first off im sorry if this post ends up in the wrong area

Im looking for some much needed advice my husband has been offered a sponsored visa for a job in calgary and they are looking for him to start asap, we have 3 children aged 7,5 and 1 and i myself am a housewife who doesn't drive.

I am looking for family friendly locations to rent in calgary or upto a 30min commute to work. My husbands job is in the southeast of calgary and i am so confused with all the locations.

I am not too worried about schools but more about the location as i don't drive and im looking for somewhere where the kids will have clubs available to them and i will be able to interact maybe in parent and toddler groups.

I was also wondering if anyone can give me a rough idea of the household bills that you pay in a monthly basis and how much these are just to try and get an overall picture of outgoings we are looking at rental properties for 3 bedroom being around $1500-2000.

Im sorry once again that this is so long but i would appreciate any replies that i receive.

Thanks

Hi, and welcome to BE.

You've posted in exactly the right place, so don't worry! I'm sure you'll get loads of useful info from those in Calgary when they wake up.

Not driving in Canada will be tricky, is it something you think you'd be happy to learn once there? There's just not public transport like in the UK.

For bills etc, if you search the forum you may well find other relevant threads with info on. What does your husband do?

Good luck with it.

My husband is a mechanic in the uk and has been offered a job of a heavy plant fitter and calgary, I would look in driving but was in a car accident when i was younger and have no interest in driving which makes it hard.

I was thinking about Okotos as the commute doesn't seem that long and the town itself seems to be very nice so any comments on this would be greatly appreciated, the rent is also slightly cheaper lol

i live in New Brighton which is next to Mackenzie Towne (south east Calgary)..very nice area lots of kids and lots of parks..there is a community centre and big nursery just opened up too...lots of things within walking distance and bus transit centre here too if you wish to venture further afield.

Just thought I'd say hi and to wish you all the best with your move. My kids were 7 and 3 when we moved.

Calgary and the surrounding towns are very family friendly. I don't know Okotoks that well; I've visited a couple of times but it seems a nice place and appears to have everything there. If its anything like where we are I'm sure there'll be plenty of mums and tots groups etc for you to go to and start meeting people too.

Again, I'm not overly familiar with the SE of Calgary so can't comment on the different communities around there but I'm sure someone will come along who is more familiar with that side of the city.

Anyway, good luck with the move and all the best.

We looked at Okotoks on a recce visit and were very impressed with the feel of the town. We may well end up there because of the job opportunities in Calgary but are moving to Kelowna first. One thing I must say however is i think it ( and other towns we visited) would be very difficult without driving. My impression was that driving out there seemed more relaxed /less aggressive than in most parts of the UK.

Good luck with your decision.

Thanks folks alot of good advice greatly appreciated, on another note for any Canadians how is the learning to drive and advice on that, it wouldn't be something I wished to do but if its a must I suppose I would give it a go.

Hi. Got friends who have lived in okotoks for 3 years, with two small children.
They love the place and not far to Calgary.
We're going to okotoks when I get the go ahead with my new job.

Not driving in Calgary or the surrounding area will be very difficult. Transit is OK for getting to downtown, but isn't great to get to other communities without lots of changes. Lots of people will do the park and ride to get to a C-Train or BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) hub. I am not sure about bus links in to Calgary from Okotoks. While the commute may not seem that long - once you hit Calgary is where the traffic really builds up and the Highway seems to be very bad when it snows. It's the same coming in from the North (Airdrie), the highway seems to get very icy very quickly and it takes a couple of hours to get to work. (Not all the time, but this is not an exaggeration).

I have lived in both the SW and SE of Calgary. You really don't need to live outside of Calgary to not feel like you live in the city. The communities are set up to be very self contained and if lucky you never really have to venture outside of your community for much.
None of the places I have lived in are very pedestrian friendly - yes there are sidewalks, but everything is designed around motorised travel.

If your husband will be based in the Foothills Industrial area, then you can look at Mackenzie Town, Copperfield, New Brighton areas as the commute on 52nd isn't that bad and now the bridge has been built over the rail line it should flow much better. These communities are all close to 130th Avenue SE with lots of shopping which should be accessible by transit (really not sure where the buses run from, but there are bus stops along the street). You want to try to avoid having to use Deerfoot Trail to get to work as it backs up early (around 7am) and it moves slowly until around 9am. It will start getting busy around 3:30pm and will start to open up again around 6pm (just my experience, others may say differently)

HTH

It's a really difficult thing to explain to those from the UK who haven't been here about the public transport in Canada.

For instance, when we moved to Drumheller I thought "oh its ok I don't need a car straight off as I can get a bus to work" (there are none!)

You MIGHT be able to get around Calgary (just) using the go trains / busses or whatever they are called but don't for one minute think you'll be able to get anywhere else.

You can't "hop on a train" for a day trip to Edmonton / Red Deer / Banff etc - there aren't any passenger trains. I think there might be a Red Arrow / Greyhound bus service that runs between these two cities but its like one a day or something random like that.

How will you get on when you need groceries / or to get anywhere with the kids by a certain time.

Please consider the driving - you'll be somewhat of a prisoner if you don't, especially in the winter when a 10 minute walk somewhere becomes a polar expedition.

There are lots of family friendly neighborhoods in Calgary, and indeed in Okotoks. You probably want to pick a neighborhood or satellite town that is in the same quadrant as your husband's workplace, otherwise the commute will be a bore. So Okotoks is great if he's working in the SE or SW, but if it's NW, consider Airdrie or Cochrane, and if it's NE then Airdrie, or even High River.

Don't rule out living in Calgary itself though. The LRT and bus systems are pretty good. If you're in one of the satellite towns then not driving might be a difficulty.

We lived in the Triwoods area in Calgary for a while, and there are plenty of schools and shops within walking distance. But, in winter, when it's 20 below you wont want to walk your bags of shopping home. I would steel yourself, get a vehicle and a satnav and try driving here.

Someone will correct me if I am wrong but I don't think Okotoks has a transit system.

Mckenzie towne down in the SE is the nearest you are going to get to having a walkable community if you need to be SE based - it has a little high street with a range of shops and a supermarket. Lots of families live there too so should be good for finding some friend for the kids and yourself.

Look at a few communities to see what shops, schools and services are walkable or doable on a short bus ride. You can download a PDF map of Calgarys transit system on the Calgary Transit website.

It's not impossible to get around without a car but its not the easiest thing either!

Don't forget schooling. Although Mackenzie Towne has a new K to 4 elementary school, New Brighton -- next to Mackenzie Town -- busses its elementary kids to Acadia, and for Middle School to David Thompson, while Copperfield, another popular SE neighbourhood, busses its kids to Maple Ridge and RT Alderman schools. Maybe another reason to learn to drive, or maybe look at homes in the areas in which these schools are located.

What's wrong with the kids taking the bus?

Nothing unless all of a sudden you sleep in, miss the bus and due to the crappy weather outside decide walking isn't for you. If you can drive it makes little emergencies a bit easier