, small-c conservatism, driving behind loaded hay wagons and dodging recreational vehicles on the streets you might not want to move here.
Having said all that, the small towns are great places to visit and live. We also have the bonus of being close to the grandchildren. We sometimes find the irresistible Almonte vibe a bit overwhelming when the tourists crowd in on the weekends – sometimes living in a Hallmark card type of town will do that to you.
Oh well. There’s always Monday to do the shopping.
