toyer1

Hi all, Have been offered a job in Calgary and will be moving out ASAP(at least when the house sells over here). Does anyone know where I can get a good streetmap of Calgary either free on the net or where I can buy one. Have looked everywhere.

Also anyone in Calgary? If so ,any advice or info on living there, coming from Cornwall, so used to the nice scenery etc, want a bit more life!

Thanks

shedend

http://maps.google.ca - then type in Calgary.

I don't like Calgary, but many do.... enjoy!

Posidrive

Know how you feel. Brought up in Saltash and we never had a car to make it across the bridge to Plymouth. Couldn't get out quickly enough when I hit 18.

Calgary is so varied that you'd need to give up a bit more info about your family and aspirations before you can get any good recommendations. Although Judy may very well send you the definitive guide over several pages if your are lucky. (Only kidding Judy, all your advice is very well received)

You can get from most parts of the city to downtown in half an hour, less outside of peak commuter time.

If you still like scenery, I'd recommend Cochrane, just outside to the NorthWest. Most of the property there isn't as cramped as closer in to the city (although there are exceptions) and if you like Winter sports then you are part way to the Rockies. Having worked in the South East of the UK I don't find the longer commute (about an hour at peak times) a problem. The views are stunning.

If you are young free and single then 17th Avenue (South not North ) could be the area for you. It always seems vibrant when I pass by.

toyer1

Thanks for the reply, the job on offer is based on
44th Street S.E. so was looking for a commute of about 45 mins max, where to live for schools and avoid. Any help would be great thanks

Posidrive

Wouldn't recommend Cochrane now, since it's North West. 45 minutes max will still give you a lot of options though. Most people I work with pass out with shock at the thought of anything over a 30 minute commute.

Out of town communities to look at are Chestermere and Okatoks. Also Airdrie to the North if you like to see the planes.

Depending upon your budget there are lot's of options for the communities to the South East. Just avoid the city areas to the North East like the plague

toyer1

looking at spending about 240000CAD, with no mortgage(phew), so Aidrie is on the airport flypath then!

NewCalgarian

Where on 44th St SE - it can make a big difference to travelling times. Let us know the location and we can suggest some reasonable neighbourhoods.

Good luck

toyer1

8512 - 44th Street S.E T2C 2P6 on 90 Ave Se. In between Canadian Pacific railway and Glenmore Trl Se


Thanks

Judy in Calgary

When you provide a Calgary address, it's helpful to give a street number or the name of the nearest cross street. That helps to pinpoint the area more specifically. However, since you've provided the quadrant (SE), I think I can make a fairly good guess as to the location. My hunch is that it's in Foothills Industrial Park, probably north of Glenmore Trail and south of 50 Avenue SE.

Generally speaking, the NW quadrant, the SW quadrant and the far south of the SE quadrant of Calgary are considered to be the nicer areas in which to live. Then there are the surrounding towns like Airdrie (due north), Cochrane (to the NW), Bragg Creek (to the SW), Okotoks (to the SSW), Chestermere (to the east) and Strathmore (still further east).

If you'll be working in the SE industrial area, and it sounds as if you will be, I would recommend the far SE, and I would also suggest that you take a look at Chestermere and see what you think.

You can get an idea of the kind of housing that's available if you look at the Multiple Listing Service. If you click on the map to zero in on Alberta and then Calgary, the southern half of District D is what I think may be of interest to you. Areas that may meet your needs include:

215 - Acadia
220 - Willow Park
230 - Maple Ridge
235 - Lake Bonavista
245 - Lake Bonavista Downs
250 - Queensland
252 - Diamond Cove
255 - Midnapore
260 - Parkland
265 - Deer Ridge
270 - Deer Run
275 - Sundance
320 - Douglas Glen
335 - McKenzie Lake
345 - McKenzie Towne

I could go on ...... Basically all of the far SE potentially is of interest, I would think.

Then, as I said before, there's Chestermere. It falls into the Municipal District of Rocky View, which is outside of Calgary.

Areas that you might want to avoid include close-in SE neighbourhoods such as:

300 - Lynnwood Ridge
305 - Ogden
310 - Riverbend

Rumours persist about ground contamination in the Lynnwood / Riverbend area from a former Esso refinery.

But you can do only so much research from a distance. Before deciding on an area in which to settle, you need to visit the communities that are on your short list and check out what facilities they have.

toyer1

Wow thanks for that, a bit of insider info is just what I needed. Spent many hours trawling MLS, at least I have an idea where are the best places to look . Thank you very much- a great help

jake

Hi toyer1 - how funny, I spend my time between Vancouver and Cornwall but over the years have visited Calgary many times. The scenery is so different to Cornwall (landlocked for a start!!) but it is vast and the Rockies are magnificent. We don't have anything on our real estate web site at the moment in Calgary (http://www.AssignmentsCanada.ca) but we do have useful info on fund transfer and the buying process. Might be relevant to you. Anyway, enjoy the Stampede!!

btw - Mapquest.com and the Calgary tourist board will also have good street maps.

Cheers.

Posidrive

It's nothing compared to living near Heathrow, which I used to do. Never want to see anothe plane flying over my garden again.

You should be able to get a reasonable house for 240000, altough it's unlikely to have the goodies such as granite countertops, hardwood floors etc. be prepared for a small if not virtually non existant back yards. Calgary home outdoor living revolves around the wooden deck.

As a ballpark figure, for new build houses, construction runs around the $120 -140 per square ft level. To that you have add the plot (probably from the $60k level) plus GST on everything.

For older houses have a look at www.mls.ca. In the South East quadrant there are for example 63 properties in sector D of the city (South East Quadrant) in the range 200 k to 250 k. These range from 2 bedroom condos through to 3 bedroom single family homes.

Based upon my experience, you can get more home for your money building new, but you may have timing issues, the worries of overruns if you don't watch the budget and may up up living in a building site for a couple of years as the development is completed. But that's what we are planning to do, 3rd house in a proposed development of 850.

toyer1

I mean Cornwall England lovely but oh so boring

Posidrive

If you remember Dr. Who and Blake's 7 from the 70's, how can you call the clay pits used for most of the scenery lovely ?

toyer1

Thanks for that. All bigger than the box I Live in, in England, and no mortgage! may take out a small mortgage after a couple of years to upgrade . Will have to see how it goes