I am moving to Edmonton

[Free Ben Hur!]

Originally Posted by nik-

Started construction first, only spent half a billion less (2 in Edmonton to 2.5 for Calgary) and have about 1/3rd the system and ridership. Saying similar development is pretty misleading.

Yep, but one thing Edmonton did do right was put the downtown tracks underground. Calgary's fix, if they ever do it, will be über expensive.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Calgary's LRT is vastly superior to Edmonton's. Edmonton is trying to play catch up, in a major way.

Calgary LRT has over 86 million yearly riders, 53 KM's of track and 43 stations.
Edmonton LRT only has 33 million yearly riders, 21 km's of track and a paltry 15 stations.

Ya, when I hear people complaining how Calgary could have the worst LRT system on the continent, they clearly don't realize just how terrible Edmonton's has been in comparison, in terms of accessibility. It's getting better, though it still doesn't service essentially the entire NW part of the city.

When I first moved up there in '06, it basically only served 20% of the city. Pretty much just covered downtown and surrounding areas, the university/Whyte Ave area, and their sports stadiums. That's it. If you lived in the north/northwest end of the city like I did, you pretty much had to drive to the outskirts of downtown just to catch the train. Which, of course, defeats the entire purpose of taking the train at that point.

There's really no comparison who's is worse.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Free Ben Hur!

Yep, but one thing Edmonton did do right was put the downtown tracks underground. Calgary's fix, if they ever do it, will be über expensive.

Edmonton didn't do that right. Calgary spent the money and built out, more stations meant more ridership and their system is uber busy because of it. Edmonton spent cash burying their stations and crippled station production until now. This is a major reason Edmonton is now playing catch up.

Calgary will eventually have to bury a new line under 8th avenue and it will be expensive but they made the right decision building more stations to start.

[GP_Matt]

So, I found a house this weekend.

I took most of the location based advice on this board (aside from the move to Calgary advice) and bought a house on the same side of the river as my office.

We are going to be living in Westmount. It is close enough to downtown and Jasper Ave without seeing the noise that comes with it. (Or so I hope)

I would have loved to live on the river valley but my stomach disagreed with my heart and so I decided to purchase a house that would leave me with some leftover money for food.

Thanks for all the advice.

[Street Pharmacist]

Westmount is a nice area

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Ya, when I hear people complaining how Calgary could have the worst LRT system on the continent, they clearly don't realize just how terrible Edmonton's has been in comparison, in terms of accessibility. It's getting better, though it still doesn't service essentially the entire NW part of the city.

Sort of ironic considering Calgary has, arguably, the best (best used anyway) LRT system on the continent.

[Burke Salad]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

So, I found a house this weekend.

I took most of the location based advice on this board (aside from the move to Calgary advice) and bought a house on the same side of the river as my office.

We are going to be living in Westmount. It is close enough to downtown and Jasper Ave without seeing the noise that comes with it. (Or so I hope)

I would have loved to live on the river valley but my stomach disagreed with my heart and so I decided to purchase a house that would leave me with some leftover money for food.

Thanks for all the advice.

Congrats, now go visit the Royal alberta Museum during a weekday, and let me know what the parking situation is like near there, availability, cost etc.

[dubc80]

The museum isn't right downtown and has its own parking lot so parking won't be a problem. I can't rememember if you have to pay or not.

Its also in a residential area with a lot of really nice century homes, so you might be able to find street parking and walk there. Not sure if there are parking restrictions, or if you need a parking permit though....

[puckedoff]

Bonnie Doon is not a bad area, easy to get out East of the city and downtown. Some skids around the mall.