ExKiwilass

Just in Edmonton for the weekend, and picked up some real estate porn while I was there - y'know, New Home Guide, Condo living etc.

I noticed a lot of the new developments don't seem to have much in the way of schools or amenities - except walkways and playgrounds. Is this not something Edmontonians are concerned about? Also, why are the houses with front garages $100k more expensive than the pretty houses with lanes? Is the front garage a status symbol? Or is it a Edmonton is ****ing cold thing?

Just wondering. Would you buy in one? I saw some from the jeep, they look..all the same.

Almost Canadian

It's the same in Calgary. The schools get built later and the children are bussed to other schools until they are.

I did not wish to have a non-attached garage in Calgary, although now I am in the sticks, I do.

Piff Poff

The ones without a garage in front probably means there is no garage and there is not likely room for one in the back either if you want any sort of green stuff to look at in the couple of weeks there is no snow.

TanieBird

As Almost Canadian said, it's the same in Calgary. The laned homes are seen as more "starter" homes and tend to built without the rear garage. Once you add one, say goodbye to your yard!
I've lived in both style of homes; my first house here was a laned home with no garage. Next I moved into the double attached garage style place. Yes the attached garage is nice, but the extra snow I had to shovel off of the driveway I could live without.
Now I'm in a laned home again, but this time with a garage. All the benefits of my car being snow free in the winter and no drive way to shovel

MarkG

Bingo. That's what put me off the idea of buying one. Though I think the new vehicle will be AWD so we can get out of the alley easily on bad days... the Civic had trouble in the ruts a few times the winter before last.

Also, it does seem that a lot of people around here without attached garages don't bother building a garage at all, and just park their car in the street. Then again, many of the people with attached garages seem to park their cars in the driveway...

Crazyhorse1

School situation is the same in Ottawa. Parks come along after/during the first few phases and schools after about 5 years.

MarkG

Faster than Saskatoon. Our development began in 2005; when we moved here in 2007, there were only two streets built. We got some stores in 2012/2013, and they're supposed to start work on a school in 2015. The 'proposed fire station site' sign has been up for years and it hasn't appeared yet.

ExKiwilass

according to my edmonton babes, the developers promise schools up the wazoo but never actually get approval/buy in from the city, so some developments never get the promised schools...it's surprised to me that they could get away with it

Steve_

I'm surprised to hear that as Edmonton has much better city planning than we do, imo. Are you sure this is Edmonton and not say, St. Albert? Edmonton is more of a traditional conurbation than Calgary, so the city itself is smaller, which is why it is better managed. Here we just have empty lots with signs on them, saying a school will be built at some distant point in the future.

This is one of the things the PCs promised at the last election, they would build something like 60 schools by 2016 and now it turns out it will be more like 30 underway by 2016.

The higher density stuff often only has street parking which is probably why you see properties with garages costing more.

ExKiwilass

yes, good point. They were talking about the developments outside of the city so that maybe the difference.

leith

The City rarely clears the snow from back lanes in Edmonton. Once there are the usual piles starting to accumulate about the third week of October, it becomes increasingly difficult to navigate the ruts, ice, and heaps of snow. Traffic in back alleys is down to single lanes and a problem if you meet someone coming from the other direction.
Single garages aren't a good selling feature - most families have more than one vehicle and Alberta men like to have space for their workshops in the garage. Properties with attached double garages are more desirable hence more expensive although there may be a security problem with easy entry to the house from the garage - break-ins are much easier once the thieves get into the garage.
It is not a good idea to buy a house with no garage - parking your vehicle outside means you'll have to clear the frost, snow and ice off it all winter starting in September and going on until May. If your vehicle is parked on the street, you'll have to get it off there when the snow plough is scheduled to come through.
Getting planning permission to build a garage if the property doesn't already have one is a time-consuming chore and you can run into all kinds of problems with building too close to the property line or on top of/too near gas, sewer, or electrical lines.
New developments are generally pretty dreary with little in the way of trees, well-landscaped yards or any shops, libraries, schools, or other facilities. The houses are all made of ticky tacky and they do all look just the same. You can also be quite limited in what you're allowed to do in the way of landscaping and even in the kind of fence you're allowed to put up
I lived in Edmonton for many years until just recently and would not advise buying in any of the new developments. Most of the newer houses, unless custom built, are just thrown up and poorly constructed with a lot of flashy looking stuff but no real quality. Builders are also not very prompt in coming back to fix things that weren't done properly in the first place. In quite a few developments, the houses are built too close together (fire hazard) and give little or no privacy. Have a look at the rubbish developments along Ellerslie Road - bland, boring miles of sameness, and it's taken years to get even any stores into the area.
Best of luck.