Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
#31
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Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 22
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
It doesn't quite work like that in Canada, although I'm not sure how to explain it.
Speaking for Edmonton, it's nowhere near as big as 'busy' as what you'd imagine for a 1m population. The downtown is fairly busy on working days, with a lot of towers, but it's not crowded if that's what you're concerned. To put things in perspective, you can live in an acreage with forest around you and be just 30mins driving commute to your downtown office - check out the edges of the city and you'll see.
Houses (outside downtown which is mostly apartments) are generally bigger than in UK - think american style. They are all much 'newer' built than UK houses as well. Around here, anything over ~50 years old is considered a historic building!
My advice to you would be to either go to Calgary or Edmonton, rent an apartment somewhere downtown that's as close as possible to your work, and use the first year to learn about the areas and pros/cons before you decide on a more permanent accommodation. This will give you the benefit of using public transport (it's pretty decent downtown) and not have to worry about a car purchase immediately.It's also best come here around May when the weather is good and you have a few good months ahead of you to settle in.
Speaking for Edmonton, it's nowhere near as big as 'busy' as what you'd imagine for a 1m population. The downtown is fairly busy on working days, with a lot of towers, but it's not crowded if that's what you're concerned. To put things in perspective, you can live in an acreage with forest around you and be just 30mins driving commute to your downtown office - check out the edges of the city and you'll see.
Houses (outside downtown which is mostly apartments) are generally bigger than in UK - think american style. They are all much 'newer' built than UK houses as well. Around here, anything over ~50 years old is considered a historic building!
My advice to you would be to either go to Calgary or Edmonton, rent an apartment somewhere downtown that's as close as possible to your work, and use the first year to learn about the areas and pros/cons before you decide on a more permanent accommodation. This will give you the benefit of using public transport (it's pretty decent downtown) and not have to worry about a car purchase immediately.It's also best come here around May when the weather is good and you have a few good months ahead of you to settle in.
#33
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
#34
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
Doesn't seem that different than a mobile home park. Surprised that it was voted down.
#35
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Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 6
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
Just checking, but you're aware that being in the pool doesn't mean you'll get a visa? You'll need to be scoring enough to get selected and invited to apply for PR. I'm sure you know this, but the website doesn't always make it clear and a lot of people think they'll be able to get PR via EE when in fact they can’t because their points fall short.
Hopefully you're scoring well over the 450/460 required on the CRS so it's not an issue, but if you did need to get your points up with a job offer, you may find you don't get any choice in the city (or even province) that you will be going to, as you'll just need to go wherever you can find a sponsoring employer. So just wanted to flag that before you do too much research on Calgary! And don't forget your points score will go down with each birthday if you are over 30, just another thing to be aware of if you're not planning on moving for a while, so if you do score enough now, I'd recommend you apply asap.
Good luck.
I am just turning 30 this year, but I am currently studying masters so have to finish that
a quick test on the government website said I would have 475 points (age 30 with a masters degree), but that's just a guess because I am sure things will change in a year or so.
there few things we can try to improve the score, like re-take IELTS (I got 8) or get province sponsorship (my profession is on the desired list of occupations in Alberta), as well as getting a Job. Calgary has so many jobs advertised (like 3000+ for my profession) that I hope it wouldn't be that difficult
The reason we are delaying the application is actually finance. 1st. I want to repay most of the credit cards we have then save £10k to for moving. Weare trying really hard but I don't think it's possible within less than a year
talking about finance, ost of assessment forms are asking how much money you have/ personal net wort etc. what does it really mean? do we need to have a certain amount of cash in bank account? do you need to prove it and if yes, at what stage? So let's say we save that £10k, can we use it for moving to Canada? we also have a house (mortgaged), does this count towards personal worth or anything at all?
I hope I am making sense
#36
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Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 6
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
Lethbridge does service a lot of smaller towns in southern Alberta - most of these towns will be less than 10,000 residents are nice and quiet but you have to bear in mind driving 20+ minutes on single lane highways to get your groceries. I am Just saying that if you live in a high residential area in the uk you will likely find the smaller towns a little isolating.
I live in Lethbridge and find it has everything day to day - mall shopping is pretty crappy but you either pop to Calgary for the day or g9 over the border to the US as we ar3 9nly an hour away from the border
I live in Lethbridge and find it has everything day to day - mall shopping is pretty crappy but you either pop to Calgary for the day or g9 over the border to the US as we ar3 9nly an hour away from the border
we live in the outskirts of Bristol, we have everything around us ( mall, entertainment, etc) but we don't really tend to use anything. We are more of outdoor/family people and free entertainment maybe because everything is so expensive in UK, or maybe because we are not that bothered. we both come from rural places and enjoy time in nature instead.
Calgary is a perfect place for employment opportunities, but not for a lifestyle we are looking for (isn' it?) therefore, I would very much like to understand if there are any employment opportunities in small villages/cities? or am I looking for something that doesn't exist.
I understand that my perspective comes from so many tears living in UK and Canada is so different.I probably need to live there for few years to understand the possibilities and what we really want
#37
Just Joined
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Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 6
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
It doesn't quite work like that in Canada, although I'm not sure how to explain it.
Speaking for Edmonton, it's nowhere near as big as 'busy' as what you'd imagine for a 1m population. The downtown is fairly busy on working days, with a lot of towers, but it's not crowded if that's what you're concerned. To put things in perspective, you can live in an acreage with forest around you and be just 30mins driving commute to your downtown office - check out the edges of the city and you'll see.
Houses (outside downtown which is mostly apartments) are generally bigger than in UK - think american style. They are all much 'newer' built than UK houses as well. Around here, anything over ~50 years old is considered a historic building!
My advice to you would be to either go to Calgary or Edmonton, rent an apartment somewhere downtown that's as close as possible to your work, and use the first year to learn about the areas and pros/cons before you decide on a more permanent accommodation. This will give you the benefit of using public transport (it's pretty decent downtown) and not have to worry about a car purchase immediately.It's also best come here around May when the weather is good and you have a few good months ahead of you to settle in.
Speaking for Edmonton, it's nowhere near as big as 'busy' as what you'd imagine for a 1m population. The downtown is fairly busy on working days, with a lot of towers, but it's not crowded if that's what you're concerned. To put things in perspective, you can live in an acreage with forest around you and be just 30mins driving commute to your downtown office - check out the edges of the city and you'll see.
Houses (outside downtown which is mostly apartments) are generally bigger than in UK - think american style. They are all much 'newer' built than UK houses as well. Around here, anything over ~50 years old is considered a historic building!
My advice to you would be to either go to Calgary or Edmonton, rent an apartment somewhere downtown that's as close as possible to your work, and use the first year to learn about the areas and pros/cons before you decide on a more permanent accommodation. This will give you the benefit of using public transport (it's pretty decent downtown) and not have to worry about a car purchase immediately.It's also best come here around May when the weather is good and you have a few good months ahead of you to settle in.
#38
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
Thank you, Lethbridge sounds liek a lovely place
we live in the outskirts of Bristol, we have everything around us ( mall, entertainment, etc) but we don't really tend to use anything. We are more of outdoor/family people and free entertainment maybe because everything is so expensive in UK, or maybe because we are not that bothered. we both come from rural places and enjoy time in nature instead.
Calgary is a perfect place for employment opportunities, but not for a lifestyle we are looking for (isn' it?) therefore, I would very much like to understand if there are any employment opportunities in small villages/cities? or am I looking for something that doesn't exist.
I understand that my perspective comes from so many tears living in UK and Canada is so different.I probably need to live there for few years to understand the possibilities and what we really want
we live in the outskirts of Bristol, we have everything around us ( mall, entertainment, etc) but we don't really tend to use anything. We are more of outdoor/family people and free entertainment maybe because everything is so expensive in UK, or maybe because we are not that bothered. we both come from rural places and enjoy time in nature instead.
Calgary is a perfect place for employment opportunities, but not for a lifestyle we are looking for (isn' it?) therefore, I would very much like to understand if there are any employment opportunities in small villages/cities? or am I looking for something that doesn't exist.
I understand that my perspective comes from so many tears living in UK and Canada is so different.I probably need to live there for few years to understand the possibilities and what we really want
#40
Just Joined
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 22
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
Population densities between Southern England and Alberta are very different. You don't have a plethora of villages, towns, beaches that you can drive to within an hour or two. The mountains are great, but even then so massive and wild that you tend to go to the same areas. It's very different from rural Britain. Many in Calgary enjoy outdoors lifestyles, I don't think you will have a problem being based in or near the city. If you want to be in the mountains, maybe look at Canmore, though it will depend on the kind of work you do.
Outdoors in alberta = bears, elk and all sorts of wild animals, topped up by wild temperatures too! It doesn't mean that it's dangerous, but it's a different kind of outdoors, much harsher than most outdoors-y options you get in the UK. A brief example: last week I was at a cabin near Red Deer and the temperatures went from +5C on Saturday noon to -11C on Monday noon, with about 15cm of snow to boot. What I'm trying to say is that you may get more than what you bargain for here! Living rural in Alberta has very different requirements than living rural in UK, that's all. Having said that, if you like the outdoors you will have a great time here, it's extremely accessible, abundant and with all kinds of options.
#42
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
If that's the sort of thing people want they're better off in the UK aren't they? The weather's more suitable, you don't need as much disposable income to be able to participate, you get time off work to be able to do that sort of thing and the attractive part of the outdoors is accessible by public transport. The people I know who make the most use of the Canadian outdoors live in Norway; they have time and money to ski in Canada, people here don't!
#43
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
Oh, just people who go to a park on the occasional weekend. By that standard even I have an "outdoors lifestyle" despite sitting at a computer 10 hours a day.
If that's the sort of thing people want they're better off in the UK aren't they? The weather's more suitable, you don't need as much disposable income to be able to participate, you get time off work to be able to do that sort of thing and the attractive part of the outdoors is accessible by public transport. The people I know who make the most use of the Canadian outdoors live in Norway; they have time and money to ski in Canada, people here don't!
If that's the sort of thing people want they're better off in the UK aren't they? The weather's more suitable, you don't need as much disposable income to be able to participate, you get time off work to be able to do that sort of thing and the attractive part of the outdoors is accessible by public transport. The people I know who make the most use of the Canadian outdoors live in Norway; they have time and money to ski in Canada, people here don't!
#44
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
I accept that the Rockies are pretty to look at but question the idea that they contribute to an "outdoors lifestyle" unless you live in a ski resort. Four hours in a car going to and from is not being outside.
#45
Re: Living Alberta - small towns, Calgary neighbourhoods and commuting
I suspect the Rockies are a barrier to outdoor entertainment rather than an asset. They're outside cities so one needs a car to get to them. Even from Calgary a trip up the Rockies takes all day so you need a day when you're not working; that's great if you're a student or retired but not so probable if you've recently started a job. For example, my informant in Vancouver, which is quite close to some mountains, skied every (winter) Friday while in university but hasn't since due to working all the time and not being able to afford the bus without the student discount. By contrast, someone living in, say, Wrexham could take a coach and walk up Snowdon both days of every weekend if they so chose. They could do so in a flat cap while working as a cobbler or car mechanic or some other ordinary type of job.
I accept that the Rockies are pretty to look at but question the idea that they contribute to an "outdoors lifestyle" unless you live in a ski resort. Four hours in a car going to and from is not being outside.
I accept that the Rockies are pretty to look at but question the idea that they contribute to an "outdoors lifestyle" unless you live in a ski resort. Four hours in a car going to and from is not being outside.