Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

Looking at doing a recce trip to Southern Alberta and wondering if in a 7-day trip next May (initially without the kids), we would have enough time to have a good look around both Calgary and Lethbridge (and any other Large Town / City within a 2hr drive of either) and really where to start with the planning.

Our initial priorities are:

Employment opportunities (Web Designer/Web Administrator, and general or project administration support (20 years British experience, most of which has been in local government)

(Good) Local Schools (kids will be aged 10 and 14 by the end of next summer - possibly older by the time the paperwork is processed) - on the subject of schools, can anyone advise me whether the 14 year old will be middle school, junior high, or high school please as I'm not certain of the cut off between elementary and secondary?

Availability of a family home (3+ bedrooms) either for let or buy - we are thinking of a purchase budget around $450,000.

Public transport availability if possible (if we made the move we would prefer to only have one family car)

Hope someone able to help.

Thanks
Caroline

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

Yes, but I suspect you will wish you had more time.

S/he could be in either junior high or high school, depending upon the month of birth.

You should be able to find something. You will likely get a larger house in Lethbridge than in Calgary for that budget. 3 bedroomed house are far more plentiful than 3+, although some of those also have bedrooms in the basement.

Public transport in Calgary is doable, depending upon the location of one's residence and work. I have no idea about Lethbridge.

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

(Her birthday is in August.

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

Seven days? You'll just be scraping the surface but it will give you a feel for the place and where to base future searches on.

Public transport within any large City should be doable, smaller ones maybe not.

I would think the 14 year old would be in High School but it really depends on which school board you go with, some middle school offer an extra year before high school (not sure why tbh).

I have found in Red Deer (about the same size as Lethbridge) the good/bad school thing is NOT the same as in the UK and it's just a matter of personal preference or catchment are, I should think Calgary may be a little different but I don't know.

With Employment opportunities read the wiki and try to set up some face to face time with potential companies whether there is an advertised opening or not - not all jobs are advertised.

You may want to rethink the one car thing. North America is not really pedestrian friendly when it comes to shopping and just general day to day stuff imo, it may be different if you live in a downtown core I suppose.

I would also think about bringing the kids and staying for longer too as it's their move as well and they will hear you talking about this strange land and not be able to visualise. We are thinking of moving on to Ontario (99% certain) and we have yet to take our daughter who is 19 now, I know she is frustrated as she doesn't get it but we want to narrow down a little more of where we are going before we take her. She is likely to be staying in Alberta or moving to Vancouver if we can't sell her on Ontario.:unsure:

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

Thanks Piff Poff.

We will be looking at a longer stay with the kids once we've narrowed down an area - I've got an idea of hiring a motorhome, and driving from Calgary to Vancouver along Highway 3 with some nice stops along the way over about 3 weeks and then flying home from Vancouver. The idea is, if we choose Calgary, we can look at spending the whole of the first week exploring Calgary, and then get in the motorhome and take a drive through the mountains for a couple of weeks (likewise, if another city suits our needs better, we can plan to spend longer in the favoured city).

Hope this idea makes sense.

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

You could also have a look at the towns around Calgary where the properties will be a better value but still very commutable into Calgary, such as Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks, Strathmore, Black Diamond, Bragg Creek etc. but then you would almost certainly need 2 cars.

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

Makes perfect sense to me as we did very much the same, the furthest west we went was Nelson, we'd pretty much decided by then BC was not our cuppa tea, as beautiful as it is.

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

BC = BRING CASH lol

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

There's more to BC than the expensive bits. :) Head up north and it gets super cheap, frontier-like, and you could swear you're in Alberta. ;)

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

As much as I love Cochrane, it is not a one-car place. There is no public transit until you drive 20 minutes to the Calgary city limits train line.

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

This is similar with Airdrie. I know there is an ICE bus (or 2) that run to Calgary, but I have no idea where they pick up from or if you would need a car to do park and ride to actually use it. There are buses here, but I don't encounter many while driving around. I am in the older SE area and I can walk to a No Frills (cheap supermarket) and have a gas station with convenience store a short 1 minute walk from my door, but this is not at all a usual situation here. If you want to get around here, a car each is almost a necessity. Also think about waiting out for a bus in -35 temperatures and you will soon see the benefits of that extra car.......

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

Aged 14 born August, would be grade nine in Calgary. That's junior high or middle school, not high school.

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

In Lethbridge Gr 9 is High School for City Schools

Re: Recce Trip in (Southern) Alberta
 

Forget about public transport. It's baltic here in the winter (which lasts six months) and as you might imagine, in typical fashion the buses run like clockwork in the six months that is "warm" and exactly when you need them most (it's -35C with windchill) they don't show up. So huge tip is this: get a car.