strawberrybec

Hi everyone I am a newbie to this site so hello to you all. My husband has started a job in red deer and I will be following soon with the children and I wonder if any one could give me any advice on family friendly neighbourhoods - thanku

DandNHill

Several people on here in that neck of the woods... I'm about 3000 km away so can't help... But warm welcome

smivers

Welcome to the forum, and good luck for your move to Red Deer. We have friends who live in most of the neighbourhoods within the city with no complaints, so I would think the determining factors for you would be things like old neighbourhood vs. new and the access to schools of various kinds (public or catholic or christian, english, french immersion or french, etc.)

What do you think you'll be looking for in a neighbourhood?

strawberrybec

Thank you for your time. We will be looking for a neighbourhood in easy reach of a good primary school and amenities. My children are 6 and 3 so I would also like to be close to be near a preschool if possible. What are the facilities like for children in red deer?

Piff Poff

Have a quick search on the forum, we did this one not so long ago, nothing has changed

I still will say avoid Highland Green, Normandeau in daughters words is a bit sketchy. South of the river still my pick, older neighbourhoods still preferred over new. Don't worry about picking neighbourhoods over schools, they are all pretty good.

shunter1977

Hi, we moved to Red Deer with kids of 6 & 7 last Sept. Because we were bringing pets and the rental properties available for pets are few and far between we didn't have any choice on the area we lived. We found one in Rosedale Meadows and when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised. The area is lovely although quite new compared to what we were used to and we're lucky to be on a crescent surrounding the play park.

I think the estates south of the river are preferable although there are a couple north of the river which are OK to, such as Kentwood and Oriole Park. My personal favorites are Rosedale, Deer Park, Lancaster and Anders.

I didn't look at any other schools as it's done on catchment area (you can see the schools for areas on the Red Deer Public School website) there are some exceptions to this rule but you would have to approve it with the school you wanted and would not be on the bus route for your school. We don't use the school buses in the mornings because I drive Steve to work and then drop the kids at school. They do come home on the bus and on the odd occasion that myself or one of the kids has been ill the buses have proved a God send.

My kids go to Grandview Elementary which is just an amazing school, i'm sure they're all great and i've not heard anything bad said about any of them but we love this school. It's not within walking distance of any of the nicer areas but it only takes 5 mins to drive there from our house.

Our school has a Pre Kindergarten program but I think there is only 7 schools with this program and the Red Deer Schools website reads like these programs are only for children that need extra support prior to Kindergarten at age 5? I've copied the link on here, see what you make of it.


http://www.rdpsd.ab.ca/Pre-Kindergarten-Information.php

Anything you need to know don't hesitate to ask

shunter1977

Oh and on your other question......facilities for kids are great in Red Deer, it's a very young city in terms of average age and people having young kids, lovely place to live.

strawberrybec

Thanks everyone I will look on those links and in to those areas for schools too and hopefully will be able to rent in those areas. Its great to know that red deer is great for kids as if there happy were happy!!!!!

Mad Jockette

Hi Strawberrybec

looks like Smivers, Piffpoff and Shunter have given you the best advice. I lived on the edge of Johnstone Park for a short while, never had any problems. I would avoid the 'old' Oriole Park area, but the new area looks nice.

Try this website for Red Deer, it will give you a bit of a pic on the areas and the offerings of the city.

http://www.reddeer.ca/default.htm

Good luck and hope it all goes well for you and your family.

MJ

strawberrybec

Thanks MJ appreciate your time. The link was great and has now made me even more eager to get out there!!!!!

strawberrybec

Hi Shunter, could you tell me what age is pre-kindergarten as I am a little confused whether my 3 year old will be able to join or not? Thanks

Rosie Lee

Hi Strawb. I generally reckon that the best neighbourhoods are centred around the best schools. People on here will tell you that all the schools are the same. It's true that there isn't the huge variation that you get in UK, but some are better than others.
Look at the Fraser Institutes, www.compareschoolrankings.org. You will find all you need to know there. Print out a map and mark off all the top ranked schools, this is what we did and it worked a treat, it makes seeing the surrounding neighbourhoods super easy.
Good Luck

shee22

Hi I have lived in Red Deer for 3 yrs its a great place live.I found Sunnybrook is an old area there is a school there and you can walk through the Forest to get to Bower Mall which is really nice.I found that the south side of Red Deer is so much nicer.If you are looking for places to rent a site called Kijiji is really good that is where I found my rented property.If you need anymore help don't hesitate to ask.

Piff Poff

Seriously, schools in red deer are much of a muchness, its only a small city so very different to vancouver, I wouldn't have a problem sending my kid to any of them but I can give a bit thumbs up to mattie McCullough in the lancaster area. Ill aplogise for lack of caps, on the tablet and can't be arsed lol

shunter1977

I'll speak to our school this morning and find out a bit more