Caribou Jones

I've spent months looking through www.rentfaster.ca, the Avenue website explaining the best neighbourhoods to live in, but frustratingly nowhere is jumping out at me as the area to choose. I did a trip in May and again, nowhere specific appealed at the time.

Always loved it in Kitsilano in Vancouver with 4th Avenue, the beach and the whole laid-back feel of the place, and second to that would be the West End of Downtown with Stanley Park and English Bay. In both of these places I could walk out and about, feel relatively safe and watch the world go by in a great outdoor environment with a bustling street with coffee shops if I wanted.

I feel like I know every Calgary neighbourhood inside and out! I'd like to be closer to, rather than further from, work (17th and 14th SW area) and potentials on paper have been Kensington, Connaught, Eau Claire, but I am feeling uninspired.

My usual "cheap and need to get out of the apartment" trick used to be to walk down to Kits beach, grab a coffee or drive over to the North Shore and up Cypress Mountain and look over the city and the bay.

I'd be really interested to learn where your favourite places are and why

Almost Canadian

If you have been to Calgary, checked everything out and still don't know what appeals to you, how are the opinions of others going to help you?

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Neighbourhoods
Lived in beltline (Connaught to be exact) for years and loved it, but the late night noise and severe lack of parking can become a real frustration. There's also a lot of high rise construction happening which will mean lots of noise at 8am on the weekends etc.

Lived in Kensington for a few years also, and loved that too. When we were there at was the peak of the rental market, so we were paying a fortune for a shoebox. Main reason for moving out.

Always new pubs, bars, and restaurants opening up in both areas.

One of the painfully "trendy" neighbourhoods is Inglewood. I don't see the attraction myself, sandwiched between a chicken processing plant and a 20 line CP rail maintenance yard. It's a dive, but it won "Canadian neighbourhood of the year" last year Lots of small boutique stores etc.

You might also want to have a look at Marda Loop (sandwiched between Altadore and Bankview).


Recreation
As for "getting away from it all", that's not going to happen in the middle of the inner city like Calgary. If you want to be in the city, but on natures doorstep you'll need to look west (Signal Hill, Aspen etc) where you can get out of the city quickly to the mountains etc, or somewhere close to Glenmore Reservoir/Weaselhead, Fish Creek Park, or Nose Hill Park. Personally, I love Fish Creek Park, but it's deep south.

Side note: Fish Creek Park is second largest urban park in Canada (3 times larger than Stanley Park), and Nose Hill Park is the 3rd largest in Canada.

Caribou Jones

Perfect, just what I was hoping to learn

A week as a tourist really didn't show me enough of the nuances that you and many others will have from daily life. It's bit like reading a book and wondering why the film seems so different!

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Added some more about recreation in an edit after you read that

Yorkiechef

Springbank hill. Good schools, trendy aspen landing shopping, deer on your front lawn, LRT DIRECTLY on 17th Ave. oh yes, ,mountain views.

christmasoompa

That's not a positive! The deer on my front law (and back for that matter) drive me insane, they seem to think my garden is a buffet bar.

Steve_

Well that's about as good as it gets inside the city limits, this ain't the west end of Vancouver.

Arguably the best condos near downtown are in Erlton, but if there are any to rent it would be really expensive. Or maybe the Mission district which is directly next to Erlton. If Kensington doesn't do it for you, I'm not sure what would.

Stinkypup

I love nature, nature loves my plants, plants grow again

ann m

Not Eau Claire. My trendy young married colleague has a fancy pad there and although loves to be near the river, finds it all a bit stale with no community feel. She's renting in Mission for September (air bnb'ing her place 😉) And loving the vibe and community feel, and close access to cafes and restaurants and just 'stuff'. Are you young?! That's going to make a difference I think.

christmasoompa

Not if its been eaten by deer it doesn't! We have roe deer here and they've destroyed lots including several fruit trees in my orchard. Nothing grows again when it's been stripped by 20 deer in one go.

I love nature too, and love seeing the deer in the field next door - just not quite so keen when they jump the fence!

Stinkypup

Deer trim my hedges, sedum, roses- they dont like lavender...Ditch the orchards, they are yesterdays crop anyhow () grow lavender. Bear and raccoons eat our grapes ...as well as the deer- they are decorative anyhow. We just buy wine when we want some!- You have acres- go one- give them a break!:

Caribou Jones

Hell, no! 50 last month!

I'm not like your dad or grandad, but neither am I like your younger brother. Ordinary, professional, athletic fella that likes to watch the world and people go by without needing to get drunk and falling in the gutter with a shirt full of kebab.

My humour is stuck somewhere between Big Bang Theory and Blackadder (which doesn't sound flattering really?)