Any Calgary Disers?

[DisneyDreamer2]

A little off topic, but I am a long time Diser from the States and just found out today that my husband's job is moving us to Calgary in February(the day I get back from Disney World!) Anyway, I am terrified to have to move to another country. But I know all disers are wonderful people, so anything you can tell me about Calgary or Alberta would be most helpful. Thank you!!!!

 

[disney funseeker]

Hi DisneyDreamer2,

There are a few Calgary and Alberta disers here.

I am north of Calgary, near Edmonton but would love to move to Calgary to be closer to the Rocky Mountains. And WestJet flies directly to Orlando from Calgary..no direct flights from Edmonton.

From another province originally and have not been here a year yet but really like it. Alberta is booming and seems to be the place to be especially if your work is somehow related to the oil and gas industry.

Which State are you living in right now?

 

[DIS~n~JAN]

Welcome to Canada "ehh" haha.

We're 2.5 hrs south of Calgary. I too love Calgary... especially the mountain view! Headed there in 2 weeks to fly to Florida. Enjoy your move!

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

Thanks for the replies. we currently live in Boise, Idaho. My husband works in the natural gas business for BP Energy. It is just so overwhelming. I am trying to learn as much as I can about currency, government, healthcare etc. It is only a 14 hour drive from where we live now, but there is so much new stuff to learn- like km vs miles. And the housing is also much more than we pay here. I am very excited though. It's an adventure!

 

[Jax]

Hello!

I am a Calgarian, born and raised here.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask away or either PM me.

Congradulations on the change, I am sure it will be very exciting once all that stressful stuff goes away

 

[jtdl]

I've been to Alberta many times, mostly Edmonton, but my brother lived in Calgary for a short time and I visited there for a couple weeks. I must say, I found the people in Calgary to be an extremely friendly bunch. Never met anyone I didn't like and I met a lot of people in those two weeks. I have heard many people comment on the friendliness of the people in Calgary many different times, so it wasn't just my own experience.

 

[almacdonald]

I live in calgary!!!

The weather has been BEAUTIFUL here the last couple of weeks. My boyfriend took the dog to the dog park in shorts on Christmas eve!!!! The winters can be cold, and it does snow but the weather changes lot. Because of the mountains we get these weather changes called chinooks where it can go from -15°C one day to +15°C a couple of hours later.

You can drive to the mountains (Banff National Park) in about an hour. You have to go to the candy store on main street!

The zoo is AMAZING!! I love it. And we have a baby hippo visiting from Quebec until April. Annual passes are a really good deal for families.

Look at houses in the NW or SE/SW. The outskirts of town are more affordable than right downtown and they are newer as well (there are a few infills near downtown but they are crazy expensive). If you're interested in taking the train into downtown for work or whatever, the south has better access. No matter where you buy a house you will NOT be far from a Tim Hortons, guaranteed! FYI, the city is divided into quadrants. The "middle" is the intersection of Centre Street and Centre ave.

Theres the Glenbow museum which can be fun once in awhile. Heritage Park is a good visit too. Oh, and there are tonnes of festivals in the summer. Sun&Salsa festival, Taste of Calgary, Greek Festival, Cari-fest, Lilac festival.... and the list goes on.

Lots of paved pathways for walking/rollerblading/bike riding.

Eau Claire is pretty fun in the summer too. There's a small artsy type mall and few restaurants. The whole thing is right near the river downtown. There's also a big grassy park (where you can bring dogs!!!)

If you're a fan of chocolate, definitely check out Bernard Callebaut. It's delicious.

17th Ave is a "trendy" area near the Saddledome (where the Flames play HOCKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO FLAMES GO!!!) If you've ever heard of the "Red Mile" thats what they're refering too. There's a bunch of pubs and restaurants down there.

There's also Kensington which is on the north side of the river. There's a bunch of crafty stores and it's a good afternoon of shopping.

Oh, and every year there's the Calgary Stampede (July) There's your typical rodeo type stuff but also a parade, midway and exhibition and it's dubbed "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" .... definitely worth checking out for the food alone!


Saddledome, Calgary tower on the left, tall buildings in the middle are the Petro-Canada towers, from the east side of the stampede grounds



Downtown, from the Stampede ferris wheel



Fall view of downtown, from the North side of the river



Mountains on a cloudy day (looking West)



Tiger at the zoo



The best way to see a black bear (behind glass!)

Hope this helps. If you have any questions at all about Calgary, let me know!

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

Wow! Thank you all so much for the replies and pictures too! We are getting very excited. We are flying up in 2 weeks to look at houses. Many of the listings the realtor has sent us are near Fish Creek Park. Does anyone know where that is? Is it a nice area? Thank you again for all your help. I will probably be asking more questions and pming some of you as it gets closer. I have 4 little girls and they loved the pictures of the zoo. It is so great to know that there are friendly Disers everywhere!

 

[almacdonald]

Fish Creek Park is in the SW. My BF's uncle has a house that backs on to Fish Creek Park and it's BEAUTIFUL. Definitely a nice neighborhood. Check out the website!! Do you have any pets because there is an off-leash area there too.

Good luck house hunting... the market is pretty tight right now! I'm sure you'll find something great.

(PS have you been looking at the mls website? )

 

[Jax]

Fish Creek is both SW and SE Calgary depending on what neighbourhood you are looking at.

Did your realtor give you any names of neighbourhoods? I live about 10 minutes away from Fish Creek so I am somewhat familar with the neighbourhoods around it (my family also live right across from Fist Creek).

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have since I am sure at least one of us on the board from Calgary can hopefully answer them

 

[almacdonald]

I forgot to mention one of the most important things about moving to calgary.... there are direct flights to Orlando and LA!!! Disney is only a plane ride away!

 

[momupnorth]

Welcome to Calgary!!!!
It is a wonderful place for families and I am sure you will love it!!!
I live 2 minutes from Fish Creek Park , it is a wonderful natural area along the Bow River with great bike paths and hiking trails and picnic areas right in the city but you feel like you are in the wilds.
In this area of Calgary there are numerous man made lake communities( we live in one of them) that gives you a private community lake with swimming beaches, skating, tobagganing that are very popular.
I noticed you mention you had children--- Just be careful about locations of schools in any area you are interested in because many of the new areas do not have schools built yet and require kids to be bussed quite long distance to schools. I would suggestion phoning schools in areas you are interested in to make sure where your children would have to go if this is a concern for you. I have met many new parents in this part of the city that did not realize that the schools could be so far away. Many new schools are being constructed in the next couple of years but it takes time.
If you need any other questions answered , please feel free to PM me
I am sure you will love it here ... Calgary is a great city

 

[DisneylandGuy22]

Im about 3 hours south of Calgary and I love living in Alberta, better tax breaks, haha

Plus its only 3 hour flight to Disneyland and a 6 hour flight to WDW . Just make sure you bring your snow suit for the winter months and shorts for summer

 

[mulanrouge]

I also live in Calgary, about 3 blocks from Fish Creek, in fact I am starting to think that MomUpNorth and I might be neighbours!! All the descriptions have been pretty right on about Calgary. I think you will enjoy living here, many people talk about how friendly Calgary is, and I think you will find the same living here. If you are talking about living here, and looking for houses around the Fish Creek area, you will probably be looking at the following communites: Lake Bonavista, Parkland, Canyon Meadows, Deer Run, Midnapore, Millrise - Maybe Woodlands and Woodbine. They are all pretty good areas. Good luck with your house hunt.

 

[wanda_dance]

Wow - what an exciting and scary time for you!!! I am a native Calgarian that was also in the Oil and Gas Industry until dd was born 8 years ago. I met my dh in the industry and moved to a town just south of Calgary called Okotoks. It has a population of about 12,000 and is only about a 40 minute commute to downtown Calgary. Really only about 8 minutes to the south end of Calgary. We have great schools, both public and catholic as well as a couple really good private schools in the area. We also offer French Immersion schools out here too.

As some people have already mentioned - Calgary (and the surrounding area) is a great place to live and easy to get around.

PM me anytime if you need a helping hand.

Good luck


Wanda

 

[chellebelle]

I'm another born and raise Calgarian.

If you have any questions please feel free to PM me!

 

[DCA_MillionaireFreak]

We live near Fish Creek in Shawnessy. I'm not reading every post over so I may be repeating stuff.

Sporting: We have a lacrosse team (Calgary Roughnecks) that play in the Saddledome in the NLL, we have a CFL team (Stampeders) that play at McMahon Stadium, we have a NHL team (Flames) that was previously mentioned. We also have a world-class show jumping (as in horses) facility called Spruce Meadows. It's great for a nice day with your family. There are tons of places to swim, and depending on what community you move into you may have access to a community lake.


Public Transit: Is sometimes sketchy. Gets busy. We use buses and Light Rail Transit.

Attractions: I like Canada Olympic Park, where you can go up the ski jumps, go skiing, play mini-golf, go mountain biking, go bobsledding, visit the Olympic Hall Of Fame, see the Ice House. Also, there is Calaway Park which is a nice amusement park with a fair amount of rides. Let's see, the Calgary Tower is a 190m tower with a glass floor at the top. We have a really big mall called Chinook Centre. (I can't think of any more off the top of my head).


Other Stuff: It's a nice place to live, and there are plenty of things to do and getting essential stuff is easy.

 

[lab_girl]

Hello There!
Welcome to Canada
I was born in Calgary but, now live in Northern BC.
-such beautiful country here, I hope you have a chance to tour around-

 

[blizzard]

Hey, I'm from Calgary! (Just saw this post)

Not much to add. It's a great place to live and a great place to raise kids.

I went to college in the U.S. and will say that Canadian cities are far superior in cleanliness, organization, friendliness, green space, etc.

I'm sure you will enjoy your time here. (Plus the weather is better than Boise)

 

[mickey mumm]

Hi there,

You'll love Calgary and it's a great place for kids.

I'm surprised how many of us live by Fish Creek. I'm in the southwest (Shawnessy) and have lived in the south end of time all my life so that's the area I like. I guess its all what you get used to.

We drove down to Idaho this year for holidays. Cour da lene (ok I know I spelled that wrong for sure). It was nice down there too. Hot!!!!

Good luck with your move.