Avenue Magazine Best Calgary Hoods 2012

[Erick Estrada]

Also the median houshold incomes seem awfully low for some of those communities unless people really live in debt more than I realized lol.

[moncton golden flames]

poor mayland heights. the inner city community everybody doesn't know about. now, i'm not saying we should be on that list anywhere, but for a normal sized inner city community, we have a very walkable community with all major shops and services, including an lrt stop only minutes away. the last 2 letters of our address surely has something to do with it.

[Regular_John]

I typically avoid taking sides in these "my neighbourhood is better than yours" threads because their nothing more than thinly veiled p***ing matches between the suburbs & the core... but seriously Cranston? Even our friends who live and own there don't have anything nice to say about it.

Cranston is like the Pontiac Sunfire of communities, sure it's got the basics and it looks good on paper... but nobody really wants to drive one.

/hypocritical post

[Regulator75]

Top 30 from 2011.

2011
1) Varsity
2) Wildwood
3) Haysboro
4) Signal Hill
5) Lakeview
6. Fairview
7. South Calgary
8. Hillhurst
9. Inglewood
10. Altadore
11. Brentwood
12. Elboya
13. Elbow Park
14. Silver Springs
15. Bowness
16. Chinook Park
17. Willow Park
18. Mount Pleasant
19. West Hillhurst
20. Downtown West
21. Acadia
22. Strathcona Park
23. Edgemont
24. Winston Heights
25. Crescent Heights
26. Tuscany
27. Arbour Lake
28. Lake Bonavista
29. Ramsay
30. Sunnyside

[Jbo]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Top 30 from 2011.

2011
1) Varsity
2) Wildwood
3) Haysboro
4) Signal Hill
5) Lakeview
6. Fairview
7. South Calgary
8. Hillhurst
9. Inglewood
10. Altadore
11. Brentwood
12. Elboya
13. Elbow Park
14. Silver Springs
15. Bowness
16. Chinook Park
17. Willow Park
18. Mount Pleasant
19. West Hillhurst
20. Downtown West
21. Acadia
22. Strathcona Park
23. Edgemont
24. Winston Heights
25. Crescent Heights
26. Tuscany
27. Arbour Lake
28. Lake Bonavista
29. Ramsay
30. Sunnyside

Again...no mission? South Calgary is listed at 7?Sunnyside at 30?

[shermanator]

When the second thing that list talks about is commute times, and the #2 community is Arbour Lake, the list is not quite up to par.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I have nothing against Arbour Lake but there is no way it's #2. The lake itself is a joke and the rest of the community really doesn't have anything that the surrounding communites like Hawkwood, Royal Oak, Citadel, Hamptons have.

Do you even know where Arbor Lake is? It borders the YMCA, Crowfoot, Crowchild and even Stoney (more or less). It is way better in terms of amenities than any other community you listed (particularly Hawkwood and Royal Oak) and has a LAKE! People drive for hours to hang out at a lake and people who live in a lake community go for a dip between supper and their before-bed snack on a work night.

The lake is small, but it's still a lake. It's not like you can go motorboating at any of the lake communities in town so it's not that big a deal that the actual water body is small.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Top 30 from 2011.

2011
1) Varsity
2) Wildwood
3) Haysboro
4) Signal Hill
5) Lakeview
6. Fairview
7. South Calgary
8. Hillhurst
9. Inglewood
10. Altadore
11. Brentwood
12. Elboya
13. Elbow Park
14. Silver Springs
15. Bowness
16. Chinook Park
17. Willow Park
18. Mount Pleasant
19. West Hillhurst
20. Downtown West
21. Acadia
22. Strathcona Park
23. Edgemont
24. Winston Heights
25. Crescent Heights
26. Tuscany
27. Arbour Lake
28. Lake Bonavista
29. Ramsay
30. Sunnyside

Downtown West (home of Crackmacs and a bunch of ugly Soviet-esque tenement apartments) made that list but not Beltline or Mission?

[username]

I lived in Arbour Lake for probably 7 years and I now live in Altadore and I can guarantee there's not even a comparision between the two communities. Arbour Lake shouldn't be top 30; how it's at #2 is mind boggling.

Also - the commute time is not 20 minutes, not even close. I can remember it taking upwards of 45 - 50 minutes to get home at 5:00.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by shermanator

When the second thing that list talks about is commute times, and the #2 community is Arbour Lake, the list is not quite up to par.

It's only 10 minutes from downtown.

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Top 30 from 2011.

2011
1) Varsity
2) Wildwood
3) Haysboro
4) Signal Hill
5) Lakeview
6. Fairview
7. South Calgary
8. Hillhurst
9. Inglewood
10. Altadore
11. Brentwood
12. Elboya
13. Elbow Park
14. Silver Springs
15. Bowness
16. Chinook Park
17. Willow Park
18. Mount Pleasant
19. West Hillhurst
20. Downtown West
21. Acadia
22. Strathcona Park
23. Edgemont
24. Winston Heights
25. Crescent Heights
26. Tuscany
27. Arbour Lake
28. Lake Bonavista
29. Ramsay
30. Sunnyside

only one community from the NE, sad.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Do you even know where Arbor Lake is? It borders the YMCA, Crowfoot, Crowchild and even Stoney (more or less). It is way better in terms of amenities than any other community you listed (particularly Hawkwood and Royal Oak) and has a LAKE! People drive for hours to hang out at a lake and people who live in a lake community go for a dip between supper and their before-bed snack on a work night.

The lake is small, but it's still a lake. It's not like you can go motorboating at any of the lake communities in town so it's not that big a deal that the actual water body is small.

Which specific amenities (other than a lake) does Arbor Lake have that those neighbourhoods don't that make it "way better"? The YMCA/library is on one side of Nose Hill Drive, Hawkwood is on the other side. I'm a shorter walk from my place in Hawkwood to the library/YMCA/Crowfoot Crossing shopping centre than most of Arbour Lake.

They're all suburbs, and are about the same. We looked at houses in all of the neighbourhoods mentioned by the poster above, and only picked between Hawkwood and Arbour Lake based on house layout. I'm genuinely curious what you think the big difference is?

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

only one community from the NE, sad.

Right? How did that one getting on the list get missed?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Do you even know where Arbor Lake is?

Umm considering my dad has a house there I would say yes and I have spent time at the lake....errr pond. Take away the pond and it's pretty meh and not a memorable community. Not a bad area by any means but #2? Give your head a shake!

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Which specific amenities (other than a lake) does Arbor Lake have that those neighbourhoods don't that make it "way better"? The YMCA/library is on one side of Nose Hill Drive, Hawkwood is on the other side. I'm a shorter walk from my place in Hawkwood to the library/YMCA/Crowfoot Crossing shopping centre than most of Arbour Lake.

They're all suburbs, and are about the same. We looked at houses in all of the neighbourhoods mentioned by the poster above, and only picked between Hawkwood and Arbour Lake based on house layout. I'm genuinely curious what you think the big difference is?

The Lake. You are totally underestimating what it means to have a lake a short walk away from your house. Skating, swimming, tanning, girl watching, fishing, boating, etc. The amount of no-cost, convenient leisure a lake community has makes any other community in their vicinity lame by comparison.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I'm genuinely curious what you think the big difference is?

There is no difference outside of the pond.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Umm considering my dad has a house there I would say yes and I have spent time at the lake....errr pond. Take away the pond and it's pretty meh and not a memorable community. Not a bad area by any means but #2? Give your head a shake!

I completely agree it shouldn't be number two. That's a joke. But I am saying it's better than the communities around it by a long shot simply because it has a lake and they don't.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Sliver

The Lake. You are totally underestimating what it means to have a lake a short walk away from your house. Skating, swimming, tanning, girl watching, fishing, boating, etc. The amount of no-cost, convenient leisure a lake community has makes any other community in their vicinity lame by comparison.

Then Lake Bonavista should be #1 by a landslide as you can actually call it a lake without smirking.

[TurnedTheCorner]

You cannot watch girls or tan in a community with no lake. It is known.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Then Lake Bonavista should be #1 by a landslide as you can actually call it a lake without smirking.

Again, I 100% agree. The fact that LB isn't number one undermines any credibility this survey could have.