Commuting to Sooke?

Little Hawk

Active Member
Thought I'd throw this out there for some advise from some of my fishin' Bro's.

My wife and I have been looking at houses in Sooke, among other places, E. Sooke, Metchosin etc.

I'm stoked about reducing my mortgage, getting more land and - very important - being closer to some of the best fishing holes on the planet.

We've seen a few places in Sooke that we really liked and although I'm from Vancouver originally and know what it's like to deal with traffic and a long commute each day, I'm a little anxious about having to commute from Sooke if my work (contractor/carpenter) takes me back into Victoria every day. I know lots of people do the drive every day and are happy; I've also talked to a few who have done it and would never do it again. I also know that building/construction is happening in the Western Communities and do plan to chase work out there as well.

Another thing is fuel costs. Currently I live near Tillicum Mall and my old diesel box-truck drinks about $100/smackers every 8 to 10 days. If my fuel costs triple (or worse) I need to take that into account as well. Maybe run propane.

I could do the drive I think to bring this welcome change to my lifestyle.

Any and all thoughts greatly appreciated.

Terry
 
Terry,

there's a few people in my office who do the commute.
be prepared to leave early in the a.m. (before 6:00am)
if coming into town otherwise the drive takes at least an hour.

Same for the commute home, if you don't leave Victoria before 3:00pm
it will take equally as long.
Now if you're working out west, no problem.

Scott
 
Hawk,
If you do decide to move to Sooke you won’t regret it. It is beautiful out here.
We moved here in ’06 after 24 years incarceration in Vancouver. Bought my first boat last year and now have plenty of land on which to store it!!
Commuted to Victoria for 4 years before retiring, but I had an office job so used to ride the bus. It was great because I could read, draft posts and e-mails on my laptop for sending later, sleep, whatever. MUCH cheaper than gassing up the truck all the time.
Not so easy in your line of business I know, but if you could store your equipment on or near your job sites it might be possible sometimes.
Anyway, the driving commute ain’t bad really. Not if you have commuted by car in London and Birmingham U.K. as I have it isn’t!!
 
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Depends on when you work really.... I do 9:30 to 5:30 and the drive isn't bad at all. Sooke to Colwood is never bad as there are no stops....unless a logging truck tips over.
Colwood to town is where is sucks sometimes.
I love it out here


P.S. Sooke is full ;) :p :D
 
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Terry,I live on the Gorge,i wouldn't have it anyother way 15-20 min.(by car)-town,lake, 40 min. to marina(east sooke)walk to shopping,strolls along the gorge,jigging off the bridge.When we get older i'm close to health care ,hospitals ect.Besides my wife grew up in a lrg.city & she'd go stir crazy out in the "bush" as she calls it.Rush hr. doesn't bother me i just wait till they're going the other way.;)...sammy

p.s failed to mention we bought our house years ago when house prices were a fraction of what they are today:D
 
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I moved out here over a year ago lived in vic for my entire life over 40 years I LOVE it out there way slower pace and more relaxing wish i did it many yeras ago.... very quiet and rural and still about 5 mins to the dock!!!!!!!

Wolf
 
'Cept it takes so long to do anything cause everyone is always yapping :D
 
Yup,I can see "fuzzies" sign on the side of the road before you hit "the miracle mile"... Thinking of buying or selling step into my shack o i mean office! by the way can i interest you in a lovely pre-owned Mobile home on the scenic side of Kaltasin Rd ;)...sammy
 
Too bad i just sold my place in Whiffen spit.. It is ok if you work in Sooke or West Shore but to commute everyday to town sucks. I now just keep my boat there and one day will look back at Sooke to retire. It is always 5 degrees colder in Sooke than town and the wind blows most nights. You have to pick your nights to sit out on the deck.. But everything has its pro's and con's you just have to weigh them.
 
For this Vancouver escapee, Sooke is awesome. Frankly the town itself has never been much of a draw, but can't beat the location ... at the doorway to outdoor fun. The commute isn't good though -- though as Englishman says, for those who bus it, can be some quality time.

You might want to consider saseenos area ... 10 mins closer to town, nice views, nice and rural, and maybe a few degrees warmer than west side.
 
Wow, bugger-off for a few hours an' all hell breaks loose. Thanks you guys for all your input.

Gotta' digest this... gotta' get smaller tools so I can carry'em on the bus; you already live in Gorge area and hate it (50ft wide lot, sick of listening to the ****-movie auditions outside my bedroom window at all hours from the one side and can't crank my old Zepplin albums for fear of pissing off the one on the other side), doorway to the great outdoors sounds appealing; driving an extra hour or more each day don't; but you are self-employed so you could start later and work later? Metchosin would be a good compromise I think. More money though.

A-a-a-a-a-g-g-g-g-h-h-h-h-h!
 
Terry whaaat move & miss the free nudie show:confused: :)...sammy
 
Hawk,
As F&S and JdeSooka imply there are definitely a noticeable variety of micro-climates around here. Saseenos (where I am :cool: is warmer and less windy than Sooke town. Wiffen spit area is windier and colder still, and Otter point area is even worse! Then it gets still worse further west beyond, with cold fog in August when the basin is in bright sun. The Silver Spray development just across from the spit on the East Sooke side is likewise shrouded in fog lots of the time in the summer.
P.S. I too love to crank my Zeppelin and Pink Floyd albums to the max. Cannot do that anywhere in town!!
 
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Hawk,
.
P.S. I too love to crank my Zeppelin and Pink Floyd albums to the max. Cannot do that anywhere in town!!

Screw the neighbours:p if they don't like Zepplin...play em some Yardbirds ...as for the other side try The Fugs"Golden Filth"
P.S if you don't like the fog or a want to see the light of day in winter... steer clear of the "hobbit hole"in east sooke...sammy
 
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It is always 5 degrees colder in Sooke than town and the wind blows most nights.

Yeah and in the winter its 5 degrees warmer. :p

Terry..... I guess it depends on who you are..... I love the drive to Sooke...
Pick Colwood and you still have the most annoying part of the drive..

Holmes* MyChosin is not far from here and I can't wait to blow this 120 buck gift card I have...... better yet, once I am stuffed I will enjoy to drive through East Sooke to get home.

LH, East Sooke... I would not like to live there, its a good haul to anywhere.. Unless there was a dock involved.
 
I gotta agree with Holmes ...

"Traffic" and "Rush hour" are relative.

I'm from Ontario, but have never lived through the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) traffic. I've been there for meetings, and if you think the Lower Mainland sucks (let alone the Island), you have another thing coming.

I live and work in Vancouver and my job takes me all over BC, but I have to chuckle when I hear about Victoria's "rush hour". I don't go as far as Sooke for business (but like to drive out that way and have even fished off Whiffen Spit), but between Victoria and Langford it's like 3 fricken lights!!!

My in-laws live in Victoria, and I have to bite my tongue when they complain about not wanting to drive "downtown" from the UVic area. Seriously, its 15 minutes max.

Not wanting to discount people's feelings and perspective, I have always told myself that if I don't want to live in an area where I have to spend long hours in the vehicle twice a day, I would bite the (financial) bullet and live closer to my work.

To me, it's a simple equation:

You have to balance where you want to live, with where you work, with the time you are willing to commute, with the trade-off between what you will get for the money and where, with what (and where) you want to spend your free time.

Put another way - Yes, I may want to live in Sooke where I can afford a house, but I don't want to spend the time commuting to work (assuming it's Victoria). How about living closer to Victoria, buying something smaller, but reducing your commute time and in essence, giving you more free time. Or, how about renting in Victoria and yes, you are not an owner, but do not have to worry about maintaining a house, have virtually no commute time, and have given yourself more free time.

I don't think I'm saying anything new here and personally, I would always live closer to work because free time is always limited.


My 2 $0.02 ...
 
May I suggest Campbell River? There's lots of fishing, lots of affordable homes, and lots of construction work. You could live the Sooke lifestyle with the Victoria job and no freaking commute at all. My commute is one of the best parts of my day up there: 20 mins on the bike along the water on a dedicated sea walk. While I generally prefer to keep the best parts of the Island secret, I don't mind telling you that north of Nanaimo is fantastic!
 
My commute back and forth is ok as I'm heading to Sooke at 4:30am and all I see are a few deer grazing in the ditches. On the way home I pass the endless lines of cars heading back to Sooke. What is a real ***** is when there is an accident or major construction. If Gillespie or Kangaroo can't be accessed then it can be a long wait going nowhere fast. I grew up on Gordons Beach and yes it is definitely cooler and windier very often out that way anytime after 1pm. Fog in summer sucks too, looks cool from the back hills looking down at the strait.
 
Great input here; all important considerations. Couldn't do CR, I'd go postal after gawking at all the fish farms or even just knowing they are so close by. I digress.

Maybe we could buy in Sooke and I'll dock my FMC (motorhome) in town and stay over 3 or 4 nights a week. Wife would love that; not!
There's 6.5 acres 5 mins up Otter Pt. Rd. from Sooke Center for $325/k. Tempting but we would have to build or throw a herd of mobiles on it.
 
Up that way LH the 5 degrees cooler thing kinda goes out the window.... There is a a noticeable temperature diff when you start getting to around the boneyard area.

The best part is all year fishing for whatever within a couple minutes
 
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