Neighbourhood Advice...?

[Daryei]

Hi,

My family and I are moving back to Calgary after living for almost 10 years in th UK. We are looking for a house that will be near the university.

We're particularly interested in top pubic schools for our two kids, and availability of good green spaces and recreation activities ( I think weekends are about to be spent in rinks and at swimming pools).

Coming from London, we know that YYC will be a big adjustment in terms of driving vs walking (we don't drive here), so would like a community with a good walkscore.

An easy commute to downtown (or at least to the LRT) would be a bonus - but quick commute to the UofC is key.

We've been looking at the Tri-wood area (particularly Brentwood), and have been looking to Varsity Acres/Estates. There's not a lot of houses out there - so have also been considering Edgemont & Dalhousie & University Heights.

What we can't seem to get is a feel for the community and its makeup. Given what I've described - can anyone give me a steer, or pro's and con's of some of the areas I'm looking at? Are there any others to consider?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Whats your budget?

[calgarygeologist]

You should include Banff Trail and Briar Hill. Varsity is great especially if you are east of Shaganappi. You would be a short walk to Market Mall, a short walk to UofC and a short walk to the Brentwood train station. They have a great outdoor rink. Schools are good although the one east of Shaganappi is French immersion with the English school being on the other side of Varsity.

I think the east part of Varsity has a lot of younger families with lots of kids. It is older homes from the 50's and 60's. Some are updated nicely but many are original or in need of a serious refresh. If you don't mind a condo the Varsity Towers are great. I had a buddy that owned a condo in there and it was very nice.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Slightly outside of Calgary is Redwood Meadows and Bragg Creek...Banded Peak is excellent.

I work by the Uni and the commute is 30 min and very pleasant. The west leg of the ctrsin is 15 min away.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

Slightly outside of Calgary is Redwood Meadows and Bragg Creek...Banded Peak is excellent.

I work by the Uni and the commute is 30 min and very pleasant. The west leg of the ctrsin is 15 min away.

What? Did you post in the wrong thread?

You live outside of the city.

As mentioned above budget is going to be a huge factor. Most of the neighbourhoods that have what you are looking for are expensive.

[strombad]

Dalhousie is right near transit, so you're good there. Edgemont is also very close (5 minute bus ride to the nearest LRT station) and is a great community. My wife's parents live in Edgemont and she grew up there. Really solid school system and family friendly community. Plus, there's a ravine which allows for a lot of walking/biking in a really huge green space.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Oops. Scanned OP too quickly and missed the pedestrian angle.

[calumniate]

I was waiting for someone to mention Airdrie, but redwood meadows will do just fine. Thanks fozzie! :-)

[Daryei]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Whats your budget?

I'm hoping to be under 800K, but will consider going slightly higher if I need to. It's meant to be a 'forever home', and will need to house 2 kids (through their teens) and 2 adults who want to maintain their sanity.

[Canehdianman]

Man, 8 responses and no jokes about pubic schools yet?

Must be too early on a long weekend...

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

What? Did you post in the wrong thread?

Stay classy

[Daryei]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

You should include Banff Trail and Briar Hill. Varsity is great especially if you are east of Shaganappi. You would be a short walk to Market Mall, a short walk to UofC and a short walk to the Brentwood train station. They have a great outdoor rink. Schools are good although the one east of Shaganappi is French immersion with the English school being on the other side of Varsity.

I think the east part of Varsity has a lot of younger families with lots of kids. It is older homes from the 50's and 60's. Some are updated nicely but many are original or in need of a serious refresh. If you don't mind a condo the Varsity Towers are great. I had a buddy that owned a condo in there and it was very nice.

Thanks for this. I'm about to put condo life behind us -- been there, done that - and the kids are dying for a yard!

Why are you making a distinction in Varsity for east of Shaganappi?

Do you have experience of either of those schools? (I'm not extremely trustful of the school ranking sites, as they don't seem to give a great picture of 'why' a school gets ranked where it does - and academics is quite important for us.)

[Wastedyouth]

Haha, I thought this was gonna be the "Which neighborhood should Gaudreau buy his place in?" thread.

[Daryei]

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

Slightly outside of Calgary is Redwood Meadows and Bragg Creek...Banded Peak is excellent.

I work by the Uni and the commute is 30 min and very pleasant. The west leg of the ctrsin is 15 min away.

Haha. thanks for this. While I'm game (I grew up on a farm), the other half isn't - and we want to be closer to amenities than that - I know I'm going to have to make adjustments in terms of lifestyle (and we want to!) - but I don't want to be 'living' in my car.

[undercoverbrother]

The question is will Sliver resist the urge to post.......

[troutman]

Consider Hillhurst and West Hillhurst. Kensington has a European feel where you can walk to shops and restaurants. Close to LRT at Sunnyside or Lion's Park. Only a 5 minute drive to the University, always against the heavy traffic.

Queen Elizabeth is a good public school - elementary to high school. QE has many special programs, such as GATE (gifted), deaf children, Intl Bacc.

Parks - Riley Park, close to River pathways, Princes Island (Folk Festival). Farmers Market. Bowview outdoor pool, West Hillhurst Arena. Westwood hockey plays all around the NW. SAIT has a good pool.

Cons - could be flooding concerns closer to the river. Properties are more expensive and smaller than further out, but are probably a better investment too. You probably find a house with a yard for $800 K, but maybe not for long.

[Daryei]

Originally Posted by strombad

Dalhousie is right near transit, so you're good there. Edgemont is also very close (5 minute bus ride to the nearest LRT station) and is a great community. My wife's parents live in Edgemont and she grew up there. Really solid school system and family friendly community. Plus, there's a ravine which allows for a lot of walking/biking in a really huge green space.

Yeah Edgemont looks interesting - is the 'Estates' area near John Laurie at the bottom of the hill/ravine? The only thing that seems strange (on a map) is the long roads to get into/out of the community.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Daryei

I'm hoping to be under 800K, but will consider going slightly higher if I need to. It's meant to be a 'forever home', and will need to house 2 kids (through their teens) and 2 adults who want to maintain their sanity.

All right... $800 we can work with. You should be able to attain a 2,000 ish sq ft + 1000 sq ft developed basement (10 yr old vintage) with that kind of price, especially if you are willing to go duplex (which can be fine). You come from London where this will seem like a bargain and palatial!

Here's a great map from the Herald, showing the walkability of Calgary:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/da...ing/index.html

Hillhurst/Sunnyside is indeed the best of both worlds - very walkable, markets, K-12 schools, rinks, outdoor pools, parks, 15 min flat walk to downtown, family friendly. (Yeah, I'm a little biased). However you'll get a bit more bang for your buck if you go to the west of Crowchild into West Hillhurst / Parkdale. Just don't get too close to Crowchild (east or west of it) as the expansion could be 10-20 years out). Parkdale is indeed quite nice but doesn't quite have the retail of Hillhurst. As someone mentioned above, the areas north of the ridge but south of 16th Ave (Banff Trail, Crescent Heights, Briar Hill, Maybe St Andrews to some extent) are also super nice and have great accessibility via LRT.

I spent a lot of time in Varsity growing up - the Estate areas are bonkers expensive. Might as well be in Hillhurst. Giant lots but anything in your range is going to date back to the 70's. It's that stupid up there.



PM if you have any questions (no I'm not a realtor)


(Rule No. 1 of house hunting in Calgary - everyone says where they live is awesome - not unlike Central London. I think psychology calls it post purchase cognitive dissonance. )

[cam_wmh]

Surprised nobody suggested Airdrie instead of Redwood.

Only a 15 minute commute vs 30.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

Haha, I thought this was gonna be the "Which neighborhood should Gaudreau buy his place in?" thread.

I started a thread on this topic about a week ago....i can't find it, and assume it was deleted.......

To the op it is a good thing your budget is high. It is my understanding the market is somewhat heated........perhaps you may wish to get in touch with cp's resident realtor.....realtor1.