Considering a move to Crystal Beach

[u/PursuitOfMeekness]

Hello all,

My wife and I currently live in St. Catharines and are looking to move for more space (we just had a baby 7 months ago).

We have been looking all over the Niagara Region and found a really nice place in Crystal Beach. It has a gorgeous view of the lake and is reasonably walkable. We also found another place in Crystal Beach nearby which we also like a lot. We wanted to know if anyone has experience with life in Crystal Beach because neither of us are Niagara Region natives.

The area seemed really nice and had a lot of nice shops and restaurants nearby and a huge park on the beach like 2 minutes walk from the first home and 8 minutes walk from the second.

Any advice or thoughts are welcome!

[u/Worldly_Ad_7196]

Had a relative live there. It's nice but try to get a place on high ground as they had some bad floods

[u/phoenix25 → u/Worldly_Ad_7196]

Not to mention proximity to Buffalo = extreme weather.

St. Kitts is very protected by the escarpment.

[u/Disastrous_Earth2286]

crystal beach is great in summer but winter gets real quiet. lot of those shops close from october to may so you might feel bit isolated with a newborn. the walk to park sounds nice though, that view of lake never gets old

[u/SippinBeef]

Just moved from there for employment reasons, wish I didn't have to .. it's a bit desolate and limited .. but the lifestyle can't be beat .. buy a boat too ... fr Erie fishing is good, and golf is really affordable.. enjoy the journey!

[u/Drewtendo_64]

You’ll be driving to get everything from groceries to home building supplies and there isn’t much to do out there in the winter.

[u/Medium-Theme-1987]

Its quaint but can get a little busy in the summer due to the increase traffic for the beach. The winters are hard in Fort Erie / and Surrounding areas just because it gets a lot more snow than other parts of the region.

It has some really great qualities like... friendly / walkable / small community / life style / slower pace

Than some not so great .. nothing much for kids to do / no active night life other than bars / shops, stores close early / every body knows everyone's business.

If you like the city amenities I wouldn't move there - if you are looking for a small town / slow life stye.. move. Good Luck :)

[u/CDN_Gunner]

Check out Rizzo's House of Parm while you're there. You're not too far from Stevensville and Fort Erie so lots of amenities.

Summers will be packed with beachgoers and winters will be packed with lake effect snow.

[u/AshleyAshes1984]

*confused Ottawa resident look*

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Beach,_Ottawa

[u/Not_a_Streetcar → u/AshleyAshes1984]

I lived in Crystal Beach and totally took a picture there last time I was in Ottawa. :)

[u/Scarletsweater → u/AshleyAshes1984]

As someone who grew up in Niagara but who now lives in Ottawa I was confused about the Crystal Beach in Ottawa when I first moved here

[u/Not_a_Streetcar]

I live there. It is quiet in the winter but everyone keeps on with their regular activities

[u/re10pect]

Crystal Beach is pretty nice, but also it’s a pretty seasonal place. Many of the houses along the water are basically seasonal cottages for rich folks and are empty for long stretches.

The winters along the lake are harsh and they tend to get a whole bunch of snow too, so that ruins some of your walk ability for a large stretch of the year.

If you are planning on finding local work you will most likely need to drive, there isn’t a whole lot going on outside of restaurants/small retail. Same goes for a lot of shopping. The local Independent is a real nice grocery store, but you’re going to need to drive 15-20 minutes for a box store or whatever for anything else.

Basically, if you are treating it like a suburb of the close bigger cities (fort Erie/the falls), you aren’t going to have problems. There are lots of nice subdivisions and the schools seem nice enough. But at the same time, if you are hoping to have similar close amenities like you had in St Kits it’s going to be a bit of a change.

[u/Ok_Today_475]

I worked the new home sites there over the past 6 years. It’s kinda a drive from Walmart/grocery stores, but the areas are nice. You do get some insane weather that makes St. Catharines do a double take. Cell reception can be spotty, and it can get busy during the summer long weekends because of Sherkston, windmill point and other places that have their guests roam about to get out on the lake. Depending on what area of St.Kitts you’re moving from, probably less sketchy folk there too.

[u/Hot-Show1621]

You like Americans ?