Mckenzie Towne/New Brighton

[Sliver]

lol. Man check out how old those cars look now...I remember that movie like it came out yesterday!

[red sky]

Originally Posted by Sliver

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).

It is my understanding that it isn't bumper to bumper driving ever single day

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by red sky

It is my understanding that it isn't bumper to bumper driving ever single day

I drive on Deerfoot around 8 a.m. every day. I go from Anderson and drive south to Barlow, so I see northbound Deerfoot coming from 130th and can assure you that it is barely moving, bumper-to-bumper traffic each and every day without exception. If you go earlier though you might be fine.

Best thing to do would be to wake up early and do the commute to see for yourself. I did that before I moved into my house last year and it was a good exercise.

[kevman]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Like I said earlier it is a ridiculous 1 hour door to door from my house to my work.

Fixed. Ok, "ridiculous" is a little harsh but I'm sorry a 1 hour commute EACH WAY can hardly be considered "only".

To each their own but I've always felt you should live in an area that minimizes the time you waste commuting. The difference between a 15 min commute and a 60 minute commute is ~14 days per year commuting! Over a 40 year career this is an additional ~1.5 years of your life spent sitting in traffic!

To each their own I suppose...

[CKPThunder]

Originally Posted by red sky

It is my understanding that it isn't bumper to bumper driving ever single day

Originally Posted by Sliver

I drive on Deerfoot around 8 a.m. every day. I go from Anderson and drive south to Barlow, so I see northbound Deerfoot coming from 130th and can assure you that it is barely moving, bumper-to-bumper traffic each and every day without exception. If you go earlier though you might be fine.

Best thing to do would be to wake up early and do the commute to see for yourself. I did that before I moved into my house last year and it was a good exercise.

Excellent idea on doing the commute before you buy. I never would have thought of that.

From my experience, there is bumper-to-bumper traffic no matter where you are. I see the slow moving traffic on Crowchild trying to get downtown and I also see it on Bow Trail trying to get downtown as well.

If you do move down south Red Sky, you will probably find yourself not using Deerfoot at all during your weekday commutes. On those times where I need to be downtown in the morning, I just take my normal route to Glenmore and turn off onto Blackfoot and then use either 42nd Ave or Highfield. If you use Highfield, the left turn from Blackfoot is usually murder. I normally just turn into Cash Casino and take their exit through the lights onto Highfield.

One of the things the south doesn't have much of is big hills. When I lived in Edgemont, the one thing I hate was having a snow storm cause I knew it would take me hours to get home cause there would always be some guy who couldn't make it up any of the hills. What a gong show that was.

The south gets a bad rap cause it's physically farther than Westhills or the NW but in terms of bumper-to-bumper traffic, it's probably not as bad as any of those communities.

[DionPlett]

I live in Mackenzie as well and before that I lived in the inner city. I also thought commuting would be a inconvenience but it's really not a big deal. I take Blackfoot and can get downtown in 20-25 minutes, usually try and leave by 6:20 in the mornings. Coming home doesn't usually take much longer either.
You're going to commute from anywhere unless you live right in the core. I don't know if I would put commuting high on my criteria list when looking for a new home or area to live in. I like the deep SE here and find it to be more open and less clusterphobic as I do Westhills and Shaunessy areas.

[fundmark19]

But I am taking the bus. If I chose to drive it would be alot less. Taking the bus means even if traffic does get bad I can just sit there and read or watch a movie or sleep. I could easily cut off 15-20 mins on just driving the same route my bus does without stopping. If I wanted to cut off more time I can just take a better route all together. I wake up at 5 30 home by 4 30.

Plus what is really good is with the BRT if you miss your bus there is another one 10 mins after. This is alot better then lots of communities that if you miss your bus you have to wait 30 to 45 mins just to get on another one.

[Barnes]

We should come up with a BRT hand signal so we can all recognize each other on the bus.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Barnes

We should come up with a BRT hand signal so we can all recognize each other on the bus.

Got one

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by kevman

Fixed. Ok, "ridiculous" is a little harsh but I'm sorry a 1 hour commute EACH WAY can hardly be considered "only".

To each their own but I've always felt you should live in an area that minimizes the time you waste commuting. The difference between a 15 min commute and a 60 minute commute is ~14 days per year commuting! Over a 40 year career this is an additional ~1.5 years of your life spent sitting in traffic!

To each their own I suppose...

Looks about right - 10 minutes ~= 2 weeks holidays each year. Those 45 minutes totals 9 WEEKS.

Testing the commute is a given/great idea. Do it at a reasonable time that you would normally get up - 5 or 6 AM sure as heck isn't normal for me! I'll sleep til 7:30 thank you! Oh, and do it on a rain/snow day as well to get a realistic year round impression.

Something that I'm not sure has come up is the availability of alternate routes. Not sure you have much choice outside of Deerfoot for the far south, I assume it'll suck each time it snows/there is a fender bender.

And to be fair, I hate the bus/train . Maybe it's the whole stuck in an enclosed environment with lots of sick people. Or maybe it's the hilarious phone call from my friend last year who was stuck on the BRT squished against some hairy sweaty dude with no shirt during the summer.

[Shazam]

Living inner city is expensive. Not everybody makes as much as frinkprof and who else. People commute because they desire more space. A quick check on MLS for 3 bedroom houses in Capital Hill shows houses for $650K that are 1100 sq ft.

You can't on the one hand deride people for spending past what they can afford, and on the other hand chastise people for living in "sprawl".

[red sky]

You can't look at the total amount that you drive but the incremental amount that is over what you (or I) currently commute.

For me, I take the bus (the 108) but have to walk about three blocks to get to the bus stop. It takes me about 30 minutes from door to door which is very good obviously. I don't have to worry about gas, driving in bad weather and the wear and tear on my car.

Nevertheless, if it takes me 30 minutes to commute to work on the bus in my current situation and if I start driving from Mckenzie Towne and it is 25-35 minutes then that is only 5 more minutes from my current routine, perhaps no change on good days as well. Granted, if I were to drive in my current situation that would obviously increase.

[red sky]

Originally Posted by red sky

You can't look at the total amount that you drive but the incremental amount that is over what you (or I) currently commute.

For me, I take the bus (the 108) but have to walk about three blocks to get to the bus stop. It takes me about 30 minutes from door to door which is very good obviously. I don't have to worry about gas, driving in bad weather and the wear and tear on my car.

Nevertheless, if it takes me 30 minutes to commute to work on the bus in my current situation and if I start driving from Mckenzie Towne and it is 25-35 minutes then that is only 5 more minutes from my current routine, perhaps no change on good days as well. Granted, if I were to drive in my current situation that would obviously increase.

Also, we currently each buy a bus pass which is about $170 dollars a month. If we find parking for $300-$350 that isn't too much more. Again, you would have to look at it incrementally. Then again, we would be spending more money on gas and such. Decisions...

[FacePaint]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Living inner city is expensive. Not everybody makes as much as frinkprof and who else. People commute because they desire more space. A quick check on MLS for 3 bedroom houses in Capital Hill shows houses for $650K that are 1100 sq ft.

You can't on the one hand deride people for spending past what they can afford, and on the other hand chastise people for living in "sprawl".

There are many inner city houses for less that $400,000 but you are right, it depends on the size of your house... what your priorities are. I choose to live in a smaller house where I can bike to work in 10 minutes or walk to work in 40 minutes. Walk to the grocery store or plenty of nice restaurants. For me a long commute would be torture.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by FacePaint

There are many inner city houses for less that $400,000 but you are right, it depends on the size of your house... what your priorities are. I choose to live in a smaller house where I can bike to work in 10 minutes or walk to work in 40 minutes. Walk to the grocery store or plenty of nice restaurants. For me a long commute would be torture.

For 3 bedrooms? No, there's none under $450K.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Shazam

For 3 bedrooms? No, there's none under $450K.

Just get a whole bunch of murphy beds dude.

[FacePaint]

If you don't count the rooms in a developed basement then sure. Again priorities... that's all I was saying.

[Northendzone]

in a perfect world i suppose we would all be living within 10 minutes of our work place, but it is not always feasible - because there are lots of considerations when picking a place to live - the cost of the hosue, access to medical care, schools etc, etc. for those working downtown living close has a cost in terms of house price, while those of us that live in the burbs pay in terms of time spent in our tin coffin.

one other advantage (or disadvantage) of living in the deep south is that it is a couple of degrees warmer than areas in the north and i'd also say that we get less severe weather in the summer (i.e. fewer hail storms).

i should also note that a reasonably fit person can cycle to downtown from NB/McKTowne in about an hour (if you pedal hard) - and you can take the pathway most of the way.....man do i miss the good old days of biking to work....

As an aside, my employer has opted to move out of downtown to Chinook Centre - I am really enjoy not having to drive DT all the time.....

[red sky]

Originally Posted by fotze

I take that bus too. Where the hell does that bus go before it picks me up, Bragg Creek, I'm on it for 5-10 minutes.

I leave my house at 6:28 and am at my desk at 6:58 usually. The walk is probably longer than 3 blocks come to think of it. Bus comes at 6:40ish. So probably close to 15 minute bus ride.

It takes you 5 minutes on the bus? Do you get picked up on Crowchild?

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by FacePaint

If you don't count the rooms in a developed basement then sure. Again priorities... that's all I was saying.

Any other qualifiers? Make sure to add the bedrooms in developed basements in the 'burbs too then.