rsbhj

Hi, myself, husband and two kids are potentially looking to move to Calgary in the next couple of years. I have been looking at properties. I am wanting a good family friendly suburb, with some good schooling and amenities, recreational facilities and transport links. My budget would be $500,000 - $600,000 for a 3 or 4 bed house with a decent size garden. Is anyone able to recommend suburbs I could look at?

Thanks

Almost Canadian

All of them will fit those requirements.

If you can tell us where in the city you believe you will be working and the types of recreational activities are important to you, will be will be able to narrow down the areas somewhat.

scilly

There is not the great difference in quality of schools in Canada in general such as you see in the UK, so this should be of less concern to you than distance from work place, amenities, etc etc

VFRV4

The main part to look at is where you will work. The roads in the winter after it snows are terrible. Poor snow clearing and drivers that don't know how to drive. If you work downtown, Foothills/children's hospital, SAIT or the University then the North West is s nice location. I live in Tuscany, wake up and open my curtains and see the Rockies. LRT us right here for public transport.

Photoplex

With your budget, look at Northwest or West (technically Southwest) communities.

Avoid Northeast, East. The Southeast isn't bad, but it's so far away and a horrible commute to downtown.

cheeky_monkey

i lived in the south east its neither far away or a horrible commute esp compared to many areas in the UK.

shelley748

whats wrong with the northeast is I may asK I was looking at quaint little viallges that way for retirement Beiseker was one

Photoplex

Beiseker is 40km outside the Calgary city limits... I'm talking about the city itself.

No idea what Beiseker is like...

Almost Canadian

Most of the north east and the south east it perfectly fine. Those that think otherwise, usually, haven't spent any time there.

What is wrong with areas like Lake Bonavista in the south or Crescent Heights (the east side of centre street) or Huntington Hills in the north?

Photoplex

I don't have the energy to repeat it all again, but if you dig through my post history, I did some analysis a while back of the CPS crime statistics that shows a marked increased in crime rates in the East quadrants vs West quadrants (and yes, adjusted for population densities per community).

Almost Canadian

I accept that some communities in those quadrants may have a higher crime rate than some communities in the other quadrants but to write off half of the city, as you have done, is a step too far.

To the OP: if you stay clear of the airport, or the industrial parts of some parts of the south east, you will do fine.

However, as you haven't returned to this thread, it appears that you are not that interested anyway.