Gaz_F

Hi all,

How's everyone doing?

Well, I'm back from doing 'stuff' and we are all looking forward to Alberta in a fortnight.

So, the questions open; What's on in the Calgary area between 15-25 August?
Were staying very close to Fish Creek Provincial Park, so a walk around there should help with the jet lag. A trip into the mountains, Drumheller and Callaway Park are the only confirmed trips at the moment.

Also, something for me & the wife to have a night out on our own. (Restaurants,[Especially a steakhouse] pubs, clubs etc for the almost 40's).

Thanks,
Gaz.

Scoobsta

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315798

Gaz_F

Thanks for the link.
We have a lot of background info I gathered together before I went away. It's just to catch up, fill any gaps and try to get some local knowledge. Especially decent eateries and somewhere for a good night out. (Live music would be good)

Can anyone shed any light on the area between Glenmore reservoir and Fish Creek Park? (Good/dodgy? access to the c-trains etc)

Thanks.

Judy in Calgary

Hello Gaz&Paula,

Southwest Calgary

All of the area between Glenmore Reservoir and Fish Creek Park is fine in my opinion. Perhaps I'm biased, because I live in Oakridge, which is bounded by Glenmore Reservoir on the north, 24th Street SW on the east, Southland Drive on the south, and 37th Street SW on the west. However, I think neighbourhoods like Palliser, Woodbine, Canyon Meadows, etc., all would be fine communities in which to live too.

Public safety

Although crime is by no means the only indicator of quality of life, it does go some way towards revealing the tone of a neighbourhood. Here are Calgary's Community Crime Statistics for 2003, apparently the most recent year for which data are available to the public.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see that Braeside, which is a modest / average neighbourhood, had only 3 person crimes per thousand people and 20 property crimes per thousand people. Interestingly enough, Pump Hill, which is a very expensive neighbourhood, I believe the most expensive one in the corridor about which you're enquiring, had 3 person crimes per thousand people and 24 property crimes per thousand people. So the burglar alarm systems which I'm guessing most Pump Hill residents have in their homes apparently didn't buy them any more safety than the residents of Braeside seemingly enjoy.

We like living close to Glenmore Reservoir. We have a canoe that we keep at the docks in South Glenmore Park, and we take it out onto the reservoir on evenings and weekends. We also go for evening walks on the path around the reservoir. I'm sure it would be nice to live close to Fish Creek Park for the same reason.

Commuting

Interestingly enough, the commute from our neighbourhood into downtown is very good if you drive. We drive north on 14th Street, west on Glenmore Reservoir, and north on Crowchild Trail. If all the stars are aligned in just the right way, the drive can be as short as 20 minutes. The normal drive during morning rush hour is 30 - 40 minutes. On a yucky winter morning it's more like an hour.

The commute by feeder bus and train is not pleasant. The frequency of feeder buses is okay during rush hour, when they come every 15 minutes. (During off-peak hours they come every half hour.) On paper the commute looks good because, once you get to the train station (Heritage Station in our case), trains are pretty frequent. The rush hour reality is not nice, however. It is not uncommon for me to have to let one or two trains pass because they are so full there is no hope of my getting on them. By the second or third train I think, "To hell with this," and I push my way onto the train no matter what. Then I stand there like a sardine, almost nose-to-nose with my neighbour.

Because of the public transit situation I've just described, I think there would be a lot of merit in living in one of the communities that is served by the No. 3 bus, a frequent, north-south bus, that goes up the middle of Calgary. The No. 3 bus starts out in Canyon Meadows, works its way up Elbow Drive, crosses downtown, and then continues north up Centre Street. If you catch the No. 3 bus at Heritage Station, it's touch and go as to whether or not you'll get a seat on it. If you catch it further north, it definitely will be standing room only. However, if you were to catch it closer to the beginning of its route, pretty much anywhere south of Heritage Station, you'd be certain of getting a seat. I think the No. 3 bus comes every 5 minutes during rush hour and every 10 minutes during off-peak hours, but you'd need to check on that point.

In my opinion Canyon Meadows is in an extremely good position. It's the most southerly neighbourhood that is served by the No. 3 bus. It's close to Fish Creek Park, where you of course could go for great walks. It's pretty close to Southcentre Mall at the corner of Anderson Road and Macleod Trail, and to other shopping amenities and restaurants on Macleod Trail. Next to Southcentre Mall there is a big branch of Calgary Public Library, and across the road from there is the Family Leisure Centre with indoor swimming pool and other sports and recreation facilities.

Music

I don't know what genre of music you like. Generally speaking, Calgary does not have a great deal of live music. Such live music as exists usually is available downtown or closer to downtown. I don't think there's much of it in the far outer suburbs. My son (early twenties) is into jungle music, and he sometimes volunteers as a disk jockey at clubs close to the intersection of 12th Avenue SW and 1st Street SW. Well that's not even live music. It's record albums. But still, there's an actual human being selecting the music and "mixing" it on two turntables, so at least it's a step up from Muzak (the canned music that's piped through the public address systems in shopping malls) .

Here is a web site called Club Vibes that lists Calgary's night clubs, bars and pubs, and describes the atmosphere in each one. Here's another web site called Club Zone. Here's a web site called Logoi that has links to directories of night clubs, dance clubs, jazz clubs, etc.

Restaurants

Santa Fe Grill on Macleod Trail, just north of Southland Drive, is a pleasant restaurant. It is not a steakhouse, but it serves Tex Mex cuisine, which is quite fun.

The Keg chain of steakhouses, while they are not fancy, offer good value for money. I think the one that is furthest south is at 5720 Macleod Trail SW, which is not all that far south. It's two or three blocks north of Chinook Mall, hence north of Glenmore Trail.

Smuggler's Inn at 6920 Macleod Tr S (a few blocks south of Glenmore Trail) is more upscale than The Keg, and serves a darned good steak.

Another restaurant, which is not a steakhouse, but which serves a good steak, is Joey Tomato's in Chinook Mall. There is another Joey's just off Macleod Trail, south of Southland Drive, near the Superstore. However, the one in Chinook Mall has better ambiance in my opinion. It's worth taking the trouble of picking your way through the road construction that's taking place on Glenmore Trail.

Although it's a Greek restaurant and therefore not a steakhouse, my son's girlfriend and her parents keep telling us to go to The Broken Plate at Willow Park Village on Macleod Trail, north of Anderson Road.

Oakridge has a excellent Northern Italian restaurant called San Remo Ristorante. It's in a seemingly modest little shopping plaza called Oakbay Plaza at the corner of 90th Avenue SW and 24th Street SW. It's a hidden gem. Actually it's not so hidden anymore, because word of mouth has made it popular. Reservations are essential on Fridays and Saturdays, and you would be playing it safe if you made reservations on other nights too. Closed Mondays. Telephone 281-2482.

Hope that helps.