Airdrie
 

Hi All

I've Been doing some online job hunting and Airdrie pops up quite a bit! Anyone live out that way? I've never been through so have no idea, really don't want to live somewhere too 'rural'

Perhaps it's an up and coming area that would be a good place to start for property / schools etc?

I am pretty amazed at how many jobs there are going in Calgary right now, was searching in the accounting/management field and there seems to be a big shortage

PS. can you have a word to any England cricket team contacts ... living in Perth while the ashes on is horrible, especially when England are losing ..... come one England!! :p

Thanks

Wayne

Re: Airdrie
 

Hi Wayne

I don't live in Airdrie but have been through a few times. It certainly isn't somewhere that you could class as too rural (certainly not in Alberta terms!!!)

It does seem like a typical cookie cutter town albeit a larger one (to use again an overused phrase) but doesn't seem too bad. Close proximity to Calgary / mountains / blah blah blah but would have everything you need (most of the big box stores) 5 mins to Cross Iron Mills need I say more :o.

No idea about neighbourhoods but, everything considered not a bad place to start :)

Re: Airdrie
 

Thanks Mandy

Looks like somewhere that could have decent growth for property over the next 10 years too. Wish we had stopped by to have a look when we were there!

5 mins to Cross Iron Mills willl def make my Wife happy! Population of 38,000 is a pretty nice size too. Seems to have lots of nice parks etc too. I think it's lacking in some pubs though .... that may steer me away :p

Re: Airdrie
 

mmmmmm probably need to get out of the pub culture mindset lol (I had to too!!!!)

It is a decent size place though so i'm sure you could find at least one decent watering hole :)

Re: Airdrie
 

Yes, certainly not rural - It's a city in its own right - www.airdre.com

Re: Airdrie
 

Not a very attractive one though.

I can never put my finger why, but Airdrie is not someplace I would choose to live.

Re: Airdrie
 

Somewhat like its Scottish namesake.

Re: Airdrie
 

Airdrie is ok for shopping, eating etc, not a personal choice to live there. Probably a better bet to look at somewhere like Cochrane - easy travelling distance to Airdrie and near to the City but far enough away to feel like you live in a community and of course the great mountain views.

Cochrane was not somewhere we had considered living but circumstances led us there and we love it. I work near 16th Avenue in Calgary (takes 30/35 mins depending on time of day) and Airdrie is about a 35/40 min drive from Cochrane.

Goodluck.

Poppit

Re: Airdrie
 

Oh no ... Cochrane .... now I have another place to investigate :)

Will have a look, thanks for the tip!

Re: Airdrie
 

You won't be disappointed. :)

Poppit

Re: Airdrie
 

we live in Airdrie AB; before that we were in glasgow.. around 30mins from airdrie, UK!
I love Airdrie. it has a few problems with school overcrowding, i hope they definately fix that soon.
but overall i like where we live, my daughter's school, commute to work, shopping, restaurants.
what do you want to know? like most towns or citys, it has good and bad areas.
depends where you're going to be working! it's a long commute if you're working south calgary!
restaurants are OK, it has a wee cinema; the mall, costco, new cinema and lowes are 5 mins away.
we have a good chinese restaurant and 2 indians - a 3rd one opening soon - not quite UK standard, but fair! lol.
as another poster said - bar culture - it's just not here! we have a local, but dont really get much chance to go out for a few beers.

Cochrane is prettier, not sure about house prices though and what your commute would be like - i'm sure you can search on here though.

let me know if there's anything else i can help with.
M
2 years in Canada and counting! :-)

Re: Airdrie
 

We live in Airdrie too. Been here just over 2 yrs! and we love it! It's not as pretty as Cochrane but it has everything we need. I work in North Calgary and so can be at work in 20mins. School has been really good to our daughter although there are some spending cuts this year, it doesn't seem to be affecting her too much!

There are a couple of bars that we like, Brewsters and the Fox (although haven't been there quite as much lately). Although they aren't pubs as you would know them.

As well as the restaurants that MZP listed, there are also your usual pizza restaurants (Boston Pizza) and Steak houses (Mr Mikes).

During December Nose Creek Park is decked out with lights (festival of lights, I think quite a few places in Calgary do this also!).

Although some people don't like Airdrie. We have no complaints and have no intention of moving.

Re: Airdrie
 

I have lived in Airdrie for the last 15 months. We moved down here after 3 years of living in remote Northern Alberta to be close to an airport.
We love life in Airdrie.
It is a busy town about 30 mins drive from Calgary city centre, 15 mins from the airport, 10 mins from the Cross Iron Shopping Mall, one of many big malls in and around Calgary, 1 hour drive from the Rockies. There is work here if you want it. Although my husband prefers to commute north where the money is better than it is down here.
We have 2 teenagers that go to school here. THere is a shortage of high schools in airdrie but my children are happy and have made friends easily.
The house prices are pretty fair, and the communities are all pretty friendly.
We have a very active social life, go out to the bars every weekend with our British and Canadian friends. There are lots of resturants and bars and we go into Calgary now and again for a great evening of dancing at the cowboy and comedy bars.
If you are comeing to Alberta i would definitly recomend Starting in Airdrie. :thumbsup:

Re: Airdrie
 

We live in Airdrie too, have done for almost 4 years now. We are very happy here, it takes me 30-40 minutes to get to work downtown Calgary although this can be much longer if the roads are bad - my record is 2 hours.

Schools are a bit of a sore topic at the moment, several schools are at or very close to 100% capacity and there are no new schools slated to start for the forseeable future. One of the rumours I heard was that because our MLA defected from conservative to Wildrose Alliance party they overlooked us and only planned schools in the areas where there is a conservative MP.

If you can get work here without having to go to Calgary then go for it. Cochrane is closer to the mountains (30-40 minutes further west) but I would not choose to live in Cochrane and commute to Airdrie. The 567 is very exposed in places, single lane the whole way and I do not like driving along it in the dark, especially when the weather is bad. It also gets used as a cut-through for HGVs going between Highway 2 and Highway 1. If you chose Cochrane look for work in West Calgary or Cochrane itself.

There are several new developments going in, it has definitely changed since we moved here, mostly for the good as we now hardly have to venture in to Calgary unless for something really specific.

Public transport is somewhat limited but my father-in-law thinks it is great and gets the bus to Wal-Mart and spends half the day there! It takes you to all the main shops, there is a dial-a-ride request service too for handicapped residents which will arrange to collect at a closer stop to your home and take you to doctors appointments or shops.

We had no problem getting a doctor, we have been highly impressed with both the Urgent Care and community health programs. For pre-school children there is something free available most days, my friend takes her son to toddler time at the library Monday, play group Tuesday, swimming (ok you pay for that one, about $5 a class for 7 sessions) and anothe group on Thursday. We also have access to a toy library which my son just loves.

Re: Airdrie
 

My OH commutes from Cochrane to Airdrie - no problems. I travel to Calgary 35 mins. I good idea would be to visit Cochrane and Airdrie.

Goodluck

Poppit