Moving to Calgary, have questions

[moparcanuck]

Well, rather than doing the usual talk about rental properties, I thought I'd take a moment and talk about our own houses. I am transferring with my job to Calgary, and thought I'd generally ask about people's opinions on some items.



There are 3 of us (me, wife, 4 year old boy). I do tend to use a bedroom in the house as my office, so that's a minimum of 3 bedrooms. I find it likely we will be wanting a 4th bedroom to either take in a boarder for a while to help with the costs of settlement and in the longer term to have a spare/guest room.



We do have a LOT of toys. 2 daily drivers, 3 collector cars, 34' motorhome. I know in the city itself I am not going to find much for that in my price range (circa 500K), but found a couple that might fit most of that.



We are torn a bit by even where to look. We are actually going to Calgary to look at a place in Coventry. Anybody offer any insight on the area? House was built in 2002, so moderately new. The house has a bus stop that basically goes right to my new work downtown, no transfers, so that's a plus.



We are also looking as possibly outside the city. Started with Airdrie, but prices aren't that much less, and thus far haven't seen much that I liked. (Commute is a hassle, but doable).



Also pondering other areas like Chestermere or even Langdon. Langdon is kind of on the other extreme in that I will get a massive house with more yard than I know what to do with (quarter acre or third acre lots are not unusual), but facing the commute again plus there is nothing in the town it seems.



Not looking for rental issues as this is a house for US to live in (although getting a roommate is certainly easier in Calgary than Langdon I would think), but figured this was as good a spot as any to ask.



Thanks for any thoughts.



Ryan



PS - Maybe if I'm in Calgary, I can actually attend more REIN events in person. myreinspace is great, but nothing beats in person.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

Depends on what you like to do ! Do you or you wife intend to commute ? If not, outskirts are ok as Hwy one, Deerfoot or McLeod Trail commutes are brutal.



Do you like mountains ? Then west side is better, say Cochrane, or Wildwood if inner city access is desired, or Bragg Creek. Some decent acreages WOr SW of Bragg Creek or NW of Cochrane for those that love solitude and mountain views or horses.



Do you like biking ? Then close to the many bike trails. We like parks and walking and we loved Parkland above Fish Creek Park. Huge park, the biggest in North America. East side is cheaper than west side, generally speaking. NW is very hilly and far more windy and snowy than E or SE. Access to mountains from SE is 3/4 h longer than west side.



Describe what the ideal location looks like and other folks can chime it with X is good or Y is not good.

 

[moparcanuck]

Sure thing. I will be the only one commuting, as the wife doesn't work. I do enjoy driving, so might not bother me as much as some, but that's definately a trade off (I'd love to have a couple acres 5 minutes from work, but ummm, not happening ).



As for hobbies, we tend to be involved in classic cars, so car shows in the summer. We also tend to like camping. We will likely be leaving the motorhome at a friend's acreage near Red Deer for now rather than driving it back and forth all the time.



We would like to have some amenities, and so that's the trade off we have to decide on. Where we are in Red Deer, we are lucky enough to have it all (4 car garage space, large yard, RV parking, on a quiet street in a nice neighbourhood in the city with pretty much all amenities), but I don't think we'll be able to get all that in our new house.



Having the nice house with a good layout is important as we are homebodies other than mentioned above. However, the counter to the space requirements is we do need some amenities. 4 year old starting school next year, so that's important. Certainly having some items such as parks, kids soccer leagues, etc are nice. Needs to have some decent medical access for the wife (some medical issues). She does drive, but certainly don't want to have to drive 30 minutes to see a doctor.



I'm not sure how much an acreage would work in reality as they tend to be very expensive. Additionally, since we do classic cars, we would need one that's on pavement (adds to the price), and they tend to have a lot of upkeep (wife can't do much of it). I've looked at Langdon, where you can get very large lots in town, 1/4 acre seems common. On the flip side, I've started browsing Strathmore. Seems to have most items, and prices seem decent, but commute is getting a little out there.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

[quote user=moparcanuck]Strathmore ....





Is this still in Alberta .. Almost SK, eh ?



if you love Red Deer you will find Calgary far too expensive, too busy and a huge commute .. Why move ? Take a 30% pay hike and a 20% drop in life's quality ?