We took it! And we're happy. Not happy about moving, of course, and not happy to leave our little lakeside bungalow. But we feel great about the new place.
Any downsides to the new house fall under the category "inevitable". We're not going to find anything in Port Credit we can afford, and if we did, it would either be very old and unrenovated, which we don't want to do again, or stand a good chance of being sold soon, or both.
Chances of being in walking distance to a GO train are so slim as to not be a realistic criteria.
It's nearer the Milton line than the Lakeshore line, which I don't like. Lakeshore is the only GO line with service all day, seven days a week. However, we had forgotten that on the other lines, after train service ends, there are buses. We were imagining there were trains for the 9-5 commuters, then nothing. I can adjust to commuting by bus, especially since it's express from the Cooksville stop to Union Station.
So those are the only negatives - and they're easily discounted. Now for the many positives.
It's on a lovely, quiet street with large lots and space between the homes.
I find much of Mississauga really unattractive visually - huge, boxy high-rises or giant blocks of townhouses, all jammed together. This area is really pretty and spacious.
It's a semi-detached house (what New Yorkers would call a two-family house). The backyard is very big and completely private, and there's a walkout from the dining area.
The house is in immaculate condition - new windows (imagine, windows that open and shut! that will be a big change), beautiful hardwood floors, freshly painted. The rooms are spacious and the basement, where Allan will have his office, is in much better shape than our present basement.
When we moved into Elmwood Avenue, the house was structurally and functionally fine, but aesthetically, it was disgusting. Honestly, we couldn't believe anyone had been living in it in that condition. We did a lot of work to spruce it up. It was fun at the time, since we weren't working and were so excited to be there, but we really didn't want to do it this time. We wanted to find a place that was livable as-is. This is.
There's some shopping in walking distance, which is important to me, and all shopping in easy driving distance.
It's less than 10 minutes driving to the Cooksville GO station. I'm at work and can't post a map, but if you look at the map of Mississauga, it's south of Burnhamthorpe, between Hurontario and Cawthra, near both Mississauga Valley Road and Central Parkway, in an area called Mississauga Valley. It's very green - there are lots of parks, and even part of the Waterfront Trail along Cooksville Creek.
It's $100 less per month than we're paying now.
It's available as long as we want it.
Allan will tell us if I missed anything!
We've already put down a deposit - exactly one week after getting the bad news.
We move January 2.
Thanks - as always - for your advice and support.
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