Inner city communities in Calgary...

[Knalus]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Ramsay has SO much potential. We were looking at it for a while also. Lots of people involved in the community and they take great pride in it. Dealbreakers for us were:

-no close grocery store
-school situation (Ramsay school seems to just hang on)

Hopefully the SELRT when it goes ahead will act as a catalyst to get things rolling in the area (I still think Ramsay Exchange not going ahead was a damn shame). Don't really know how much more can happen in Inglewood, even if the East Village helps spurn development in that end.

East Village will really open up development in the east Beltline (especially with the 4th street underpass opening in the fall).

Big deal breaker for my wife - the chicken slaughterhouse in the neighborhood. Seeing little white feathers floating down the streets sometimes did not appeal to her in the least. Get rid of that issue, THEN the neighborhood could be great.

[North East Goon]

One bit of advice I would add is watch the school situations in these inner city neighborhoods. Many have closed and or are going to be closed due to lack of children in the area.

[Bigtime]

Well then the more families that move into those areas the better.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

Both very peaceful and safe neighbourhoods. I felt safe jogging in Sunnyside at 2:00 a.m., but not in Spruce Cliff where I am now (and you really ought to consider west of downtown like frinkprof said).

I grew up in Hillhurst and Kensington, and found them to be beautiful places. I felt almost completely safe jogging around at odd times of the morning, although the Lions Park train station always had weirdos late at night and in warmer weather. Additionally, I think Hillhurst had the most per house break-ins for any Calgary neighbourhood? I know a few cars were broken into when I lived there, not the least of which was my friends parked on my driveway.

I also live in Spruce Cliff, and I don't feel completely at ease either right now late at night, although it's not terribly bad. There tends to be a two types of threats around the Spruce Cliff / Kilarnney area . . . White trash / rednecks who don't mind taking a piece out of their own neighbourhood, or recent immigrants who travel around in packs and hang out in front of peoples cars and houses . . . Other than that, it's not too bad.

Want me to recommend a place? I've always been partial to Briar Hill or Capitol Hill. St. Andrew's is also a nice location.

[mykalberta]

I have lived in Sunnyside, and now live in Crescent Heights.

If you want easy available market rate access to a certain green foilage, Sunnyside by the smell of it is Walmart of Calgary.

As for Crescent Heights, I live on the North end of CH and its very inner city, homeless, late night thug goups fighting in restraunt parking lots etc. To walk to the Safeway across 16th Ave can sometimes be a real treat with the liquor store miscreants there. My ex wouldnt walk there by herself after 7pm.

A few other things about Crescent Heights...

1 - 25 minute walk to 5th Ave Place

2 - Crossing Centre street at almost any time is a life threatening experience - multiple places to cross but no pedestrian crossing lights - in 5 years I have witnessed 3 vehicle vs pedestrian accidents.

3 - 7-11 on Edmonton Trail is the post office location

In summation, it has gotten much better since I moved there but it is by no means an established friendly neighbourhood. Tatoo parlours, liquor stores, brake/oil change shops, various dodgy massage parlors all add to a relative seedeyness of the place.

[darockwilder]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Ramsay has SO much potential. We were looking at it for a while also. Lots of people involved in the community and they take great pride in it. Dealbreakers for us were:

-no close grocery store
-school situation (Ramsay school seems to just hang on)

Hopefully the SELRT when it goes ahead will act as a catalyst to get things rolling in the area (I still think Ramsay Exchange not going ahead was a damn shame). Don't really know how much more can happen in Inglewood, even if the East Village helps spurn development in that end.

East Village will really open up development in the east Beltline (especially with the 4th street underpass opening in the fall).

I lived in Ramsay from 1999 to 2007 and although it was definitely improving in that time, it still didn't get to the point I was hoping it would. The grocery store situation sucked big time, the closest ones were the mini-Safeway on 4th St in Mission and the Co-op on 10th Ave downtown (before they tore it down). I think the school is now off of that potential closure list because they added a bunch of programs for special needs children that ran outside of regular school hours so the facility had multiple uses. That Ramsay Exchange would have been awesome, but like a lot of things around there it never panned out. Stampede week was always a bit of a gong show around there too, people parking their motor homes in front of my house and using my lawn as a park, plus all the noise from the actual grounds. The fireworks always set off peoples car alarms. It was only for that week though. Walking to Flames games was nice!

I still drive through there every once in a while and it still looks pretty much the same. I enjoyed living there, for what it's worth.

[billybob123]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

St. Andrew's is also a nice location.

I agree, that's why we bought there. Unfortunately it's not convenient to much -- the Safeway at North Hill is a drive away or a really long walk; Foothills Hospital and the Med school are a really short walk and so is McMahon and the U of C. If you work downtown, it's a LONG walk, or a bike/bus ride or drive. My wife and I both work on the Foothills campus (for now, at least) so it's ideal for us. Not a lot of kids in the neighbourhood yet -- though with the average age of the 'hood I bet that changes soon (I think it's one of the highest 80+ age resident hoods in the city).

I'd recommend Briar Hill (like you did) if people want a similar neighbourhood. Age of the houses and trees are about the same; it's a lot closer to NH mall for the Safeway and Sears, and still convenient to everything esp LRT. Property values are similar as well.

Originally Posted by North East Goon

One bit of advice I would add is watch the school situations in these inner city neighborhoods. Many have closed and or are going to be closed due to lack of children in the area.

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Well then the more families that move into those areas the better.

The problem is these schools are likely to close, and once they're closed, it's unlikely they'll reopen. Even with a massive influx of families, the school will close because the sheer number of kids in the suburbs without a nearby school will always be way higher. I've resigned myself to my kid having to bus to school - not the biggest deal, I did it when I was a kid. Even if the school stays open, what if you wanted a special program (gifted, French or Spanish immersion, art, etc) - the kid would wind up out of the neighbourhood anyway.