Hi Wonder if there anyone out there who could help me!!! We are looking to move to Calgary within the next few years. We aim to Buy a house and rent this out to people whilst we finish jobs back in the UK. We are unsure where the nice areas to live in around Calgary are. I have also read alot alot about how difficult it is to get a job in Calgary. I'm a Aircraft Technician and my wife is a primary school teacher can anyone see any problem.

I would be grateful for any help and ideas????

Potential problems if you are not aware of the facts:

Teacher qualifications - make sure you know what the requirements will be in order to convert a UK teaching qualification to one useful in Alberta.

Renting property - ensure you have someone able to keep an eye on things for you as grow-ops are generally in rented property. Some insurance companies will not provide landlords insurance for this reason. Be aware.

Nice areas in Calgary - we are in the deep south and its nice here. Most communities in the city are good for families. Browse through mls.ca, check out prices and photos. PM us if you need a realtor.

Regarding areas in Calgary: The city is divided into 4 areas - Northwest, Southwest, Southeast & Northeast. Stay out of the Northeast at all costs, and the Southeast as well - while there are nice areas in the deep southeast, most are located near areas that used to be landfills, train yards and oil explorations, which means there are a good few chemicals in the soil no matter how much they've tried to "clean" the area.

I highly recommend Southwest & Northwest, stay far from the inner city though.

Hope all goes well for you in the coming years & your move to Canada goes as you plan

Soil contamination in the SE? Apart from the infamous case in Lynnview, where else do you mean?

Lake Chaparral is near a landfill site - I've personally checked with the operators and they won't accept anything oil contaminated, either private or commercial.

I haven't heard anything bad about the Lakes in Bonavista, Midnapore and Sundance - if you have, please cite reliable sources. Just out of curiosity, how long have you been in Calagry?

I'd agree that you should avoid downtown and the NE at all costs.