2013 Calgary Best Neigbourhoods

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Good lord, forum etiquette. Spoiler tag for a ridiculous amount of images.

Not to mention he stated man made lakes aren't as nice as natural ones. He never said anything about comparing Calgary's man made lakes to each other, oh sensitive lake dweller.

I'll reply twice since you ninja edited in the second paragraph. I'm comparing LB directly to any lake man made or not. I asked where there was a lake around Calgary that is nicer, because to me LB looks very nice.

[OffsideSpecialist]

From those photos the lake looks nicer to me than the impression I got from some of the comments here. That being said, my question was kind of stupid and you can't really expect a lake in a city to be in as nice condition as one not in the city.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by OffsideSpecialist

From those photos the lake looks nicer to me than the impression I got from some of the comments here. That being said, my question was kind of stupid and you can't really expect a lake in a city to be in as nice condition as one not in the city.

Yeah, I think the comments about man-made lakes are little overblown in this thread because there's a huge battle between posters going on here.

There are some lakes that are a little iffy in Calgary, but Lake Bonavista and Lake Bonaventure (they're right next to eachother) are both beautiful lakes, imo. Two of the best in the city.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Seriously though, put those images in a spoiler tag.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Seriously though, put those images in a spoiler tag.

Quit worrying about it.

[Regulator75]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Seriously though, put those images in a spoiler tag.

Originally Posted by Sliver

Quit worrying about it.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Good points. That's another thing about lake communities: they are great for people at more stages of their lives than anywhere else. Frankly, a single 28 year old guy doesn't have a broad enough range of life experience to make the judgement that an inner city neighborhood is the best neighborhood. It's too narrow a view of what makes a community great.

Those of us who have been through more stages of life are more qualified to determine which neighborhoods are better than others and our opinions should carry a greater weight as a result.

This isn't a conversation about which neighborhoods are better for you as an individual; it's about determining the best neighborhood for Calgarians. So the fact that some of highlight the fact that you can ride your bike to your office tower is not a compelling argument for a neighborhood being good or bad for all Calgarians.

Sorry about "neighborhood" being spelled the American way - phone kept autocorrecting.

I can't let this go by. More qualified with life experience? Cmon man, you keep mixing up your opinion with fact on every single topic.

To make an equally inane statement, I've been around dogs my entire life so my opinion should carry greater weight as a result.

I like Bonavista. The lake is gorgeous and the facilities are nice. I would never go so far as to say that it, or any lake community, is better than any other community however.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Sliver is just a really bad self-parody at this point.

[Acey]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Those of us who have been through more stages of life are more qualified to determine which neighborhoods are better than others and our opinions should carry a greater weight as a result.

This statement is ridiculous of course, but even moreso because we're arguing over the merit of a lake. It's kids and teenagers who are most likely to be down there everyday swimming and skating on the lake, so when it comes to lakes... I'd argue that their opinion is certainly just as valid as yours and should carry even more weight.

If we're comparing crime, commute time, property tax... that's maybe where your life experience would come in.

[Zevo]

Can you water-ski on that lake? No? Then it sucks...and I'm 48 with more life experience than most on here. Case closed.

Also as someone who has been to that lake on on more than a few sunny weekend days(many years ago mind you), if it's a hot weekend, your idea of paradise better involve screaming kids, everywhere.

There is only one pic there that even comes close to what that place looks like in the summer.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Acey

This statement is ridiculous of course, but even moreso because we're arguing over the merit of a lake. It's kids and teenagers who are most likely to be down there everyday swimming and skating on the lake, so when it comes to lakes... I'd argue that their opinion is certainly just as valid as yours and should carry even more weight.

If we're comparing crime, commute time, property tax... that's maybe where your life experience would come in.

I think we are talking about the same thing here. I, too, believe the lake is great for kids, which is why, as a parent, I recognize that a lake community is a good place to raise a family.

A kid probably wouldn't consider such things as proximity to LRT, work, grocery stores, banks, schools, etc., though, so I wouldn't turn to them for a final answer on the best communities in town.

[corporatejay]

Okay, I disagree with Silver's entire line of reasoning, except, as far as "suburban" communities go, LBC has to be at the top, if not near the top of any list.

[Red John]

Hate to pile on the cyber-bullying on one guy here, but its easy to see why he/she is getting made fun of so much.

Argument 1: a lake is better than no lake, objectively
Argument 2: ok, its subjective, but i think a lake is better than no lake and my opinion matters more than anyone else's

Goodness gracious. And this coming from someone who gets to see this every day



Bottom line, everyone has different tastes and that's why people actually live in places like Edmonton and Winnipeg.

And NE Calgary

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Sliver

If you actually voiced a well-thought-out opinion instead of dismissive, snippy little insults we might actually be able to have a conversation. You seem cool enough so I don't know why you are choosing to be a non-contributing zero.

Since when did you give a rat's ass about 'well-thought-out' opinions? All you spew out is extremist garbage.

[newts]

As someone who grew up here and relocated his family here, my SUBJECTIVE opinion is that Lake Bonavista is one of the best neighborhoods in Calgary to raise a family in.

I also make a good chunk of my living here, as I have been involved in 40+ home transactions here in the last couple of years and bit.

Here are some OBJECTIVE facts on what I see here:

- Average price since 2011 in Lake Bonavista is +16% for single family homes. This is based on 261 transactions, and does not include the Estates area which has significantly less data points and can have significant swings in average price based on how many lake front/access homes sell in a given year (these homes range 1.3MM-4MM). The average single family pricing growth for the entire city is 11% during the same period.

- For the homes that I sell, the average time of ownership is 26 years, with a median of about the same. The average year built of all homes sold here is 1972. People stay here a long time, but this isn't unlike any other established community in Calgary.

- For the homes that I represent a buyer on, the average age is about 35. 1-3 kids, from new born to 10 years old. Again, this isn't unlike any other mature community in Calgary.

SUBJECTIVE (but informed) opinion. This is not a great community to move to for couples that are not planning on having kids or planning to use the lake. I know of a few current owners here, and at least two that I sold for recently, who regretted buying here.

SUBJECTIVE (but informed) opinion. I have maintained that Lake Bonavista will consistently out pace the average price growth in Calgary for the foreseeable future, because of its desirability. Too lazy to run the numbers on this, but I'm fairly certain in years where average pricing regressed, the impact of Lake Bonavista was also less than the average in Calgary. Again, this may be the case with many other established neighborhoods in Calgary.

OBJECTIVE opinion: As with everything in life, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[undercoverbrother]

This thread gives and gives and gives.

I how many more posts till Sliver complains that people are piling on and asks for a change of topic?

[Old Yeller]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I asked where there was a lake around Calgary that is nicer, because to me LB looks very nice.

Depends what qualifies as "around" for you. If your "around" Calgary includes the mountains it doesn't hold a candle but sure, for within city limits it's a very nice lake.

I'm speaking subjectively of course

[rotten42]

Wow...this is a horrible thread full of people that seem to have all the answers that aren't biased in any way.

The best community to live in is the one where you feel most comfortable...and it is probably different from the next guy.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by rotten42

The best community to live in is the one where you feel most comfortable...and it is probably different from the next guy.

It wouldn't be a very interesting thread or forum if everybody adopted that attitude, though, don't you think? If the question "which is the best neighbourhood in Calgary?" is posed, isn't it kind of a conversation killer to say "the one where you feel most comfortable"? Ultimately, I can concede there is truth to what you're saying from an individual perspective, but it's also reasonable to put some criteria on the table like amenities, access to transit accessibility, schools, home prices, etc., which are criteria that affect people in general (versus just the individual), and then discuss the merits of communities based on that.

It'd be like in the thread asking couples if they sleep together or apart and answering "whatever makes you the most comfortable" /thread.

Or in the thread asking "what is the grossest food you've ever eaten" and answering with "it'll be different for everybody so the grossest food is the one that you like the least" /thread.

I'm not sure if I'm being clear, but my point is this forum is for conversation, education, entertainment and debate. If you're going to take the stance that you can't work toward a solution to a question and that there is no measure for something being objectively better than something else, maybe a chat forum isn't for you. I just don't see how answering a question like that is conversational, interesting, educational or entertaining and I think that is why we come here.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Sliver

It wouldn't be a very interesting thread or forum if everybody adopted that attitude, though, don't you think? If the question "which is the best neighbourhood in Calgary?" is posed, isn't it kind of a conversation killer to say "the one where you feel most comfortable"?

Not really because there can still be discussions about what makes a neighbourhood desirable to individuals and why they think that way.

People can still have conversations while disagreeing on what is important or not having the exact same believes.

It doesn't require people making up BS like lake communities are objectively better to have a thread have multiple posts in it.