GeDe

We could be moving to Okotoks/ High River area and are interested in peoples thoughts about the two places, We have been to both on a short visits and like them both, but not being local we didn't get to know what they are really like to live in, so any useful information would be really helpfull.

The Ross Family

Hi there

We live in Okotoks and I work in High River - so know something about both - what did you want to know? PM me if you want more details.

The Ross Family

Almost Canadian

They are both 20 mins away from the southern part of the City of Calgary (depending upon whereabouts in them you intend to live).

Living in most areas of them will be similar to living in a community in Calgary but without all of the amenities of Calgary.

I know of people that live in both, they are happy but constantly bitch about the drive to work in Calgary each day (both work in the south of the City nowhere near downtown).

Of the two, I would prefer to live in High River simply because it is much smaller and has way more of a town feel about it. IMHO Okotoks is identical to the vast majority of communities in Calgary.

I do not imagine that job prospects in either are as great as they would be in Calgary, unless one sets their sights relatively low. I am sure that wages in Timmies, Crappy Tire etc. are the same as they would be in Calgary, but I wouldn't imagine that people would move from the UK to work in such places.

HTH

snoopster

Hi, we live in Okotoks too and love it here. Lots of people live here who work in Calgary with no problems.....including me! It's a 20 minute commute to the southern fringes (Chaparral/Somerset area) and it takes me 25 mins to get to work in Lake Bonavista (a little further in). However, whereabouts in Okotoks you choose to live will affect this time slightly (we live in the north of the town so it's quicker as you don't have to travel through the town first). Okotoks was perfect for us as it offers lots of amenities - including loads of sports for the kids, whilst still retaining more of small community feel. It is growing fast though so that may change....I hope it doesn't.
As with the Ross family....we're happy to help out with more specific questions should you have them too....just PM us.

Getting There

Hi,

Like The Ross Family, we live in Okotoks and Jan works in High River. Both have a fairly quaint downtown core (not "old" as we would think of it in the UK, but for this part of Canada, yes). This helps to give both places a sense of separateness and difference from most Calgary communities, especially those parts of Calgary developed in the more recent past.

Okotoks is a better served town than High River (eg: more supermarkets and other stores) and is growing faster than High River and at present, has about twice the population of it. We'd expect that population gap between the two to extend over time.

Where you will both work (I believe one of you is a GP.... PPPLLLLEEEEAAAASSSEEE come to Okotoks! ) is important. The commute to downtown Calgary from either, (especially High River as it is that much further south) if you had to be there in peak times, would not be pleasant, but working in the southern half of Calgary is entirely doable (I'm sure The Ross Family would agree with this).

Okotoks does have some more significant (non Retail/service) employers although, clearly, not nearly so many as working in a city populated by circa 1 million people (but you wouldn't expect it to would you...it's a town)

Both have a sense of community (we're not suggesting that Calgary communities do not). Personally, we like the feel of having the benefits of Calgary nearby without living in it. For us, that was similar to the context in which we lived in the UK (ie: living in one of the satellite towns around London). It suits us well but it's an entirely personal thing.

We have an Okotoks area guide on our website (see link in signature line below) and are working on a High River one - if you want a little reminder about one of the places you briefly visited.

Feel free to drop us a PM or an email if there is more we can help with.

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.

GeDe

Thanks for all the replies, yes the wife is a Gp and has been offered a job in Okotoks, so we would not be commuting to Calgary every day, I haven't got a job lined up yet,so I'll be Daddy day care We liked High River, it seemed abit more mature in it's settings, with big trees down some of the roads and that great park/play area in the middle which both the kids really enjoyed would be bonus. But on a night it looked really quiet, we went on a Friday and Saturday night, does it have any night life, decent bars, places to eat.

What are the Schools like in Okotoks/High River, we have a 6yr old girl and a soon to be 4 yr old boy, I heard that the Catholic one is very good, and even though we are not Catholics they could go to the school.

Almost Canadian

That being the case, either would suit your needs very well. I have no idea about the night life and I will leave others to comment upon that. Having said that, unless you live close to downtown (or are happy to commute to downtown) Caglary does not have much nightlife either. The UK town model for nightlife simply doesn't exist here.

Getting There

We agree with all of this. High River has a couple of bars with some live music on occasions. Okotoks has similar. But as AC says, outside downtown Calgary, nightlife is sort of limited, more about a family meal out perhaps, than night clubs or theatre and so on.

As to schools. On the public side of things, Dr Morris Gibson is very well regarded locally but on the flip side, is rather oversubscribed and in so far as you place faith in the Fraser Institute Report Cards, does not perform as well as Big Rock Elementary which, in turn, according to the same measure, does not perform as well as Good Shepherd Elementary, (the Catholic elementary in the northern half of the town). We've had one set of clients recently transfer children from Dr MG to Good Shepherd -too early yet to determine if they are pleased with the move. Neither of the parents are Catholic.

These are all in Okotoks of course...to Mr GeDe - are you referring to the catholic schools in High River?

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.

Getting There

Oh...and excellent that your wife has been offered a job in Okotoks...please let me know when she is operational...we'll fill Mrs GeDe's list for her before she has drunk her first cup of coffee!

Eamonn & Janet.

Almost Canadian

Just out of curiosity, how did she find the whole requalification process over here. A GP that I know took the better part of 4 years to become licensed

GeDe

I'll let her tell you all about that one, as they say it's been emotional :curse: and she is still doing exams


Janet and Eamonn, what have you heard about the schools in High River?

On the night life thing, I didn't mean that we are party animals, just wondered what people did

Getting There

Hi GeDe...I'll put a call out to all the folk in our office. Some of them have children in the High River schools...we'll see if we can leverage their first hand experiences for you. Maybe drop us a PM with an email address.

Don't know if you picked up one of these while you were in Okotoks. Doesn't really focus on night-life as such but certainly gives a sense of what's available in the community around here.
http://www.okotoks.ca/data/1/rec_doc...M_GUIDE_LR.pdf
Can't find a near equivalent for High River but the town website (To Mrs Ross...looks much better than the old website!) has an events Calendar and lots of information about visiting the town...
http://www.highriver.ca/news-a-event...r/2009/10/28/-

Eamonn & Janet.

Almost Canadian

They go to sports bars to watch hockey while consuming beer and chicken wings!!

GeDe

sounds like home from home

SirTainly

and that's no bad thing unless you're watching the local team get thrashed, then it's more about the wings and beer!