Calgary vs Ottawa
Nov 22nd 2010, 4:31 pm
#61
Just Joined
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 6
Re: Calgary vs Ottawa
I have spent 2 years living in Calgary and just over a year living in Ottawa. My job means I get paid the same wherever I am so that isn't really a factor for me.
Yes houses are a little bit more in Calgary but Ottawa has higher housing taxes and now has HST on everyday items and there is no PST in Alberta...yet! Personally I found Calgary a bit cheaper to live than Ottawa albeit there isn't that nmuch in it. You do have a land transfer tax to pay when you buy a house i.e. about $5000 to add to your cost!
Groceries about the same price but HST and safety and emiossion checks on cars that you buy in Ontario, even used cars so an extra $700 on a $5000 car, so the governemnt get more tax the more times the car is sold.....
Ottawa has quite the strong french influence being so close to Quebec. Not really that big a factor to us as you get used to it although your kids would pretty much have to be bilingual to get a good job here in the future I would guess.
Ottawa all about liberalism and human rights! Calgary is much much more conservative. Plusses and minuses for both I think. Personally I love the cowboy / truck thing....No not cowboys just the cowboy culture!
Yes there is the mountains in Calgary and Banff is beautiful of course. But where do you drive from there....Edmonton?? Ottawa has everything fairly close. I can be at the outlet malls in Syracuse in 3hrs and in Boston within 8hrs. Toronto is about 5hrs. Flights are much cheaper if you can leave from Syracuse.....
It rarely rains in Calgary which is good but it isn't green and looks a bit baron. Ottawa has a bit more rain, although nothing like the UK, so things are lush and trees and the like look much more like UK.
Summer is much much much longer in Ontario and warmer. I would say from May until just last week it has been good weather, nothing extreme. As a result during summer you can swim in the many lakes here and it is warm. Try swimming in a lake near Calgary...not so enjoyable!
The snow lands here in Decmeber time and it stays until March. Temperature is pretty constant...bloddy cold. Calgary there weather fluctuates with the Chinooks so snow comes and goes and temperature rises and drops but overall a bit warmer in Ottawa if you can call minus 20 warmer!! There ain't much difference between minus 20 and minus 30!!! You don't want to venture out in either!
Don't get sucked into the ...that doesn't look too far from the city and it's so cheap..these villages are NOT where you want buy unless you are from there...you have been warned...think of Deliverance....stick to the places in the suburbs!!!!
In chosing a place I am glad we are now in Ontario for the proximity to places and the longer warmer summer, but it depends on a lot of other factors like where friends are, what your job is going to be like in both places and other stuff that only you would know.
Both are good places to live but both have their downsides but everyone's faults and downsides are different.......Mmmmm I think we are going to try GTA next!!!!!!
You only live once...try them both....just don't buy anywhere until you know where you want to be....Don't even get me started on the Realtor nonsense!!!!!!! Bloody Realtor's...Sorry I mean't to say...I HATE RIP OFF, IN IT FOR THEMSELVES BUT TALK A GOOD GAME, WE ARE LIKE THE MAFIA ONLY WE SMILE, RIP YOU OFF REALTOR's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes houses are a little bit more in Calgary but Ottawa has higher housing taxes and now has HST on everyday items and there is no PST in Alberta...yet! Personally I found Calgary a bit cheaper to live than Ottawa albeit there isn't that nmuch in it. You do have a land transfer tax to pay when you buy a house i.e. about $5000 to add to your cost!
Groceries about the same price but HST and safety and emiossion checks on cars that you buy in Ontario, even used cars so an extra $700 on a $5000 car, so the governemnt get more tax the more times the car is sold.....
Ottawa has quite the strong french influence being so close to Quebec. Not really that big a factor to us as you get used to it although your kids would pretty much have to be bilingual to get a good job here in the future I would guess.
Ottawa all about liberalism and human rights! Calgary is much much more conservative. Plusses and minuses for both I think. Personally I love the cowboy / truck thing....No not cowboys just the cowboy culture!
Yes there is the mountains in Calgary and Banff is beautiful of course. But where do you drive from there....Edmonton?? Ottawa has everything fairly close. I can be at the outlet malls in Syracuse in 3hrs and in Boston within 8hrs. Toronto is about 5hrs. Flights are much cheaper if you can leave from Syracuse.....
It rarely rains in Calgary which is good but it isn't green and looks a bit baron. Ottawa has a bit more rain, although nothing like the UK, so things are lush and trees and the like look much more like UK.
Summer is much much much longer in Ontario and warmer. I would say from May until just last week it has been good weather, nothing extreme. As a result during summer you can swim in the many lakes here and it is warm. Try swimming in a lake near Calgary...not so enjoyable!
The snow lands here in Decmeber time and it stays until March. Temperature is pretty constant...bloddy cold. Calgary there weather fluctuates with the Chinooks so snow comes and goes and temperature rises and drops but overall a bit warmer in Ottawa if you can call minus 20 warmer!! There ain't much difference between minus 20 and minus 30!!! You don't want to venture out in either!
Don't get sucked into the ...that doesn't look too far from the city and it's so cheap..these villages are NOT where you want buy unless you are from there...you have been warned...think of Deliverance....stick to the places in the suburbs!!!!
In chosing a place I am glad we are now in Ontario for the proximity to places and the longer warmer summer, but it depends on a lot of other factors like where friends are, what your job is going to be like in both places and other stuff that only you would know.
Both are good places to live but both have their downsides but everyone's faults and downsides are different.......Mmmmm I think we are going to try GTA next!!!!!!
You only live once...try them both....just don't buy anywhere until you know where you want to be....Don't even get me started on the Realtor nonsense!!!!!!! Bloody Realtor's...Sorry I mean't to say...I HATE RIP OFF, IN IT FOR THEMSELVES BUT TALK A GOOD GAME, WE ARE LIKE THE MAFIA ONLY WE SMILE, RIP YOU OFF REALTOR's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nov 22nd 2010, 8:49 pm
#62
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Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Calgary
Posts: 3,340
Re: Calgary vs Ottawa
I have no idea about Ottawa.
All the usual redneck stuff about Calgary is nonsense. My work is quite diverse and I know other places are more so.
I don't like the newer outer suburbs but I expect they are no different to most expanding north american cities. Closer to the centre there are nice mature residential areas. City centre is business orientated and not really much of an attraction at the weekends. Schools, parks and activities for children etc are all good.
The drawbacks to Calgary are that it is a fair distance to get to other places (even by north american standards) and the winter can drag on a bit. I know people who drive to Nevada, Oregon,California etc so it can be done.
I see its -21C now -30C with windchill - its not the place if you're particularly sensitive to the cold.
All the usual redneck stuff about Calgary is nonsense. My work is quite diverse and I know other places are more so.
I don't like the newer outer suburbs but I expect they are no different to most expanding north american cities. Closer to the centre there are nice mature residential areas. City centre is business orientated and not really much of an attraction at the weekends. Schools, parks and activities for children etc are all good.
The drawbacks to Calgary are that it is a fair distance to get to other places (even by north american standards) and the winter can drag on a bit. I know people who drive to Nevada, Oregon,California etc so it can be done.
I see its -21C now -30C with windchill - its not the place if you're particularly sensitive to the cold.
Last edited by jimf; Nov 22nd 2010 at 9:15 pm.
Nov 22nd 2010, 10:45 pm
#63
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 15,883
Re: Calgary vs Ottawa
Yes houses are a little bit more in Calgary but Ottawa has higher housing taxes and now has HST on everyday items and there is no PST in Alberta...yet! Personally I found Calgary a bit cheaper to live than Ottawa albeit there isn't that nmuch in it. You do have a land transfer tax to pay when you buy a house i.e. about $5000 to add to your cost!
Perhaps you meant Ontario as there is no land transfer tax in Alberta.
http://www.muskokapropertiesforsale....er%20taxes.htm
http://calgaryrealestatereview.com/2...ax-in-alberta/
Nov 25th 2010, 12:53 pm
#64
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Calgary
Posts: 479
Re: Calgary vs Ottawa
I really appreciate all the responses - has given us lots to think about when we sit and draw up the pros/cons list this weekend 
I guess a lot of it will also come down to the package offered and what sort of lifestyle we will be able to live with it. I know and understanding why saying "Can I have a good life on X salary" is ridiculous as it is too subjective but could anyone tell me a comparison?
The Calgary position should be a package of $106 CDN. My UK package is 70k and that is based in Manchester so rent is cheap (I spend 20% of monthly pay on rent). We have seen houses prices at 1500-1700 we like in Calgary. I know this is a pay drop on a straight conversion but can we have a similar standard of live.
..again I get this is also still a bit subjective lol
I guess a lot of it will also come down to the package offered and what sort of lifestyle we will be able to live with it. I know and understanding why saying "Can I have a good life on X salary" is ridiculous as it is too subjective but could anyone tell me a comparison?
The Calgary position should be a package of $106 CDN. My UK package is 70k and that is based in Manchester so rent is cheap (I spend 20% of monthly pay on rent). We have seen houses prices at 1500-1700 we like in Calgary. I know this is a pay drop on a straight conversion but can we have a similar standard of live.
..again I get this is also still a bit subjective lol
Nov 25th 2010, 2:35 pm
#65
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 15,883
Re: Calgary vs Ottawa
I really appreciate all the responses - has given us lots to think about when we sit and draw up the pros/cons list this weekend
I guess a lot of it will also come down to the package offered and what sort of lifestyle we will be able to live with it. I know and understanding why saying "Can I have a good life on X salary" is ridiculous as it is too subjective but could anyone tell me a comparison?
The Calgary position should be a package of $106 CDN. My UK package is 70k and that is based in Manchester so rent is cheap (I spend 20% of monthly pay on rent). We have seen houses prices at 1500-1700 we like in Calgary. I know this is a pay drop on a straight conversion but can we have a similar standard of live.
..again I get this is also still a bit subjective lol
I guess a lot of it will also come down to the package offered and what sort of lifestyle we will be able to live with it. I know and understanding why saying "Can I have a good life on X salary" is ridiculous as it is too subjective but could anyone tell me a comparison?
The Calgary position should be a package of $106 CDN. My UK package is 70k and that is based in Manchester so rent is cheap (I spend 20% of monthly pay on rent). We have seen houses prices at 1500-1700 we like in Calgary. I know this is a pay drop on a straight conversion but can we have a similar standard of live.
..again I get this is also still a bit subjective lol
It's all relative though isn't it. We are retired mortgage free and live comfortably on about $48K. However we don't eat out a lot, once a month or so and we don't travel a lot.
Nov 25th 2010, 8:23 pm
#66
Just Joined
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 10
Re: Calgary vs Ottawa
OK this thread is going a slightly different way then I planned lol and I can't believe there are not some more pro Calgary comments or maybe I am just wanting to hear them.
I had not initially planned to live in either place - Toronto was the plan. Then we looked at housing and realised for the size and price of house we wanted we would be looking at living in Mississauga and surely both Calgary and Ottawa is better than that
I must admit I am struggling with the Calgary concept. I worry about it being so remote from anything else but on the flip side one of our favourite places in Canada was Banff National Park and you have that on your doorstep. I felt on my visit the city had no sould but only being there 3 days I hope I had missed something. I also worried when I saw people wearing cowboy hats lol.
I do want to live somewhere multi-cultural with liberal attitiudes. On a side note the only direct form of racism I had in Canada was at a service station in Quebec. I had bumped the hire car, a brand new Chrysler 300 which had just being released. An old couple called me over and asked what happened. I said "I had a bump with a taxi driver in Montreal". To my complete shock the old man replied with "I bet it was a ni**a eh?, they can't drive for sh*t".
I had not initially planned to live in either place - Toronto was the plan. Then we looked at housing and realised for the size and price of house we wanted we would be looking at living in Mississauga and surely both Calgary and Ottawa is better than that
I must admit I am struggling with the Calgary concept. I worry about it being so remote from anything else but on the flip side one of our favourite places in Canada was Banff National Park and you have that on your doorstep. I felt on my visit the city had no sould but only being there 3 days I hope I had missed something. I also worried when I saw people wearing cowboy hats lol.
I do want to live somewhere multi-cultural with liberal attitiudes. On a side note the only direct form of racism I had in Canada was at a service station in Quebec. I had bumped the hire car, a brand new Chrysler 300 which had just being released. An old couple called me over and asked what happened. I said "I had a bump with a taxi driver in Montreal". To my complete shock the old man replied with "I bet it was a ni**a eh?, they can't drive for sh*t".
I cannot think of a better place to bring up kids, particularly if you want them to have an outdoor lifestyle. My kids are all very competent skiers now. We regularly see wildlife (bears, elk, moose etc) when driving just half an hour or so outside Calgary. We have been very impressed with the schooling so far. What else? We have a fairly good arts scene - Calgary Opera, Calgary Theatre etc. Oh, and some decidedly average sports teams, ha, ha. I give Calgary a wholehearted
