Aimerfamily

Hi there

Can anyone offer advise on rentals in Calgary. Which are good areas with affordable prices. Close to good schools ect.

Also what are the best places to look for properties while still in the UK or do we wait till we get there.

Almost Canadian

With very few exceptions, all areas in Calgary are "good" with "good" schools.

The area you will want to live in and/or can afford is a question that only you can determine.

Jericho79

Kijiji Calgary will have most of the rentals.

If areas with lots of other Brits are important, I would recommend the SW and SE. McKenzie Towne, Sundance, etc. Also, Cochrane (which is not really Calgary) is quite popular.

The advice I received when we moved was to avoid the NE. It's more industrial, and further away from the mountains (if that's important to you).

Mr.V

Hi there, Bristol native living in Calgary here!

First of all - I'd also like to add, that by & large, Calgary is a safe and clean city to live in, not many places to worry about.

The main difference between here and a UK city, is the geographical spread - Calgary covers a wide area, and you need to factor in your desired lifestyle.

Suburban communities will offer serenity, and good schools, but they can be a good drive from downtown, and some of the major roads to and from downtown get extremely congested at rush hour.

So I would say, if you will be working in the downtown area, or want to be part of the downtown scene - don't live too far out.

I have lived in 3 downtown neighborhoods - Ramsay / Bankview, and now Mission. Mission is by far my favorite, it is 10 minutes to the center of downtown - Calgary tower area, has some nice parks and the Elbow river running through and is predominantly rental property.

I'd be happy to elaborate a bit further if you have questions, feel free to ask!

Photoplex

Probably the best site for Calgary is https://www.rentfaster.ca/

Nobody else has said it, because it always causes arguments. But you deserve to know.

For suburbs, look at NW, SW, and deep south. Avoid far NE and east.

AB4NOW

When you are looking to arrive? And do you have a budget.

I may be renting my property soon in SE Calgary a lake community.

pacepeter

We live in Airdrie just outside a lot rent here and travel into Calagry because it's a lot cheaper and a better house for your money

Lunathecat

We moved to calgary six months ago. There were lots of communities we like in the deep SE, but we ruled them out because they either had no local school spots (over subscribed) or no ctrain station to commute downtown.

We picked NW (Tuscany), more expensive but ticked both these boxes.

It really depends on kids and where you will be working.

MegSnow

We picked Somerset in the SW, walking distance to the LRT and loads of shops and a really lovely area. Easy to get to anywhere. Good schools close by too. We looked extensively in the NW (and liked Tuscany, Royal Oak and Hamtins) but really loved Somersrt. We went out Downtown last week and it was only 25 minutes on the LRT.

haggis88

Depends how you wanna look at it.

Yeah you get more SQFT for your money, but Airdrie is a family oriented place - there's no nightlife, or any sort of entertainment worth going to and you're still the same distance from the mountains

Might be good if you have a young family, but I wouldn't wanna stay there and have to pay ~$160 worth of cab fare every time I wanted a decent night out!

Journeyman Electrician

Avoid all the NE (south of the airport) and most of the SE (north of Glenmore Trail) these are the the less desirable areas to live, best of all is to pop on a plane and check it out for yourself its a vast city and to get the proper perspective nothing beats it.

There are plenty of ex-pat realtors on here, I'm sure they can help as they live and breath this and can help narrow down your search for rental and transition you to your own home.