With its 130,000 population, Guelph receives high marks in many categories
By
Mark Schadenberg
I
can think of 40,000 reasons why Woodstock – The Friendly City – is a great
place to live, but for today anyway we’ll give The Royal City an opportunity to
wear the crown of achievement.
Two
publications have recently awarded Guelph with accolades and praise.
MoneySense
magazine named Guelph the best overall city in Canada when purchasing real estate
was weighed in.
FDI
Magazine, which is based in the U.S., said Guelph (Population around 130,000) is
one of the top 10 smaller cities in North America to invest in.
Both
‘thumbs up’ announcements to Guelph combine many factors from affordability of
homes, to post-secondary schools (University of Guelph), to shopping, to
employment, health care, and other amenities.
Guelph
is a good sports town with long-time membership in the Ontario Hockey League.
The Storm won a league championship as recently as 2014. From university sports
titles to the Guelph Royals of InterCounty fame, it is safe to exclaim that the
city is certainly known for sports.
While
the average price of a home in Woodstock is significantly lower than Guelph,
everything is a comparison and Guelph is much more affordable than Toronto,
Mississauga or Hamilton. Prices have moved upward in Guelph at a good rate,
which makes residential investment solid financial planning.
The
MoneySense chart is not surprising as that magazine has rated Canadian cities
for several years and Guelph’s placing at No. 1 is based significantly on
ranking the best cities to purchase real estate – its ‘Where To Buy Now’ 2017 survey.
MoneySense,
which is now available only online, compiled many factors including health of
the local economy, health care, employment rates, and stability in the real
estate market. Noting as prices increase and equity is gained by home owners,
there is a sense that home ownership is an excellent possibility and a very
good investment in Guelph.
Thunder
Bay was No. 1 for the past two years, but falls to No. 5 in the MoneySense
ranking. The two, three and four centres (in order) are Oshawa/Whitby then
Brantford, and then the combined Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge.
Keep
in mind, surveys such as these will often place St Thomas in with London for
all overall factoring. London was placed in 17th, and Toronto 13th.
The highest result for a city not in Ontario was Vancouver at No. 8.
The
Where To Buy Now report also breaks down various neighbourhoods in the larger
centres and therefore, for example, says the best area in Toronto is
Pleasant-View – located in North York and the north side of the 401.
FDI
Report
The
FDI magazine announcement placed Guelph as the only Canadian city in its Top
10, and it’s an analysis of 209 North American cities in the population bracket
of 100,000 to 350,000.
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“Guelph ticks all the right boxes: a great location; an
outstanding university and college; a skilled labour pool; and a supportive
business environment,” Mayor Cam Guthrie said in a press release. “We’re also
one of Canada’s safest and most livable cities.”
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The FDI Top 10 list included Ann Arbor, Mich.; Fort
Lauderdale, Fla; and Stamford, Conn.
The story link is below if you want to learn about the list
of criteria in making the selections. It is interesting to see that the top
three cities were all in California.
Among the analysis criteria were business bankruptcies, perceived
business friendliness, lifestyle factors, and transportation connectivity.
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“Guelph’s investment readiness is guided by forward-thinking
planning and economic development strategies,” Scott Stewart, the city’s deputy
chief administrative officer of infrastructure, development and enterprise
services, said in the release. “Our unique business partnerships, welcoming
business community and local business services continue to create an
environment for new business opportunities and possibilities in an
ever-changing marketplace.”
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Guelph
deserves its time in the limelight.
I’ve
been to Guelph dozens and dozens of times as my oldest brother lives there.
Guelph
has a brand new medical arts centre called Chancellors Way (www.cwmac.ca)
and it was built by Sierra Construction from this reporter’s hometown of
Woodstock
Guelph
has a unique downtown with its Our Lady Immaculate church (national historic
site) overlooking the main street of Macdonell.
Guelph’s
industry includes Sleeman brewery, and other major employers such as Linamar,
Polycon, Cargill and thousands employed at either the university or the
ministry of food and agriculture.
From
its city website, you can link to an important networking group called Connect
Guelph Business Directory.
The
River Run Centre attracts many top performers and there’s tons of shopping including
the currently-expanding Stone Road Mall.
Congratulations
to Guelph for its prestigious recognition.
If
you desire a lifestyle of living in a city of about 40,000 with all the amenities
you will ever want, and much lower houses prices than Guelph, give me a call
today for a tour of Woodstock.
LINKS:
http://news.uoguelph.ca/2017/04/u-g-ranked-among-worlds-top-agri-food-universities/
Mark Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist
(SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty
Independently Owned & Operated, Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter: markroyallepage
Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
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