Has anyone been to Olds Alberta.
need some advise on the area. Done lots of research but nothing like talking to people that heve been there.
thanks

Hiya
We have visited Olds a couple of times as I was offered a job in neaby Didsbury (but took one in Calgary in the end). It is North of Calgary up Highway 2 and would probably take you about an hour to get to Calgary from there, but also you could go to Red Deer to the North.

I guess it depends if you are thinking you might want to commute to Calgary or Red Deer for work. I think it would be a bit of a slog if you were going to commute to Calgary - a work colleague of mine does it and on a good day it is about an hour each way, and can be a couple of hours if the snow is bad. She enjoys living in Olds beacuse of the more small town and community feel, but then she is originally from the middle of nowhere in Manitboa so that may just be her preference.

The housing in Olds was quite reasonable by Alberta standards (a little too far away from Calgary to be prime commuter belt), it is very much 'small town' feel but has a couple of big box stores being built, some banks, library, rec centre, etc. We only really ruled it out beacuse if I took the job here, it would have been a long drive for the other half to Calgary for work (I think its lesser travel time to Red Deer). I think there is an agricultural college there too.

You could try the Town of Olds in google and see if it has a website.

Would be interested to know the reasons you are considering Olds. Is there anything specific you would like to know - I could ask my work colleague.
Cheers
Flossie

thanks for that.
Husband has been offered a job there.
We think he has made the decision to go by himself and rent, while the boys and myself stay in Ontario.
We like the idea of being close to main cities but to not be on top of them.
Husband likes the outdoors feel and to have scenery close by.Olds sounds just the place. my concern is that it is too remote and not enough going on for the boys.
If you know of anyone that has a condo to rent that would be great.
If it all works out we will follow when the boys break up from school in the summer.

My brother attended the agricultural college in Olds. I think it's a nice town -- if you like small towns. It's close enough to Calgary for the occasional shopping trip. The town has ice hockey and stuff like that for your boys.
x

What do you think they might want to do that they can't do there? (serious question)

They'll probably end up hanging out at friends' houses and playing PC/console games, like they would anywhere else. They will probably learn to drive at a younger age than they might if you lived in the city.

They will probably play at least baseball, soccer and football at school, and there is an ice arena and lots of sports/recreation clubs to join http://www.windsorgraphics.ca/cgi-bi...OR&submit=View

I know there is a cinema in the town... been there with a friend who lives in Bowden. It's small and only shows one movie at a time though! (shock-horror!) And there's an Aquatic center.

The only reason we don't live somewhere like Olds is my OH being worried that he'd not fnd work, but maybe once he's retired we might move there. I don't really want to move until my boys are established independently here now though (Calgary), as they have all their friends now.

There's still talk of a high speed train link between Calgary and Edmonton. I'd expect that'd stop at Red Deer and probably Olds too ....... no sign of the actuality yet though, but folks complain that it's as quick to drive as to fly now that Calgary airport is so busy, and with the extra security check-in delays etc .....

thanks for all replies.
Having been here for 3 years and not yet feeling that we have hit the right place, this move would be our last ditch attempt at Canada.
Hard to put into words what we are looking for (and perhaps we will never find it here)but I know this will be it, in terms of Canada,our last move, so choosing where to live is very scary.
where we are now is struggling unemployment wise and our worry is long term careers for the boys.Wages are also poor for skilled positions, so we realised a while ago that this area wasnt for us.
Employment for husband in Alberta doesnt seem to be a problem, but, where to go?
Small towns do it for him, in terms of being close to nature, but does this leave no opportunities for the boys.?
Ok, going on abit, Olds on the internet, looks like one road in and one road out, with not much in between.On the plus, travel to Calgary doesnt look far.
thankyou for listening to my moans.

Have a look at Cochrane too - just NW of Calgary - small town feel, but big enough for most of your needs - and 20-45 mins from anything else you need within the city limits. Friendly, enough to do for kids, or close enough to other stuff if required, and 50mins to 70 mins from great ski-ing. Stunning skyline too

Would agree very much with Anne...Cochrane could be a great compromise for you.....Still really close to nature but with quite a bit going on.....Also I know that Cochrane High School is very highly thought of - and you are not too far from the University of Calgary.....Just thinking of the future for your boys!!!
A friend of mine insists the fishing is wonderful in Cochrane and your close to the mountains.....Also Cochrane does have a nice 'feel' to it.....
Good luck with it all
Lisa

Sorry....meant you're NOT your......Hate bad grammar...
L

thankyou for all your thoughts. We will look into commute times for him, but Cochrane sounds like just the place.
Sometimes I just need a push in the right direction and people to listen to me, and give different ideas.
thankyou.

HI again...
Just another thought was if your hubby is going to be actually working in Olds not sure how speedy a commute from Cochrane would be - my guess about an hour - although it might be less as he would probably be going against the traffic.....I was thinking you could also look into Airdrie as an option.....I know nothing about it except it is between Calgary and Olds on Highway2 and that it is bigger than Olds but smaller than Calgary.....Probably if you ask about it someone who lives there will answer...
Good luck
L

Expat friends or ours now live in Didsbury, and he works in Olds at the new Walmart. They love it, and have two boys aged 4 and 10ish, although they are glad they chose to live in Didsbury and not Olds.. I am sure they would be happy to correspond and give you the low down. PM me your email and I will pass it on....