JennyT

We are moving to Calgary in 2 weeks and hubby has rented us a house in Aspen Glen. Does anyone know if this area is nice? And also having two kids' 2 and 4, are there any good schools, kindergartens near us??

Thanks , any info appreciated

Jenny

GavinR

Oh, crikey! Watch out for the gang shootings.

Actually I have no idea.

JennyT

Haha Gavin, thanks for the laugh .

I hope ur joking!!!

GavinR

If it's where I think it is in the West of the city just North of Glenmore it's a decent enough area, though I'm sure the Calgary lot will tell you soon.

Steve_P

Ah the killing fields as some not so quaintly put it.

East of Deerfoot and north of Memorial Drive.

Nowhere near as bad as some would have you believe. Any actual shootings (and there haven't been any for quite a while now) are usually gang or drug related.

Novocastrian

So the OP's hubby is in deep sh*t then?

Steve_P

Nah...Aspen Glen is in the Southwest.

stillbritish

Put the address on Google Maps, and drag the little street view man to take a closer look.

If it looks nice on there, it probably is.

Alberta_Rose

I thought I already answered the bits about schools .... http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...10#post9252910

The area looks dead posh to me! You're almost in Springbank, and you can't get much posher than that!

Hehe if you look on Google Streetview you'll see it is a brand new development of large detached houses, presumably more have been built since those photos were taken!

Havnfun

Hi Jenny,

When we left Calgary in 2008 we were living in Spring Valley Estates which is very close to Aspen, it is a very nice area Our son was in the Catholic school system so he was bused to his school as it was a fair distance away. Unfortunately I don't know much about the public schools in that area but don't believe there will be any within walking distance.

Good luck with your move!

Alberta_Rose

Since you seem to be having difficulty following my links as an answer, the nearest and therefore designated elementary school to Aspen would be Olympic Heights. Click on the following link, and click on the school profile from the website to find out more about the school. http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b382/

However, it would appear that this school is currently oversubscribed, and so students are being bussed to Wildwood School if they cannot be accommodated at Olympic Heights, as per the following notice: http://www.cbe.ab.ca/Schools/ceop/no...tsoverflow.pdf This is presumably happening because of new developments being built, such as, in fact, Aspen Woods.

Here's a link to Wildwood's website:http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b141/
They both look like wonderful schools, and I'm sure your babies will be happy at either of them, but I'd advise you, as I did before, that you might want to contact Olympic Heights before the closing date for applications of 8th April, to see if you have any chance of securing a place there for the upcoming academic year ... they do take from Kindergarten to grade 6.

I hope that information is clearer for you?

Flossie and Jim

I've skirted through the edges of Aspen and it looks very nice - lots of development going on around here - a pretty new community I believe.

Alberta Rose has given you all the info there is on the local schools.

Here are a couple of other links to get you going:

The local community association (there's some info on kids programs and also a community newsletter): http://scacalgary.ca/

Calgary Libraries - your local one will probably be Signal Hill or Shaganappi - some good free stuff for kids but sign up early: http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/Branches.aspx

Calgary Police Crime Stats: http://crimemap.calgarypolice.ca/

In fact most of the stuff above, as well as other useful info can be found here: http://www.calgaryarea.com/sw/aspenwoods/aspenwoods.htm

Here's a real estate link to show the types of houses there: http://aspenwoodscalgary.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen_Woods,_Calgary

MrsDV

There are local shops at Aspen Landing (Safeway, Shoppers Drug Mart, cafes, restaurants etc) and Strathcona Square (Sobeys, Rexal, bank, coffee shop etc.) and you're not too far from the big box shopping at Signal Hill / West Hills (Superstore, Zellers, various chain restaurants, cinema etc.) and about a 15 min drive to Chinook or Market Mall.

It's a good location; you are west and therefore have easy access to the mountains and you can still get downtown easily. Whether it's nice is a matter of personal taste but it's affluent, safe and convenient.

We lived in the neighbouring area of Strathcona until recently and my children attended Olympic Heights. Whether kids from Aspen are accepted or not seems to change with the weather but it's probably worth an email to the school if you have school or KG aged children.

There's a mums and tots group at the Community Hall (on a Friday morning I think) I believe they also have a pre-school there and I know there's one at the First Luthern Church just beside Aspen.

You also have Westside Rec for swim lessons, skating and lots of other kids activities.

The coffee shop in Strathcona Square has an indoor play area in the back and the Co-op on 85th St has drop your kids while you shop option.

I'm sure you'll be just fine there, good luck with the move.

JennyT

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.
Jenny




QUOTE=Alberta_Rose;9270973]Since you seem to be having difficulty following my links as an answer, the nearest and therefore designated elementary school to Aspen would be Olympic Heights. Click on the following link, and click on the school profile from the website to find out more about the school. http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b382/

However, it would appear that this school is currently oversubscribed, and so students are being bussed to Wildwood School if they cannot be accommodated at Olympic Heights, as per the following notice: http://www.cbe.ab.ca/Schools/ceop/no...tsoverflow.pdf This is presumably happening because of new developments being built, such as, in fact, Aspen Woods.

Here's a link to Wildwood's website:http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b141/
They both look like wonderful schools, and I'm sure your babies will be happy at either of them, but I'd advise you, as I did before, that you might want to contact Olympic Heights before the closing date for applications of 8th April, to see if you have any chance of securing a place there for the upcoming academic year ... they do take from Kindergarten to grade 6.

I hope that information is clearer for you? [/QUOTE]

JennyT

Thanks for the information, much appreciated

Jenny