Cranston Riverstone (SE Community)

[88CRX]

I know there are at least a couple beyond members that have built or live in Riverstone and I’m wanting to get some feedback from you guys.

- How are you liking it in the area? It seems quiet, which would be nice.
- Who did you build with? And when?
- What size lot and what was the cost of the lot?
- HOA fee’s are higher then peon Cranston, not ideal but whatever.
- Anything else you like or dislike in the area?

Also considering Mahogany.... :dunno:

Thanks!

[grampafunk]

Live uptop in the new part of cranston. a couple points - traffic getting out of here in the morning is BRUTAL (might not be as bad in riverstone) as there is only one way out.

It is a bit isolated - and I have always wondered about flood issues with it being at river level.

Cranston in generally is decent. Seems to be a fair bit of random crime, but good access to deerfoot.

[nj2Type-S]

my wife and i have lived in riverstone since may 2015. it's generally a peaceful, quiet place to live. yes, there is construction, and there will be construction for a few more years, but i've never had any problems with noise or obstruction when i get home from work in the afternoon.

we like it in the summer time because we use the trails for biking and jogging. a huge part of the trail is along the riverbanks, so it feels as though we're out of the city; really nice.

we built with cedarglen. contract signed oct 2014, completed may 2015. we loved building with cedarglen. awesome work and costumer service. i honestly can't remember the price of the lot and the size, but seeing as we signed in 2014, i'm sure we paid more than what you can get nowadays.

the HOA sucks. it's over $400, while cranston's is under $200. it's once a year, so whatever.

getting home from the deerfoot couldn't be easier. mosr people turn left or right at the first set of lights, so it's usually always congested. you go straight to access riverstone, so barely any trouble.

overall, we love it here. yes, people are concerned about flooding, but riverstone is not in the flood plains. residents weren't evacuated in 2012, as far as i know.

if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

[triplep]

I have always wondered how the fog would be down there. There has been a couple of times you cross over on stony and the whole valley is covered in Fog.

I personally would find that frustrating....

The other thing would be no possibility for views, and I wonder how the noisy it would be down there, having Deerfoot on one side and then Stony on the other.

[ExtraSlow]

Not noisy, you are actually pretty far from stoney, and deerfoot noise doesn't seem to go that way. Some homes have views to the west, a little. Access is already decent, and will be excellent if/when they build the second cranston overpass on deerfoot, but I suspect that'll take a decade or more.

A buddy of mine is on Cranbrook Hill. Backs onto that escarpment, has at his back fence every day, and has seen moose and coyotes. As close as you are likely to get to country living in the city. Very nice area.

Also, it is higher above the river than you think. Water would need to be significantly higher than 2013 to hit any part of riverstone, and something like fifteen feet higher to hit my buddies place.

[roopi]

Why would the HOA fees be more in Riverstone? Do they provide anything in addition to what the rest of Cranston gets? I used to live in Cranston and I'm pretty sure it was a flat HOA fee and did not matter on the home/lot/etc.

I moved to Mahogany were my HOA is significantly more however I see value in it with the lake.

[ExtraSlow]

Riverstone is classy, that's the only additional value. Has nothing to do with value of the lot. They are looking at some multi-family townhomes in riverstone, and each one of them will pay the $400, while the million dollar homes on the ridge get the lower fees. Makes no sense, but it is what it is.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow


Also, it is higher above the river than you think. Water would need to be significantly higher than 2013 to hit any part of riverstone, and something like fifteen feet higher to hit my buddies place.

I dunno about that... was a refugee in Cranston during the floods, we walked the ridge and looking down, there were lots that were touching water at the time

[88CRX]

Flood map here:

http://www.calgary.ca/PDA/PD/documents/maps/floodway/fwfp1722294.pdf

I also took a peek down there in 2013 and the lots backing onto the river did not flood. Looks like the flood plane is right up to the walkout lots. And like others said the homes further east are significantly higher.

Whats the deal with flood fringe homes? Any insurance concerns or city issues?

[ercchry]

Originally posted by 88CRX
Flood map here:

http://www.calgary.ca/PDA/PD/documents/maps/floodway/fwfp1722294.pdf

I also took a peek down there in 2013 and the lots backing onto the river did not flood. Looks like the flood plane is right up to the walkout lots. And like others said the homes further east are significantly higher.

Whats the deal with flood fringe homes? Any insurance concerns or city issues?

Don't the dashed lines across basically the entirety of the flood fringe mean that there was overland flow during 2013 there?

[88CRX]

Originally posted by ercchry


Don't the dashed lines across basically the entirety of the flood fringe mean that there was overland flow during 2013 there?

I think those are the "Step Lines" whatever that means :dunno:

[ercchry]

Yeah, possibly... but I mean we know the area had overland flow... lots of it and if it's not those lines then where is the actual line? Perfectly aligned with the lots? Doubtful :rofl:

Sometimes you have to wonder how closely the city works with builders ;)

EDIT: if you zoom right in some of the lot lines are dashed... maybe that's the overland areas?

EDIT 2: nope... flood fringe=overland flooding

http://maps.srd.alberta.ca/FloodHazard/

[88CRX]

My memory is pretty shitty haha, but I’m pretty sure one of those days where the flooding was the worst I took a spin down there and the lots backing onto the river were not flooded. And everything after from those river facing lots is higher.

Good information regardless and definitely something I need to do some more research on.

Edit:

video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJBzFn68gNY

[88CRX]

I believe that video is shot from this location.

[ercchry]

Yeah we walked down from the north, so most nw corner I guess? The lots we saw were still bare, and it was right up to them, sump pumps would of been working overtime to keep the basements clear... if they were built :rofl:

[ExtraSlow]

Agree that video was from the location mentioned, or close to it. What's your estimate of how high above the water that house is? Ten feet? And it's probably the lowest elevation house in the entire development.

That map does show water elevations from the flood, and based on the elevation of my buddies house, he's about eight meters above the max level. Now clearly he's on the high side, but still....

[ercchry]

Where did 2013 rank again? Did it end up being a 50 year flood? If so then anything in the fringe, flooded or not still has potential, also the water table level will dictate how much seepage basements will see. Also sump pumps don't work too well without power (ask sugarphreak about that one)

[88CRX]

Originally posted by ercchry
Where did 2013 rank again? Did it end up being a 50 year flood? If so then anything in the fringe, flooded or not still has potential, also the water table level will dictate how much seepage basements will see. Also sump pumps don't work too well without power (ask sugarphreak about that one)

I always assumed 2013 was 1:100 year floor (or worse) according the new stories I read.

However according to this site:

http://urbanworkbench.com/how-large-was-the-flood-in-calgary/

it was somewhere between 1:22 and 1:50 years flood. But they mostly mention flow rates…. And don’t mention the elevation of the river during a flood.

This is all good information… the show home sales people made zero mention of the flooding risk and in the grand scheme of things maybe the risk isn’t *that* high as you get further away and up from the river.

edit:
http://www.cspg.org/cspg/documents/Technical/Webcasts/webcast%20slides/2014/October22TL.pdf
says it was a 70 year flood.... :rofl: so who the hell knows :dunno:

[Brent.ff]

Originally posted by 88CRX


I always assumed 2013 was 1:100 year floor (or worse) according the new stories I read.

However according to this site:

http://urbanworkbench.com/how-large-was-the-flood-in-calgary/

it was somewhere between 1:22 and 1:50 years flood. But they mostly mention flow rates…. And don’t mention the elevation of the river during a flood.


You can get aerial imagery from June 22 here:

https://cityonline.calgary.ca/Pages/Category.aspx?cat=CITYonlineDefault&category=Orthophotos-Flood%282013%29

And you want to download 22294s17, from the first drop-down..need a Tiff viewer.

That's a 1:22 to 1:55 flood (it's based off volume, not velocity). Most recent one ive read says 1:40 in Calgary, as the dams held back a fair bit. Looks like more then half the place is under water during a 1:100 year. I'd be curious what insurance is like down there.. Zero way I'd buy in the valley. High River got 1:100+ year flood in 2013, the Oldman River got one in 1995...

More curious why they are allowed to build houses down there. Certainty have a short memory. Looks like the south side will be next.

[88CRX]

Not able to get those TIFF images work and was slightly concerned with the information I originally tracked down on the City of Calgarys website however the land use maps (with flooding information) are old and outdated I believe.

I tracked down these interactive maps which allow you to specify 1:5, 1:20, 1:50, 1:100, etc which have been updated with the current grading of new communities. They can be found here:

http://www.calgary.ca/UEP/Water/Pages/Flood-Info/Calgary-flood-maps/Flood-inundation-maps.aspx

In particular the 1:100 map clearly shows that all home locations are out of that area, see below image.

http://i.imgur.com/j2i85Ok.jpg

[Brent.ff]

Interesting stuff. More interesting is that info only came out in 2015..this area was well underway (but thats just my opinion..building in historic flood plains is eventually going to catch up to us)

Have you contacted insurance and seen what they have to say about rates down there?

[88CRX]

Originally posted by Brent.ff
Interesting stuff. More interesting is that info only came out in 2015..this area was well underway (but thats just my opinion..building in historic flood plains is eventually going to catch up to us)

Have you contacted insurance and seen what they have to say about rates down there?

I believe the intention for the community was always to be out of the 1:100 flood plane area. Which is why they built it up. I believe the province updated all their flood models and maps after the 2013 floods with information gathered during that flood event. I have no idea what, if any 1:100 flood area information changed after that.

I have not spoken to insurance yet. They're next on the list, plus need to confirm what, if anything is noted on title for that area.

[schurchill39]

Are you looking at abandoning us other Cranstonites up on the hill? My wife and I have looked down there a fair bit, especially now that the "estate homes" have dropped so much in price. I think it would be beautiful to love down there but I am not sure how much more construction traffic I could deal with after putting up with these schools being built. A huge benefit would not be getting stuck at the lights turning left. Going straight never has any issues.

Also on a side note to others in this thread: I'm nearly positive HOA fees in Cranston are not flat fees. My buddy has a fairly large house and he pays a different fee from me, and I am different from his Condo that he owns.

EDIT: My wife is an environmental engineer and her team (which comprises of hydro geologists) were paying pretty close attention to many areas during the flood. The water came close to the lowest houses but never flooded any of them. As long as you're a block or so up I don't see any issues in flooding based on what we saw in 2013.

Personally I'd probably look at houses closest to the hill but thats because I would like the wild life and not having anyone behind me.

[Brent.ff]

Originally posted by schurchill39
EDIT: My wife is an environmental engineer and her team (which comprises of hydro geologists) were paying pretty close attention to many areas during the flood. The water came close to the lowest houses but never flooded any of them. As long as you're a block or so up I don't see any issues in flooding based on what we saw in 2013.
.

All I know is that i work with a couple hydrotechnical engineers, one of which lives up the hill in Cranston, and cannot believe that people are building down there.. and he does flood modeling daily

[schurchill39]

Originally posted by Brent.ff


All I know is that i work with a couple hydrotechnical engineers, one of which lives up the hill in Cranston, and cannot believe that people are building down there.. and he does flood modeling daily

Oh don't get me wrong. I think its silly to build that close to any river no matter how high up you are, but from what we saw in 2013 (both living in Cranston and taking daily walks down there during the flood) all of the houses were fine.

[Brent.ff]

Ya, just not for me. Playing those odds seems like a poor choice with the biggest purchase of your life...still curious what insurance thinks of buying down there..

[88CRX]

Originally posted by schurchill39
Are you looking at abandoning us other Cranstonites up on the hill? My wife and I have looked down there a fair bit, especially now that the "estate homes" have dropped so much in price. I think it would be beautiful to love down there but I am not sure how much more construction traffic I could deal with after putting up with these schools being built. A huge benefit would not be getting stuck at the lights turning left. Going straight never has any issues.

Also on a side note to others in this thread: I'm nearly positive HOA fees in Cranston are not flat fees. My buddy has a fairly large house and he pays a different fee from me, and I am different from his Condo that he owns.

EDIT: My wife is an environmental engineer and her team (which comprises of hydro geologists) were paying pretty close attention to many areas during the flood. The water came close to the lowest houses but never flooded any of them. As long as you're a block or so up I don't see any issues in flooding based on what we saw in 2013.

Personally I'd probably look at houses closest to the hill but thats because I would like the wild life and not having anyone behind me.

We are considering it yes. Not quite in a position to purchase right now but we’re trying to get a handle on market conditions and what a built might cost before we 100% pull the trigger.

And I agree, our preference would be on the escarpment side but I think the amount of lots on that side are limited moving forward. Plus there’s a couple future multifamily townhouse sites to contend with/avoid along the escarpment.



Originally posted by Brent.ff


All I know is that i work with a couple hydrotechnical engineers, one of which lives up the hill in Cranston, and cannot believe that people are building down there.. and he does flood modeling daily

I’d be curious their actual reason for not wanting to live down there… personal preference or actual legitimate engineering reasoning? Maybe their concern is groundwater seepage because based on everything I’ve found there should be little risk of overland flooding. And definitely no more risk than other ‘river communities’ that are close to the river but out of the 1:100 flood zone.

[Gman.45]

What's Cranston like these days? I was an early buyer/builder there, it was our 2nd home, on Cramond Cres right in the cul de sac, not one of the 1st homes, but very early, there was nothing but very bad bus service there then, no stores, nothing, you had to go across 22x for absolutely everything. The night we moved in, it was Oct of 2000 IIRC, there was nothing but open field behind our house all the way to the city. Looking at the map now, quite a lot has changed. Still can't believe how good I had it then, 950$ a month mortgage on a 20yr including PIT, and Discovery/Morrison wasn't all that bad of a builder to be honest. My 150$k rinky dink home there is $400k now. Wow.