Quantcast
What do you love/hate about your home location in Calgary? - Beyond.ca - Car Forums
Page 1 of 8 1 2 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 148

Thread: What do you love/hate about your home location in Calgary?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Victoria Park
    My Ride
    '16 FoRS, '09 UZN215, '90 Z32, '15 Grom
    Posts
    4,132
    Rep Power
    64

    Default What do you love/hate about your home location in Calgary?

    Seeing the replies in the Airdrie thread made me wonder about people's commute/living situation:


    Is there anything you want to change about your home in terms of LOCATION? Do you love it? Hate it? Tolerate it?

    What makes changing your current situation so difficult? Money? Spouse? Kids? Pets?

    If you work in DT or close to DT, what is your ideal situation or future plans to make your life better for commuting?

    If you don't work DT, it's okay too. I would assume the commute is a lot more convenient for at least one family member.


    My ideal situation:
    - Detached house w/ big fenced backyard.
    - Nearby park/trail because of dog owner/active lifestyle.
    - Commute to downtown under 30 minutes during regular rush hour conditions.

    Aspen?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Calgary
    My Ride
    Ioniq 5
    Posts
    1,792
    Rep Power
    46

    Default

    Bridgeland:

    Pretty much love everything about it. I can walk downtown, princes island, or East village really easy. Tons of good brunch and dinner places in the area. Dog parks overlooking the zoo and the centre Street bridge are both fun to go to and have incredible views. Inside the lime scooter zone for summer and cheap Ubers to Stephen or 17th Ave. Bike ride to work downtown is 10-15 minutes or a 25 minute walk typically.

    Only complain is transit isn't great where I am. Too far from the bridgeland train station to use it and not many buses on Edmonton trail to where I'd wanna go. Most are walk 10 min over to centre Street and bus from there. Also cons I guess is the higher prices. Would never afford a house but my townhouse is perfect. Has a backyard for the dog and a garage and that's all I need. Never hear my neighbours.

    Neutral. I thought there would be more transient people issues but it seems like our street is really quite and never had any issues thus far. Never feel unsafe walking my dog at night which is great

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Calgary
    Posts
    315
    Rep Power
    16

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Disoblige View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Seeing the replies in the Airdrie thread made me wonder about people's commute/living situation:


    Is there anything you want to change about your home in terms of LOCATION? Do you love it? Hate it? Tolerate it?

    What makes changing your current situation so difficult? Money? Spouse? Kids? Pets?

    If you work in DT or close to DT, what is your ideal situation or future plans to make your life better for commuting?

    If you don't work DT, it's okay too. I would assume the commute is a lot more convenient for at least one family member.


    My ideal situation:
    - Detached house w/ big fenced backyard.
    - Nearby park/trail because of dog owner/active lifestyle.
    - Commute to downtown under 30 minutes during regular rush hour conditions.

    Aspen?
    Not aspen but that describes where we bought and why we love where we are.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    Calgary
    My Ride
    2013 328i, 2020 BMW F900 XR
    Posts
    273
    Rep Power
    13

    Default

    We live in Coventry Hills at the moment, but we are looking at moving. We moved here 7.5 years ago from Airdrie. Mostly because my son was in the community and was going to be going to the new middle school. Plus the house had an illegal basement suite that my in-laws moved into and helped with the mortgage. Now that they are all moved out, the house is too big for just my wife and me and our dogs. We love the area, but it is too far from our work as well. My wife works close to Foothills hospital and I am at heritage and Macleod trail. As I stated in the Airdrie thread, we are looking to be on the south side of Nose Hill and closer to my wife's work. For me, it's not that big of a deal as my company is looking at office space downtown.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    YYC
    My Ride
    06 S2000
    Posts
    5,376
    Rep Power
    47

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Disoblige View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Seeing the replies in the Airdrie thread made me wonder about people's commute/living situation:
    My ideal situation:
    - Detached house w/ big fenced backyard.
    - Nearby park/trail because of dog owner/active lifestyle.
    - Commute to downtown under 30 minutes during regular rush hour conditions.

    Aspen?
    That pretty much is us in Hawkwood. We have a few parks, including an off leash within walking distance. No traffic is a 16min drive downtown, rush hour is 23mins in the summer, 27 during the school year. Plus we're right off Crowchild/Stoney for mountain goodness, and right on the c-train line for transit. I'd say my biggest complaint is a few neighbors failing to shovel their portion of the sidewalk. Oh, and all of my family is east of the city (Chestermere, Langdon, Strathmore).
    Quote Originally Posted by heavyfuel View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    That's why I just say I have a 4" dick and lift weights to make up for it.
    Quote Originally Posted by 89coupe View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    My car sounds like shit.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    YYC
    My Ride
    1 x E Class Benz
    Posts
    23,598
    Rep Power
    101

    Default

    Lived in Arbour Lake since 2001.

    Start with the negatives. During my single years, hated it. I was always drinking downtown and spending a ridiculous amount of money on keys please to get home, or cabbing it which was expensive. Almost moved into a condo downtown to fit my partying lifestyle. Nowadays, not many negatives. If I had to nit pick, the school zone converted to playground zone is annoying as fuck, but I'd assume that's status quo in most places. There's a lot of lights that always seems to turn red to get onto Crowchild, without those lights I could cut my commute by 5 minutes. As for pricing, I think it's a more expensive area, houses gets sold in no time, but I was lucky buying in 2001 at ~50% off the price it's worth today. Standard cookie cutter 2000-2200sq ft homes move in the 600-700k range from what I've seen.

    The positives. Far from downtown but great commute. Every morning it's 15-18 minutes into the office, during the worst of winter days, it's 30 mins. Bike access isn't the greatest, you ride on roads until you get to Varsity, but it's a great workout. 35 mins to get downtown, 1.5 hrs back (lots of uphill). With Crowfoot nearby, all amenities are a 3 minute drive away. I tried walking it during the whole carless documentary, and it's not terrible. 20 minute walk to Safeway. Lots of great restaurants, and even better ones 10 mins away in Royal Oak. Proximity to ring road means I can get anywhere quick, except friends and family in the deep SE haha. I'm talking to you Mahogany and Walden. The lake is great winter and summer, we skate with the kids 5x a week. Swimming ain't bad but it's fucking cold. Maybe a month where the water isn't bone chillingly cold. Lake fees are cheap because most of the shit was paid for by the Hawkwood family.

    Yea, I love living here. Wouldn't move anywhere else in the short term. Checks all our boxes.
    Originally posted by SEANBANERJEE
    I have gone above and beyond what I should rightfully have to do to protect my good name

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    N/A
    Posts
    2,977
    Rep Power
    22

    Default

    23+ years in our current almost inner city home. Relatively easy commute to any job we've had, all levels of public schooling within 4 blocks, UofC and MRU on direct bus routes. 2 year old ODR 2 blocks away, community center 2 blocks away, completely renovated outdoor pool 2 blocks away. Only 2 new neighbors out of 19 on our block in the past 15 years - we can all easily share a beer whenever, Stampede block party just ran it's 20th edition this past year, might have been 21. Our community has served us well, I probably know someone on every block. Was the ODR ice guy for 7 years and have sat on the CAcBoard as well.
    Last edited by speedog; 02-18-2020 at 02:30 PM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Stampede Central
    My Ride
    is pretty sharp lookin'
    Posts
    2,270
    Rep Power
    34

    Default

    Name:  Capture.jpg
Views: 820
Size:  52.1 KB
    everything else here is pretty good for me
    Last edited by jwslam; 02-18-2020 at 02:38 PM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    YYC
    My Ride
    06 S2000
    Posts
    5,376
    Rep Power
    47

    Default

    Oh, Hidden Valley.. I used to have so many people crank right in front of me as I was trying to hit the Stoney exit from there.
    Quote Originally Posted by heavyfuel View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    That's why I just say I have a 4" dick and lift weights to make up for it.
    Quote Originally Posted by 89coupe View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    My car sounds like shit.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Stampede Central
    My Ride
    is pretty sharp lookin'
    Posts
    2,270
    Rep Power
    34

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by LilDrunkenSmurf View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Oh, Hidden Valley.. I used to have so many people crank right in front of me as I was trying to hit the Stoney exit from there.
    The Asian moms in the champagne coloured corollas who think it's ok to turn and take the ramp at 10kph while everyone else is coming at 80kph

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Calgary
    Posts
    2,093
    Rep Power
    43

    Default

    I quite like my area (Sandstone). In general i really like the North-Central area but i think certain pockets hit the sweet spot for value of the house you get. What i mean by that is that you can get a detached 4-5 bed 2500 sq ft home with attached garage for 450-550k while still getting some of the inner city benefits (good transit/shopping/restaurants). Closer to downtown (tuxedo/highland/thorncliffe/huntington) you start to get smaller older houses for the same price and some of the crime that comes along with being inner city. Further out like hamptons etc you get similar homes and also newer, yet they are higher priced and don't get the same perks like good transit.

    In my case i live 3 minutes walk away from the sandstone loop so i have easy access to transit which is key for me working downtown. In rush hour i can catch the express bus (64) which is 25 min door to door in the morning, and about 45 on the way home which works really good for me. If outside of rush hour, the route 3 is a staple route so there's always a bus within 10 or 15 minutes. If i drive i can be downtown in 15 mins outside of rush hour.

    Besides that some other benefits:
    - i have great options for groceries - Safeway, Co Op, Sobeys, Superstore all within a max 8 minute drive
    - Restaurants aren't super great up here but not bad either. Good pho, pizza, fast food, indian all really close by
    - close to nose hill which we take the kids and dog a lot in the summer
    - close to our parents
    - super close to the airport. cab rides are $15-20 + tip, and if i have to pick someone up i can be there in less than 10 mins
    - lots of pathways and greenspace
    - easy access to and from deerfoot trail

    A few years ago when i partied more I would have said i wanted to be closer to downtown, but now with a family i like our quiet cul de sac and being a bit further away from the action. Having the bigger house with a nice backyard also helps when hosting parties compared to a smaller house or condo.

    Only thing i'm not too sure about so far is the school situation. Got a couple of options for catholic schools but we are right in the middle of both so not sure which we will pick when my son is ready in a couple years.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    NE
    My Ride
    Ram 1500, '68 Camaro, S14
    Posts
    1,939
    Rep Power
    42

    Default

    Mayland Heights

    Pro's - Location is amazing, older neighbors so pretty quiet, lots of nice tree's in the community. Strip mall has groceries, viet, Great pub, 7-11. i was able to build a relatively large garage.

    Cons - my house is tiny, the schools are old as fuck, some pretty dodgy shit goes on west of 7-11 lol

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Victoria Park
    My Ride
    '16 FoRS, '09 UZN215, '90 Z32, '15 Grom
    Posts
    4,132
    Rep Power
    64

    Default

    So far loving this thread.
    Also realized it is a good thread to reference when shopping around for a house and figuring out where to live

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Calgary, AB.
    Posts
    152
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jwslam View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Name:  Capture.jpg
Views: 820
Size:  52.1 KB
    everything else here is pretty good for me
    LOL yeah, it was fun helping a friend move some items from Hidden Valley to Nolan Hills and don't forget the u-turn @ Shag/Country hills going back the other way.

    We have been in Hamptons since 2015. We bought this house cause it had everything we wanted, professionally finished walkout basement with theater and bar, nice landscaping, updated kitchen, A/C, security system with cameras, sprinkler system, great views, and in general it was in really good condition for an older house. I didn't want any projects so this house was perfect.

    Pro's
    - Good high school (Churchill) for kids
    - Easy access to main roads like Stoney Tr, Deerfoot, Crowchild.
    - Close access ~5-10 minute drive to shopping like Superstore, Costco, Home Depot, Canadian tire
    - ~45 minute work commute from door to door (5 minute drive to Dalhousie train station, 30 minute train ride, 5 minute walk)
    - No playground zones from house to main road
    - 5 minute walk from the Co-op. Comes in handy when missing ingredients for something
    - Close to airport at about $22 for a taxi

    Con's
    - House is on corner of Hamptons Blvd and Country hills Blvd so it can be noisy at times from street plows and cars accelerating up the hill. Our back and rooms face the hamptons co-op so noise resonates up to us. It bothers my wife more than me and I can sleep like a log but she complains sometimes.
    - Small mud room and only 1 small closet on main floor
    - No internet cabling to rooms because it's an older house so need to use wireless or powerline/coax which is working alright
    - Other than co-op, nothing else really within walking distance like parks or good restaurants
    - Garage is small with a low ceiling. I have pretty much every wall covered including the ceiling storing all our things
    - Bit of an older community and not much fun things to do but it is quiet
    Last edited by botox; 02-18-2020 at 03:05 PM.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Calgary
    Posts
    10,406
    Rep Power
    35

    Default

    I recently moved to Killarney and am really loving it so far.

    Likes:

    - My commute downtown every morning is only 6 minutes and I still wish it was shorter. I don't know how some people manage 45-60+ minute commutes every day - I've done it before and it was probably the biggest negative in my life at the time.
    - Everything is close (or seems like it). Anytime I need something, it seems it's only 5 min away or less whether it be gyms, grocery stores, etc. Still a bit of a drive to the Costcos and some specialty places (15min or so). Pretty quick to get out of the city (West). ~1-5 minutes to 17th ave, Bow Trail, Crowchild, Sarcee, 14th. Easy access to Saddle Dome/Stampede grounds (~12 min).
    - Close-ish to the majority of Calgary's best restaurants. Skip the Dishes and Door Dash now have way better selection from this location as well.
    - Ubers are always dirt cheap between home and DT if we're drinking
    - Big mature trees everywhere
    - Mostly infills
    - Decent school proximity (if needed)
    - Quiet (so far anyway). Maybe we just have good windows but I've yet to even hear a car drive by.
    - Mail delivery directly to the door (rather than a community box)
    - Hopefully one of the safer areas of town in terms of property value retention
    - Lots of unique looking homes
    - If I miss delivery of a package, the pickup places are all ~2 minutes away
    - FTTH available
    - Roughly equidistant to both our families
    - Nowhere near the flood zones
    - No playground or school zones to drive through on my particular routes
    - Noticeable lack of Karens & busybody neighbors
    - Nobody puts out signs asking people to slow down because they are too lazy to be a parent while their kids play in the middle of the road
    - Few similarities to Aspen


    Dislikes

    - Lots of cars parked on the street at all times (mine is permitted though so it's quieter, but in general the neighborhood has a ton of cars parked along the streets which makes driving through annoying)
    - Some streets have speed bumps
    - Permitted street parking is somewhat annoying for guests and you only get 2 guest passes (if you have a party you have to tell the city a week in advance to get a "parking relaxation").
    - Surprisingly far from Deerfoot Trail, Airport, or anything in the East pretty much. Takes a really long time to drive across the city West to East, certainly more than I had imagined. Getting out of the city North towards Edmonton takes the same amount of time as from the fairly deep South.
    - Proximity to train lines (~5 min walk) means more 'transient' folk in the area, but 99% of them keep to themselves and just want bottles from the blue bins, which we sort separately and leave out in a bag for them
    - Detached garages are a bit annoying, as is dealing with blue/black/green bins behind them
    - Alleys aren't paved and probably never will be
    - They alleys are pretty tight
    - Can't really wash the exterior of your car on you property which I prefer to do (but several car washes very close by)
    - Relatively high price of entry if you want a nice place, and even higher if you don't want to share a wall with someone
    - Higher than average population density



    Can't see ourselves leaving for a very long time based on what is important to us in terms of quality of life.

    Previously I have lived in the deep SW and in a Condo DT, which I sold after the 12th ave bike lane became permanent.
    Last edited by Mitsu3000gt; 02-18-2020 at 05:19 PM.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Calgary
    My Ride
    rally pig
    Posts
    2,465
    Rep Power
    22

    Default

    Skyview

    I actually like the area, very close to Stony Trail, Airport, 10min bus to Saddletown C-Train, Cross-Iron mall.
    Only thing I'm starting to hate is the number of traffic lights that I have to cross before getting to Deerfoot, used to be 4, now there's 8

    Years ago we opted out buying a house in Sage Hill or Evanston as heading home we noticed there were lots of traffic lights in Symons Valley Rd.

    We are moving back to Beddington where I can just hop on my bike and ride to downtown.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Foothills County
    My Ride
    is faster than yours
    Posts
    1,247
    Rep Power
    33

    Default

    Dammit, this thread is only applicable to Calgary!

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Calgary
    My Ride
    Fiesta ST
    Posts
    2,942
    Rep Power
    24

    Default

    I like 1970's neighborhoods. Good lot size, decent sized houses without being huge, wider streets and not too far out. I would like taller ceilings though.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Cowtown
    My Ride
    10' 4Runner SR5
    Posts
    6,345
    Rep Power
    58

    Default

    I've lived in so many communities in Calgary over the years: Mayland Heights, Renfrew, Crescent Heights, North Haven, Killarney and Macewan. If I had the option to have a house, it would be Crescent Heights hands down. Unfortunately purchasing a house there isn't conducive to my unemployment lifestyle so it's back to condo living in Killarney (queue the Concrete/Woodframe debacle QQ thanks to Jackie Dufault).

    Killarney is an interesting area because its got such a mish-mash of income levels and property types, as evident by the diverse restaurants and then the pretty skuzzy Westbrook Mall. I'm still sad the little Market 17 closed down, was so handy to (literally) run over and grab the odd thing and their cafe was actually quite good.
    Last edited by msommers; 02-18-2020 at 04:12 PM.
    Ultracrepidarian

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Calgary
    My Ride
    Axis powers
    Posts
    2,486
    Rep Power
    24

    Default

    McKenzie Towne

    Moved here in 2014 from our previous property in Silverado, partially to get away from the proposed ring road interchange nonsense they were going to build there, also to obtain an actual house vs townhouse and we had really crappy neighbors

    Likes:
    It's a family based community with lots of families around
    The public school offers K-3 and then 4-9 and has a lot of programs to take advantage of
    Being on Deerfoot and Stony, we jump on the highway we want and go
    Has many shopping and eat options close by
    I like our CMSA soccer team
    The area looks nice and taken care of

    Dislikes
    Due to proximity of Deerfoot and Stony, traffic noise is terrible
    Houses are close together where I am, with a zero property line on my house
    Crime has been ramping up lately, with what appear to be organized squads of people now
    I work in the NE and have to take Stony every day, minimum 30 minutes each way
    The people who go to the St. Albert the Great church make me want to rage
    I live on a main street and there's a lot of traffic, more than I expected
    Parking is a premium, if you move your car, someone will most likely take that spot within a few minutes
    Still have shitty neighbors
    Bought at the peak of the Oil bubble, probably underwater on house value now
    Last edited by adam c; 02-18-2020 at 04:13 PM.
    Sig nuked by mod.

Page 1 of 8 1 2 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. i hate to hate. but f you!!!!

    By atomic in forum General
    Replies: 51
    Latest Threads: 03-21-2007, 10:47 PM
  2. One thing you hate...and one thing you love about your car

    By nismodrifter in forum General Car/Bike Talk
    Replies: 101
    Latest Threads: 09-06-2005, 09:43 AM
  3. Even if you hate domestics, you'll love this Mustang

    By Ekliptix in forum Cars, Bikes, Machines
    Replies: 43
    Latest Threads: 07-14-2004, 09:12 AM
  4. GTA location? location! location?!

    By kazzxtrismus in forum General
    Replies: 3
    Latest Threads: 04-29-2004, 12:27 AM
  5. you'll love me for this if you love porsche

    By corvettekid in forum Cars, Bikes, Machines
    Replies: 8
    Latest Threads: 10-27-2003, 04:58 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •