Hi there,

We are looking at arriving early next year if my husband is succesful in his quest to find a job when he goes to Calgary for 3 months at the end of Oct.

I have some questions and I was wondering if you could help as there is only so much I can do from house sites when it comes to finding somewhere to live.

I will tell you a bit about us in the hope you could recommend somewhere for us.

We are (or will be) 30 years old, married and have two daughters, one who is 12 and one who is 2. We like spending time together, eating out and we are lookign at getting more active with the kids.

Things that are important in an area are: good trasport links (we don't want to get a car for the first while of living in Calgary) Good schools close by, decent things to do with the kids (doesn't need to be costly or even free) And most importantly reasonably priced.

We are looking to rent for the first couple of years and have budgeted about $1600pm in rent.

Can you suggest places you think would be suitable, also why you recommend them would be brilliant.

Try a look at this recent thread it should answer most of your questions.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=664541

It will all depend on where the job is located - if its downtown, then probably one of the communities along the C-Train line in either the NW or the S. If you are working somewhere else then you might want to watch your commute route as some can be a bind!

If you don't mind a longer commute and are not tied to the traditional commuting hours then one of the satellite towns outside Calgary such as Cochrane or Okotoks may appeal (although if you have an almost teenager who will be into sports, dance, etc, some say that being closer to Calgary is better otherwise you will be playing teenager-taxi!) You would probably drive in to a C-Train station and park and ride.

Along the C-Train line there is a choice of older or newer communities - the older ones will have a few more mature trees and perhaps have a little more "character" but the newer communities might have more modern facilities e.g. Tuscany has some kind of club. There are also lake communities which a lot of people are drawn to for the kids - ice skating in winter, little beach and swimming in the summer.

What a lot of us on here would probably recommend is to find a suite hotel for a month or so and see how you get on then take a drive round some of the communities you think you might like and go from there.

Here's a link to the communities in the City:
http://www.calgaryarea.com/

Have a play around with the street view dingle on google maps to see the types of houses around.

Good luck!

I think this post illustrates how alien the concept of living without a car is to people in Canada outside of the three main cities.

Thank you for these. The link to the other thread was helpful as well.

I think he will be working down town as this is where the vast majority of jobs are in his field (IT)

We currently commute to work and I travel 30-45 by car to and from work and this is close by so an hour wouldn't be an issue for either of us as long as the c-train or buses are close by and regular.

From what I've read, lake communities usually have a good sense of community spirit but aren't as good for transport links.

My husband will be doing all the checking out of the areas when he is there. He knows my taste in houses which is similar to his so I will entrust him with it and I'm certain he'll make the right choice. I just wanted to give arm him with as much help as possible which is where you guys come in!

A few people have recommended Cochrane in other threads but I am not in any way tied to anywhere.

It pains me to say this, but I do not believe that a family which includes 2 young girls can live a participative life in Calgary without a car...

What about when your child is invited to school friend's houses, or to the swimming pool, skating, rec centre? What about wanting to go skiing, camping etc? (You mentioned wanting to lead an active life.)

Walking to and from the supermarket with your groceries won't be a lot of fun at -30C...

Calgary was definitely not designed with the pedestrian in mind - if you live and work downtown then you can get by without a car, but for a young family, who want to be active, I think it's a virtual impossibility if you hope to gain anything from the area.

Out of interest, why do you not want to own a car?

We managed with "just" one car in Calgary for a couple of years until little miss flossie came along. Its certainly a bit of a chore trying to push a buggy to the bus stop in minus temps plus snow and I imagine a bit of a bind waiting for a late bus in the same weather with a grumpy toddler in tow. Can't imagine having to lug the shopping back on the bus as well

Calgary could be done without a car but you would probably need to be young free and single and live very close to downtown or on a very good public transit route like the C-Train or the express bus routes. The buses don't often take the quick route it has to be said. Getting around to places other than the office is not quite as easy - we'd have to take a couple of buses to get to the bars on 17th Ave for example. For the mall the car takes 10 mins and the bus takes 30. To get to the doctors it was three buses. Just a few examples.

(Somewhere like Toronto or Vancouver, however, could easily be managed on public transit alone.)

Good luck anyway.

yeah honestly... to live in this city you need a car. it should be one of your first priorities, no matter how good the transport links in your community are

Hi there. I see you have mentioned Cochrane, which is where I live. I know you have said that you were not intending to have a car when you first move out here although I see a lot of people have advised you that having a car is virtually an essential living in Calgary. If you are considering Cochrane at all, then a car would certainly be an essential as there are no bus or train routes into the city from here.

Other than this, Cochrane offers pretty much everything else you are looking for. We have a couple of children too and the town has much to offer them; good schools, recreation facilities (parks, ponds, swimming, skating, bowling, sporting clubs etc) and offers good quick road access to both the city and the mountains etc. Many people here, (my husband included) work in Calgary.

I'm certainly not trying to say that Cochrane is definitely somewhere you should consider as everyone wants something different; it's just somewhere you may wish to consider if you preferred to live outside the city. If you do have any specific questions about Cochrane that I may be able to help you with then please PM me and I'd be happy to help if I can.

In any event, good luck with whichever area you choose.

I always love these 'where to live in Calgary' posts where everyone recommends seperate towns and cities OUTSIDE of Calgary. There are many great communities/places to live in the city limits. All depends on what you want from where you live? This board seems to be very pro-out of town, but I'm a huge advocate for living in Calgary itself...shock-horror!

I don't use a car and use the bus or bike 4/5 km to work along the Bow river and it's a beautiful way to start and end the day. We do have a car but it's not essential, depending on where you live.

Where do you live in Calgary? I am quite interested in areas within the city rather than the outlying suburbs, so would be glad to hear some suggestions.

i live in varsity in the NW and I love it

i think its a fantastic community for anybody really including families

its close to downtown (15-20 mins drive, 30-45 mins on the bus/train), but far enough away that it is still spaced out. It doesn't have the "desperate housewives" feel of a lot of the new communities. Plenty of public transit nearby, close to market mall, northland, brentwood etc... so shopping is good. good for skiing since its in the NW (1.5 hours door to door from my house to the lifts at sunshine... faster if you drive like an albertan). I can't say anything negative about it...

I'm in Coach Hill. We love the area. Again, no stepford/desperate houswives feel and lots of trees! Great mix of older folks and newer families so someone's always around the community. It has excellent transit access to downtown, nice local supermarket/liquor store etc (at Strathcona) that we can walk or drive to, 10 mins drive to downtown off-peak and an easy bike down the hill to downtown along the riverside for an easy commute...although it's a not-so-easy ride back up the hill on the way home. It's also an excellent community to head to the mountains from and you can be the only car on the road with the mountains and foothills opened right up in front of you within 5 mins as you head into Springbank. We have some good takeaway places within striking distance and a major shopping area (Westhills/Signal Hill). We moved here from downtown, which we also loved for other reasons.

with kids, i would recommend a lake community, there are few around the city but there are lot in the deep south east. we lived in midnapore when we arrived and now live in chaparral. sundance,bonavista, auburn bay and mackenzie lake are all lake communties in the south (sure i have forgotten some)

we are 30yrs old and have two boys 4 and 2 - chaparral has lots of young families which has made it a great fit for us. we loved midnapore but being an older community there weren't many young families for our kids to meet other kids.

unfortunately as other posters have said with kids in tow at least one car would be benefical - not essential but life would be a lot easier.

I have friends who lived in Dalhousie, which is the community to the north of Varsity.

They actually didn't own a car, and used to cycle or walk to the station or take buses. They were an extremely active and fit family (two young teenagers) and Canadian (if that makes any difference), from New Brunswick originally.

If they needed a car, say for day trips or to go camping etc, they would hire one. They reckoned NOT to need a car on a day-to-day basis, and that they saved a lot of money that way, as well as keeping fit!

... mind you, they didn't actually own a TV either! Although they did get a used one when somebody gave them a Wii .....