Having spent a few years in KW, I have a feeling it might be difficult to convince people to move there.

In the length of time I spend commuting to work in the morning, people in KW can drive to downtown Toronto to get some fun for the evening.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/University+of+Waterloo,+200+...

I wouldn't say 1h46m each way is something many people would want to do very often - why not just live in Toronto?

How long ago? I've been here 12 years (first school, now work), and it's changed a lot, almost all for the better. There's a decent arts/music scene, a dozen good restaurants, affordable housing, lots of new construction, light rail coming online next year.

Not much to do in Waterloo. It's good if you're introverted and just want to game/do projects/self-improvement after work, though. Which isn't that bad thinking about it.

This is a stark reality.

For a Canadian, Waterloo might be ok.

For most Americans, it would be like moving to Alaska.

I tried to hire into Waterloo, and for Americans, Canada in general is a really tough sell.

We brought in some Americans, most of them kept their homes in wherever.

We hired a bunch and let them live wherever, they flew in every few weeks.

It was far less than ideal.

That said, it might be better than many places in the US - but this is where California has such a massive advantage.

Agreed. Come to Canada. We have a sane immigration system and we don't have right-wing parties breathing down our necks to shut it down.

Nothing wrong with KW, but compared to Vancouver?

There isn't much to do there outside of work!

And all that time to fill up when you can afford to live ten minutes from work. I don't know how people cope.

Very true. I dislike places that only have food/restaurants in their list of why you'd want to visit there.

Tons to do in Toronto though and it's just a stone's throw away!

Agree that Toronto is lovely, but 113km is a curious definition for "stone's throw"... Especially given the 401's proclivity for stop-and-go traffic...

You can often make the trip in under an hour. Similar to the trip from Berkeley to SF!

I went to Waterloo for school and used to make the drive to TO regularly - under an hour is a very optimistic estimate that probably relies on some fortuitous celestial alignment.

In any case I also wouldn't describe Berkeley-SF as a "stone's throw" either...

Which is actually a great example - many a person has moved out of SF for Berkeley, because "I'll be around all the time, it's not that far" - only to be rarely seen again.

The "work/live in Loo, hang out in TO" thing is mostly theoretical, though I'm sure you can find a few people who actually do it.