We currently rent in Calgary after arriving three months ago.

We have started looking areas to buy a property and Okotoks is certainly somewhere we would consider living.

Our biggest concern about living okotoks is that my work is downtown calgary. does anyone commute from okotoks to downtown calgary? How long does it take? is it a stressful commute?

Many do this commute. You're talking a minimum 17 minute (legal) drive from the NE of Okotoks (where we live) to the Marquis of Lorne Trail on the southern edge of Calgary. Then, it's either continue on the Deerfoot with traffic picking up more as you head past McKenzie or 130th Ave, staying pretty slow until Glenmore...ish and then, if you come off at the likes of Memorial to make your way into downtown, things will begin to snarl as get towards your work location. Then there is parking up and the walk to your work location. Outside rush hour, maybe 35 to 40 minutes...add maybe 20 to 40 minutes for the rush??? More again when the weather is bad.

IF you like to get to your desk really early, then maybe it's all less of an issue, or, if you are likely to drive to the LRT and park up (arrive very early for the southernmost stations) and continue by LRT, then that might work but one would think you are still talking a minimum of an hour.

There is a commuter bus run by Southland to consider. Not the world's most frequent service.
http://www.southland.ca/okotoks-commuter.html

As a place to live though...excellent.

We should explain that we do not commute regularly to downtown Calgary from Okotoks in rush hour, so there is a degree of supposition in the above. All the same, we hope it helps.

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.

Many Thanks for the reply. I live in Midnapore and walk to Somerset Transit station so i see how full the parking gets at an early time. If we made the move i would look to get the c-train rather than drive all the way downtown. The parking issue is likely to ease as the city are bringing in $3 per day charges and there are plans to extend the route along marquis of lorne to service communites such chapparel and mackenzie lake again easing the pressure at the car parks at the existing stations.

We have two young children 3 and 1, one of the reason we are looking to move from Midnapore is there are no young children is Okotoks similar?

Okotoks is very family friendly indeed. There are children galore here. We're also still freaked out (in the nicest possible way) at how polite most of them are. You've probably been here already but if not, you should come down and take a good look around. PM'd you a while back with a tip on the mortgage front that we think might be relevant to your situation so have a read of that when you get a moment.

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.

We live in okotoks and have 2 kids,5 and 3 and there is loads to do here for them both and there are lots of kids around.loads of playgrounds, open spaces and if you live up on Crystal ridge area a great lake and beach.So much to do and great for a growing family.

I have a 3 year old in Midnapore!

Go to the lake in summer - it's full of young children!

Never tried it but I know people in Okotoks and the commute seems to be the bane of their lives. I personally couldn't stomach spending 10 hours or so per week sat in traffic. I think they drive and ride the c-train though, which they still say isn't a great experience. I'd love to live out of the city limits but don't for that reason alone.

There are plans afoot to improve transit from Okotoks to downtown, but the plans are in very early stages so it could be a long wait.

http://www.calgaryregion.ca/crp/medi...%209,%2008.pdf

I wouldn't hold your breath for the ctrain extensions in the south of the city either. The first phase of the southeast line is expected to be completed "by 2023", and that will only get as far as Douglasdale. The extension through McKenzie Town, Auburn Bay, Mahogany and Seton will probably happen eventually, but it'll be a long wait. The southwest line will be extended down through Silverado at some point too, but not likely until after 2020 again.

It all comes down to personal preferences, but we ruled out Okotoks very early in our search, which is just as well now that my wife is working right up in Arbour Lake! The commute from Okotoks to downtown is too far for my liking. It's a nice place with great mountain views, but what's the use in that if you spend all time sitting in traffic jams waiting to get home from work?!