Calgary population exceeds 1.2 million

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

I tend to agree.

Building Airdrie on both sides of the QE2 was a mistake. IMO, they should have build the entire residential area on the West side of the QE2, and placed the industrial area on the east side. The city really does not seem to have an identity, besides being a commuter town to Calgary.

Their identity is that tens of thousands of Calgarians looked at real estate and saw they could have a bit more house/a new house in Airdire for the same price as Calgary, so they moved and then squirm to justify literally everything else about living there.

It's pretty much all negative besides house prices, and their main justification that it's away from the crazy hustle life style of Calgary is kind of silly because being there isn't any different from being in any number of Calgary communities.

That explanation makes total sense if you move to a smaller, more out of the way, preferably western town outside Calgary. With Airdire they're just big and close enough to not have that small town, away from the city feel, yet too small to stay there exclusively and not use the city of Calgary regularly.

[jayswin]

If I could pin one thing that really bugs me about it more than anything is that it's an annoying distance from the city.

Calgary is creeping up on it, so you're really not removed from the big city........yet when you need something from Calgary or want to visit friends, you are removed from the city.

If Okotoks' slogan was "best of both worlds", Airdrie's would be "worst of both worlds; we've got that big city urban sprawl community feel, except you're not actually in the city so you'll have to drive significantly if you need anything".

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by flameswin

If I could pin one thing that really bugs me about it more than anything is that it's an annoying distance from the city.

Calgary is creeping up on it, so you're really not removed from the big city........yet when you need something from Calgary or want to visit friends, you are removed from the city.

If Okotoks' slogan was "best of both worlds", Airdrie's would be "worst of both worlds; we've got that big city urban sprawl community feel, except you're not actually in the city so you'll have to drive significantly if you need anything".

I would personally love to move to Cochrane. I wonder how much cheaper rent is than Calgary, and what the commute is like.

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

I would personally love to move to Cochrane. I wonder how much cheaper rent is than Calgary, and what the commute is like.

What you save in rent will cost you the same in gas if you commute to Calgary to work. Move to Cochrane for the life style but not for the savings in rent.

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by darklord700

What you save in rent will cost you the same in gas if you commute to Calgary to work. Move to Cochrane for the life style but not for the savings in rent.

Buying a house out there is cheaper too, bigger bang for your dollar no doubt. When i thought about the extra drive time in and and out of the city and additional fuel cost, it wasn't for me. Couple people at work drive into the city from strathmore. That's a bit crazy imo.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Slava

Those population figures are stunning. Airdrie at 58k?!

That is crazy. It's about the size Red Deer was 20 or so years ago.

The other surprise for me was how much Calgary has pulled ahead of Edmonton. Almost half a million bigger now. Back in the early 90s they were roughly the same size.

Originally Posted by flameswin

Their identity is that tens of thousands of Calgarians looked at real estate and saw they could have a bit more house/a new house in Airdire for the same price as Calgary, so they moved and then squirm to justify literally everything else about living there.

It's pretty much all negative besides house prices, and their main justification that it's away from the crazy hustle life style of Calgary is kind of silly because being there isn't any different from being in any number of Calgary communities.

One plus is they get most of the benefits of living in Calgary and using its infrastructure without having to pay the taxes for any of it. Plus for them, burn for the rest of us.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The other surprise for me was how much Calgary has pulled ahead of Edmonton. Almost half a million bigger now. Back in the early 90s they were roughly the same size.

While the populations of our CMAs have been and are still relatively close, Calgary has been the larger municipality for a while due to our uni-city approach.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Addick

While the populations of our CMAs have been and are still relatively close, Calgary has been the larger municipality for a while due to our uni-city approach.

Yeah, but Edm has Klowe who knows a thing or two about winning, if there's ever a concern.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

Buying a house out there is cheaper too, bigger bang for your dollar no doubt. When i thought about the extra drive time in and and out of the city and additional fuel cost, it wasn't for me. Couple people at work drive into the city from strathmore. That's a bit crazy imo.

Strathmore isn't much further away than Okotoks. If you work in the NE part of the city, it's actually closer. Since most of the trip is on the #1 as opposed to Deerfoot, I'd guess that the commute time into downtown from Strathmore is not much longer than from Okotoks.

The one that surprises me is that Beiseker is part of the Calgary CMA. In order to be included in a CMA, at least 50% of a community's population must commute into the central city, or 25% of the community's workforce must commute from the central city.

I used to work with a woman who lived in Beiseker and commuted into Calgary every day, and I thought she was crazy, but she must not be the only one who does it.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

I would personally love to move to Cochrane. I wonder how much cheaper rent is than Calgary, and what the commute is like.

Soul crushing?

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Soul crushing?

Commuting from Cochrane is a snap. Unless there's construction on the 1A, the 1, the 8, or the 22. That 22 to 8 commute will be nasty for years once the ring road construction starts.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

Buying a house out there is cheaper too, bigger bang for your dollar no doubt. When i thought about the extra drive time in and and out of the city and additional fuel cost, it wasn't for me. Couple people at work drive into the city from strathmore. That's a bit crazy imo.

We have a relative that commutes from Acme. Now thats crazy.

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

One plus is they get most of the benefits of living in Calgary and using its infrastructure without having to pay the taxes for any of it. Plus for them, burn for the rest of us.

Yeah...I always hate that. Something has to be done about that fairly quickly.

Its why I call them 'parasite communities.'

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by getbak

I used to work with a woman who lived in Beiseker and commuted into Calgary every day, and I thought she was crazy, but she must not be the only one who does it.

I worked with a guy in the NE Sunridge industrial area that for over two decades commuted from Nanton. That's just madness IMO as it's just too much time in your life spent commuting.

[MrMastodonFarm]

9/10 a discussion about Airdie with a resident will have them blurt out "it's got everything you need!" in the cheerful yet defensive way, the other person will reply with a "oooh yeah!" to reassure them.

The topic will then swiftly shift to some thing, anything, more interesting.

[Hugh Jahrmes]

I don't even live in the vicinity of Calgsry, but damn, poor Airdrie residents. I wonder how many of them visit CP behind proxies out of the shame they've developed here

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by Hugh Jahrmes

I don't even live in the vicinity of Calgsry, but damn, poor Airdrie residents. I wonder how many of them visit CP behind proxies out of the shame they've developed here

Well at least they have the new Crossiron Mills, in close proximity. I suppose that's a plus for moving to Airdrie.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Hugh Jahrmes

I don't even live in the vicinity of Calgsry, but damn, poor Airdrie residents. I wonder how many of them visit CP behind proxies out of the shame they've developed here

I've just never understood why people that don't live there are so vocal about the place. Just don't move to Airdrie if you hate it so much. I wouldn't move there myself, but I don't mind the place

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Hugh Jahrmes

I don't even live in the vicinity of Calgsry, but damn, poor Airdrie residents. I wonder how many of them visit CP behind proxies out of the shame they've developed here

Crackfalds is the Airdrie of Red Deer.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I've just never understood why people that don't live there are so vocal about the place. Just don't move to Airdrie if you hate it so much. I wouldn't move there myself, but I don't mind the place

Yah, I noticed it too. It's like some people like to reconfirm how awesome their location is by cutting down Airdrie residents any chance they get. The whole "20 minutes to downtown! har har" joke is so overused here on CP. Honestly, I look at Airdrie as pretty much another suburb in Calgary. Yes, I realize they don't pay taxes on infrastructure in Calgary, but that's just how it goes. No use getting all upset about it IMO.

[_Q_]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I've just never understood why people that don't live there are so vocal about the place. Just don't move to Airdrie if you hate it so much. I wouldn't move there myself, but I don't mind the place

I think it's because the residents of Airdrie are usually fairly vocal about how much better their lifestyle is than Calgarians. A lot of us find the "I have everything I need", "only 15 minutes from downtown", "get away from the hustle and bustle from the big city" stuff to be hilarious.