Do you want to know the pros and cons of living in Pickering Ontario? I give you all of the pros and cons of Pickering Ontario so you know before you move.

If you’re looking to move to Pickering Ontario, you definitely need to have the right Real Estate Agent working with you to secure your home. Be sure to reach out to me before you make that move to Pickering!

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[Transcript]

Hey everyone. This video is all about the pros and cons of living right here in Pickering, Ontario. So stay tuned.Hope you're doing well. My name is Rochelle Manguino. I'm the creator of living in Toronto, and I'm also a local real estate agent with EXP Realty right here in Pickering Ontario. And if this is your first time to my channel, and you want to know everything about living, working, and having fun in the greater Toronto area, then make sure to hit that subscribe button and notification bell so that you get notified every time I drop a new video. So today I'm gonna keep it brutally honest with you. I'm gonna tell you all about the pros and the cons of living in Pickering, Ontario, which is part of the greater Toronto area. I have lived in the GTA my whole life. And so I'm excited to share it with you, all of the positives and the negatives about living in Pickering, Ontario. I'm gonna that be completely honest with you. I'm also gonna tell you about a personal hidden gem of mine that nobody ever talks about. I can't believe nobody's ever mentioned this place before in other YouTube videos that I've watched. So make sure you watch all the way till the end, because I'm gonna expose this hidden gem of mine at the end of this video, but for now, let's start off with the cons of living in Pickering.

So the first con about living in Pickering Ontario is that there is no real downtown area, at least not in your traditional sense. So there's no, you know, collection of restaurants and shops with a whole bunch of people where you can walk to different places. It's not like that. What Pickering does have is a, an inner city center essentially is a main shopping mall, which is the Pickering town center. And then right across the street from that is the city hall. So that is what sort of makes up the city center of Pickering. But you don't have that traditional downtown area that you think of one, someone says, oh, downtown, however, The city of Pickering does have developmental plans to transform the city center into the state of the art modern revamped city center. So they have plans to develop three condo buildings, including a 50 story apartment building. So right now in the city center, you don't have any high rises that are that tall. So that's gonna be a huge addition. You're gonna see an influx of a lot of new residents in Pickering. There might be a buildup of traffic, which is another con that you can add to the list. But it's really going to revamp and transform the city center. There's also going to be a combined seniors and youth center so that if you have seniors or youth in your family, you can drop them off. There are gonna be programs that they can partake in lots of activities for them to do. Just basically keeping them busy and social and active, but they also have building a performance arts center. So if you're into the arts, then that'll be the place for you and connecting these three buildings. So the senior and youth center, the library and the performing arts center, right in the middle of that, they have a public square. So this public square is going to be sort of like a meeting space, a gathering space.You're gonna have events there, any parties that you wanna host, or if you just wanna meet up with your friends or family at somewhere central, then this public square are, is where you want to go. And what the city also wants to do is make use of all of the public space that they have that hasn't been developed on. So it's not like Toronto where you have no more land and is a reason why home prices are so high is because there's nothing to build on. Whereas in Pickering, which is not too far from Toronto here, you've got a lot of usable land. And so builders, developers, the city's basical going to develop on that land. So that you can thereby create a more bustling, connected and vibrant, actual downtown area. So even though there is no downtown area right now in Pickering, the developmental plans are really a promising vision for Pickering and is going to allow the city to have that central downtown space where people can come together, get connected party, eat well, live well, and just have on together.

All right. Number two, the second con of living in Pickering is that Pickering really does have high property tax. So compared to Toronto or other parts of the GTA housing in Pickering is generally more affordable. However, the property tax rates are kind of ridiculous because if you look at the 2021 tax rates in Pickering, it was at 1.8%.Compared to only 0.6% in the city of Toronto. So almost double the property or even more than double the property tax rates in Toronto. So it's a give and take, you know, you're gonna spend a lot more on housing in Toronto. But you're gonna spend a lot more on property taxes in Pickering. So while this may not be a factor that makes or breaks your decision to actually move to Pickering, it is an important consideration, especially if you're looking to buy a home in Pickering.

Now, the third con of living in Pickering is that there is a nuclear power plant in Pickering. It's right on the water. And even though part of the good thing about having a power plant in the city is that it creates a lot of jobs for the residents and outside of Pickering as well. But it really is an eyesore because it's located right on the pickering waterfront. So on the shores of lake Ontario, and it can be kind of an eyesore it's, you know, aesthetically, it's not that pleasing to look at. Say you're enjoying a day at the beach with your family, or you're just going for a walk on the waterfront trail, that site of the Pickering generation plant isn't the most pleasing, but if you can just sort of ignore it and put it on the side of your eye and really go about enjoying your day, then it really isn't that big of a deal.

Now I'm gonna get into the pros of living in Pickering, which I'm really excited about because I do still have that hidden gem that I wanna tell you guys all about all the way at the end of this video. So make sure you keep watching, but for now, if you are getting value out of this video so far, then make sure you subscribe to my channel. And like I said earlier, hit the notification bell as well, so that you get notified every time I drop a new video. All right, now let's get into the pros of living in Pickering. So the number one con of living in Pickering is that housing is affordable. So anyone that knows anything about housing and affordability in the greater Toronto area knows that the city of Toronto is very expensive. The average price of a home in Toronto right now is over a million dollars, which is insane. However, when I talk about affordability in Pickering, I'm just talking in relatives terms. So yes, I'm saying that Pickering is generally more affordable than other parts of the GTA. But, I mean, we can all agree that altogether it's pretty expensive to live in the greater Toronto area. So I'm just talking about Pickering and the home prices relative to other cities in the area. So keep that in mind. So I do have this other video up here that talks about the different neighborhoods inside Pickering and the different average price points inside those neighborhoods. So that if you are looking to move to Pickering, then check out that video be because it'll give you a really good breakdown of the types of homes that you can get depending on your budget, what they look like. You get a visual view of the streets, the styles of homes, and you really get a good feel of what it's like to live in Pickering and sort of housing options available to you.

Now, the second pro of living in Pickering is your proximity to Toronto. And in terms of actual distance, Pickering is only 40 kilometers away from Toronto. So highway 401, that's gonna be your direct route from Pickering to Toronto, that would be your fastest route regularly, but there are, there's always traffic there that causes major delays. And it doesn't matter. Like it's not just during rush hour where you can come across this traffic. I've driven down highway 401 several times. And every single time there's always traffic. I could be driving on a Monday afternoon at 2:00 PM or it could be a Sunday night at two o'clock in the morning. And there's still gonna be traffic, especially around the Yorkdale mall area. So that part of the 401 that's where you can really see a lot of delays. So that's just something to keep in mind. That is a con. And I know that I'm talking about the pros right now, but a small little caveat, like I said, is that even though you are close to Toronto, It's still gonna be a ways to get there because of all the traffic on the 401.

So the largest employer in the city right now is, um, and I actually mentioned the before is the Pickering nuclear generating station right now. They actually employ over 4,500 people. So there's a ton of opportunity there. If you were looking to work in that field, there's also, and it's not in Pickering, but it's a very, very short distance away, which is the Amazon warehouse that they just recently built in Ajax. So Ajax borders Pickering, it's another small town, not too far from the city where you can easily access so that if you wanted to work in that industry, there's a lot of job opportunities at Amazon. And then in terms of future employment opportunities, what they're building right now in the heart of Pickering is called Durham live. This is something that's going to be huge for the city. It's going to attract a lot of tourists because it is such a big project that is happening right now. Inside Pickering, Durham live is a casino. It's a five star hotel. It's an amphitheater. It's film studios, an indoor water park, residential apartments, including 150 affordable housing units. There's gonna be restaurants shops. An office tower, a convention center, you name it, the list goes on and on and on. It is a huge multiplex commercial area that they're really going to try and expand and bring in more tourists to Pickering, which is great because if you want to come to Pickering and start your own business, then on the Durham live grounds, they are going to offer over a million square feet of leasing opportunities so that you can expand your business. You have a place to grow altogether. They're predicting that Durham live is going to create over 10,000 jobs for residents in the area. So it's really exciting.

All right. And I have a bonus for you guys. This is my number four or my bonus pro of living and Pickering that I really wanna address, which is the outdoor living in Pickering. So Pickering is actually located on the shores of lake Ontario. And so naturally you're gonna get a lot of recreational activities that you can do. Living on a waterfront city. So for example, along the shores, there's an area called Frenchman's bay, which is really popular. There's a boardwalk, there's a launch pad where you can bring your canoes, your kayaks, and just take it for a ride out on the water.There's also a lot of biking and hiking and walking trail else in the area. I like to go very regularly. It is a very, um, you know, I take my family with me. We go on these trails all along the city. If you wanna walk along everywhere, if you wanna take your bike, if you wanna go rollerblading, if you wanna walk your dog, you wanna walk your kids.You wanna walk for yourself, enjoy the outdoors. Enjoy the natural beauty. There are tons of trails everywhere. Now my personal hidden gem that I wanted to tell you guys about is Petticoat Creek. So this is my bonus place that only you guys are gonna get to know about, because honestly, I don't think this place is talked about enough. It is very underrated in my opinion. And so I'm so excited to share this place with all of you guys, if you are thinking about moving or living in Pickering then this is definitely a place that you wanna check out. So Petticoat Creek is this conservation area where they have a huge pool and slides, and it's just like a mini wild water kingdom. If you guys know that amusement park, it's just really nice. And it's really affordable to get in there, to spend the day with your family, with your kids, or even just hang out by the pool on your own, their picnic areas. I believe there are volleyball nets where you can even, you know, catch a game, bring some people together and play some sports there. But like I said, it is a conservation area, but one of the nicest conservation areas that I've seen in the greater Toronto area, nobody ever talks about it. I have no idea why, but I'm here to tell you guys all about it because I really think that it is underutilized. I don't want too many people to know about it because I don't want it getting too crowded. But honestly, it's just, it's my hidden gem. I love it. Definitely check it out. It is absolutely gorgeous. So although there are some cons to living in Pickering, which I already mentioned. If the pros outweigh those cons for you, when you're considering moving to the city, then give me a call. I would love to help you out and show you all the benefits and the disadvantages more in detail. I can answer any questions that you have about living in Pickering. I would love to help you purchase your next home inside pickering or wherever in the greater Toronto area you decide to move. Also, don't forget to subscribe to my video so that you can learn everything that you need to know about buying or selling in the greater Toronto area. I drop a new video every single week. So make sure you also hit the notification bell so that you get notified every time I do drop a new video. I've been helping buyers, sellers, and all over the GTA for the last seven years. And I would love to help you purchase your next home as well. So give me a call again my name is Rochelle Manguino. Thank you so much for watching this video and I'll see you guys at the next one.