Edmonton to Calgary
 

I have accepted a new position in Calgary and will be moving from Edmonton to Calgary in the next 2 weeks.

i want to live in the city limits and would like sone recommendations on living in the NW or SW as i understand they are the better areas?....any thoughts would be much appreciated

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

I suggest looking at Strathcona or Christie Park... easy access to (i) downtown and (ii) the mountains.

IMHO the "far" NW and SW suburbs mean you're in for a life of tedious commuting - others will disagree. The advantage of the areas I mentioned is that although they are classed as SW, in reality they are pretty much just W.

Of course, much depends on your budget.

I suspect you will like Calgary a lot better than Edmonton.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

From previous posts I believe you work in construction. Is this is site based position, or are you based in the office? Where in the city will your main place of work be?

If you wish to avoid the commuting that Jingsamichty refers to, you would be best advised to be close to where you will be working.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

Really it depends very much on where you are working - if it is downtown, being close to one of the main commuter routes would prob work out best. But if it is somewhere else, consider how long the commute is, and which routes are the best way to get there.

Despite everyone saying that the NW and SW are the "Best" areas of Calgary, there are still good and bad areas even in these quadrants. And similarly, there are good areas even in the NE.

From my experience, there are parts of the SW that are a PITA to get to, which would make commuting to/from them a real pain. Similarly, there are parts of the far NW that are great, especially if you work downtown (live near the Ctrain line or close to one of the BRT commuter bus routes and it is a breeze).

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

im office based and is just off the deerfoot about 15 mins south of the airport if that helps...although i will be in charge of different projects across the city.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

Unfortunately "15 mins south of the airport" covers a large area. Deerfort is the main route through Calgary north and south. You would be well advised to avoid having to use it. You may be able to reach it using the C train, you may not.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

i dont use trains..i drive everywhere lol

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

OK

If you are in charge of projects all over the city one assumes you will be driving the standard truck and you won't care too much how long it takes you to get from office to site (as you can't do much about that anyway).

My route into work, if I don't take the C-Train, is Deerfoot to Memorial Drive onto 4th Ave to office. From the deep south of the city it should take 30 mins from door to door at approximately 6:30 a.m. My record is 2 hours:eek:

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

pretty much but i dont drive trucks..im senior management lol...anyway yeah im always in my office by 7am anyway so tht should help?..wont be in my office everyday either.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

Don't most people start work around 7am here? ;)

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

its not really about what time people start or finish or commuting really....im more interested in good family neighbourhoods with good facilities in the NW or SW.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

They will all be much of a muchness. Don't discount the NE or the SE. IMHO, there are very few bad communities in Calgary. Most that slate the NE have, likely, never been there. The SE is where most of the lake communities are.

As with most things, you need to come and have a look for yourself.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

If you are going to be based near the airport, I wouldn't bother with the SW - it can be a real bear to get into and out of at main commuter times. And as others have said, don't discount the NE - there ARE nice areas in that quadrant. I agree with Almost CAnadian, most who slate the NE have never been there.

Maybe consider the ones in the central north? We live in Country Hills, which is a nice family area, but Panorama Hills is also good. As is Coventry Hills and Harvest Hills which are both technically NE (all that means is that they are on the other side of Harvest Hills Boulevard from Panorama and Country Hills which are technically NW)

But you DO really need to visit and have a look and see if these areas match up to what you are looking for.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

Sounds like you're working on 52nd St SE or Barlow Trail or near to it, the NW and SW do not make sense if you're working there, because of the commute. Depends on how far down 52nd St SE your office is.

What you don't want to be doing is crossing town, especially from the NW because Sarcee Trail and Crowchild are rammed and the Bow River makes it tricky from the SW. (Hence the endless moaning about the ring road being built).

The NE gets a bad rap as the "shitty" part of town, but there are some perfectly okay neighbourhoods there, like Martinsdale.

From the sounds of it though you're probably going to want to look at places like Auburn Bay, MacKenzie Towne, New Brighton, Cranston, etc., all the new stuff in the SE.

One word of caution - this stuff is so new you might have a bit of a trek to the shops, if it doesn't make your commute too far I'd move to Shawnessy as the shops are better there, it's more established.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

The communities mentioned above are fine. But they are in the deep south with the result that you will, likely, be taking Deerfoot north to get to work. This is, possibly, the busiest section of the road during rush hour. I wouldn't want to do in every day no matter how fancy a vehicle I was driving:p

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

Like I said it depends on how far down Barlow or 52nd St SE his office is, but bear in mind the SE ring road is nearly finished whereas the SW ring road is still up in the air. You don't only have the Deerfoot going forward, you can go up the ring road, the SE leg is slated to open in November 2013.

Commuting up the Deerfoot is the same as commuting up any busy road, but it's a cake walk compared to Sarcee or Crowchild at rush hour, or crossing town via Glenmore. The problem is during the winter, there's always an accident that slows it down, hopefully the ring road will sort that out. Or make it better at least.

Really it depends on where his office is. 15 minutes south of the airport puts you south of Glenmore, and the Deerfoot is usually pretty straightforward south of Glenmore.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

Having lived and worked in around London most of my working life i dont have any hang ups about commuting...i was used to long drives to works and traffic so its not a big consideration for me.

I have only spoken to Canadians who live in Calgary and a couple of guys who have lived there for 25 years or more...they have all said SW and NW and some areas like mackenzie town in the SE are the best parts of the city and forget the NE.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

It's a generalization to say avoid the NE. There are some crappy neighbourhoods there but there's a lot of new stuff that is perfectly okay. Some of the stuff near the river on Memorial Drive is considered quite posh. A lot of the new construction will be around the NE ringroad, have a drive around it and you will see why.

The NW is overrated imo, you pay a ton of money for a "mountain view" that you can barely see, and it's more congested. There is some nice stuff in the SW especially by the reservoir. The SE is where a lot of the new stuff is being built, it's considered more downmarket than the NW I suppose, but then again Ramsey is in the SE and most of the new stuff is perfectly fine, as is Shawnessy which is new but not as new.

It really depends to some extent where you work, if you're working on Barlow or 52nd St or that general area I would say MacKenzie Towne or the other communities around there, Cranston, New Brighton, etc.

I don't remember nearly freezing to death on the M25 because of a hold-up caused by an accident though.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

we live in far NW and and I commute to northish Barlow. I wouldn't want to live far SE, we have folks who live down there and the commute sounds horrendus.

Mine is around half an hour, 40 mins at peak. Worse in snow. Commute on McKnight and its fine, used to be bad but since Stoney opened its been good.

Re: Edmonton to Calgary
 

where bouts in the NW i am looking at a couple places in royal oak and tuscany?