cheeky_monkey

I have been living here for nearly 2 years and im now on the cusp of making a big decision to move back to Edmonton...i really enjoy my job here...but cant get to grips with the city or the people and have never enjoyed living here...so im thinking about asking for a transfer back to Edmonton...what am i missing about Calgary that makes it enjoyable to live in?

ann m

I would be interested to hear the difference between Edmonton folks and Calgary folks - or what you perceive might be better in Edmonton (maybe you already have a network there?).

I think having a job you enjoy is more than half the battle - what are your colleagues like?

What don't you like about Calgary and perhaps we can mis-direct you from there?

What are you seeking that you cannot find, and perhaps some of us know where it is....

I like that it's clean and safe. My commute in from the NW is easy. My colleagues are a likeable bunch. The buildigs and main highways are predominantly ugly with boxy, concrete offerings - but if I venture inside most businesses and restaurants, I am nearly always surprised at how presentable they are, compared to the hideous exteriors. Obviously, Olde Worlde doesn't exist.

My husband loves cycling here - he takes the pathways from Silver Springs to beyond downtown - it's purposed built, easy and very pretty at this time of year.

I am not single, nor do I socialise in Calgary that much - so I have a hands-off experience really - I visit to work, and it's quite passable.

But if you just don't like the vibe, maybe Edmonton is your town....

Almost Canadian

It's proximity to the mountains is what I enjoy about it that and the fact that people simply take you for who you are. Yes, there are jerks, but, from my experience, no one cares about your background, if you can do the job; you can, if you can't; you can't. People are not as obsessed as the rest of Canada appears to be with being PC, they just get on with things.

I appreciate that if one doesn't really wish to venture outside of the City much, it could be a very dull place to live.

ChrisCDN

I always thought the two cities were essentially the same, except Edmonton doesnt have Banff.
We're moving back to Calgary later this year, after some time in NS and Edmonton.

MillieF

What a good point, I never realised what it was, but that is 'just ' what I dislike about Calgary. It's nice on the inside, but not on the outside! maybe it's the weather? Some of those indoor malls and the gardens with pools and fountains are amazing.

pkc

Proximity to the mountains and also chinooks - how nice to wake up one day in the dead of winter and realize, "This is the warmest city in Canada right now!"

headingwest

What do I like?

Hmm, lots of things:
I wake up very morning and see the Rockies in the distance and think, I love living here.
I can ride my mt bike year round to and from work on a fabulous network of cycle paths that connect the city and I am no longer considered "nutty" to ride to work no matter what the weather like I was in the UK.
I can walk/cycle less than a couple hundred metres and be in fish creek park with my family
The southern alberta lakes in close proximity for wind sports
K-country in close proximity for mt biking, hiking and cross country skiing
I can walk or cycle to most of the shops I need (I live in cranston)so I drive very little
300 ish days a year of sunshine (and a few days of hellish flooding)
Endless choice of sports for the kids
I just don't see any chavvy/yobbish types anywhere where I live, ever
Great schooling for the kids
Lots of other like minded people to do above said sport activities
A positive vibe about the pace and if you are willing to get involved, a strong sense of community locally.

Lets be honest though, I have never been anywhere in Calgary and thought, wow, love the architecture & the history of the place.

We came here for the access to the outdoors and for us it ticks all the boxes & more. We couldn't do many of these things from Edmonton in the same day or in the UK for that matter.

To be honest, if you are a city type and don't like the outdoors I can't see why you would want to live here.

The future is yours. I you are in a rut, change it.

cjones

Pretty much flip sides of the same coin. Why don't you move somewhere nice instead?

Steve_P

It always amuses me when people on here complain about the lack of history and "architecture" in Calgary or Canada.

Remember people Canada is only a little shy of 150 years old what do you really expect?

Here's a couple of pictures of downtown Calgary the first taken in August 1915 (not a lot there is there?). The second one of mine from almost the same spot just a few years later (2010). I kinda like the changes but then I've been here for 50 years so what would I know.

BristolUK

@ Steve_P

I especially like the massive gain in colour.

Steve_P

haggis88

everyone goes on about "Canadians" being friendly, but i haven't really experienced that in Calgary so far...i'd say my home town of Ayr is a friendlier place as far as people go...or is it just the amount of non-Western immigrants here that make it that way?

What i like about Calgary is that i don't have to drive for more than an hour to find absolutely anything i could ever want to do!