BEST PLACE TO LIVE NR FRASER VALLEY?

[fmmcneil]

We are planning on spending up to 3 months a year in Canada, to be able to visit my son and family. We live in the UK. He lives in Abbotsford BC. We have visited and love Canada, but don't know the best place to live. We don't like Abbotsford enough to want to live there, but we want to be within travelling distance.
We love the mountains and beautiful scenery, but we would like to be close to some sort of community.
I think Vancouver's a bit too built up though.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Its difficult just looking at maps on the internet.
Can you buy suitable places, or is it better to rent? Any opinions/advice?

[cherieboberry1]

If you are only staying 3 months out of the year I would suggest renting. Real estate can be quite pricey and may be difficult to rent out just for the time you are back in the UK. Depending on your price range and the time you are willing to spend driving to Abby there are many different options.If you really like the mountains I would suggest looking in North Vancouver. You have all the necessities of a city and you are just over the bridge from the downtown core but still in nature, however it is at least a 45 minute drive to Abby. If you want to move closer to Abby and keep the nature I suggest Coquitlam or Port Coquitlam, you can find really nice condos for rent for really decent prices and there are alot of parks and hiking mountains and lakes etc. shopping malls and about a 20-25 min drive. Really depends on exactly what you are looking for I just moved from Vancouver to Australia but had lived in Vancouver all my life so I am here to answer any and all your questions.

[fmmcneil]

Thats really helpful. Am going to look up these places on internet, paticularly Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam. We have only visited Canada once, so its all new to us, although as I was born there I have acquired a Canadian passport.
I am more in favour of buying somewhere but my husband says its more sensible to rent. We could afford somewhere if the price wasnt way out, and places tend to be cheaper than the UK.
Anyway, the big thing is the WHERE of course. Will look at the places you suggested and get back online.
Many thanks. If you think of anywhere else to look at, please email.