rodders5

Am after peoples advice on areas to live in and around Calgary.
I have got a job down town and so need to commute on a daily basis, so dont want it to be much more than half an hours commute if possible??

Have been looking mainly at Okotoks but open to suggestions, am just not sure about living in on e of the estates as they all seem built a bit on top of each other and totally over looked.

Any ideas???????

Alberta_Rose

Check out the Wiki pages ... http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Calgary

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Calgary_Residential_Areas

Should give you a starting point anyway.

joelsa

Hi
I think i would rule out Okotoks and stay within Calgary city limits if you don't want too long a commute. It's a 15-20 min drive from Okotoks to Calgary and then another 20-30 to downtown on the LRT. I've never done that journey in rush hour, so could be longer. HTH

MCrocker

I drive in from Okotoks each so would agree with OP that you won't do it in under 30 minutes. I got to 11th Avenue in 45 this morning but in winter it has taken me twice as long. I've done the commute for a couple of years now and it's like anything else - you get used to it
I guess the appeal of Okotoks for me anyway is that it's close enough to Calgary but far enough away if that makes any sense...?

Almost Canadian

What do you mean by that ? Surely Okotoks is very similar to most communities in Calgary, except outside of the city. When driving through Okotoks one could easily be driving through most communities in Calgary. I appreciate that the view of the mountains is very different from most communities in Calgary.

My recommendation would be a community with good C-Train access, particularly a western community if mountain views are important to you.

frankieforehead

You may not always work down town....so if you want to escape the city IMO Cochrane is a nice place to live, and if you want a bit of space check out www.cochranelakes.com
Cochrane is about 15 min or so to the nearest LRT, I would imagine that you'll want to use that ( I think it's another 15 or so min to the core on the LRT) or risk the traffic and the $15 a day parking. There are other nice places around such as Bragg creek, but you'll probably get a bit of cabin fever in the winter there. Also Cochrane offers a quick route to the big outdoors...anyway I imagine you'll find a lot of the estates in calgary aren't as on top of each other as you think..anyway where ever you decide to live I'm sure you'll love it.

dawnzocalgary

Depends what you are looking for? If schools are important or not.

I live in the NW and the new CTrain station when it opens this year will be a 5 minute drive for me....right now i drive to the train 15 mins and then take a 15 min train ride down town......if you drive all the way downtown and leave early enough you can do it in a half hour from Tuscany, Royal Oak, Citadel, Arbour Lake.....and all of those communities are within 5 minutes of the new CTrain station.

All of the above are close to the mountains, and far enough out of downtown. Close to COP....

But again it all depends on what you want, how much you want to spend etc......

Alberta_Rose

You're not seriously suggesting that Cochrane is 15 mins from Dalhousie are you? ... or did you mean the new station at Crowfoot, which will open this summer???? It takes us almost 15 mins to Dalhousie from Arbour Lake.

And it's 20-25 mins on the C-train from Dalhousie to 3rd St station, where we get off downtown.

ann m

I can get to Dalhousie (or wave at it as I pass on the Crowchild) in about 15-18 mins. But you'd need to allow quite a few mins more to turn off and park up and walk into the station ....

That also would depend on which bit of Cochrane you were coming from too - I've got a head start - 'cos it can take 10 mins just to get from t'other side of the town onto the 1A.

dawnzocalgary

$15 a day, which end of downtown is that at! Where i work its $27 a day! I used to work outwith the core a little and it was $17 a day!

Express bus to the NW is $3 each way and takes 35-40 mins to get home at night in rush hour so bad!

Mountain Girl

Wow !!!! you speed demon!

Posidrive

Yep, it is really nice out there and if you can afford the prices you can get some amazing deals at the moment. A number of builders finished building spec homes just in time for the house price downturn and they are getting really desperate to get rid of them.

frankieforehead

Don't forget I live in Gleneagles (The mobile community)...and I'm one of those pillocks that occasionally drive over the speed limit...but yes in the morning it's about fifteen minutes or so.

Most people where I work say why do I live in Cochrane as it is so far away...but when we compare times on how long it takes them to drive from their estate to work, there is virtually nothing in it.

frankieforehead

I went for a job once at CP Rail...before I saw the light...and it was $15 then for the day.....but if it's now $27...thank god I have free parking.