Have you ever been to Chatham, ON?

[circle33]

I voted yes. Played baseball there in 1979. Does that count? Very nice pictures.

[Blitz]

Been there many times. It has a very nice downtown that is often overlooked because it's kind of tucked away. The fact that the former city of Chatham merged with all of Kent County into one enormous municipality makes no sense....wish it was still it's own city. Has its share of grittiness but that's par for the course in the extreme Southwest. Nice to see it growing again after years of stagnation. Thanks for sharing the great pics.

[rousseau]

Searched my posts for "Chatham" and found this: https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...6&postcount=56

Wonder if the prices are still the same as in 2014? Probably not.

[Architype]

No, I haven't been to that part of S.O. yet, Niagara Falls is as far south as I've been in Canada. I didn't think there was much to see there, but the pics in this thread look very nice.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Architype

No, I haven't been to that part of S.O. yet, Niagara Falls is as far south as I've been in Canada. I didn't think there was much to see there, but the pics in this thread look very nice.

I was eager to stand on the most southern point of mainland Canada (Point Pelee), hence my visit to the area, I've also been to Cape Spear in NL, and hope to someday get to the YT/Alaska frontier too. Alas, it will be quite difficult to also get to Canada's most northerly point too.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by svlt

That bit of southwestern Ontario from Chatham down to Leamington seems like a nice geographic place to live, a warm (for Canadian standards) climate right by Lake Erie, yet a bit further from all the industrialization along the Detroit river. I've always wondered why it's so undeveloped and relatively unpopulated.

That is a good question. Considering how Canada's population tends to hug the southern boundary, it's interesting that this southernmost of all parts of Canada is so sparsely populated relative to its surroundings.

On the surface you would think that area holds pretty strong appeal... as you say, mild climate with barely-there winters, close to major Ontario cities, close to the US. Not bad.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by esquire

That is a good question. Considering how Canada's population tends to hug the southern boundary, it's interesting that this southernmost of all parts of Canada is so sparsely populated relative to its surroundings.

On the surface you would think that area holds pretty strong appeal... as you say, mild climate with barely-there winters, close to major Ontario cities, close to the US. Not bad.

Probably too close to the American border in the heavy immigration era post-1812. By the time that was no longer an issue, Toronto had the critical mass to suck up most of the population. Would've been interesting if Windsor had developed into a larger city and you had a true cross-border metropolis on the Detroit River.

[JHikka]

I think we had a discussion on this about a year ago or so on why SW Ontario wasn't as developed as it theoretically should be. I can't really recall what the result was but my question mostly revolved around why the US side had a number of cities on Lake Erie (Buffalo, Erie, Cleveland, Toledo) but Canada had none.

[MolsonExport]

There are few good ports on the Canadian side of Lake Erie, which is very shallow. Also, SW Ontario is a detour from the traditional east-west orientation of Canada. Crossing Canada, you typically would not go through SW Ontario.

[MolsonExport]

Southwestern Ontario is actually quite heavily populated, depending on how it is defined. Windsor, London, and KWC are sizeable cities in their own right. Plus you have Guelph, Woodstock, Brantford (I think?), St. Thomas, Stratford, Leamington, Sarnia, and Chatham.

[jonny24]

We usually go to Chatham most years for rugby. Great bunch of guys down there and it's always a great time, although it means I've been in the legion 5 or 6 times and never any restaurants lol.

The downtown is very nice. That overall look is pretty typical of most SWO small town but it's just that step bigger than most. Part of that may be from missing out on some "modernizing" that happened in other places.

Boring AF to get to though. Have they made that stretch 110 yet? The 402 to Sarnia is 110 which is great, means I can go 140 instead of 130. I enjoy being surrounded by farmland as much as the next guy but driving through dead flat fields for hours is mind numbing.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by jonny24

We usually go to Chatham most years for rugby. Great bunch of guys down there and it's always a great time, although it means I've been in the legion 5 or 6 times and never any restaurants lol.

The downtown is very nice. That overall look is pretty typical of most SWO small town but it's just that step bigger than most. Part of that may be from missing out on some "modernizing" that happened in other places.

Boring AF to get to though. Have they made that stretch 110 yet? The 402 to Sarnia is 110 which is great, means I can go 140 instead of 130. I enjoy being surrounded by farmland as much as the next guy but driving through dead flat fields for hours is mind numbing.

It's 100 still. I suspect the PCs will bump most 400 series highways to 110 next spring as an election ploy (The 2 year "pilot" on the 402/417/QEW ends in a few months, and they will probably take a few additional months to "analyze" the results).

[esquire]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Southwestern Ontario is actually quite heavily populated, depending on how it is defined. Windsor, London, and KWC are sizeable cities in their own right. Plus you have Guelph, Woodstock, Brantford (I think?), St. Thomas, Stratford, Leamington, Sarnia, and Chatham.

I was thinking moreso once you get SW of London... there aren't really any major cities there until you get to the border towns. Based on its location, Chatham seems like the kind of place you'd expect to be around 250,000 in population.

[le calmar]

While it looks like an interesting area, the one thing that could potentially prevent me from living there is the apparent prevalence of conservatism in about everything. I can’t speak for myself as I have never lived there myself, but stories I hear make it sound the place is full of hillbillies. Not sure how truly representative of the locals those stories are though. Coincidence or not, the one MPP who refused to get vaccinated for personal reasons is from that area.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by le calmar

While it looks like an interesting area, the one thing that could potentially prevent me from living there is the apparent prevalence of conservatism in about everything. I can’t speak for myself as I have never lived there myself, but stories I hear make it sound the place is full of hillbillies. Not sure how truly representative of the locals those stories are though. Coincidence or not, the one MPP who refused to get vaccinated for personal reasons is from that area.

yes, this is a problem. When I first moved to London (from Montreal), 16 years ago, the bible-thumping conservatism was apparent. It has become much less pronounced as the proportion of minorities and immigrants has doubled, or maybe even tripled, in my time here, and my neighborhood has gone from 90% white to 50:50 white:visible minority.

That is not the case for Chatham, and most of the smaller towns in the Western part of SW Ontario; which are still very 'churchy' and dominated by rural sensibilities (partly because the population is growing older: there is a brain drain of young folk to the big cities, while the old folk grow older and proportionately more prevalent).

[esquire]

With bigger cities you get more cosmopolitanism... the conservatism may be a symptom of the somewhat low population of the area.

[lio45]

I've been once, but that's only because mechanical problems while on my QC-TX run forced me to exit the 401 where I was and find the nearest city. Chatham's Canadian Tire isn't downtown and I don't recall having to pass through the downtown to go to it (and later that day, back to the 401).

The actual poll answer for me is "yes", though to a slightly different question that's more in the spirit of what I think flar is asking ("Has Chatham ever managed to attract you for its merits and pull you off the 401 for a visit?") it would be "no".

Nice pics tho

(Seriously! )

My new gf doesn't speak any English otherwise Extreme SWO would be among my top relocation choices in the country.

[MolsonExport]

HSR/HFR in SW Ontario would be a complete game changer. Just imagine the prospect of hourly trains to Toronto (and to Windsor/Detroit) that whisk you to your destination in less than one hour, and within 3 hours to Montreal/Ottawa.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by lio45

My new gf doesn't speak any English otherwise Extreme SWO would be among my top relocation choices in the country.

there are far more french-speakers around these parts than in Maple Creek, that other balmy part of Canada.

Windsor actually had a decent sized french-speaking population for many decades. You can see the evidence in the names of many major thoroughfares.

We have more than a few educated French Canadians here in London, due to the university and huge hospital complex.

[ssiguy]

Chatham is a bit rough around the edges but it's downtown is lovely and the city has a great variety and collection of historic homes and buildings. The rest of the country, also has a lot of pleasant and attractive towns with the notable exception of it's second largest population centre of Wallaceburg.

The area was one of the first to be explored and settled and is also home to a very unique history due to being the termination of the Underground Railroad. Hence Dresden's Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Buxton area that still is home to small pockets of residential where the people who live there are still 100% slave escapees.

The area also benefits from Ontario's mildest climate and only 85cm of snow per year which is why it has become a retirement mecca combined with it's {although fast rising} still cheap real estate.