Thinking of moving to Airdrie

[pdm111]

Hey guys. I'm looking for a house and a co-worker suggested I look into Airdrie. She's been helpful but I'd like to hear some other opinions.

How's the commute to/from Calgary? I work in the NE along 32 ave. I normally start work around 9 and leave at 6.

Are there any areas to avoid? She said the area around the Superstore (wherever that is) is getting kind of bad.

I've been looking around the Canals and Luxstone. Should I be concerned about the proximity to the train tracks?

Any opinions/advice is greatly appreciated.

[Tik-Tok]

I've had 2 co-workers who moved to Airdrie.

Both of them were happy for about a year, then they started HATING the commute. Not just disliking, but hating.

And we work at the airport, so it's not like they had to drive that far south into Calgary.

[Sophal]

I personally don't live in airdrie but i commute there for work daily but i am against the flow of traffic from commuters that do travel into calgary. From what i have observed southbound deerfoot gets congested at around 7ish. But from beddington to airdrie takes me about 20 minutes. In the evening the commuters traveling back to airdrie is slow going until you get to about the beddington trail turn off then it clears up until you get to the yankee valley turn off but there is a 6 lane underpass in the works which will help them out a bunch.

As for areas i suggest looking over in bay side if the train tracks are a big issue but even in luxstone you're pretty far away but i do recomment to steer clear from morning side as the train noise gets annoying at times. On the east end of town there is a new subdivision in the works just south of yankee valley blvd

[sr20s14zenki]

I live in crossfield and i dont mind the commute, but really, its when you come in that counts. I can make it from crossfield to foothills industrial park in about 40 minutes if i leave my house at 6

if i leave at 7, i hit traffic and im totally screwed from country hills all the way till 16th.

[Barking_Spidre]

Originally posted by pdm111
Hey guys. I'm looking for a house and a co-worker suggested I look into Airdrie. She's been helpful but I'd like to hear some other opinions.

How's the commute to/from Calgary? I work in the NE along 32 ave. I normally start work around 9 and leave at 6.

Are there any areas to avoid? She said the area around the Superstore (wherever that is) is getting kind of bad.

I've been looking around the Canals and Luxstone. Should I be concerned about the proximity to the train tracks?

Any opinions/advice is greatly appreciated.

I've lived in Airdrie for pretty much my whole life, lived in calgary for 2, and worked in Calgary for pretty much my whole working career, minus a year. I prefer living in Airdrie. The commute is fine, especially if you work on 32nd, there's so many ways around staying on deerfoot when you work so far in the north. Last summer I worked at a company in the building behind the country hills toyota, so the work commute was like, 10 minutes, maybe. The only annoying thing is when you're coming back to airdrie, and going under the bridge, it gets pretty backed up, but easily avoidable by going on the balzac turn off and heading out west to that road that leads up to Silvercity. It takes you just on the outskirts of town and no traffic and like, 2 sets of lights.

@Tik-tok, I don't know how your friends hate the commute, especially to the airport. It'd be like, 15 minutes if that from Airdrie.

But as for areas, I really like luxstone. My best friend is renting half a duplex there, and his brother bought a house a block from him. I also like Morningside/Coopers crossing as well, which is just across yankee valley from luxstone. And as for the train tracks, I barely notice it, I don't think that many trains even come through?

[ragu]

I have a couple of friends who moved from Toronto to Calgary in summer and bought a place in Airdrie. According to them their commute is miserable and in winter one accident fucks up their whole day. Their typical workday starts at 8 and they'll leave at 720ish; in winter they leave as soon as possible and go to gym and stuff after work to avoid traffic.

Personally, I would never live far from work, let alone out of the city. Period.

[Xtrema]

Just remember about this on satellites city properties:

Their price are first to fall and last to rise.

And Airdire has higher property tax than Calgary.

[msommers]

Buddy of mine bought a place out in Airdrie because it was cheaper than buying in Calgary for him and his gf. He seems to like it out there but hates driving so far to work all the time. Only complaint so far, he gets pissed off sometimes that no one wants to drive all the way out there to visit and he ends up coming in 9/10 times, so maybe be prepared for that?

[Redlyne_mr2]

If you're going to work in a big city then live in a big city. If you want to live in a smaller town then move a town farther away from Calgary. Cheaper real estate, less traffic, lower cost of living etc. The "feeder" city lifestyle is very Toronto and is a crappy lifestyle IMO. Airdrie just isn't a nice town either, it's poorly developed and has no real beauty. If I had to make a choice I'd choose Cochrane over Airdrie.

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
If you're going to work in a big city then live in a big city

[darkkent]

i guess it depends on why you're considering Airdrie in the 1st place. if it's just for " small town " living then since you work in the NE you should also consider Chestermere, Langdon, etc. where the commute is not nearly as bad. if its just to save on the price of a house you might as well stay in Calgary. the money you save on your mortgage you'll be throwing in your gas tank anyway.

[w_man]

Meeh .. I moved out to Airdrie about 3 years ago and work in downtown. Commute isn't as bad as people think it is ... I used to take the back road to Panorama Hills, park at Park n Ride and take the 301 in to downtown. Now I drive to work as the wife also works around the belt line and has free parking.

It takes me 30 mins to get to work and probably about 20 mins to get to the 32nd ave exit on deerfoot. I normally always take 14th st back and then the back road again into Airdrie, which is almost always empty.

I love the small town living since there's less traffic and shorter line ups everywhere ... I used to HATE going to wallmart or superstore but I'll even go there to pick a single loaf of bread now ... I have almost never run across any items out of stock (unlike the superstore in panorama hills). Everything is a quick drive away.

If you are into partying lots and going to the mall often ... you might want to be in the city (until of course the Blazac mall opens up). The fact that there's no public transportation from Airdrie to Calgary yet also sucks so if you are dependent on that ... I wouldn't even consider Airdrie. Other than that ... if you are looking to settle down for some time .. get a cheap'er' house in Airdrie and you'll enjoy it here.

[luv2ride_bikes]

Originally posted by w_man
Meeh .. I moved out to Airdrie about 3 years ago and work in downtown. Commute isn't as bad as people think it is ... I used to take the back road to Panorama Hills, park at Park n Ride and take the 301 in to downtown. Now I drive to work as the wife also works around the belt line and has free parking.

It takes me 30 mins to get to work and probably about 20 mins to get to the 32nd ave exit on deerfoot. I normally always take 14th st back and then the back road again into Airdrie, which is almost always empty.

I love the small town living since there's less traffic and shorter line ups everywhere ... I used to HATE going to wallmart or superstore but I'll even go there to pick a single loaf of bread now ... I have almost never run across any items out of stock (unlike the superstore in panorama hills). Everything is a quick drive away.

If you are into partying lots and going to the mall often ... you might want to be in the city (until of course the Blazac mall opens up). The fact that there's no public transportation from Airdrie to Calgary yet also sucks so if you are dependent on that ... I wouldn't even consider Airdrie. Other than that ... if you are looking to settle down for some time .. get a cheap'er' house in Airdrie and you'll enjoy it here.

I thought there is a commuter bus from Airdrie to downtown Calgary. I know there was one there a few years ago when we where looking to build a house in Airdrie.

[w_man]

^^ well there is ... it's a private company which provides a ride ONLY to downtown calgary and the timings are fairly limited. There still is no public transportation to go anywhere in to Calgary .. I wish there was even just ONE bus that would take you to the Panorama hills park n ride

[pdm111]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I've been looking at houses in the north end of Calgary (Hidden Valley, Coventry) and the amount I'm planning on spending can get me a very nice place in Airdrie as opposed to some tiny bi-level in Coventry.

My main concern was Deerfoot traffic but it sounds like I can avoid that by taking a different route.

[pinoyhero]

Seriously I would think living in Air would be the worst of both worlds, not small and far out enough to be a small town but too damn far to be a suburb

[03ozwhip]

alright. i was looking in airdrie last year to buy.
the upsides: not far from calgary, most ammenities, cheaper housing minus taxes(not much more for taxes)

downsides: crime is just like calgary, the commute isnt as good as everyone thinks it is, i drove it a few times at times i got off of work to test it. terrible road structure, it takes forever to get anywhere around there.

so instead of buying in airdrie, i bought in strathmore. even cheaper housing(taxes are a little more) my office is right off of 36 st by marlborough, so i could make it from my house to my office in 35 minutes with barely any traffic even in the winter. its a whole lot nicer here, not a big city feel liek airdrie, anything you need is here.

however, i am listing my place for sale to move back to calgary right away but only because i had a kid and all the family is so far south that its a pain for everyone to see him. like someone else said above, no one wants to come up and see you because its too far. im sure i will think of more points to strathmore, but all in all strathmore was a better choice for us than airdrie and it sounds like youre in the same boat as i was 1 year ago.

[Gorilla]

I moved to airdrie last month.. and Love it.

Commute times

I leave at 6:45am at work on 10ave and 5th St (downtown next to tantra) at 7:15.

It takes longer coming back, I leave at 4pm and get home by 4:45-4:50

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by pdm111
I've been looking at houses in the north end of Calgary (Hidden Valley, Coventry) and the amount I'm planning on spending can get me a very nice place in Airdrie as opposed to some tiny bi-level in Coventry.

Market is always right. It's cheaper for a reason.

[hattonlynch]

my sis and her friend live in airdrie and hate the commute to work (both work downtown)...takes like an hour there and back because of all the traffic.