Parker3

Does anybody here have any experience of Lethbridge? I'm trying to get a sense of whether we might like it there and all that I keep reading is that it's very windy!! We live near Nottingham at the moment and have two kids aged 5 and almost 2. My husband is from Northern Ireland but has dual citizenship (Canadian and British) and is considering a University job in Lethbridge. At what age do kids start school in Alberta? I'm a working mum at the moment and would be staying home with the kids if we move, and while that sounds nice it would be good to know how many years it will be until the youngest goes to school ;-) Any help, advice, pointers etc would be very gratefully received. Thanks!!

rwin

I like Lethbridge. I've never lived there but have visited often. It is windy. My younger daughter is considering the university there when she finishes highschool in a couple of years. There are about 80000 people there so not huge. And it would probably feel isolated compared to the UK since the next big city would be Calgary or Medicine Hat and would both be a couple of hours drive away. Probably a couple of hours to the mountains as well.

Kids start school (kindergarten) at age 5 (half days unless thats changed recently).

Heres a birds eye view of Lethbridge (about 10 years old now but I don't think its changed too much):

http://www.globalairphotos.com/galle...idge/Southwest

Lychee

Have you played around with Google Street View in Lethbridge?

http://goo.gl/maps/HyiFJ

Parker3

Thanks both! I hadn't thought about google street view, that's a great idea!

Piff Poff

I dont live there, but my opinions for what they are worth. Its a university town and from what the young people iwork with have said, its party town. Its VERY windy. It's a bit in the middle of nowhere. Saying that its a decent size and attactive enough.. I believe one of the lethbridgeinians did a pretty good wiki a few years ago.

Parker3

I saw the wiki, it was really helpful. I've also watched few YouTube videos showing different areas of Lethbridge and have spent what feels like a whole day checking out street view and property websites! I'm warming to the idea, I think I can get past the windiness

If there is anyone on here who lives there it would be great to say hi! It would be really helpful to get an idea of the kinds of things there are to do in Lethbridge, particularly during the week for stay at home mums (moms?!)

Piff Poff

The Lethbridge contingency don't seem to post all that often these days, but one might pop up

Cowtown

Ok heres my opinion.
I have been working in Lethbridge since October last year. The company I work for rent a house in Lethbridge, so I get to stay here Monday to Friday.

I have to say, I have heard about it being windy down here, but I can probably count on one hand how much it has been "windy" down here.

Its not a bad town, the major stores are here, including Costco, plenty of resturants too! I work at the hospital, and it is a good size.

Rush hour is a non factor, the people are great, and I would imagine the property prices are good too.

I would say as your hubby has a job offer, then go for it. Calgary is 2 hours away, the US border an hour, plus you have easy access to the national parks.

One last thing, our rental house is in West Lethbridge, which is not bad at all.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to help you out.

Steve.

Good luck. Steve

burton bunch

Hi

I am the Lethbridge contigency which PiffPoff mentioned.

Have been visiting Lethbridge for 25 years but lived here for nearly 6.

We have nearly 90,000 population here and like others have said is 2 hours away from Calgary - but it is no where near isolated, in fact it is perfectly placed for the majority of people. To the east 2 hours away is Med Hat which is similar in size to Lethbridge and a couple of hours west are the beautiful Rockies.

We dont have the huge malls which Calgary has - yes after 6 years I still miss the Trafford Centre - but hey its 2 hours away to Calgary.

For most of people this city has everything day to day for you with a wide variety of stores - and more coming all of the time Admittedly this place will seem very small to you after anywhere in the UK but it has a close city community and is family orientated.

I am sure that you would meet other moms who are at home and could maybe meet for play dates. The new developments of Riverstone and Copperword on the west side are full of young families - there is also a new development called Garry STation also on the west. All of these developments would be fabulous location for your husband taking the job at the Uni - that close that he could bike in the summer or even come home each day for lunch.

The Uni is a fabulous place to work - people seem once they get a job there dont want to let go of it to quickly so opportunities dont come up that often. We also have a fabulous College too.

Yes the Bridge is windy but it isnt hurricanes every day its more like you get very used to very fast having bad hair days sometimes if the atmospheric pressure drops suddenly you can get a headache but hey thats what they invented tylenol for haha

Someone mentioned that it was "party city" yes we have a number of bars and clubs but its not pissed up drunks on every street corner so I dont see that as a problem.

There are plenty of groups and parks and places to explore which the kids would love - get a vehicle that you can bung a couple of bikes into the back off and you can spend plenty of time in Nicholas Sheran or Henderson parks. Get into the car and drive to wonderful Waterton or within 2 hours you will be over into the States and go to Whitefish MT.

Living in Lethbridge is great with fabulous access to lots of different places - and there are some great deals at Castle Mountain for skiing too (think its cheaper than in the surrounding areas in Calgary).

OK that is my take on the city hope its helped you

Piff Poff

Hi BB, nice to see you

It was me that mentioned party city, only going on what one of the young (20ish) girls said at work the other day.

burton bunch

hahaha us old timers eh !!!!!!

Steve_

I have experience of both Lethbridge and Nottingham. It's a small town by comparison to Nottingham and everywhere in Alberta is isolated compared to the UK, look at a map, it's obvious.

Your main problem will be the weather I suspect, not as cold as Calgary (190 days pa with temperatures below freezing) but it's still cold and it is windy. It is called the "windy city" for a reason, close to the mountains so the Foehn effect is quite strong. Also it seems to flood a lot in Lethbridge, I'd stay away from the river.

I have thought of moving there on occasion but the problem is that it is a bit small compared to Calgary and the other problem is that you then have to drive 150 miles to the airport. On the other hand it is only 180 miles from Great Falls which sounds like a long way but going in that direction down Hwy 4/I-15 there is virtually no traffic and it is totally straight so shopping in the US is a viable option (given how cheap gas is in Montana as well).

Lethbridge is also a town that is growing very fast so services can be stretched.

All I can say is that they cant I-15 to the west as soon as you cross the border to stop trucks from being blown over. I've been in Lethbridge several times when it has been really windy. But then it's not much worse than Calgary.

I suspect you'll also find the food choices in the supermarket a bit disappointing compared to Nottingham, but you can go down to Great Falls where it is slightly better and stock up.

Steve_

Now that is windy. Windiest place I've ever been. And I've been through a category 5 hurricane, but at least that ended.

Red1974

I currently live in Lethrbidge, but originally come from the south east of england. We first came back in 2010 & then returned to the UK for 14 months but missed Canada and decided to return last year, we never considered living anywhere else other then Lethbridge. The state schools are great, my son started school in Grade 1 at 7. He is now grade 4 & just turned 10. Kindergarden starts from 5/6. Yes it can be windy, snowy, rainy but also sunny

My son loves living here, & has never been happier. There is a great university with facilities you can use, plenty of clubs for kids & a great choice of shops, restaurants, border only 40 minutes away and some fantastic surrounding places to visit.

I would highly recommend Lethbridge.

rach05

Hi,

I have been living in Medicine Hat (just under 2 hours away) now for six months. My husband works some of the week in Lethbridge so sometimes I go with him. We always comment that we would prefer to live there as in my opinion it is a lovely city. We are both from Manchester so like the fact that it is bigger than Medicine Hat. We also have friends with young children that have just moved there from Vancouver and absolutely love it. They say it's a brilliant place to bring up children. There are loads of beautiful housing estates and plenty of facilities.

Oh and I second going to Whitefish/Waterton, both beautiful places. One of the things I love the most about living here is the fact that in a couple of hours we can be in the states!

I'm not sure about the weather as we have it lucky here, our winters are really mild and lots of sun! But when I look at the weather forecast it always seems to be pretty similar in Lethbridge.

Good luck!