Joanna Cobban loves her drive to work along country roads. She fills her half-hour commute singing along — loudly — with the likes of Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off.” It’s a direct contrast to her days being stuck in city traffic or crowded into the subway. “My commute takes me through farmland, and it is beautiful,” she says.

Cobban, who turns 30 next weekend, last year traded her hectic urban life in The 6 for Guelph, still a city with 120,000 people but smaller. She longed to return after graduating from the University of Guelph. Then, last year, she did and purchased a two-bedroom home where she lives with her dog Casey, a yellow Labrador/golden retriever mix.

Add it all up and Cobban is living in her dream location, in her own home, with the dog she wanted and a good job in her field as a senior business analyst with a major insurance company nearby.

“As a student in Guelph I loved the green spaces and the relatively laid-back atmosphere,” she says. “It’s beautiful, with a lake and great outdoor areas. There are a bunch of farmers’ markets close by and places like St. Jacobs have excellent bakeries. I have a motorcycle and a bike, and there are a lot of trails and back roads that I plan to explore this summer.”

Cobban previously worked and lived in Toronto. She also tried a stint London, England which turned out to be chaotic and too expensive. Back to Toronto.

“I always had the idea that I wanted to return to Guelph,” she says. “I had previously thought I might like to buy a condo. But I knew with Casey I wanted a house with a fenced backyard.”

“In the early spring of 2015 I started researching homes and quickly recognized I could afford Guelph while Toronto was out of my reach.”

Cobban’s two-bedroom, three-bathroom townhouse in the east part of Guelph, 100 kilometres west of the GTA, cost $310,000. It had the requisite yard, was relatively new and in good condition. “I decided that since the house didn’t require any major changes and would perfectly accommodate a roommate, as well as Casey, it would be a good choice.”

In choosing Guelph, Cobban’s move seems to go against the usual pattern of young adults heading to a major city for a career and relationship. Instead, she may be on the forefront of a different trend. John Meisen, president of the Ontario Homebuilders Association, is convinced that consumers want more in a home than condominium’s can offer. “My opinion is that people starting out and planning a life want a home with a yard and a white fence,’ he says.

“I’ve seen it happening. And as prices get too high in Toronto, people move to Waterloo and when those prices go up they migrate to Stratford and then they go further west to Bayfield.”

Andrew Scott, senior GTA market analyst with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., sees that in the data. “We know from Statistics Canada’s population census that Toronto loses people to other parts of Ontario. The most popular destinations (Census Metropolitan Areas) are Oshawa, Hamilton and Barrie.

“Kitchener/Waterloo, Guelph and St. Catharines also attracted a fair number. The age profile of those moving out of Toronto tend to be those between the age of 25-44,” Scott says.

“Many of these are families that have moved to these CMAs probably did so in order to find more affordable lowrise housing. Although some may be commuting, the advent of sophisticated telecommuting may be an influence,” he adds.

Adjusting to life in a smaller centre can be hard, but not for Cobban. “I hated having to get fully dressed and suited up in the middle of winter just to take the dog down and outside before work and before I went to bed,” she explains. “These days, in the morning I can walk Casey, shower and grab my breakfast and lunch and even watch a few minutes of CP24 Breakfast before I leave for work.”

Step 1 for meeting new people was archery class. “I’d wanted to take it up for a long time but never had the chance,” says Cobban. “Guelph has a lot of sports teams and I’ve already signed up for the axe-throwing league.”

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Her summer plans are all about being outdoors. “I am going to get another dog, a Labrador puppy, and we will be out on the trails and roads and in the parks, too.

“I loved Guelph as a student and I have never been happier than I am here,” she says. “I was very fortunate to get a good job nearby, and Casey and I are just perfect where we are. I had a lot of blind faith that it would work out,” she adds. “And luckily for me it did.”

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