Hi I was thinking about to moving to Windsor Ont. Employment is just as grim here as in Windsor. But that really doesn't matter to much. I've seen houses that are really nice for 50-75. That can be brought for 40-50K. So I will be mortgage free and i'll have money to spare to start a business. That is the plan. I been down twice and driven around. The East End seems nice. West End seems abandon. There is road with all abandon houses which looks scary. Kinda of like Detroit. Accept in Detroit you buy a house for 500 bucks. All though you would need you head examined to live there. I love the fact the US is so close and I find Detroit really interesting in kinda of escape from NY way LOL. Windsor Feels like a gated community in someways. So I want to hear what it is good and what is bad. Where are the best areas to buy. cheap safe areas. I keeping wondering Is Windsor rough. I've heard all sorts of tales. Like American Teens come over to behave badly. I heard that Windsor is going like Detroit. people are leaving in the droves. Also most of the house on MLS are empty. I found this website by chance and thought I'd asked from people who really live in Windsor what is like. It really the last chance for me in Canada otherwise I'm heading home. I not look for definitive answer. Just opinions

Windsor isn't any different than most other cities. There's good areas and bad areas. There's certainly good deals in housing right now. I dunno if a 40-50K house is such a deal - it's gotta have problems. Old furnaces, wiring, plumbing, shingles, windows, little insulation and on and on. We might be getting close to 40K right there over time to make the place decent. I'd be worried about mold in a house that has been empty for any amount of time unheated.

A good chunk of Windsor is old and housing stock in decent areas can be between 40-100 years old. It's different in Lasalle and Tecumseh because it's newer.

The empty houses in the West end by the bridge is a result of a long standing dispute between the Bridge and the City. That area is also high rental with the University being right there. I don't think I'd buy a house I could put on a Visa
card.

Detroit being right there is great. Hop on a bus and go to see the Wings, Tigers, Lions live theatre and some damn good
restaurants. Getting into the States can be a pain, you need a passport and if you have a criminal record they know. Don't lie!

The drunk American teen thingy isn't that much an issue anymore. Americans need a passport to get back into the States
too. Not many 19 year old drunk Americans have passports it seems. The good thing is that the bars are starting to
cater to us older folks. I hope it works for them but it's a work in progress.

Other than that Windsor is good place to live if one isn't worried about their workplace shutting down. The rules are the
same as anywhere else. If it looks too good to be true.... If a neighborhood looks like crap, it likely is.

Where are you moving from?

Thanks...

London Ontario. I'm sick of London. I need a change. Employment is about the same. I want to sell my house here and be mortgage Free. I most likely going income and have a small mortgage.



Well some of these house seam pretty decent. The ones look I've look at vary from need lots of work until none at all. Some just cosmetic. What are area's are your favorite.

What sort of business are you thinking about starting up?. There's lots of nice towns and cities to choose from across Ontario. Is there any particular reason why you're considering Windsor?. I'm not familiar with their house prices or cost of renting... but I would ask myself whether it's a place you'd want to start up a business. Are you going to have a constant flow of customers in a place where there's high unemployment?. I'm not saying that it's a good or bad place to invest. I'm really not familiar with Windsor. But these would be questions I'd be asking if I were planning to start up a business there.

The Greater Toronto Area might be a good place to start a business (depending on what you're doing). The only problem is that everything is so damn expensive here. A lot of business is moving to the communities outside of Toronto. Housing is expensive in this neck of the woods and taxes not much better.

If I had the extra money... I'd be moving out to Eastern Ontario. Beautiful countryside and houses are a hell of a lot cheaper!.

A restaurant. Price mainly. I can own a place out right thus be mortgage free or have a very tiny one. I only need to make a few bob. I want a small restaurant. No more than 20 seats with takeaway. I've lived in Toronto. Scarborough and the Beaches. Kingston and London. I have also travel all over Canada and the US doing shows for the last 8 years. I like Windsor. Because it so close to America and I travel a lot in the states.

Many of the high end restaurants downtown are struggling or closing but something like a neighborbood restaurant with good food at reasonable prices could do okay. With things the way they are--eating out is a real treat and to find a nice place and get value for what you can afford(which isn't much right now)might be a good way to go. One thing you should consider is to not talk to your customers the way you started out here--telling them everything they did wrong-get to know them first or you won't have customers for long.

That's what I'm thinking. It's only going to be small and cozy. No more than 20 seats. Just a nice place to chill. B/C I will be almost if not mortgage free. So I should have very little over heads.



Been in the business for two long for that. You'd be surprised at how many customers try to suggest how to run business on the first day. The trick is too listen and take what they say into account and think about what they saying and try not to dis them out of hand.

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Been in the business for two long for that. You'd be surprised at how many customers try to suggest how to run business on the first day. The trick is too listen and take what they say into account and think about what they saying and try not to dis them out of hand. [/quote]


That was my point--respect goes both ways.

Thanks I'm touch you care so much.

Suggestion: It'd be nice to have a diner-type hangout after hours. Especially towards the east-end.
I play in a local cover band and most of my friday and saturday nights/mornings (after work, 2:30 - 3:00am) are spent picking up fast-food and a Timmy's coffee and going home to eat.
When I lived in Detroit, the bands, friends, bar employees, bar patrons and anyone else awake at that time was sitting in a Coney Island, drinking coffee, eating food, having a great time till 5am. The only thing we have in Windsor that remotely resembles that (besides everything that's downtown) would be the Husky truck stop and that's out of most ppls way.
A well placed restaurant (near the Tec Mall area) that, like you said, serves good food for a reasonable price, is a great idea. Stay open on Fridays and Saturdays till 4:30 - 5am and you'll have no competition. Not to mention every hungry person on the east-end, Tecumseh, Belle River, etc.