at the paisley and silvercreek intersection there’s a dead-end because of the train tracks there. years and years ago, my friends and i used to go through the opening that was there to ride our bikes down that road. does anyone happen to know if you can still get through there or has it been closed up? it wasn’t a cut hole someone made, it was deliberately a way through. wasn’t sure anymore considering all that’s been going on with people on tracks recently. hoping to take a literal trip down memory lane with my new bike! TIA

I posted this question to the Stratford community, and many suggested I look at Guelph as well.

We're a family of four (two little kids under 4), and a dog and are currently living downtown in the heart of the city. Husband has been born and raised here, and I moved here 11 years ago. We've been feeling 'priced out' for a while, but recently, things have started to feel dangerous too. A mentally ill woman assaulted and randomly pepper-sprayed my husband and 3yr old daughter in a Shopper Drug Mart unprovoked. Police were called, but she got away before they arrived. There was a double stabbing two streets over from where we live, fights are constantly breaking out in the subway, drug use rampant in children's parks to the point where we have found needles in the wood chips.

I could go on, but all that is to say, it's feeling untenable raising young children here, and my daughter has started having night terrors ever since the Shoppers Drug Mart incident. We've been thinking about moving for a while, but it seems like now is the time to really do it. We both work remotely, so we can move anywhere in Ontario but are looking for a family-friendly place, liberal-leaning, which feels safer than Toronto lol.

My questions are:

1. What is it like for young kids in Guelph?
2. We are a mixed race, mixed religion household. Frankly speaking, what is the level of 'openness' and acceptance in the city?
3. What is the social scene for millennials raising kids? We'd know nobody there, would we be able to make a community?
4. Are there any neighbourhoods we should stay away from?
5. Would you move here, if you were from elsewhere?
6. What are winters like there?

Thanks!!!

Two men - one looked like a student and the other looked 50+. From what I saw, other than spitting, it didn’t get explicitly physical but still looked very heated/concerning.

U of G student offering restaurant photo enhancement
Hey Guelph! I’m a Biomedical Engineering student at U of G with a Business minor, and I started Tableline to help earn money toward tuition.

I improve restaurant food photos for menus, social media, and delivery apps while keeping the actual dish true to the original.

I’d love to offer local restaurants 4 free sample photo transformations so you can see the difference before deciding on anything.

If you own or know a local restaurant that might be interested, check out @tableline.ca on instagram.
Thanks 🙏

Best place to get car windows tinted in the area? Looking for somewhere people have used personally and can vouch for the work done! Would also appreciate any pricing info if you remember what you paid. Thanks!!

I think it's a good idea to support the homeless population but I am getting a little tired of seeing near daily street parties right outside of the building and don't think they should be enabled to do so. It's right down the road from the police station ffs. Today for example I was just walking to Mcdonalds at 8:30 am to get a coffee, and a bagel. There were a couple dozen people drinking, listening to music on a big speaker, and some visibly smoking a crack pipe out in the open. When I was a teenager back in the day I got in trouble and parents were involved when I got caught smoking weed with some friends at riverside park on Canada day. I know that is legal now but when did we decide to stop caring about hard drug usage? It's not fair to anybody

Hey everyone! I've posted a few threads on this topic over the past while asking about various cities outside of Toronto and the GTA — Waterloo, Whitby, Burlington, Oakville — and the responses have been incredibly helpful. Now we are finally turning my attention to Guelph.

The more research I do, the more I keep hearing amazing things — the community vibe, great schools, the university energy, the café scene, etc. Honestly, it wasn't even on our radar until recently and now I'm genuinely curious why we overlooked it for so long.

A little about us: Early 30s couple, both fully remote with occasional travel. We love checking out cafes, going on occasional dates, spending time outdoors, and we're looking to settle somewhere with a nice house and hopefully start a family. We want something chill, connected, and not Toronto prices.

For anyone living in Guelph right now, would love your honest take on:

• Overall city vibe — how does it feel day to day to actually live there?
• Things to do — events, activities, things that make weekends enjoyable
• Outdoors — trails, hiking, green spaces. From what I've seen this looks promising but would love first-hand insight
• Food diversity — Chinese, Indian, Italian, etc. Is there a solid food scene for a mid-size city? Same for grocery stores, we very much appreciate cooking all kind of foods
• The one thing you don't like — if you had to pick just one, what would it be? This one is just as important to me as everything else. From what we have reading the growth in homelessness is looking like an issue?

Appreciate any honest opinions — good and bad. Thanks in advance!

I was wondering if any local Ukrainian churches sell perogies? Or anywhere to get an authentic perogie?

Hey everyone, I’m 19 years old, just graduated high school and have some hands on mechanical experience. I want to become a millwright and I decided to go the apprenticeship route but I have no idea how to get started. Most job postings I see on Indeed are for journeymen only, nothing for apprentices.

For those of you in the trade how did you get your first apprentice job?

Any advice helps!

Considering building an ADU here in Guelph. Has anyone built one in here and what was the experience with your contractor (or DIYing it) and the city?

I'm wanting to hear about other's experiences getting the post-exposure rabies vaccine in Guelph.

Last Wednesday I woke up to find a bat in my bedroom under my bed. After getting it out I got the first dose of 4 shots at the ER, but then Wellington Public Health called me and said I apparently didn't need the rest because I didn't have any obvious bite marks.

Everything else I read online says that if you wake up with a bat in the room you should get the vaccine because bites/scratches can be small and rabies has a 100% fatality rate. I'm wondering if anyone has information on the process or getting a second opinion on this in Guelph, not a fan of risking my life so the gov can save some money on shots.

Update: Called public health back and convinced them to continue the vaccine series. Thanks for all the advice!