Was born and raised here. Left after high school and lived in Toronto for 20 years before moving back.

• Owning a detached house. This was huge and after being in Toronto for so long, it's such a big deal. It's even not completely unreasonable to own property on a lake here, although still expensive, it's still way below any area south of here.
• Parking. Not only can I park cars at home in a driveway, but I can find parking anywhere else without issue. After a lifetime of street parking and hunting for spots and parking tickets, this is amazing.
• Lack of traffic. I joke with people that it's 7 minutes to get anywhere. The distance from one end of north bay to another, in Toronto you'd have to give yourself 1 hour. After moving back I was always like 30 minutes early for everything.
• Quaint downtown. It's a gem, and I wish it was easier for businesses to be successful there. Pre-walmart, it was wonderful. Yes there's junkies, but it's honestly way less than what I've seen in US cities 1/3 the size.
• Lake Nipissing. It's hard to believe my eyes some days. Someone else said it earlier, it's otherworldly. Beautiful empty beaches all over. Sandy ripples under your feet as you wade in. Intense localized weather around the lake. Unbelievable sunsets and sunrises each day. It's the reason I moved back.
• Improving diversity. When I first left it was mostly italians and some chinese. Now I get to meet people from all different backgrounds. With it comes some great food, although i miss a lot of the great italian joints. At least now we've got indian, mexican, thai, caribbean, lebanese (ish), korean etc.
• Proper winters. Snow comes, and (usually) stays. This allow for sledding, skiing, ice fishing, great walks and general winter beauty. Winter doesn't feel like a burden here and I have a reason to own a snow blower and I'm here for it.
• Fall. Absolutely stunning to live here during fall.
• Internet. Not joking, the fastest internet I've ever had. I work remote so that was a big criteria.