Edmonton bound
Greetings patrons,
It’s time for another research update. In this letter, some big news. After 16 years in Toronto (20+ for my wife), my family and I are calling it quits. We’ve bought a house in Edmonton and are moving there in July.
Here’s why.
No more flying
For starters, all of our extended family lives in Western Canada. (I grew up in Stettler, Alberta. My wife grew up in Rossland, BC.) And so twice a year, we find ourselves flying west to see family. Of course the cost is annoying. And post-covid, the airport experience has been awful. But more importantly, we’ve become convinced that frequent flying is irresponsible from an environmental standpoint. So we’re happy to stop doing it.
Priced out
Next up, prices. You can’t talk about leaving Toronto without discussing the city’s growing unaffordability.
On that front, I have been consistently wrong about the Toronto housing market. When I moved to the city in 2007, I thought houses were overpriced then. And every year thereafter, I continued to think that Toronto houses were overpriced, and that the bust would soon come. But every year I was wrong. Prices kept going up. And so my wife and I had resigned to renting.
Now, the truth is that renting hasn’t been so bad. We’ve lived in the same house since 2008. The neighborhood is lovely. We’re a five minute walk from the subway. We’ve got lot’s of parks, lot’s of trees, and nice neighbors. In other words, there’s not much to complain about. Except that every year, our landlord hums and haws about selling the house.
And so every year, I head to the classifieds to see what’s out there to rent. Lately, that’s been depressing. You see, Ontario has rent control, which means that over the 15 years we’ve lived in our house, rent has remained reasonable. But in the wild world outside, rents have skyrocketed. Let’s put it this way: the amount we currently pay to rent our three bedroom house would, at today’s market prices, get us a one bedroom apartment. Ridiculous.
As this rental math has steadily headed south, the decision to move gradually became a no-brainer. Which brings me to today. It’s time to get out of Toronto. The only thing holding us here is our jobs. And those can be replaced.
Career tethers
Speaking of jobs, the nice thing about my work as a researcher is that I only need two things to go about my business: a computer and an internet connection. In other words, I can do my research from anywhere.
The harder part is getting paid for this done-anywhere work.
On that front, there are two traditional career options for non-tenured academics (like me). You can join the hoard of adjunct teachers. Or you can run on the postdoc treadmill. For the most part, I’ve avoided doing both.
I’ve abstained from adjunct teaching because it pays crap and it sucks up all your time, leaving little room for research. And I’ve (mostly) avoided the postdoc treadmill because it requires playing geographical hopscotch, jumping from temp position to temp position. Oh, and most positions pay you to do the PI’s research, not your own.
That said, for the last two years, I’ve been working as a postdoc at York University. It’s been wonderful. The pay is decent and the position allows me to do my own research. If the job was permanent, I’d do it forever. But of course, like all postdocs, the position is temporary. It ends this July.
So on the job front, things would be up in the air regardless of the move to Edmonton. And that’s okay. For the last 13 years, I’ve had a side hustle as a substitute high-school teacher. Teenager antics aside, the job is pleasant — one of the rare positions that pays okay and gives me time to do research. Over the short term, I expect to be doing more subbing in Edmonton. The bigger question is what to do long term.
On that front, only time will tell. For now, I can’t justify staying in Toronto for the slim chance of getting a tenure stream position at an Ontario university.
So it’s wagons west.
Thanks for the support
I realize that this letter has been more of a personal note than a research update. (Sorry for that.) I’ve got lot’s of research in the works, including a post about how interest rates affect the distribution of income. So stay tuned.
As always, I appreciate your support.
Cheers,
Blair