More questions about Calgary

[UKSarah]

Hi,

For the last few weeks i have been researching Calgary but i am unable to find any recent information regarding the wards and pleasant areas to live.

I've been looking on Kijiji to get a rough idea regarding apartments, prices etc but quite a few seem to be in the NE area. Research suggests a few years ago that this wasn't a particularly nice place to live. Has this since changed?

I'm aware i should not be fussy until i have myself and son established and settled, i am just slightly worried as i don't want to be living in hell. Is that even possible in Calgary?

I have enough funds to manage comfortably for 11 months and although i am applying for jobs in Calgary from the UK i haven't had much success yet (I know on arrival i need to gain Canadian experience ASAP). Not one to let that deter me though. Based on your opinion, do you think i am going to struggle finding an apartment if i arrive and don't have work lined up immediately? (for the record i am willing to offer landlords 3 months rent in advance as long as i get a receipt)

A little background info - Although from the UK i have lived in Ottawa during winter and quite enjoyed -17c but -38c was a tad cold (understatement). I went earlier this year on a recce trip to Toronto and although beautiful, it felt so big and impersonal. I have a pull towards Calgary so i'm willing to give this area a try. I do drive but don't plan on getting a car immediately once i arrive so i will be relying on public transport at first.

Thank you in advance for your time and advice.

Kind regards,

Sarah

 

[taxslave]

It is all cold.

 

[Cliffy]

It is all cold.

Yup. You might consider balmy Vancouver Island. Victoria is a place you would find easy to adjust to.

 

[UKSarah]

Hmm .. I heard that Victoria is like the Beverly Hills of Canada .. Maybe out of my price range and social status, lol.

If it were that cold then noone would want to live there .. I think i can adapt to the extremes. I am not overly worried. Thank you for the guidance though.

Someone must know something about the NE of Calgary?

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Hmm .. I heard that Victoria is like the Beverly Hills of Canada .. Maybe out of my price range and social status, lol.

If it were that cold then noone would want to live there .. I think i can adapt to the extremes. I am not overly worried. Thank you for the guidance though.

Someone must know something about the NE of Calgary?

I will ask my sister about the NE. She lives in the SW Calgary. Will report back when I hear from her. She is not the greatest at communication so it may be a couple of days.

It is cold there regardless what part of the city. Can go down to -40C/-50C on occassion in the winter.

 

[JLM]

Hmm .. I heard that Victoria is like the Beverly Hills of Canada .. Maybe out of my price range and social status, lol.

If it were that cold then noone would want to live there .. I think i can adapt to the extremes. I am not overly worried. Thank you for the guidance though.

Someone must know something about the NE of Calgary?

Parts of Victoria are as you suggest. N.E. Calgary is pretty big and covers all economic levels and ethnic groups. The airport is right in the middle of it- the trick is to check out different sub divisions as N.E. Calgary is too big to lump under a single description. My opinion is the west side of Calgary is a bit nicer.

 

[Durry]

Most areas of Calgary are nice but it all depends on what your looking for. Within any area of Calgary there will be pockets where it might not be very nice.
Before renting you should really look at what your getting for what you expect.

One idea you might want to consider is renting a fully furnished suite until you decide where you want permanently rent.

One place, right down town, that rents fully furnished suites (studio &1&2 bedrm) by the day, week or month is Regency Suites. Ph # 403 231-1000, I don't know their web address.

You should also be aware that getting a job in Calagry is not necccessarily easy. There are a lot of transient people that come thru Calgary and employers are reluctant to hire new comers. Also you should have special skills to get a job that locals cannot fill.

 

[karrie]

The essential rule of thumb no matter where you move, no matter how nice you think your area is... don't live in a foot traffic corridor. In other words, avoid places where people are walking between apartments/low income housing, and liquor stores, bars, bottle depots. Even in a 'sketchy' neighbourhood, you can find perfectly lovely streets to live on simply by being outside the major foot traffic routes.

 

[taxslave]

The essential rule of thumb no matter where you move, no matter how nice you think your area is... don't live in a foot traffic corridor. In other words, avoid places where people are walking between apartments/low income housing, and liquor stores, bars, bottle depots. Even in a 'sketchy' neighbourhood, you can find perfectly lovely streets to live on simply by being outside the major foot traffic routes.

Better to live outside of town. Fewer rules and less riff raff.

 

[gerryh]

North east is a definite no. South west Calgary is nice and the south end of the South east.

 

[Kreskin]

North east is a definite no. South west Calgary is nice and the south end of the South east.

What about the north west side of the south end of the south east?

 

[JLM]

What about the north west side of the south end of the south east?

North west Calgary is good, my son used to live in Beddington and rents were reasonable there and I walked around there a lot without getting mugged. Another nice area is Tuscany but that might be a little high end. Calgary is getting so big, but they do have a good transit system, as far as I know.

 

[wulfie68]

I lived in Calgary for almost 10 years. Its not a bad place (its a pretty city and the proximity to the mountains and national parks is great for those who love activities centered on them), but the Chinooks (and the accompanying rapid changes in barometric pressure at that elevation) used to wreak havoc on my head and I would get the nastiest headaches (I was told this tends to happen with people who have more narrow/easily plugged nasal passages). Temperatures in Calgary, especially in winter are just weird: you can get a week of really cold and go immediately to above freezing if a chinook forms. As an northern Alberta boy, I have to say Calgary winters didn't feel like real winters to me... and large amounts of snow never seemed to last long. Real estate prices in Calgary have their ebbs and flows but always seem really high to me. I can't complain though, as my last home there doubled in value by the time I sold it.

I lived in Mackenzie in SE. My sister and her husband lived in Sundance, also in the SE. The transit connections are pretty decent all over the city but you also have to remember that it IS a very long city running north-south(with a relatively low population density by city standards, although it is home to over a million people). Using the C-train and express buses to the burbs, commutes to downtown are usually in the realm of 45 minutes. If you go further out (to a community like Cochrane, Airdrie, Strathmore or Okotoks), of course, you are looking at partial drives and susbsequently longer times.

The NE is probably the most diverse population area of the city: pretty much all the minority groups established themselves in mini-cultural enclaves in that quadrant. Some people like it, some don't. I was told that buying in the NE carries more risk because of that fact: the prairies ARE a pretty white-bread part of the country and not everyone is comfortable in getting away from what they are more familiar with. Now this shouldn't be taken out of context, or exagerated (as many non-Albertans love to do) because Albertans and Calgarians can be very welcoming and friendly to people from all over, and of various ethnicities. One plus (if you wish to travel or have friends/relatives from afar) is that the airport is also in the NE, and really, air traffic noise wasn't that noticable (any more than the rest of Calgary) whenever I was in that part of the city.

 

[UKSarah]

Thank you Wolfie68 for your input .. It's much appreciated.

Karrie - I'll do some research on this foot traffic corridor that you speak of, thanks

I am aware the job prospects will not be great at first but while in Toronto i took my resume to an agency just to get some constructive criticism and was told that at first i could be looking at $16 an hour to start (I've been researching Calgary Jobs and it seems similiar), which i'm aware isn't all that great but at least i'll be able to gain experience (which then looks good on the resume) and i'll have some cash coming in. I'll just top up with my savings.

This information is invaluable so thank you for taking the time to reply.