Hi Guys,

Im starting my new Job in Calgary on 1st Nov and am wondering about different places to look for homes as far as commuting is concerned.

My workplace is off the Glenmore Trail and Barlow, and was wondering what the commutes are like from either Cochrane, Chestermere and Okotoks.

Any advice?

Cheers

Mike

The easiest commute will be from Chestermere for obvious reasons, next easiest will be from Okotoks, with Cochrane bringing up the rear.

If you were doing that trip either way in rush hour, Cochrane will be a nightmare. The trip in rush hour to Chestermere will not be bad. Whether you want to live in Chestermere is a judgement call for you to make.

Hi AC,

can you give me any idea of times? Cochrane I guess is about an hour?
Chestermere about 30 mins? What are the times at peak traffic and weather conditions?

Thanks

Mike

I doubt very much that weather conditions will have an impact to any of the 3 areas (aside from accidents resulting).

I would guess that the trip would take approx 15 mins to Chestermere, 20 or so to Okotoks (on the assumption that Deerfoot is clear). Both of these will be to the outskirts of each town, you will need to adjust for the location of your house in each.

I have no idea to Cochrane. I would imagine that that trip could take 45 mins on a good day, and a couple of hours on a bad one. I don't know all the shortcuts and you would need to enquire of someone that does. Cochrane, by far, will be the most problematic.

30 mins from Chestermere? No idea, but it takes me 30 mins plus to get to that area from Copperfield in SE Calgary. Thats getting to work for 8.00am. I can probably look at adding at least another 15-20 mins to that time once there is snow, although I have taken 2 hours to get there when the snowfall is "unexpected'!
Peak traffic hour in Calgary is 7am-8am with Crowchild, Glenmore, Deerfoot and Mcleod being the most used routes. Just so you know they only tell you problems on the most popular routes so Glenmore to get onto Crowchild going West, Deerfoot southbound getting onto Memorial or 17th. Been caught out a few times by an accident on Barlow that wasn't talked about until after they had cleaned it up!!!!!

HTH

My hubby works around that area and we live in Cochrane. It takes him around 45 minutes in the morning, but can be more than an hour on the way home because Glenmore Trail gets very busy.

That said, Cochrane is an AWESOME place to live

Are you sure you don't want to live in Calgary itself?

I think one of the biggest misconceptions Brits have is that living in Calgary itself is akin to living in some unfriendly inner city in UK.

Its not.

A lot of the suburbs (communities) have a really good community feel, high level of volunteering, great kids sports etc etc. They are relatviely safe, relatively crime free and on the plus side are not shoulder to shoulder brits.

Sure Cochrane and Okotoks are nice (I'm not keen on Chestermere, its flat, got power lines and is way to far from mountains, plus seems to have minor gang/grow op issues), but are they worth losing an extra hour a day to?- honestly doubt it. I like Cochrane and if I didn't work we would possibly consider living there, but I do and why would two of us want to waste so much time commuting?

We used to live in a very large village, near a market town, in Leeds commutor belt. Its quite posssible to come from that and be happy in calgary, even though I am not sure I would have lived in Leeds as I didn't fancy big cities. But that was in the UK, this is calgary and different.........

Do yourself a favour and at least consider somewhere other than satelite towns, which TBH on the outskirts (and sometimes in the middle) just look like another cookie-cutter berb in Calgary.

GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!
LETS Here it for calgary right in there.We are moving there next year and some on here are persistant on this place is better than that place and this v that ext. Go on sell me CALGARY PLEASE.

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the advice re where to live. The only reason we are thinking about living in Satellite towns is really because we dont know the city.
Well, we do but not as much as the satellites we mentioned.
This is still purely exploratory for us, and when I get there on 24 Oct and start really looking, We'll get a better idea.
WE have been looking along the 22X, and also have friends in the NW near Nosehill, so we accept all your comments so thanks.

The overriding issue for us is some space, some water, a nice community and good schools, (some wishlist eh) Our daughter is 14 so shes important too.

We are checking out all the areas and at the moment quite like the look of the SW / SE.

Mike and Wendy

I agree with everything you have said and I have said so many times in the past. I got sick of saying it, so I choose not to anymore.

IMVHO day to day living in any community in Calgary will be virtually indentical to living in any of the satellite towns around Calgary, with the added advantage that the amenities in Calgary are on the doorstep. I am sure that people will say that such towns are less crowded but, in comparison to the communities in Calgary and not Calgary as a whole, I fail to see any difference. Driving around Okotoks, Cochrane, is the same as driving around Somerset, Bridlewood, Shawnessy etc, there will be a Timmies, a Wendy's, a Subway, a number of supermarkets etc. The queues in each and the ease to drive to each will be the same as in the satellite towns.

My 5 cents worth

I agree with all of you - and I live in Cochrane!!

Now, don't get me wrong, I really like where I live and it ticks nearly all the boxes.

But now that I have got to know Calgary itself better, there are plenty of areas I would consider living in.

But it is hard when you first move somewhere new - it would be the same of any new town or even county in the UK - you would ask advice.

I think when you first arrive in Calgary and start driving around, it does all look a bit cookie-cutter - great swathes of housing estates (literally, miles upon miles), unattractive box-store shopping, the odd nice pretty lake, then more unattractive industrial units, rail lines and wide fast noisy roads. It can quite overwhelming.

Being a three-year "seasoned" veteran of Calgary ( ), I would now choose an older neighbourhood I think - one with trees! I'm thinking Dalhousie or Silver Springs in the NW, and I like Sunnyside/Hillside/Rosedale nearer the center. I love Mount Royal/Roxboro/Elbow Park if you have serious cash!

And for someone arriving with a 14-year old - depending on what they are into leisure and sports-wise, you are likely to have more varied choice and a higher standard of activities within the city limits. And if she's into shopping, she is nearer to the big malls and transit!

So - I love Cochrane, but we both drive into Calgary now each day - not a problem, but sometimes I'd love to chop 20 minutes off my commute.

I love the scenery where I live, and those extra 20 minutes in the car give you a literal breathing space to feel you are out of the city.

Am I conflicted? Yes!

So - as others have said - do not discount Calgary itself.

I would echo previous posts about Calgary.

We are in Chaparral just south of 22x. We have a lake (skating in the winter and kayaking, swimming if we ever get a summer)with a great a community feeling centred around it. We have all the stores we want at Shawnessey. Shopping malls at Chinook and Southcentre close by,Great access to the mountains through 22x, then 22 via Bragg Creek.

We feel outside of Calgary whilst being in Calgary and have 30min commute to the centre of downtown. Glenmore/Barlow est 20mins up Macleod Trail.

I know people love the satellite towns but there are plenty of places in Calgary that provide the small town feel whilst giving the large city entertainment.

The only satellite town i would consider living in is Cochrane(due to proximity to mountains) but the downside to that is the commute through the west of calgary is very busy.

I also find those in the satelite towns underestimate commuting times, or paint a slightly optomistic picture because they commute at 6am etc. I looked at a job in Riverbend, off Glenmore when we first got here and I reckoned it would take around 45-50 mins in rush hour, someone from Cochrane has to pass my door virtually to do the commute ..........

I totally agree with everything said. We started off living in Okotoks when we first came over. There were definitely more cons than pros to living outside Calgary city limits, when it came to commuting to work, transit, property taxes, things to do etc. Within a year we moved to Calgary!

There are lots of lovely communities within Calgary city limits, both new and old. Talking to people and driving around areas is definitely the best idea.

My office is in downtown Calgary, and my commute is 15 min walk from our apartment just south of downtown. I don't understand the desire to live with big commutes in some dull suburb - we are very close to downtown with great views of the Calgary Tower from the big glass windows, are within an easy walk of great stores/bars/eateries on 17th and, plus. a Sunterra has opened near us. The car is abandoned in the parkade downstairs for days at a time and whilst being a car guy, I don't miss the driving commute to work. There's some great facilities just across the park from us.

And so I think my advice is, have a look at the different parts of Calgary when you get here and be open-minded. We did when we arrived at the beginning of August, and we ended being far closer to downtown than ever envisaged.