My husband and I are 30 and 31 with no intention of ever having children- we live in inglewood in a Calgary because it’s a neighbourhood with pubs, bars, restaurants and quirky boutique shops- we’re right on the river pathways and have a lovely park on our doorstep. We are also a short distance from downtown- we often just walk into downtown as it’s close enough.
We are frequently in the mountains just for the day- it doesn’t take that long to get there and we don’t have to spend money staying over.
Most of our friends don’t have kids- though those that do still have jobs that means they need to be near the city so they sort of live on the outskirts of the city where they could get a much bigger house for less money.
My husbands boss lives in Cochrane and we spend a fair amount of time at hers. She commutes in- though not every day- but it would be too far a commute for me into the city each day.
My drive to work from the SE of the city to the NW takes 25 mins and that’s long enough for me.

We both enjoy living here though. We are outside a LOT! The weather very rarely stops you going outside- so we spend a lot more time outside here than we did in the U.K. It’s sunny most of the time, eating out is cheaper and it’s a fairly young city in terms of its residents- we made friends initially through colleagues and it’s been pretty nice!!

We have lived here for 2 years and still find ourselves in awe of where we live when we drive to the mountains.

I don’t know if any of that hat will help you but we’re pretty much the same age and it sounds like we enjoy the same sort of things so thought I would share our views.

Good luck!

There, AC has pretty much done all my typing for me! I live in Cochrane and commute to work (about 25 to 40 mins, depending on time of year). I work hard, but have a great balance. A good life can be had here. You have access to whatever you need, whether in Cochrane itself or in Calgary. You have a wide variety of avenues for singing in this city and the surrounds. Access to skiing, hiking, riding, kayaking, whatever outdoorsy pursuit tickles your fancy is never that far away. Calgary just landed 16 restaurants in the top 100 in Canada, only behind Toronto in numbers.

The natural mountainous skyline is a major feature here - move somewhere you get to see it, if not from your home, then as you drive around your neighbourhood. It grounds you as to why you chose this place. It’s like the ocean for some - if you’re going to live near it, you want to bathe in its beauty! I take literal and mental deep breaths daily as I thank my surroundings.

The economy and job market has been tough in some areas, but it’s not awful. Unemployment in Alberta is down to about 6.3%, and to 7.9% in Calgary (and for Canada it’s down to its lowest in decades at about 5.6%). The city continues to grow. It’s not a beautiful city, but it has pockets of beauty, and is a very liveable city.