Sell me on Calgary

[HockeyIlliterate]

Calgary is a bigger Bozeman, but with friendlier people and all of the benefits and detriments that a larger city provides.

[CroFlames]

Yeah, Calgary is exactly like Bozeman if Bozeman was 25 times bigger, wtf.

If anything, Calgary is most similar to Denver if you are making comparisons to a US city. Culturally, geographically and in terms of affluence and affordability IMO.

All I would say to OP is that if you have kids, Calgary is a great place to raise them and Canada is the best country in the world.

If you have no kids, I'd seriously consider SoCal. You'll never get bored and it's the best weather in the world.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

You're moving from the US, so:
-No Trump
-No (few) mass shootings
-Healthcare

On Calgary specifically as someone who moved and now lives in Vancouver. I miss:
-The Sun
-Much more affordable housing (and more affordable everything, ie: no provincial sales tax)
-Generally friendlier people
-Big city enough, but still feels calmer and smaller than an actual big city. Traffic etc are much worse in Vancouver.
-Less hippies, less petty crime, less drug/homeless issues (compared to Vancouver)

One of these things is not like the other.

[1qqaaz]

Calgarians are generally more wholesome than people on the West Coast.
That said, Calgarians tend to be pretty reserved, especially compared to Americans.

In terms of raising a family, there's not much to dislike. Calgary is safe, rich, clean, has relatively strong health and education, and there's a lot for families to do (great zoo, ski hills, science center, huge parks, Tyrell Museum, Calaway, Herritage, Stampede, etc).

[Flamenspiel]

Calgary’s climate is fine, I have seen people walking around in shorts the last couple of days. As someone who has a second home in a tropical climate i find it easier to put a jacket and hat on then to have stay inside from 12 to 5 because it’s too hot. The siesta is overrated.

[CliffFletcher]

Since it's your wife you're trying to convince, and you have kids, the key selling point will be how appealing it is to raise a family in Calgary.

* Canada has one of the best public education systems in the world, and Alberta has the best system in Canada. So without paying out of pocket, your kids will get a top-flight education.

* If you pick the right community, the kids can walk or bike to school from K-9.

* Calgary has a wealth of clean and safe public parks and playgrounds.

* There are loads of activities and sports for the kids.

* College/university will be much cheaper than in the U.S., and the kids won't have the anxiety of SATs, scholarships, etc.

[Hockeyguy15]

Being less worried about your kids being shot at school would be a big selling feature to me.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by AnonymousStranger

Having visited Seattle many times, I gotta say Seattle is a waaaaaaay nicer city than Calgary. I would even say Seattle is nicer than Vancouver in many respects. The only bad thing about Seattle might be the huge homeless camps, but I don't know if that issue has been fixed by the city or not by now. Calgary's homeless and vagrant situation ain't perfect either.

The question would be have you ever visited Calgary? If you experienced Calgary as a tourist it would be a significantly different experience than Calgary as a resident.

It’s easy to say a city is nicer when you get a hotel or Airbnb in an area that you couldn’t afford to live and do all of the guns things you do on vacation and eat at fancy restaurants and pubs. But that certainly isn’t what it is like to love in a city.

[GreenLantern2814]

Dunno If this is a concern or not, but Calgary has, for my money, the absolute best dog park situation in the entire country.

There are a ton of enormous, scenic places to let your dogs run around.

[slcrocket]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Calgary is a nice city for the most part. If you are acclimated to a milder climate, the biggest adjustment will be the weather. The summers are usually nice but very short and there's not much of a spring or fall season so you are looking at essentially 8 cold months of the year.

I grew up in Salt Lake (hence the outdated username) so I'm at least acquainted with the snow. Hated living in a desert (one of the big reasons we left).

Originally Posted by AnonymousStranger

Having visited Seattle many times, I gotta say Seattle is a waaaaaaay nicer city than Calgary. I would even say Seattle is nicer than Vancouver in many respects. The only bad thing about Seattle might be the huge homeless camps, but I don't know if that issue has been fixed by the city or not by now. Calgary's homeless and vagrant situation ain't perfect either.

It all depends on what stage of life you're in. If I lived within 5 miles of downtown Seattle and was young, single, or in school, no way I'd leave.

But I'm in my late 30s, married with young kids, suburban living, and in bed by 9. You'd be surprised how little I go to Seattle if I don't have to (I live north of Seattle in Everett). I'm no longer at a stage where I want to go out and have fun every night, or looking for girls (or at least I don't really have that opportunity any more ).

And my office is in Sodo just south of downtown Seattle, and the homeless situation has only continued to get worse. Bad for all concerned.

Originally Posted by tvp2003

I would sell Calgary by selling Canada — friendly people, no Trump, and free healthcare depending on your work/immigration status.

Once you decide yes on Canada, Calgary is a great option. Lower cost of living/housing compared to other cities like Vancouver and Toronto, but still lots of amenities. Yes we’re in recovery mode right now, but that means there is lots of opportunity for you and your family if there is a job opening in your field.

Health care is a BIG factor. I have a son with a very rare metabolic disorder and his medical food costs me a fortune. Even random routine stuff will kill you - I had a bad respiratory bout this winter which ended up getting me referred to an allergist/asthma specialist, who prescribed me some inhaled steroids to help me get through it. End cost for the doctor visit and inhaler? $900+ out of pocket. And I HAVE insurance. I am not going to pretend to know a lot about the Canadian system, but I pay a large amount on insurance premiums and then a large amount out of pocket for anything other than basic wellness exams. Having three kids nearly destroyed our family financially as a single-income family.

Originally Posted by Table 5

My wife is American, and we both moved to Calgary about 8 or so years ago. It took a bit of adjustment coming from NYC, but my wife is really comfortable and really likes living here. Especially since we've had kids she's really integrated into the community and sees the big difference between here and the US...especially when she goes back and sees how life is for moms back in NY.

The biggest benefits we've found is the general increased quality of life and the lower cost for the big things...education, healthcare, property taxes (the first two especially). My friends back in NYC pay about 20 grand a year per child for schooling (K-12), and 2-3K month for family health insurance, and often 15-20k in property taxes. Yes, house prices here arent cheap either, and our wait times to see a doctor are longer, but I don't have quite the same level of financial worries. I remember doing the calculations once and realized I would probably need to make about 80-100K more in salary per child to have the same level of schooling/care back in NY. We'd both also need to be working, and having kids in NY is hard as hell. Obviously thats not necessarily applicable to a comparison Seattle, but that was our experience.

Generally, I think life here is also a bit easier. People complain about traffic, but it's nothing compared to what you get in Seattle or an American city. There is crime here like anywhere, but you don't get the vast extremes of disparity like you do in the US. Politics too...there's not quite the massive divide between people (although I do think its growing somewhat). I've found the best way to enjoy Calgary and Alberta in general is to become an outdoor person. Do as much skiing, biking, hiking, etc as possible, and you will love it more. If you and your wife are outdoorsy people, it can be an awesome place to live.

What sucks? Shopping/shipping is terrible compared to the US, Doing business here is not as easy, customer service is generally poor, "spring" time, flying in Canada is expensive, the Flames always find a way to suck.

So much here - thanks for taking the time to write all that. I would agree that New York is a whole different world unto itself cost-wise; I guess we can all take solace that we don't have to do that.

That being said, being somewhat risk-averse is part of what makes Alberta so appealing. I can buy a small, modest home for quite a bit less than I have to pay here (even as far from Seattle as I am), support my family while they get a good education, not worry about them getting shot, and get rid of Trump to boot (only kidding about that part - if this all happens it probably happens after he fails to get re-elected in 2020, unless we can somehow duplicate that idiocy again).

I'm in sales - it's feast or famine a lot of times, and I'd like to minimize the implications of the famine months by mitigating the financial circumstances of where one lives. And I do enjoy the town from what I've personally seen when there visiting.

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

You're moving from the US, so:
-No Trump
-No (few) mass shootings
-Healthcare

On Calgary specifically as someone who moved and now lives in Vancouver. I miss:
-The Sun
-Much more affordable housing (and more affordable everything, ie: no provincial sales tax)
-Generally friendlier people
-Big city enough, but still feels calmer and smaller than an actual big city. Traffic etc are much worse in Vancouver.
-Less hippies, less petty crime, less drug/homeless issues (compared to Vancouver)

Vancouver is awesome and I would miss the coast if I ended up doing this - but justifying the cost of living there is just tough for me to do. And I like friendly people.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

Really depends on what you do for a living.

I am from Calgary and have practised as a lawyer for years. I have experienced the booms and busts of the local economy.

But I have never been more pessimistic. This downturn is different. Long and severe.

If I had kids graduating from college with degrees in business, law, engineering, science, etc. I would strongly encourage them to look elsewhere.

I have the same negative feelings, but think the problem is likely to be more widespread across Canada. A major issue is oil prices being depressed. Also, the USA, formerly Canada's biggest customer, is likely to continue moving away from importing oil. They've recently become a net exporter. Canada isn't accommodating the other big option, China. Even then, China's economy is likely to slow down soon, and their own imports will fall.

Canada also has a horrible credit problem. Canadians have been borrowing at record low interest rates irresponsibly for a decade. Inflation is spiraling out of control. The feds would typically subdue inflation by rising interest rates, but if they do that many Canadians will be pushed towards insolvency due to debt levels.

The economies in many large Canadian cities have also been supported by capital imports, largely into real estate. The problem with that is that real estate is a secondary industry, that should only rise with overall economic prosperity. The capital imports from China are drying up fast, and many Canadians have gone along for the ride and bought high.

Canada is producing more jobs, but many of those jobs are in health care:

https://business.financialpost.com/n...das-job-market

This is basically, the government financing the economy via putting more tax and borrowed funds into healthcare. This is not sustainable, and the costs to the taxpayer for healthcare are only likely to increase as babyboomers age. The salary and capital base is way off, as young people simply don't have the salaries and capital that boomers did, and the economy won't be able to support the increased demand on social services.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Dunno If this is a concern or not, but Calgary has, for my money, the absolute best dog park situation in the entire country.

There are a ton of enormous, scenic places to let your dogs run around.

From what I've seen, every park is a dog park if you're a big enough a-hole.

[Bunk]

To echo a bit of what Table 5 said - Calgary, broadly speaking, has an exceptionally high quality of life:

- Very high quality public education
- Excellent public health care
- High quality infrastructure and transportation systems
- A very safe and stable society and environment
- Tolerant and accepting of difference
- Growing cultural diversity
- Strong and improving cultural interest including in arts, food, etc.
- High quality neighbourhoods, housing stock and affordability
- High incomes
- Excellent access to the best outdoors activities around
- Ok climate in the context of Canada all things considered (sunny and dry)

Certainly some negatives/room for improvement
- Economic instability at the moment
- Still some growing up to do as a city going from medium to larger
- Long winters!

Overall, there is a reason we are ranked for example 5th overall globally and first in the Americas for Quality of Life in the Economist Rankings. We do exceptionally well on measures that are the foundation of high quality of life that, frankly, we take for granted too much here. Less tangibly, it's a fun city to be in if you're someone that likes to contribute to civic life. You can have a massive impact on community, should you choose to engage.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by GGG

The question would be have you ever visited Calgary? If you experienced Calgary as a tourist it would be a significantly different experience than Calgary as a resident.

It’s easy to say a city is nicer when you get a hotel or Airbnb in an area that you couldn’t afford to live and do all of the guns things you do on vacation and eat at fancy restaurants and pubs. But that certainly isn’t what it is like to love in a city.

He may be American but I don't think you can assume he does a lot of gun things on vacation.

Have you been to Stampede yet?

[Looch City]

Also if you like beer, Calgary has like 10,000 micro breweries.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by slcrocket

But I'm in my late 30s, married with young kids, suburban living, and in bed by 9. You'd be surprised how little I go to Seattle if I don't have to (I live north of Seattle in Everett). I'm no longer at a stage where I want to go out and have fun every night, or looking for girls (or at least I don't really have that opportunity any more ).

If it helps, this is exactly the stage of life we are in now as well. If you're in your 20s and living the single life, there are more interesting places to be. If you're 60+ and looking to retire, there are probably better places to be. But if you're in the 30-60 range and raising kids and want a relatively stable, safe, affordable, and high quality of life for you and your family, Calgary is a really great place to live.

Having lived in a big city, I think Calgary offers a nice balance between that and a small town. It's a city big enough to have a lot of the amenities you want, but not so big that everything becomes a giant pain in the d. Then again, Seattle seems like that too, but with more driving.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Table 5

If it helps, this is exactly the stage of life we are in now as well. If you're in your 20s and living the single life, there are more interesting places to be. If you're 60+ and looking to retire, there are probably better places to be. But if you're in the 30-60 range and raising kids and want a relatively stable, safe, affordable, and high quality of life for you and your family, Calgary is a really great place to live.

This is key. I spent my childhood here, 20s in Toronto largely, and in Calgary again in my 30s. My life is measurably better here now than it would have been had I stayed in Toronto as we started a family and advanced my career. But I also liked being there at that stage of my life - it was fun. Into retirement, I could see being a snowbird, for sure.

[_Q_]

Don't listen to the naysayers. Calgary is awesome. The economy might not be as hot as it once was, but if you have a job lined up, then there's nothing to worry about. There's also still tons of opportunity out there, just not in Oil and Gas.

I spent three years in the states and moved back exactly a year ago. I don't regret the decision at all. It sounds like you are in the same stage of life as I (late thirties with young family). In Calgary, someone like you can realistically aim to one day buy a house in one of the best neighborhoods, put their kids in a great school and have money left over for a nice car, and a few vacations every year. Your dollar goes really far here.

I've seen the healthcare thing mentioned in here a few times, but I can't stress how much of a game changer for your finances and well-being this is. You never think twice about going to the doctor or emergency room. On top of that, because basic healthcare is covered, your company will likely offer you extended health benefits. Which usually means for no or very low monthly cost from your end ($20 or so per month), you'll have dental, prescription drugs, and paramedical (chiropractor, massage therapy, podiatrist, acupuncture, etc. ) covered with no deductable. When I moved back a year ago, I think I booked 5 massage and chiropractor visits in the first month just for the hell of it.

In terms of weather, I think out of all the big cities in Canada, Calgary has the best weather. Vancouver is gloomy for 8 months of the year, Ontario and Quebec have some really depressing winters, maybe not as cold, but definitely more cloudy and cold feeling, then incredibly humid summers. In Calgary, you'll get consistently nice days even in the winter. Today, for example, it was about 10 degrees, sunny and not even a hint of a breeze. I was outside wearing a sweater and light jacket and was feeling overdressed. Then the summer is pretty glorious here. I think the worst part of the weather here is just how early it gets dark in the middle of winter. But seeing you're from Seattle, you should be fairly accustomed to that.

My one question is, what attracts you to make the move out here? Why not move somewhere cheaper than Seattle but in the States?

[troutman]

Our weather is like Seattle today.

[Amethyst]

If your child already has a diagnosis for an on-going condition, you need to talk to someone with immigration expertise before you go too far in your plans. I work with many immigrant families and some have had a very difficult time being approved if they have a child with a diagnosis for a serious, on-going condition. I don't know a lot about the reasons/ process but if your child has a diagnosis, definitely something to look into before you get too far with your plans.