CALGARY AREA INFO
 

A BIG HI ,AS THEY SAY>>>! I'm from yorkshire, but hoping to move to calgary or one of the surronding towns, preferably south, may be a little warmer..? i currently have a job offer and going through all the malarchy with forms etc. Could any one tell me, one of the better areas of this region, schools, socially, hills, lakes, amenittes etc..

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

Hi glw,

Suggest you read the recent thread entitled January Calgary visit.

Calgary doesn't have many big lakes. One person who posted here referred to most of them as ponds.

I'm lucky enough to live close to one of the bigger ones, Glenmore Reservoir. It's accessible to the public, rather than just the residents of the local neighbourhood, and that's one of the things I like about it.

But there are members of this forum who live in communities that have private lakes, and they say that they enjoy them. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out which communities have lakes, because that fact is broadcast in each community's name -- Lake Bonavista, Lake Sundance, etc.

I don't know what you mean by hills. Are you referring to Calgary's own, local hills or to the Rocky Mountains. Some parts of Calgary, specially the northwest, are a bit hilly, and some other parts are quite flat. Depending on where in Calgary you live, the Rockies are between 1.5 hours and 2 hours' drive away.

If you're looking for a satellite town, two popular ones are Cochrane to the northwest of Calgary and Okotoks to the south.

I don't really understand what you mean by "socially." People here do many of the same things that people all over the world do. Because we have the mountains nearby, some people like to go hiking in summer and downhill skiing in winter. With that said, Calgary itself has some nice parks for walking, bicycling, rollerblading, etc. People watch sports games (especially Canadian football in the autumn and ice hockey in the winter). People go to movies. Really the variety of things one can do is too great to go into in detail.

I've never lived in the UK, but I've heard that the neighbourhood pub is a place where local people often meet. There are bars and pubs in Calgary, and some of them have a loyal following. But the tradition of meeting at the neighbourhood pub is nothing like as strong here as I understand it is in the UK. Here it is common for people to entertain each other in their own homes. In the summer months barbecues are particularly popular. Many families, including ours, barbecue even in the winter.

The rest of the information for which you asked, and more, is available from the other thread that I mentioned.

Hope that helps.

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

hi i am also from yorkshire and moving to calgary hopefully in february i have been told to avoid the north east part of the city a good place to live is okotoks it is about a 30-40 minute drive in to the city hope this may help:thumbsup:

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

Hi and welcome, this site is full of information and advice. Good luck:thumbsup:

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

I'd love to know where people get the impression that Okotoks is a 30-40 mins drive from the city. It takes more than 35 mins to go from Somerset to downtown on the C-Train let alone the 25 mins or so it takes to get from Okotoks to Somerset (Somerset is in the south of the City). Driving from Okotoks is going to take a darn site longer than 40 mins even if there was no traffic, in any kind of traffic at all you can easily double that, in rush hour - who knows how long it would take :confused:

I guess what people should say is that it takes approx 30 mins to drive from Okotoks to the city limits which, for those of you that live in the UK and haven't visited, means the suburbs :p

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

I agree, although the trick is to work in the suburbs :D! South Okotoks to right next to the Somerset / Bridlewood C Train (the furthest South it goes) take me no more than 20 minutes door to door. Of course the hardest part for those then getting onto the C train is parking. On occasions when I do have to go downtown to work I leave around 40 minutes to get door to door in central Downtown using the C Train from Someset.

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

I go downtown everyday on C-train and I live in Somerset. The C-train takes 35 mins to go from Somerset to 4th St station downtown. In light of what you have stated above, I simply do not believe that it is possible to go from Okotoks to downtown in 40 mins using C-train or otherwise, unless one has a helicopter and landing pad downtown :rofl::p

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

Just to add to the discussion.

We live in Okotoks and my OH works downtown, Eau Clare actually.He used to get the C train in, parking at Anderson as there is a bigger carpark there. In total that took him 1 hour. That included finding a parking space and waiting for the train

He now drives. When there is no traffic it takes 35 mins. Usually it takes 40 mins. The other day when we got a dump of snow it took 1 hour. Granted he does leave early but he prefers to do that as he can leave early too.

It takes me 15 mins to drive to Shaunessy btw.

BTW, he doesn't use a helicopter! ;)

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

D'oh. I should have been more specific. I meant 40 minutes from my office door (the South Fish Creek Complex, Shawnessy) to my other office door Downtown (Eau Claire as well actually). I think we are all saying the same thing really. Sometimes, like today, I drive downtown, but can usually go outside peak hours and so it is pretty easy.

I have done Okotoks to Downtown in 40 minutes - but usually only when I have been called in at night or weekends!

Anyway, I am steadily turning this into a pretty dull thread and so will stop!

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

Hi you! *waves* :D

I take it by "early" you mean before 5 am???? ..... most people start work at 8am here and Dalhousie station parking lot is always full by 6! :blink:

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

Hi you too! *waves back at ya!* :D

No, not quite that early! he has usually left the house by 6:15 or so. He can leave any time after 3:00 though. We like that as we get loads of family time.

BTW, Congrats on the new job! :thumbsup:
What will you be doing? Glad to hear that you and OH will be spending more time together, even if it is on the C train! Every little counts....was that from an advert???? :)

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

HI!

I'm from London and moved to Calgary about ten months ago.. i've lived in three different parts of the city: SW (Killarney) which was lovely, NE ( Renfrew, which is just over the Bow River near Downtown Calgary) which was also nice, and now i'm living in a place called Crescent Heights, which is literally a hill looking over the river and the city. It's absolutely beautiful here. Right now it is also very cold. But you get used to the freezing temperatures of the winter. The summer I spent here was fantastic. Most people go rafting down the river, and really make the most of the sun when it is out!
I have heard that the nicest place to live in Calgary, and to raise a family, is in the south. Good luck, I know you'll love it here!

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

hi,
Thanks for the infomatiom, it sounds really nice where you are at the moment, will put that on one of my places to visit when i'm over.:thumbsup:

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

ah up red,..! i'm from donny just up the road. nice to see a fellow yorkshire man going out, what's your trade , business..? i'm a carpenter/joiner. i have a work place garanteed in calgary.just applying for work permitt fingers crossed we'll be over not long after you, if all goes smoothley...?i've got 3 minors with our friends in blue..so not sure if they'll want some more info. might just get away with it. They was all over 5 years ago. Hope all goes good . bet your walking round with abig smile on your face...!

Re: CALGARY AREA INFO
 

Hi we are from the south west of England but currently living in Spain, we too are thinking of Calgary we are in the very early stages just wondering what it might be like at the moment. We are liking everything we hear about the place. Can you tell me how long from applying it might take and must you have a job offer before even trying? My husband is in IT a systems administrator for an International school at the moment, he is also an engineer. Whats the best way round of starting to apply? Grateful for any info Thanks...x