Hi All,

We are in the process of relocating to Calgary. We are currently undecided between Okotoks, The Hamptons or Tuscany.

We are a family of 5 so would be in need of local schools, recreation, etc.. Does anyone have experience, or local knowledge of these areas?

Any information would be welcomed.

Many Thanks

G

Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Do you know where you'll be working?

Hi Judy

Many Thanks for replying so quickly. The company I'd be working for are based in the SE. Calgary. However, I would be based on site possibly within 15 miles of the Calgary tower.

Area wise out of the three mentioned, I'd be looking for nice neighbourhood, & generally a safe area. Housing wise, looking to spend $500,000.00 to $750,000.00

Thanks for your help

G

G, why are you set on those two Calgary neighbourhoods and that one satellite town?

Don't get me wrong. They're absolutely fine.

But there are other communities that are equally acceptable.

Take Sundance in Calgary's far southeast quadrant, for example. It's a good neighbourhood. One of its advantages is that it has elementary, junior high and senior high schools right there in the same community.

That's just one good neighbourhood. There are others.

If your company's offices are in the southeast, I believe you're better off living in the south than in the north.

I heard what you said about being based on site. That doesn't help me to help you, because "within 15 miles of the Calgary Tower" describes a large territory. But I'll try to help as best I can.

Please look at the Multiple Listing Service's map of Calgary.

If your company's office is in the southeast, I recommend against living in the northwest. It's true that much of the northwest is good from a quality of life point of view. But it's not a convenient area from which to commute to the southeast. So I suggest that you avoid District A, and that includes The Hamptons (471 on the MLS map) and Tuscany (482 on the MLS map).

I'm still shaking my head as to why you mentioned The Hamptons and Tuscany. They are fine, but then Hawkwood is fine too. So is Edgemont. So is Scenic Acres. The list goes on. ....... Anyway, all of that is academic, because I recommend against the northwest quadrant (District A), owing to the commute that it would impose on you.

The northeast quadrant (District B) is to be avoided. If you want to find out why, please read the Wiki article on Calgary Residential Areas.

For most people, the southwest quadrant (District C) is good. In your case, however, I recommend against the portion of District C that is north and west of the Elbow River. This includes neighbourhoods such as Lakeview Village (033), Signal Hill (053), Strathcona Park (051), Coach Hill (049), etc. The reason that all of these communities would be inconvenient for you is that you would have to cross the Glenmore Reservoir on your way to and from work. Eastbound Glenmore Trail is clogged up during morning rush hour, and westbound Glenmore Trail is clogged up during afternoon / evening rush hour. They are busy widening Glenmore Trail, and that may help in the long run. But I still wouldn't like to be in a situation in which I had only one feasible route to and from work.

For anyone else reading this post, please let me stress that I like Lakeview, Signal Hill, Strathcona Park, and Coach Hill. If you work downtown, the commuting from any one of those areas would be good. I am recommending that grthespark avoid those areas because of his specific circumstances.

The part of District C that is south and east of the Elbow River would be fine. You might want to consider Evergreen (157), Millrise (153), or Somerset (159).

As far as the southeast quadrant (District D) is concerned, I recommend that you avoid the close-in part of the SE. The "far SE" or "deep SE" is fine. You might want to check out Sundance (275) and Mckenzie Lake (335).

I looked up Community Crime Statistics and the Fraser Institute's School Report Cards for elementary schools (kindergarten to grade six) in:

• Evergreen
• Millrise
• Somerset
• Sundance
• McKenzie Lake

The results were fairly close, in that all of these communities had low crime rates and decent schools.

The best combination of crime statistics and school performance was for that part of Sundance that feeds into Fish Creek Elementary School. There were 3 person crimes per 100,000 of population during 2006, and the school received a rating of 8.0 out of a possible rating of 10.0.

Very close behind was Millrise. There were 3 person crimes per 100,000, and Janet Johnstone Elementary School received a rating of 7.5.

In number 3 position, according to the way in which I weighed these factors, was the part of Sundance that feeds into Sundance Elementary School (3 person crimes; school is rated at 6.9).

I placed Evergreen in #4 position, but it could be argued that it really belonged in #3 position (or possibly even #1 position), depending how you weigh crime statistics and school results. Evergreen had zero person crimes per hundred thousand of population in 2006. So, from a safety point of view, it seems to be the best of the communities on this list. Eugene Coste Elementary School received a rating of 6.8. A slight downside is that the elementary school is located in the community of Haysboro, so I assume the Evergreen kids are bused there. My own kids were bused to another community during their early grades. My kids were fine with that, and so was I. Still, I mention it just in case it's an issue for you.

Mckenzie Lake had 4 person crimes per 100,000. McKenzie Lake School received a rating of 6.5.

Somerset had 3 person crimes per 100,000. The Fraser Institute does not appear to have rated Somerset Elementary School, perhaps because it only goes from kindergarten to grade 4. Grade 5 and 6 students from Somerset are bused to Ethel M. Johnson Elementary School in Southwood. That school gets a rating of 6.0 from the Fraser Institute.

I know people who live in all five of these communities, and they're all happy with their communities. Looking at the statistics regarding the rate of personal crimes and looking at the FI's ratings of the schools, I would say that any one of these communities would be a fine place to live.

They all would be quite conveniently located with respect to your company's office in the southeast quadrant.

I used the MLS website to look at properties in all five communities. All of those neighbourhoods have houses that are within your budget.

If you want to find out the names of schools that serve other Calgary neighbourhoods, here is the Calgary Board of Education's web page called School Designation by Community and Grade.

I am less familiar with Okotoks, so will leave it to others to advise you when it comes to that town.

I slightly take issue that the whole of the NW quadrant makes for a difficult commute to downtown. We lived in Hawkwood, and now in Arbour Lake. Edgemont has very good schools. And you are close to the university and SAIT. All these areas are in easy reach of the C-train by bus, and the new station is due to open at Crowfoot soon. There are apparently plans for an extension out to Tuscany too.

NB: Friends of ours were telling us yesterday that they feel Tuscany a bit too far out to really feel part of the city, and, maybe as they do not have kids, they do not really feel part of the community there.

Commuting by car to downtown (from any area/direction) is prohibitively expensive due to parking fees, unless your company pays for your reserved parking space!

Lastly, the NW is ideally placed as a starting point for trips to those mountains, and affords wonderful views over the city too.

Judy,

Many Thanks for all your wonderful information. That's really kind of you to take that time out to reply in such great detail.

Basically, we are none to wise on other area's that you mention but we'll look into those areas for sure. The ones that we referred to were good recomendations, except for Okotoks where we've actually spent time.

Wow! Those crime stats are incredible! I'd be more than happy to live within those ratios

Thanks again Judy, you should seriously consider writing a book on Calgary & target mainly immigrants with this knowledge of yours I'm sure it would be a best seller.

Thanks

G

Hi Morwenna

Thank you for your reply. Good point about the parking issue, will need to follow that up.

Being close to SAIT, schools, & the Uni sounds just right although again will need to look into this more, but it sounds great.

What do you think of Arbour lakes?

Many Thanks

G

Before reading all of the replys I thought whey such a small choice (like Judy said)

One thing I have learnt is that Calgarians are very much 'recommend thier own area' so I have met people living in the SE who state 'the weather is so much colder in north calgary':curse: The difference in the area is about 4/5 miles so not really a weather shift. But staying on track.

You have about half a million dollars to spend on a home...... you have enough to choose any nice area in Calgary. Like Judy said there are advantages and disadvantages to every area.

Crime levels are not like the UK so if you avoid the areas that Judy has told you to avoid you should be good. Newer areas where ever they are do not have the school/rec programmes like older areas. Older areas have older houses which may need repair as older areas ususally have better yards which a lot of expats like.

Also consider your own lifestyle, if you are always going to be socialising downtown then it is better to be closer. As a family we never go downtown and are always heading west to the mountains which would make the NW and SW good options for you.

My advice is to come and drive around a few areas and get a feel for the various areas, see what sort of house you can get for your money. You do not want to choose the best area for you but the cheapest house is beyond your reach.

Pm me if you want more assistance.

Hi Helen,

Thanks for your reply. Heading West to the mountains as always appealed to us We're not into downtown scene to be honest.

Looking to spend about $650k I guess. We're trying gather as much information as possible before hand, for a research trip in April 08.

I shall print all this information that you, & all have kindly provided so we can navigate around once we're there.

Thanks for the offer of PM, I'll more than likely take you up on that offer.

Many Thanks

G

Morwenna, if you're quoting me, I was responding to the fact that gthespark said that his company's office was located in the southeast.

If a person was going to be working downtown, I would not hesitate to recommend the northwest to them.

I love our house, and the elevated position makes for great views. We find it an agreeable and convenient place to live. How old are your kids?

There are new schools for elementary and middle school age kids at Citadel and Arbour Lake fully operational from next year. Senior high school kids (grade 10-12) get bussed down to Bowness High. My son goes there and seems very happy.

I think if we had slightly younger kids, we would have got far more out of this community and use of the lake than we do. For a small annual fee there is summer swimming, boating and fishing, and winter skating, hockey and ice-fishing (brrr) . We think it's a lovely place, but as has already been pointed out, most people here think they have the best place ever! You definitle have to come and see what feels right to you!

He also said that he'd likely be working on site within 15 minutes of the Calgary tower, and so I was responding to that.

Depending what time you have to be at work, living in the NW and commuting to the SE is not at all difficult.

My DIL lives in Tuscany and works in Douglasdale in the far SE, the route is quite easy, Stoney Trail, Trans-Canada, Sarcee Trail, Glenmore Trail and Deerfoot to the 24th Street SE exit. For a 7:00am start time it's pretty easy going.

He actually wrote miles. At the time that I responded to him, I wondered if he meant minutes rather than miles.

Gthespark, if you intended to say that you'd be working at a site that was 15 minutes from downtown, I'd agree with Morwenna that the NW quadrant would be a very suitable place to live.

I also agree with Morwenna that it would be a good idea to explore the NW quadrant in person, and see what you think.

My bad! Nobody talks about miles here