Quote:
Originally Posted by slcrocket
What are the biggest selling points of Calgary as you see them?
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My wife is American, and we both moved to Calgary about 8 or so years ago. It took a bit of adjustment coming from NYC, but my wife is really comfortable and really likes living here. Especially since we've had kids she's really integrated into the community and sees the big difference between here and the US...especially when she goes back and sees how life is for moms back in NY.
The biggest benefits we've found is the general increased quality of life and the lower cost for the big things...education, healthcare, property taxes (the first two especially). My friends back in NYC pay about 20 grand a year per child for schooling (K-12), and 2-3K month for family health insurance, and often 15-20k in property taxes. Yes, house prices here arent cheap either, and our wait times to see a doctor are longer, but I don't have quite the same level of financial worries. I remember doing the calculations once and realized I would probably need to make about 80-100K more in salary per child to have the same level of schooling/care back in NY. We'd both also need to be working, and having kids in NY is hard as hell. Obviously thats not necessarily applicable to a comparison Seattle, but that was our experience.
Generally, I think life here is also a bit easier. People complain about traffic, but it's nothing compared to what you get in Seattle or an American city. There is crime here like anywhere, but you don't get the vast extremes of disparity like you do in the US. Politics too...there's not quite the massive divide between people (although I do think its growing somewhat). I've found the best way to enjoy Calgary and Alberta in general is to become an outdoor person. Do as much skiing, biking, hiking, etc as possible, and you will love it more. If you and your wife are outdoorsy people, it can be an awesome place to live.
What sucks? Shopping/shipping is terrible compared to the US, Doing business here is not as easy, customer service is generally poor, "spring" time, flying in Canada is expensive, the Flames always find a way to suck.