Living in Airdrie

[KTrain]

CP should have a racism notification system so you can be told when someone drops a racist comment in a thread you wouldn't otherwise read. If I hadn't questioned why a living in Airdrie thread made it to 4 pages I never would have read this gem of a thread.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I take it that all of our Airdrie residents who have these crazy commute times all work at Cross Iron Mills? That must be it.

Otherwise how is it that people who live 10 minutes North of me can get everywhere in the city in 20 minutes less than me? It makes no sense at all.

They're talking about when their day goes smoothly and fudging the door-to-door calculation by 5-10 minutes. What they dont' tell you is how screwed they are when the weather gets bad or there's an accident on Deerfoot.

It's completely dependent on Deerfoot traffic. I would venture that this would be something that would be more at risk of getting worse than getting better as more people move to Airdrie itself and all areas inbetween.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Garbage fire in Calgary couldn't have come at a better time for me

Is that because a rural fire outside of Calgary's boundary that most people don't even realize is burning is a prime example of the horrors we face in the big city? Or is it because the fire was because of our... you know... non-Caucasian neighbours?

[The Yen Man]

I dunno, I live in Sage Hill, and it's basically the same commute as Airdrie in that it takes me about 20-25 minutes to get to downtown on at non rush hour times. Thankfully I don't work downtown, so my work commute is about 15-20 minutes during rush hour traffic.

My reason for wanting to live in a new burb in the boonies (besides being cheaper than say Aspen, which is probably my ideal community) is because I wanted a new "cookie cutter" house. I guess I'm in the minority, because I find older houses fugly, and even more cookie cutter. There's basically 2 or 3 different models of houses built back in the 70's and 80's, and that's it. The layout is exactly the same for all of them. You walk into the living room with the window facing the front, kitchen's in the back with stairs leading to the backyard door and basement, and there's a hallway to your right leading to the 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.

And really, I don't care how cookie cutter the outside of my house looks anyways. I like living comfortably in a new house. I like having a double garage to park my car and store my tires. I like having a bonus room where I can watch TV. I like having a backyard for bbquing and relaxing in the summer. I guess I'm just a homebody, because I really don't care about driving to places I need to go. Did I mention I put over 100K on my car in 5 years? Doesn't really phase me to be honest.

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

They're talking about when their day goes smoothly and fudging the door-to-door calculation by 5-10 minutes. What they dont' tell you is how screwed they are when the weather gets bad or there's an accident on Deerfoot.

It's completely dependent on Deerfoot traffic. I would venture that this would be something that would be more at risk of getting worse than getting better as more people move to Airdrie itself and all areas inbetween.

What I'm telling you is the exact time it takes for me from the minute I sit in my car to the minute I sit down at my desk., is routinely 20 minutes. I leave for work at 8:30 and I start at 9 I'm generally in my desk at 8:50...

When I lived in the beltline and drove to work on the other side of downtown it took me 15 mins because it was so jammed up everyday.

I do not work in the core. I work just off 32 ave NE.

The reason its the same time frame for some of us in Airdrie is because people need to get out of their comunities which in Calgary are much bigger and busier. My co workers in Country hills have the same commute time as me, it takes them 10 mins or more to get to deerfoot where I'm on deerfoot in approximately 3 to 4 minutes.

Most people are dependent on Deerfoot traffic so that argument is silly. People in the north are either equally screwed if there us an accident or bad weather. I have yet to be backed up due to accident before I hit Airport trail. Most seem to occur between beddington and Memorial. If i check traffic before I leave I skip incidents all together by hitting stoney.

Honestly traffic is flowing at 110 usually until I hit beddington then it slows a little but not too much. On the way home it's slow going until 64th then gets better until Beddington, then its full on until I'm home.

Honestly it was worse trying to get in and out of the core when I lived there and weather was bad and there seemed to be more fender benders that affected my commute back to the core.

I'm still closer to the core than the new south Calgary communities, and I saved 30 grand.. Works for me. Also its not as busy in Airdrie when I get home...

[Voodooman]

Originally Posted by Table 5

So basically Airdrie is Salt Lake City?

On a related topic, Airdrie has long had a reputation as a hotbed for spousal abuse. I lived out in the area before the big boom and people (from the surrounding towns, mind you) always cracked wise about Airdrie being "the spousal abuse capital of Canada". Not the wife abuse capital, because if you saw some of the gals in the Main Street Hotel...well, they looked like they could take care of business...

It might have just been idle talk, but the province did create a special court to deal with dometic abuse issues one day a week in 2005 or 2006. And given that there were still less than 20,000 people out there back then, that seems like a lot of cases.

Oh and before I get flamed about the Salt Lake City remark, do some research. Well-documented abuse issues inside that institution.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

Most people are dependent on Deerfoot traffic so that argument is silly.

I'm still closer to the core than the new south Calgary communities, and I saved 30 grand.. Works for me.

Hell no. Personally, I am not dependent on Deerfoot traffic. The times I have used Deerfoot after work to run an errand or buy something have been absolutely ######ed.

I wouldn't consider it to be a "reasonable" way of commuting during normal rush hour if you work in the core myself. It would be a GMG bonanza and would take years off my life.

That aside, I'm surprised that prices would only be 30K less than in Calgary. I would have thought it to be way higher.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Hell no. Personally, I am not dependent on Deerfoot traffic. The times I have used Deerfoot after work to run an errand or buy something have been absolutely ######ed.

I wouldn't consider it to be a "reasonable" way of commuting during normal rush hour if you work in the core myself. It would be a GMG bonanza and would take years off my life.

That aside, I'm surprised that prices would only be 30K less than in Calgary. I would have thought it to be way higher.

Exactly. Say it's a $400,000 house - which is probably average-ish - that's only like 7.5%. All that you give up by living there to save 7.5% seems crazy.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

When I lived in the beltline and drove to work on the other side of downtown it took me 15 mins because it was so jammed up everyday.

I do not work in the core. I work just off 32 ave NE.

I lived in a very similar area to you (arriVa condo in east Beltline) and work on 12 street NE. Moving to Sunnyside shaved about 5 minutes off of my commute. Although with the new 4th street underpass it may be a negligible number now if I was still living there.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Exactly. Say it's a $400,000 house - which is probably average-ish - that's only like 7.5%. All that you give up by living there to save 7.5% seems crazy.

What about things like property taxes and utilities? Not sure, but are they any cheaper in Airdrie vs. Calgary? I know Calgary is way more than say Medicine Hat, where my aunt and uncle live.

[Brotato]

I cannot believe I so succinctly explained the pros and cons in the very first reply to this thread, and 20 pages later I didn't get a single thanks...

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

Actually when you move to Airdrie they give you a hover car. That cuts down on the commute time.

Saves wear and tear on the parasite's host city roads as well.

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Exactly. Say it's a $400,000 house - which is probably average-ish - that's only like 7.5%. All that you give up by living there to save 7.5% seems crazy.

See I feel like I haven't given up anything except aggravation having to drive around an insanely busy area in the beltline.

I saved 30 000 to 40 000 on a house around 300 000 its just me and my girlfriend so we just wanted a small house.

Now why would you expect that someone would save more than that on a property thats the same distance to downtown as the south communities.

At the end of the day I feel like the majority of things I gave up were negative. I could hav bough a much more expensive house near the core, we looked at a few, but ultimately I didn't want to spend the money as I didn't see the extra value in it.

As for not being dependent on Deerfoot obviously it was a generalization, since it is one of the busiest roads in the city. Clearly not everyone uses it all the time.

The argument is stupid at this point. So far I like living in Airdrie more than the beltline if you think it sucks, great. There are pros and cons for everyone. I feel like the pros outweigh the cons. For me it hasn't been social sucide in any way but I dont mind driving in. If you live in an outskirt community its all the same, if you live in the core it's obviously different.

If I were single and 22 I would likely have a different opinion. I'm 30 and haven't been single since Roman Turek was our starting goalie...

[The Yen Man]

People make it sound like Airdrie is so far away when in fact, it's literally like 5 minutes outside of city limit. It takes on about 5-10 minutes more of driving vs. living in Coventry Hills, or Harvest Hills. I mean, realistically, you waste more than 5-10 minutes a day doing other stupid stuff (waiting in at the drive through for your morning Tim Hortons). I mean, I guess it's just me, but driving a little longer a day isn't a big deal for me. It just gives me 5-10 minutes more of listening to the Fan960 morning show before I get into work.

[Yeah_Baby]

Yeah, but living in Coventry Hills sucks too.


All the cool kids live in Mission or Kensington.

edit: Fotze beat me to it

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by fotze

I agree, but thats because living in Coventry or harvest seems close to as awful to me.

All my hate of these places is solely predicated on working in the core. If I didn't work there, my opinions completely change.

I guess I wouldn't really know, since I've lived in Coventry Hills since moving out here as a kid (1990), and now I'm at Sage Hill. Maybe my perspective would change if I have ever worked downtown, but I haven't. All I'm saying is, when Silver is saying how he doesn't know how anyone can live in outskirt subburbs or satellite communities, I'm saying not all of us work downtown. It would actually take me longer to drive out of the beltline to get to work.

[TorqueDog]

I've contemplated living in Airdrie.

The distance between Airdrie and downtown Calgary is only ~6 KM more than from the south end of McKenzie Towne to downtown Calgary, which really isn't too bad.

The problem I keep running into is how many options you have to get to downtown:
- Public transit? Nope, not from Airdrie.
- More than one viable route in the event of an accident or congestion on the main highway? Nope, not from Airdrie.

If all I did was drive and had no problems about being on the road potentially for a long period of time, Airdrie would be okay for me... except for the social suicide thing, that'd kinda suck too.

[photon]

I lived in Airdrie before it was popular (i.e. before it had any of the big stores or anything).

*insert hipster graphic*

The drive wasn't overly bad, but it was enough to get tiring, and when it gets bad it can get BAD.

32km to downtown according to Google.

Chestermere is 19km from downtown, and there are multiple routes, so it's definitely better from that point of view.

Less stores in Chestermere, but easy ring road access makes most of the city easy to get to.

I like Chestermere more than Airdrie, but it's less of a town and more of a collection of houses and banks.

[Yeah_Baby]

You think Chestermere doesn't have much now. Flashback to when my parents first moved there 14 years ago. It's way more of a legit town nowadays.

[photon]

Lol 14 years ago there was probably only the icefisher's shack!