Which of you are moving to Royal Oak? There's a few very hot chicks that parade in very small bikinis during the warm months here. There's also a few chicks that jog in their bikinis in the morning.
Where and when. I will ensure I am there in a lawnchair waiting.
The bikini joggers go along Royal Oak Drive. The other chicks are scattered about. Just drive around like a perv . There's one chick that wears a yellow bikini pretty well every day in summer. You won't miss her
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I live downtown and am looking to move to the deep south for the same reason as the OP. I used to live in Deer Run, so I've felt the sting of 2hour snow day commutes. One thing I've got going for me is now my work hours are flexible, and I can work from home if need be.... Though I think I'll die a little inside when I cant wake up at 7:40 and be at work before 8. My least favorite part of the Deerfoot journey has got to be the Calf Robe bridge (which until reading this thread I've been calling the Calf Rope bridge... wtf?). In the morning, all the drivers seem surprised when they're blasted by the sunrise after going around the first bend in the bridge and hit the brakes. It's just the sun, its not going to hurt you... and it's going to be there again the next morning so get some fking sunglasses! Going home, the traffic is always bad leading up to the bridge, then you have a few moments of freedom until you hit the Glenmore trail overpass. I attribute this to the high percentage of Calgarians who grew up in Saskatchewan and have never encountered such a large bend in the road. Also people that drive 80 on Deerfoot in clear conditions are more dangerous than anyone going 120 in my books. Ugh, just thinking about it stresses me out.
I find people are so full of crap when talking about their communities. I've lived in the South, the North, and downtown.
The Deep South absolutely sucks for a commute (only one route), has no public transportation for those who like to indulge in a few drinks on the weekend, unless you live right in MacKenzie there is screw all for shopping/groceries/entertainment in your own neighbourhood, and if you work downtown you have atleast an hour commute each way. I don't care what some people are posting on here, but I work downtown and I lived there. It's an hour each way to Cranston from downtown no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
I would suggest that many people are very good at doing "automagical" math when computing their commutes. I know some don't like to include the time it takes to leave their community, assume it's 5 AM, during the summer, with the lights green the whole way, only the train ride and not door to door, waiting for the bus/train, etc. (and you know, there is NEVER a crash in deerfoot.)
One of my coworkers commented the other day that an extra 10 minutes of a commute equals more than 2 weeks of vacation . . . every single year!
Nevermind the silliness of mixing with the riffraff of the general population on public transit! jk
One of my coworkers commented the other day that an extra 10 minutes of a commute equals more than 2 weeks of vacation . . . every single year!
That has to be an extra 10 minutes each way. I calculated 10 minutes x 5 days a week x 50 weeks (one year minus two weeks vacation) and I came up with 41.6 hours.
Bridgeland? That's not REAL NE, that's like living in Inglewood and claiming you live in the SE, or Kensington and you live in the NW, or part of bowness and you live in the SW.
I want to see:
Cranston
Bridlewood
Royal Oak or Evenston
Corral Springs or Temple
I actually made a map for other purposes that I'll share. Basically, the thinking is that quadrants or north/south are too broad, and include too many types of places to use to describe areas of Calgary
I like your map. There's a big difference between Acadia and Dover and Mackenzie Towne, or Kingsland and Altadore and Bridlewood and Westhills.
I know, eh? My favorite is when someone is telling you where a house or business is...."It's in the SW". Okay great, am I driving to West Hills, or Cranston, or Chinook, or what?
That has to be an extra 10 minutes each way. I calculated 10 minutes x 5 days a week x 50 weeks (one year minus two weeks vacation) and I came up with 41.6 hours.
Indeed, though I think we were assuming 4 weeks of base holidays.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hulkrogan
Rocky Ridge is not 25 minutes to downtown in rush hour. I lived up there for several years and it's definitely only 20-25 minutes if you go in at 9am like I did, but if you need to make it in for 8 I found you were looking at easily 35-40min on a good day, and I hit 2 hours a couple times on snow days.
Coming home (leaving around 5:30 or 5:45) I found it to be 35-45 min home, and leaving at 5 a pretty guaranteed 45min+
I'd light my hair on fire and beat it out with a shovel if I essentially blew 2-6 weeks of holidays every single year commuting. Sports car driving can be fun and all but jesus!
At the end of the day, it's a very personal choice. Some people hate commutes, others love a massive lawn they can't have with the short commute (cheaply at least.) It's a give and take probably - like most things in life.
Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
Exp:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MJM
unless you live right in MacKenzie there is screw all for shopping/groceries/entertainment in your own neighbourhood
Well, I live in Copperfield- it's a 15 minute walk to Sobey's; so under 5 minutes to drive. A good portion of 130th is only 2-3 more minutes; it's just the Winners/ Co-op/ Tim's area that is longer.
The biggest thing for me is that I have a few friends who live here. A number of years ago I moved up to the NW; and while it was good for shopping and the commute to work, being that much further away from the people I like to spend my free time with was a major pain.
I think using these areas (give or take) to describe the location of somewhere in Calgary makes a lot more sense than simply SW, NW, NE, or SE.
Absolutely agreed! The media in this city need to learn that when something happens in "the southwest", they need to be a little more specific. I don't need to know the latitude and longitude, but Strathcona is miles away from Bridlewood.
I actually made a map for other purposes that I'll share. Basically, the thinking is that quadrants or north/south are too broad, and include too many types of places to use to describe areas of Calgary
The OP stated that he starts work at 7. At this starting time, I really don't think you will have an issue with traffic from any areas in the city. We live in New Brighton (since 2007) and when we moved there the number one concern for me was going to be the commute. I work near the University and I wasn't looking forward to it. The commute was brutal for me originally cause Deerfoot was always backed up, 52nd street looked like a back alley and Glenmore was under serious modifications. Back then the commute could easily reach 1 to 1.5 hours if there was any delays on the road. Throw in a rain or snow storm and things got worse.
However, Glenmore got fixed, 52nd street was widened a bit more and things started to get better. When the finish twinning(sp?) 52nd street between 126Ave and 114Ave, things should go even better.
But now that we have children, the thing that gets to me is the lack of schooling in newer neighborhoods. In our area, the kids are bused to Acadia. We're actually in the process of trying to move to the SW (Westhills) or the NW just to be closer to family again and because the areas we are looking at have nearby schooling.
The area is wonderful. We have pretty much everything we need less than 5 minutes away. Any stores we don't have will probably be at Deerfoot Meadows which is 10-15 minutes away. Our 3 reasons for moving are: 1) Want to be closer to family. 2) lack of local schooling. 3) Deerfoot Trail. My wife hates driving on it and wants to live somewhere where the amount of time she drives on it will be minimized.
After reading this thread, I decided to clock my time home last night and my trip in this morning.
4:45PM - In my car and driving down Crowchild South.
5:00PM - On Glenmore Trail and approaching Deerfoot (I will say that yesterday, the traffic seemed lighter than normal and I only was stopped at one light on Crowchild).
5:05PM - On Shepard Road heading towards Barlow.
5:10PM - On 52nd street after turning off Barlow at 106 St.
5:15PM - Hit my garage door opener.
I don't know if this was a normal afternoon cause I was concentrating more on the time more than normal and I seemed to time the lights better than normal.
7:18AM - Hit my garage door opener to close the door as I leave
7:20AM - Trying to get onto 52nd Street. Wow, what a backlog this morning.
7:30AM - Finally made it to 114th Ave.
7:35AM - Onto Barlow and merging into the Shepard Road turnoff
7:42AM - Turning off Shepard and onto Glenmore (This I know is unusual cause normally the traffic on Shepard is long but today it was flowing quite nicely).
7:48AM - Turning off Glenmore onto Crowchild
7:50AM - Notice traffic slowing down around 33 Ave.
7:55AM - Traffic slowly moving (but still moving) and I'm at Kensington now.
8:00AM - Pull into my parking spot.
8:05AM - Sitting in my desk.
To the OP. If you work at that hour, the commute won't be a problem. You'll enjoy the time you can spend with your friends who are only a few minutes away rather than 30 and you'll probably end up seeing them a lot more often.
Sorry for the long post.
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Thanks for the detailed post. I am sure a lot of people will argue that going up Glenmore is much different then continuing on Deerfoot to get to DT.
My other concern that would arise is the few times that one of us has to work a bit overtime then they may have to take transit.
I started thinking that life is too short to be so concerned with the commute and that time spent with close friends is much more important than that. I think those spontaneous get togethers are some of the best times. Also, playing shinny at the rink during winter, beach vollyball in summer, and drinking on Brewster roof top patio just sounds so enticing. I guess this means I am growing up or something... I have no really interest in hanging around downtown for after work drinks, etc.
Edit: I know that I am contradicting myself by saying life is too short when I will be spending a good chunk of it communiting but I guess I mean is that life is too short to worry about those types of things.
My other concern that would arise is the few times that one of us has to work a bit overtime then they may have to take transit.
The route 302 BRT service runs late into the evening on weekdays. Frequency drops down to 30 minutes after 6:30 though. Last bus out of downtown at about 10 PM. Service is likely to be expanded to even later over the next year or so.
I take 302 everyday It is great. I have used it to get home at 10 for after work festivities and also to go back down town to meet friends. Like I said earlier it is only 1 hour door to door from my house to my work.( By mountain equipment co op which is roughly 10 min walk to/from bus stop)
Thanks for the detailed post. I am sure a lot of people will argue that going up Glenmore is much different then continuing on Deerfoot to get to DT.
My other concern that would arise is the few times that one of us has to work a bit overtime then they may have to take transit.
I started thinking that life is too short to be so concerned with the commute and that time spent with close friends is much more important than that. I think those spontaneous get togethers are some of the best times. Also, playing shinny at the rink during winter, beach vollyball in summer, and drinking on Brewster roof top patio just sounds so enticing. I guess this means I am growing up or something... I have no really interest in hanging around downtown for after work drinks, etc.
Edit: I know that I am contradicting myself by saying life is too short when I will be spending a good chunk of it communiting but I guess I mean is that life is too short to worry about those types of things.
Life is so short that you have to be concerned about those things. A long commute in bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go traffic is punishing. You do your drive twice every single day. You'll hang out with your friends once or twice a week, less when you first have kids (or they do).
Have you also considered that the chance of your friends staying in the same spot for more than 5 years could be remote? I'm assuming they are pretty young, and given they are way out in the SW i'm assuming this was likely a starter home for them. Would suck to move out there, and then have them move leaving you with the commute.
I know i'm 28, and I wouldn't commit to living where I am now anymore than 5 years MAX.
Have you also considered that the chance of your friends staying in the same spot for more than 5 years could be remote? I'm assuming they are pretty young, and given they are way out in the SW i'm assuming this was likely a starter home for them. Would suck to move out there, and then have them move leaving you with the commute.
I know i'm 28, and I wouldn't commit to living where I am now anymore than 5 years MAX.
Very good point. Had a quick discussion with a few of them and they feel like it could be a 10 year house however it could be a lifetime considering the group of people out there. Nevertheless life changes so quickly that anything can happen I suppose.
. There's one chick that wears a yellow bikini pretty well every day in summer. You won't miss her 
jk
