craigpark2

I'm new to this website and currently waiting for our passports to be requested. Myself and my family are hoping to settle in Cochrane, Alberta and I was just wondering if anyone on this site had done the same and could let me know how they are settling in and finding life there.

spankysparkle

welcome!
We are also waiting for our passport requests and then we're off to Calgary/Cochrane. We only drove through there on our recce trip. It looks lovely and is 20 minutes or so from Calgary downtown, I think. There are quite a few people on here that live in Cochrane and they all love it. I'm sure they will be around soon to tell you all about it.

you (and we!) get your PPR soon!

Posidrive

We settled for a while in Cochrane, and despite now being back in the UK this was nothing to do with the town itself.

It has most of the basic ammentities and it you enjoy skiing it is b far the best option of the Calgary satelite towns for accessing the Rockies. For those that like to be surrounded by Brits it also has the reputation for being the nearest to little Britain, although this was not necesserily our experience. At least it has a reasonably good Curry house . The only downside was that it is a bit of a trek each day if you work in downtown Calgary, not unreasonable by British standards but at 45 minutes or so most of my colleagues thought that I was mad.

The Monterra development a few km North on Highway 22 was a great place to live. Especially if you want to live in a lakeside community and like a bit more space between the houses, but it does require deeperer pockets that for most of the property in Cochrane. If you do look here though, check that the disagreement between the residents and the water compnay has been resolved.

craigpark2

Thanks for your replies so far. I didn't realise it was quite that long to get to downtown Calgary but good to know.

My husband and I lived in Golden, BC for 2 winter seasons way back in 1998 and fell in love with the mountains. Our ultimate aim is to try and move further into the mountains. We love Canmore but the price of houses is unreal and I have been told by locals that there is not the same community spirit any more as most of the houses are used as holiday homes. We thought that if we initially started out in Cochrane then that would give us a base to make a decision although having two young children of school age makes it just that little bit trickier as obvioulsy we don't want to be moving them from school to school.

craigpark2

We received an email stating that they anticipate being in a position to request our passports early January so hopefully you'll be the same!

spankysparkle

yip, same here. Ours said Dec/Jan. I'm hoping for a xmas present from CIC

Posidrive

The 45 minutes from my door, so if in the main part of Cochrane you can drop 5 minutes or so. Best time was just over 30 minutes but I'm sure that I would have been asked not to drive for a period of time if I had been stopped

rubberduckofdeath

A good friend of mine lives just outside Cochrane and really likes it there. As said, it's great for getting out to the Rockies and it's about 40 minutes to Calgary from his. All in all, it's a pretty good location and if we get PR next year, we'll be looking to live in the area

Almost Canadian

Of all the satellite towns around Calgary, I like Cochrane the most. However, if one wants to work in Calgary, the location of your place of work is key to which satellite community will work best. I can`t think of a worse place to live if I had to work anywhere near Glenmore Trail east of Deerfoot, particularly if I had to commute during rush hour.

craigpark2

It's little bits of info like this that really are useful. Thanks

ann m

Don't come - you'd hate it

We have lived here for over three years and it suits us well. We arrived with a 7 and 9 year old and they have settled in so well.

Cochrane has pretty much all you need for day to day living, and the need for furniture or clothes shopping or Walmart can be addressed in about 20-25 minutes.

My husband and I both commute - he goes into the downtown core, usually outside of regular rush hour and is there in about 30 minutes. Add at least another 15 mins at rush hour. I commute to 16th Ave and it takes me anywhere between 22 mins (ahem) to 40 mins. The dump of snow two weeks ago turned that into an hour and 45 mins for two mornings.

Just very occasionally I wish we had bought a home a little closer into Calgary, but then I just inhale my 12 minute journey outside the city limits heading back out to Cochrane, glance over at those foothills and mountains and take in a big sigh of pleasure and all is right with my world!

There are a fair few Brit accents around Cochrane - I don't know that many of them to be honest, but others completely immerse themselves in their Brit neighbours - 'tis up to you. It has been slow to get past the front door of many of the locals though, despite being introduced by the children.

Sporting facilities for kids are good - there are ice-rinks galore, soccer clubs, wrestling, three dance studios to name but a few. Schools offer other sports like volleyball and basketball, etc. The pool is OK but in need of updating to be honest - we'll take a trip out to Airdrie (45 mins) for a swim or into the NE to Pepsi Thunder if we want water.

Those mountains are great too. Nakiska, door to door, for us is 50 minutes. Banff 65 minutes, Sunshine Village 75 minutes, Lake Louise nearly 2 hours.

Finally, I find dog-walking limiting, despite the beauty of the place. Nearly all land is private and off-leash areas are sparse. It's hard to knacker the wee buggers out sometimes!

There are a few members out this way and maybe some more will comment on your thread as the day goes on. Come visit is the best advice

Mountain Girl

Access to more extensive walking areas looks like a future agenda item in your area Ann, see link. (Although it wont be off-leash it will be a great addition to the area)

http://www.mybearspaw.ca/index.php?o...d=160&Itemid=1

ann m

Thanks - yep, I am aware - the footpaths are going in and info sessions have been held locally. Will be a lovely walking area when accessible, I think.

But like you say, dogs running around like loonies and burning off energy will not be top of the agenda

Steve_P

Ann, Mrs_P and I are quite looking forward to accessing this park. Did the information sessions give any indications of an opening date?

TheThornes

Hi. We moved to Cochrane from the UK just over two years ago and are really settled and happy here. I agree with most of the other comments posted here in reply - all fair points.

IMO Cochrane is a great place to live and raise a family. We have two children, aged 9 and 5, and they have a great life here. There is plenty for them to do here. I agree that the local pool isn't the best - it's OK just not very big although I understand that there are plans for a new one to be built at some point in the future.

We have no complaints with the schools here. We are more than happy with the school our kids go to and I've only heard favourable comments about the other schools in town too.

Like so many others in Cochrane, my husband works in Calgary and finds the commute OK. I work part-time here in Cochrane.

I agree there are a lot of Brits living here but we have a good mix of both Canadian and Brit friends.

Regarding your comments about living in Canmore - we have some Canadian friends who used to live in Canmore but now live in Cochrane. Their reason for moving was largely for the sake of their kids. They said there just wasn't that many kids living there for theirs to socialise with. They said they prefer Cochrane.

Anyway, if there's anything else I can help with or you want to know anything specific, please don't hesitate to ask.

Best of luck.