Life for an expat in Calgary
May 9th 2010, 9:25 pm
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 5
Life for an expat in Calgary
Hi all,
My wife and I are looking to emigrate to Calgary. We were wondering, however, how most brits who've moved to the city (or its surroundings) felt about the place. At this time, I'm more interested in the "soft" issues that you've faced, rather than hard facts like tax, health care, mortgages, rent etc. I'll be looking into those issues separately. I'm more interested in this time in your emotional reaction to the place, good or bad.
Would any of you be willing to share your feelings about the place? What was your biggest culture shock moving here? How well do you feel you "fit in"? Are you happier, more comfortable in Calgary than in the UK?
Thanking you all in advance for your replies.
Kind regards,
Alan
My wife and I are looking to emigrate to Calgary. We were wondering, however, how most brits who've moved to the city (or its surroundings) felt about the place. At this time, I'm more interested in the "soft" issues that you've faced, rather than hard facts like tax, health care, mortgages, rent etc. I'll be looking into those issues separately. I'm more interested in this time in your emotional reaction to the place, good or bad.
Would any of you be willing to share your feelings about the place? What was your biggest culture shock moving here? How well do you feel you "fit in"? Are you happier, more comfortable in Calgary than in the UK?
Thanking you all in advance for your replies.
Kind regards,
Alan
May 9th 2010, 9:41 pm
#2
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 15,883
Re: Life for an expat in Calgary
Hi all,
My wife and I are looking to emigrate to Calgary. We were wondering, however, how most brits who've moved to the city (or its surroundings) felt about the place. At this time, I'm more interested in the "soft" issues that you've faced, rather than hard facts like tax, health care, mortgages, rent etc. I'll be looking into those issues separately. I'm more interested in this time in your emotional reaction to the place, good or bad.
Would any of you be willing to share your feelings about the place? What was your biggest culture shock moving here? How well do you feel you "fit in"? Are you happier, more comfortable in Calgary than in the UK?
Thanking you all in advance for your replies.
Kind regards,
Alan
My wife and I are looking to emigrate to Calgary. We were wondering, however, how most brits who've moved to the city (or its surroundings) felt about the place. At this time, I'm more interested in the "soft" issues that you've faced, rather than hard facts like tax, health care, mortgages, rent etc. I'll be looking into those issues separately. I'm more interested in this time in your emotional reaction to the place, good or bad.
Would any of you be willing to share your feelings about the place? What was your biggest culture shock moving here? How well do you feel you "fit in"? Are you happier, more comfortable in Calgary than in the UK?
Thanking you all in advance for your replies.
Kind regards,
Alan
Initially we moved to Edmonton where I met my wife a native Edmontonian.
As Edmontonians we disliked everything Calgary based only on the rivalry between the two cities.
Then in 1974 the unthinkable happened I was transferred to Calgary (horror of horrors). Reluctantly we made the 186 mile trek south and settled in Calgary.
Shortly after arriving in our new city we found that we both felt very much at home and Edmonton was a place we visited only because we had to.
Would we have moved back? Only if I had been transferred.
May 9th 2010, 10:39 pm
#3
Just Joined
Joined: May 2010
Location: Calgary
Posts: 1
Re: Life for an expat in Calgary
Hi Alan,
Myself and my partner have been living in Calgary for about 2 months now. We came out here in 2008 to get a feel for the place, as we knew that we may be moving here with work.
Personally we really like it, it is expensive for a lot of things compared to the UK, unless you are coming from bigger UK cities (London etc) but it has the best of both worlds, all of the amenities of a big city great restaurants, shops etc, with really friendly and welcoming locals, to quick and easy access to the National Parks which is where we spend a lot of our free time.
I dont know if you have visited here before but if not and your thinking about coming to check it out id reccommend taking a tour with David Smith at Legendary Travels he knows everything about Calgary and its surrounds. we met him in 2008 and are still friends now.
Hope this was at least a little helpful feel free to contact me again.
Fraser & Katie
Myself and my partner have been living in Calgary for about 2 months now. We came out here in 2008 to get a feel for the place, as we knew that we may be moving here with work.
Personally we really like it, it is expensive for a lot of things compared to the UK, unless you are coming from bigger UK cities (London etc) but it has the best of both worlds, all of the amenities of a big city great restaurants, shops etc, with really friendly and welcoming locals, to quick and easy access to the National Parks which is where we spend a lot of our free time.
I dont know if you have visited here before but if not and your thinking about coming to check it out id reccommend taking a tour with David Smith at Legendary Travels he knows everything about Calgary and its surrounds. we met him in 2008 and are still friends now.
Hope this was at least a little helpful feel free to contact me again.
Fraser & Katie
May 9th 2010, 11:39 pm
#4
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2008
Location: Sittin' pretty on The Prairie in Alberda
Posts: 635
Re: Life for an expat in Calgary
I'd love to be able to answer questions like this but after 5 years in California and 7 years in Mexico I think I may be culturally unshockable 
May 9th 2010, 11:54 pm
#5
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jul 2006
Location: Cochrane, Alberta
Posts: 7,861
Re: Life for an expat in Calgary
Calgary ain't pretty ! 
OK - to counteract such a rash statement, there are many pretty pockets around the city. Green spaces and parks, lots of sporting facilities, and river pathways and the odd architectural delight. But the reality is that box store designers rule the roost and concrete wins out, in great swathes across the city scape. And whoever is in charge of "signage" should be shot.
Driving is easy. Apart from the fact that nearly every car is an automatic so you don't have to think about bothersome stuff like changing gears, the roads are wide, nearly always dead straight and have huge space-eating slip roads (that concrete again) to serve the vehicle-loving populace well - and they really don't know what a traffic jam (a la M25/M1/UK city centre) is like. It may take me 50 minutes to get from one end of the city to the other, but it's not painful at all. However, let's not mention the actual skills of driving.
At this time of year, I love all the wide grassy verges that emerge from a six-month brown and grit-covered winter and Memorial Drive is one of my favourite roads in the summer. In fact, I love all the wide roads and space and lack of hedges completely - you get to breathe in great eyefuls of sky all day long.
I miss big, hunking trees in the landscape, but the climate leaves a limited number of species (compared to a very temperate UK) being successful here. Some of the older neighbourhoods will have bigger trees, and thereby have a quite different feel to them.
Cookie-cutter housing rules. Look in virtually any direction once you are outside the downtown core and miles upon miles of boxy homes cram into every space. New communities have sprung up everywhere, though I use that term loosely. You need schools and churches, and neighbours that talk to each other to make a community. For quite a few years yet, the kids in the new communities will all be bussed off to older communities for some edumacation
However, once you get into your road, and close the door to your cookie cutter home, it will be spacious and lovely and have a garage you can actually park your car in.
Despite many a slagging off, I think the C-train works really well, and if you live near it and use it daily, it really ain't that bad. Parking charges and fares is another matter.
Ok - that's my starter for ten. Soft enough for you
OK - to counteract such a rash statement, there are many pretty pockets around the city. Green spaces and parks, lots of sporting facilities, and river pathways and the odd architectural delight. But the reality is that box store designers rule the roost and concrete wins out, in great swathes across the city scape. And whoever is in charge of "signage" should be shot.
Driving is easy. Apart from the fact that nearly every car is an automatic so you don't have to think about bothersome stuff like changing gears, the roads are wide, nearly always dead straight and have huge space-eating slip roads (that concrete again) to serve the vehicle-loving populace well - and they really don't know what a traffic jam (a la M25/M1/UK city centre) is like. It may take me 50 minutes to get from one end of the city to the other, but it's not painful at all. However, let's not mention the actual skills of driving.
At this time of year, I love all the wide grassy verges that emerge from a six-month brown and grit-covered winter and Memorial Drive is one of my favourite roads in the summer. In fact, I love all the wide roads and space and lack of hedges completely - you get to breathe in great eyefuls of sky all day long.
I miss big, hunking trees in the landscape, but the climate leaves a limited number of species (compared to a very temperate UK) being successful here. Some of the older neighbourhoods will have bigger trees, and thereby have a quite different feel to them.
Cookie-cutter housing rules. Look in virtually any direction once you are outside the downtown core and miles upon miles of boxy homes cram into every space. New communities have sprung up everywhere, though I use that term loosely. You need schools and churches, and neighbours that talk to each other to make a community. For quite a few years yet, the kids in the new communities will all be bussed off to older communities for some edumacation
However, once you get into your road, and close the door to your cookie cutter home, it will be spacious and lovely and have a garage you can actually park your car in.
Despite many a slagging off, I think the C-train works really well, and if you live near it and use it daily, it really ain't that bad. Parking charges and fares is another matter.
Ok - that's my starter for ten. Soft enough for you
May 10th 2010, 12:33 am
#6
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 771
Re: Life for an expat in Calgary
We have been in Calgary just over 4 years, and tbh are quite happy here.
It is a city much like any other (all be it a HUGE sprawlling one). As Anne above mentioned, transit, esp the C-train is good, get a monthy transit pass ifyou work downtown as it is far cheaper than paying parking fees...
Houses are the same no matter where you go. Boring and identical.
But for a family, living in the burbs (we live in the far NW) means plenty of other families, which means lots of kids for ours to play with...
The schools are uniformly good from waht I can see,
Shopping - identcal malls with almost exactly the same kind of stores in them, grocery shops that are virtually identical no matter where you go... boring and predictable.
But in some ways, we kind of like that...
And there is always the oportunity to escape to the mountains if you need a bit of relief from the "sameness " of the city...
It is a city much like any other (all be it a HUGE sprawlling one). As Anne above mentioned, transit, esp the C-train is good, get a monthy transit pass ifyou work downtown as it is far cheaper than paying parking fees...
Houses are the same no matter where you go. Boring and identical.
But for a family, living in the burbs (we live in the far NW) means plenty of other families, which means lots of kids for ours to play with...
The schools are uniformly good from waht I can see,
Shopping - identcal malls with almost exactly the same kind of stores in them, grocery shops that are virtually identical no matter where you go... boring and predictable.
But in some ways, we kind of like that...
And there is always the oportunity to escape to the mountains if you need a bit of relief from the "sameness " of the city...
May 10th 2010, 2:23 am
#7
little snowy owl
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,921
Re: Life for an expat in Calgary
I am happy here. Far more at home than I ever felt in my UK home town actually.
I have some wonderful women friends who I sing with... you should have seen the "welcome-back" I got after my unexpectedly prolonged trip to the UK (Volcano-delay!). I really feel loved.
We have just spent a lovely day at our elder son's prospective inlaws ... Mothers' Day Brunch .... and our two boys say their only critism about moving to Calgary is that we should have done it a long time ago! (They were 14 and 19 when we moved)
We loved our trip back to the UK last month, but were really glad to get back home to Calgary!
(The weather just makes me laugh though!)
I have some wonderful women friends who I sing with... you should have seen the "welcome-back" I got after my unexpectedly prolonged trip to the UK (Volcano-delay!). I really feel loved.
We have just spent a lovely day at our elder son's prospective inlaws ... Mothers' Day Brunch .... and our two boys say their only critism about moving to Calgary is that we should have done it a long time ago! (They were 14 and 19 when we moved)
We loved our trip back to the UK last month, but were really glad to get back home to Calgary!
(The weather just makes me laugh though!)
