Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

We live in a lovely street called Gleneagles view...A bloody Golfer has hit Our house while we were out and left a hole...B'stard!!! Where are you living?

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

They had some geezer in the local paper having his photo taken as he was standing on the glass floor...He looked terrified :D

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

I suppose it depends on the officer, but we were just asked how much we had with us us...We only took $2000 in cash, and the rest was in our Canadian bank, but they didn't seem too bothered, and didn't ask for proof. They were more concerned with the Goods to follow, You need to have 2 copies of what you are bringing in.

The whole landing process was really simple really, you just sign a few forms and you're on your way.

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

We are fine and Dandy Morwenna, infact life could not be better at the mo....Hope this "Honeymoon" period lasts forever. How's your process going?

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Currently living in a rental house in Springbank, until we get our house sold in the UK. Nightmare!!!!!! (selling, not the rental house which is beautiful)

If yiou drive about 6 km North of Cocharne on highway 22 you will see a sign to Monterra. This swamp is where oneday we should have our dream home.

I'm surprised that the golfer did not do the decent thing. The owner of Talisman homes who will be building ours is a member of the golf coarse and I remeber asking him about the risks of golf ball damage. He reckoned it was very rare but members were expected to contact the house owner if the worst happened.

Re: Hi Michelle.
 

The airport is in the northeast quadrant, so the neighbourhoods that are close to it suffer from the noise of planes taking off and landing.

Also, the northeast has a large commercial district (warehouses, big box stores, etc.). It's less scenic to live in a neighbourhood that's adjacent to a commercial zone.

You can just tell when you're driving through a less privileged area. There are pawn shops, there are those places that cash cheques, the store windows have burglar bars on them, etc. There are some neighbourhoods like that in the NE but also some of the fairly close-in neighbourhoods in the other quadrants. But there also are some wealthy areas that are close-in, most notably Mount Royal.

Since well heeled neighbourhoods sometimes border less well heeled ones, it's difficult to provide a brief description of Calgary. When people say the NW, SW and deep SE are the better areas and the NE and the close-in SE are not so good, they are giving you a summary of what is actually a nuanced reality.

The NE quadrant tends to attract immigrants of colour, primarily Asians. I've been told that neighbourhoods that to outsiders may appear to be less privileged in fact may be very closely knit, supportive communities. Many of the people who live in those areas reportedly feel a great sense of loyalty to them. But then the close ties do have their dark side as well, since there are some Asian gangs in the NE.

In May 2005 a study that listed the average life expectancy in each Calgary neighbourhood was published. I was surprised to discover that there was a six-year gap between life expectancies in the wealthiest and poorest neighbourhoods. I would have expected a difference, but not such a striking one.

Apparently the opinion of the medical community is that the gap is attributable to lifestyle differences between wealthier and poorer people. On average, less well off people's eating, drinking, smoking and exercise habits are less healthy. I imagine that's true, but I also imagine that manual labourers are more prone to workplace injuries and deaths, they are less likely to be able to afford good dental care, they are more likely to live in leaky houses in which toxic moulds may grow, they are more likely to do shift work, which takes its toll, their work is more likely to expose them to solvents, sawdust and other substances that are harmful in the long term, and on and on. I don't know that. I don't have medical training. I'm just guessing.

But after saying all that, I must admit that, since I come from Africa, there is no place in Calgary that feels to me like a slum.

By the way, for what it's worth, my husband and I lived in an apartment in NE Calgary when we first arrived here in our mid twenties. It was fine. However, when we could afford to do so, we moved to a house with a yard that backed onto a green belt and all that good stuff. The house was a nice place to raise a family.

I do want to add a note about immigrants from various ethnic backgrounds. It seems to me that kids who are born to immigrants of colour are indistinguishable from mainstream Canadians when they grow up. My kids speak with a Canadian accent and are totally integrated into Canadian life, and the same is true of their friends who have immigrant parents, be they from Poland or Pakistan.

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Bet you only said that in case I looked in ;)