Living in Cochrane: The Good and The Bad

[Top Shelf]

Thanks for the comments everyone. We are in Tuscany right now, so it wouldn't be too much further out then we already are.

I was wondering about the roads in winter as well, that 1A hill might get pretty bad, not sure how responsive the town would be in clearing that out?

Yeah I kinda forgot about the rez out that way, something to keep in mind for sure.

[Fugly]

We moved out to Cochrane a year and a half ago and we love it so far. It took us a while to get used to living in a small town (yes Canadian Tire closes at 8pm and a lot of the stores close earlier than that).

Do you have kids?

We moved into the old Cochrane Heights area (old arena at the top of hill) becasue our three kids will be able to walk to school easily. In Calgary they were destined for a 45 minute bus trip, but that was based on where we lived in Calgary (Evanston). That may have changed by now.

The new arena is awesome...my five-year-old son has 2-3 ice times per week, which I thought was pretty good. There are lots of other sports and activites for kids that seem to be fairly well run.

Through two winters the 'big hill' has only been closed once, but the route through Glen Eagles was still open. I drive an AWD Impreza so I've never had problems with the roads anyways. The highway is usually in pretty good shape. I work at the airport and my commute takes about 35-40 minutes, but I'm never stuck in traffic so it's not too bad. I'm not sure how long a trip into downtown would be during rush hour.

You'll probably find that when you first move there you come into the city a few times of the week, but that will probably be reduced to once per week once you get settled in. That's what happened to us anyways.

It's a bit of a lifestyle change if you're used to living in the city and depending on what you like to do, you'll either like it or hate.

It is more windy than Calgary.

[bossy22]

[QUOTE=Hevishot;2760065]

Originally Posted by Top Shelf

We have recently been thinking about building a new house in Cochrane, mostly driven by the cheaper lot prices out there. The development we have been looking at is Jumping Pound Ridge, seems like a nice location. QUOTE]

We also looked at Jumping Pound Ridge in Cochrane before settling on Airdrie. We were not sure about the crime in the area as it is right next to the Rez and if you have things like firearms or dirtbikes if they arent chained to your leg I was concerned they might dissapear. (Grew up in the SW close to another Rez where things had the tendency to dissapear if not under high security or constant chaining) Other than that we would be living there now.

My house faces the rez. Across from Jumping pound. I get a great view of the mountains, and with that a lot of wind. I hate the wind now. It can get insanely windy at times, where the house shakes. Back to the comment though, I've never had an issue with crime (knock on wood). Although we've had 3 black bears and a cougar sighting just down the pathway.

to another comment, I've seen more graders and sanding trucks in one year in Cochrane, than my previous 15 years in Calgary. I've never had an issue climbing the hills. Don't get me wrong, people do have issues. If you live in Cochrane, and want to get out of town, make sure you have good tires.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Anything there is to do in Calgary. It's not much different distance wise than living in Tuscany or Lake Chaparral...

Yeah, except for the ~23km closer to downtown that Tuscany is??? So basically TWICE as far?

[Shazam]

When you move there, you will find that your lips eventually turn into a giant sucker, ready to leech off the righteous denizens of Calgary.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Top Shelf

We have recently been thinking about building a new house in Cochrane, mostly driven by the cheaper lot prices out there.

Ahhh, so it's not like Okotoks where the booming job market and superior amenities are bringing people in droves?

In all seriousness, if I had to pick a satelite town to live in, I'd pick Cochrane. Crowchild and the NW LRT are good routes into the city for the most part. And you live in a place that doesn't feel exactly the same as suburban Calgary (what is the appeal of Airdrie?). You have nice views of the mountains and you're parked right in the foothills. It's a nice area. That drive every day would kill me though. In the winter you can be looking at 2 hours plus from Rocky Ridge where I used to live. I can't imagine Cochrane.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

In the winter you can be looking at 2 hours plus from Rocky Ridge where I used to live.

It took you 2 hours to drive to RR from downtown?

You suck at driving.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Yeah, except for the ~23km closer to downtown that Tuscany is??? So basically TWICE as far?

Considering it's at highway speeds, that's a whopping extra 10 minutes.

It entirely depends on where you're working, where you currently live, and what you do in the city. Taking the #1 to Sarcee to Bow, I can be on the west end of downtown in half an hour, which is the same time it took a friend of mine to get to the same location from his house in Tuscany.

When we lived downtown, it added 20 minutes just to get out of our parkade and back alley in any amount of traffic, so a bit of added driving time was pretty minimal for us. If you live and work in the same area now, going to add a lot of time to your day. If you live in the SW and work in the NW, Cochrane certainly won't be any further than the current commute.

I don't work in Calgary, so for me the only extra commuting is when I want to go to the malls or a hockey game or visit friends in the city. My wife works on the west end of the city so it's about a 15-20 minute drive for her. I can get down to the dome in about 35 mins, and the airport in about the same time.

If you're driving in and out of the core every day, probably not the best bet, but if you work elsewhere I find it's a great place to live.

Also, the hill going up the 1A is usually pretty good. The people who get stuck seem to be folks that shouldn't have left the summer tires on their sports cars, or don't have a grasp on winter driving to begin with. It's kept fairly clean, and plowing is usually prompt.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Shazam

It took you 2 hours to drive to RR from downtown?

You suck at driving.

Have you ever driven from up there on the first bad snow day of the year?

If by "sucking at driving" you mean "you're not very good at driving over the 15 kilometers of cars stopped dead in front of you" then yeah, you're right.

This was with AWD and winter tires. I would have loved to be going faster. Crowchild breaks down BAD when the roads get icy.

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Considering it's at highway speeds, that's a whopping extra 10 minutes.

That's an extra 3 full days a year sitting in your car, just counting work days.

And the dome in 35 minutes? Not when there is a game. I can make it to the dome in 4 minutes from my house in no traffic. Some game days its 30 minutes if I drive.

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

that's a whopping extra 10 minutes.

23 km in 10min. is an average speed of 138 kph

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Have you ever driven from up there on the first bad snow day of the year?

If by "sucking at driving" you mean "you're not very good at driving over the 15 kilometers of cars stopped dead in front of you" then yeah, you're right.

This was with AWD and winter tires. I would have loved to be going faster. Crowchild breaks down BAD when the roads get icy.

Yes, I live in Royal Oak and work near Chinook Centre.

The worst drive I ever had was last year during that horrible storm. That was almost two hours. Just for comparison, my friend who lived near Edmonton Trail and 24th Ave NW took three hours to get home that day from downtown.

In bad weather, it takes about one hour. Going to work is always faster because Crowchild SB is better laid out at Kensington than NB Crowchild.

Sorry, I don't know how you took two hours.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Pinner

23 km in 10min. is an average speed of 138 kph

As long as he doesn't hit any 4-way stops, then he should be fine!@

[algernon]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Ahhh, so it's not like Okotoks where the booming job market and superior amenities are bringing people in droves?

In all seriousness, if I had to pick a satelite town to live in, I'd pick Cochrane.

Agreed.

I wonder if Frink has any stats on drive times or traffic volumes he could point us to?
I remember seeing some volume maps when I was a kid. McLeoed was around 50,000/day, and was one of the busier roads. It'd be neat to see maps with volume by hour on the thoroughfares and the delays created.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by algernon

Agreed.

I wonder if Frink has any stats on drive times or traffic volumes he could point us to?
I remember seeing some volume maps when I was a kid. McLeoed was around 50,000/day, and was one of the busier roads. It'd be neat to see maps with volume by hour on the thoroughfares and the delays created.

Doesn't google maps have traffic volumes for major routes? or am I thinking of something else?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Yes, I live in Royal Oak and work near Chinook Centre.

Sorry, I don't know how you took two hours.

I lived in Rocky Ridge from 2000-2009 and there were two days where it took me over two hours to get to Gulf Canada Square parkade. There are at least 2 new over passes since those days that I can think of, but it happened. And it was ridiculous. I can give you the phone numbers of at least 3 other people that lived in the area and did the same drive on those days if you continue to be convinced I'm lying. Why would I lie about that? I can also tell you that I once made it downtown in 14 minutes from Rocky Ridge (yup, if you calculate the average speed on that one it's quite high. It was late). I can also tell you that once I made it parkade to parkade in 19 minutes arriving at work just before 9AM. The variance on Crowchild, especially 5 years ago, was/is MASSIVE.

[bossy22]

Living in Cochrane, you're best to drive the 22 to hwy 1 in the winter. The less City driving you have to do the better. The city sucks at clearing the roads. The slowest I'll go on the hwy in winter is about 90km/hr, but once I hit the city limits, it can slow down to a crawl. Living in Cochrane doesn't add on a lot of time, it's the crappy city winter clearing/sanding.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Rathji

As long as he doesn't hit any 4-way stops, then he should be fine!@

See! People pull AUTOMAGICAL numbers out of various orifices when it comes to discussions about their own commute times.

Door to door. Heck, people don't even include the time it takes to take the spiral up/down the floors of the parkade.

[Top Shelf]

Thanks again for all the comments, it's helping.

I did time the drive from 12 Mile Coulee road to downtown Cochrane and it was just over 10 minutes and about 17km on the speedometer.

Anyone familiar with the Heritage Hills development?

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Sluggo

Sun is in your eyes going to work and amazingly when you're coming back.

How is it amazing that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West? Is it just as amazing as the notion that Cochrane is located West of Calgary? Does Cochrane's location preclude the use of sunglasses? Is there a municipal ordinance?

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I can make it to the dome in 4 minutes from my house in no traffic. Some game days its 30 minutes if I drive.

Does this factor in filling the moat and setting the bear traps around your particular property prior to leaving?