2012 Best Places To Live In Canada

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Ruttiger

And those of us that have spent large parts of our lives living in small towns as well as Calgary, and can't wait to get back to a smaller centre? Be careful you're not projecting your version of what's best onto the rest of us - everyone has their own criteria. And frankly, while I enjoy certain things that come with living in Calgary, I would downsize in a heartbeat if the timing was right and wouldn't look back.

If you like living your life in close proximity to your house and around the same small group of people, you have that option in a city. You can take a neighbourhood like Lake Bonavista, say. There is a Safeway, skating rinks, parks, community center, banks, dentists, doctors, a lake, movie theater, some office buildings, a mall across the street, schools, etc. You could conceivably live your whole life in a one square kilometer chunk and be perfectly happy.

When, however, you inevitably need a hospital, specialized stores, social interaction beyond the dozen people you hang out with in your neighbourhood, a university, college (lookin' at you MRU), technical school, art school, zoo, science centre, amusement parks, etc. it's all at your doorstep in a city like Calgary.

In a small town you limit the opportunities for your kids and yourself. I can't understand why people live in them. It would be interesting to see statistics on the percentage of people from small towns who go on to post-secondary education, average age of getting pregnant, drug habits, etc. versus their counterparts raised in a city. I'm just going to go ahead and assume townfolk measure worse in every measure compared to cityfolk unless somebody cares to prove me wrong.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Ruttiger

And those of us that have spent large parts of our lives living in small towns as well as Calgary, and can't wait to get back to a smaller centre? Be careful you're not projecting your version of what's best onto the rest of us - everyone has their own criteria. And frankly, while I enjoy certain things that come with living in Calgary, I would downsize in a heartbeat if the timing was right and wouldn't look back.

What you have to remember is in DESS' fantasy world everyone has the exact same needs, wants and likes and they all are the exact same as his.

There is no room for people to enjoy different things or live a different lifestyle.

Therefore every single person should want to live a big city because that is what he wants.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Sliver

If you like living your life in close proximity to your house and around the same small group of people, you have that option in a city. You can take a neighbourhood like Lake Bonavista, say. There is a Safeway, skating rinks, parks, community center, banks, dentists, doctors, a lake, movie theater, some office buildings, a mall across the street, schools, etc. You could conceivably live your whole life in a one square kilometer chunk and be perfectly happy.

When, however, you inevitably need a hospital, specialized stores, social interaction beyond the dozen people you hang out with in your neighbourhood, a university, college (lookin' at you MRU), technical school, art school, zoo, science centre, amusement parks, etc. it's all at your doorstep in a city like Calgary.

In a small town you limit the opportunities for your kids and yourself. I can't understand why people live in them. It would be interesting to see statistics on the percentage of people from small towns who go on to post-secondary education, average age of getting pregnant, drug habits, etc. versus their counterparts raised in a city. I'm just going to go ahead and assume townfolk measure worse in every measure compared to cityfolk unless somebody cares to prove me wrong.

What I don't understand is how anyone can be stupid enough to limit themselves and their children to a small sized city like Calgary when they can live in a place like New York which offers them world class theatre and arts, multiple universities, colleges and technical schools instead of the limited choices Calgary offers. Different cultures, restuarants, world class facilities, entertainment, education etc. it is all at your doorstep.

I am going to assume that people that live in backwater towns like Calgary measure worse in every measure compared to big city folk until someone can prove me wrong.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by moon

What I don't understand is how anyone can be stupid enough to limit themselves and their children to a small sized city like Calgary when they can live in a place like New York which offers them world class theatre and arts, multiple universities, colleges and technical schools instead of the limited choices Calgary offers. Different cultures, restuarants, world class facilities, entertainment, education etc. it is all at your doorstep.

You'd have to fall pretty hard off the turnip truck to be that stupid, that's for sure.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Sliver

It would be interesting to see statistics on the percentage of people from small towns who go on to post-secondary education, average age of getting pregnant, drug habits, etc. versus their counterparts raised in a city. I'm just going to go ahead and assume townfolk measure worse in every measure compared to cityfolk unless somebody cares to prove me wrong.

posts like this make it unnecessary to call you an idoit

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

posts like this make it unnecessary to call you an idoit

Quoted for awesomeness. May I sig this?

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by moon

What you have to remember is in DESS.

Originally Posted by moon

What I don't understand is how anyone can be stupid enough.....

I think you may be on to something. Referenced DESS and then in your next post you're responding to another poster

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

ok, thanks for that....

One day you will be more sincere when you thank me. That I am fairly sure of.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by darklord700

http://list.moneysense.ca/rankings/b...2=1&d1=a&sc1=0

Edmonton, Red Deer, Winnipeg, Regina, St. Albert, Strathcona, Brandon, I know all these places well and I don't think they are better than Calgary. Whoever came up with this list should be fired.

Okotoks and Calgary weather, 33rd and 71st in Canadian rankings.

They're a 15 minute drive apart.

Cowperson

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Okotoks and Calgary weather, 33rd and 71st in Canadian rankings.

They're a 15 minute drive apart.

Cowperson

There is as much disparity, if not more, between Copperfield and Evanston!

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Sliver

In a small town you limit the opportunities for your kids and yourself. I can't understand why people live in them. It would be interesting to see statistics on the percentage of people from small towns who go on to post-secondary education, average age of getting pregnant, drug habits, etc. versus their counterparts raised in a city. I'm just going to go ahead and assume townfolk measure worse in every measure compared to cityfolk unless somebody cares to prove me wrong.

I just want to get out of the way that I lived a large portion of my life in small town and in some ways it's superior to the city. IMO school was better due to the lack of gangs, crime and your family in general is safer as let's face it you simply don't hear about many child abductions or murders in small towns. I only recall a single teen pregnancy in my entire high school years. There is more of a community feel in a small town as everyone knows each other which at the same time is a big negative. Big town gatherings can be a blast as it's a big party of people that know each other.

1) No privacy in a small town like the old Cheers song "Every body knows your name" implies. If you get fired from your job everyone knows why. I'm not defending crimes like getting an impaired but at least in the city you can go on with your life after making your mistake while in a small town everyone knows what you did and never forget. Wife cheats on you? Great now the whole town knows your embaressment and humiliation. The small town gossip can be a little much to people that enjoy their privacy.
2) No work in small towns. Sure there are the local businesses and if you are lucky a gas plant may be near by but there's not a bright future in general for the young of age. If you want to stay in a town you have to accept your career opportunities will be severely limited.
3) If you are single you better hook up with your high school sweetheart or you will end up like some of my friends at 40 years old living in their trailers by themselves because there's simply not a dating scene or way to meet older women unless they are divorced which means you probably know her ex-husband very well wich is uncomfortable. At least if my wife leaves me in Calgary I can move on to another attractive woman as there is plenty to choose from. If your wife leaves you in a small town you have the town whores and hairy palms to look forward to. Lonely.
4) Boring. Unless you are an extreme outdoorsy person you will find that there isn't much to do especially in the winter when the town becomes a ghost town at night. For this reason drugs and alcohol abuse are usually rampant. In the small town I grew up in drugs were plentiful and easy to attain. Much easier in than the city. The winters consisted of getting stoned and drunk.

When it comes to city vs town there's really not a right or wrong but it all depends on your career goals and what type of activities you prefer. In general I find it's a lot easier to go from town to city than it is from city to town but not everyone is the same.

[freedogger]

I agree this list is wacked. Out of the larger cities in Canada, these are the only ones I would want to live in:
Calgary
Montreal
Vancouver
Ottawa
Halifax
Quebec City

If money was no object, Vancouver would probably edge out Calgary and Montreal in my books. Wait, forgot about their hockey team...

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by Sliver

If you like living your life in close proximity to your house and around the same small group of people, you have that option in a city. You can take a neighbourhood like Lake Bonavista, say. There is a Safeway, skating rinks, parks, community center, banks, dentists, doctors, a lake, movie theater, some office buildings, a mall across the street, schools, etc. You could conceivably live your whole life in a one square kilometer chunk and be perfectly happy.

When, however, you inevitably need a hospital, specialized stores, social interaction beyond the dozen people you hang out with in your neighbourhood, a university, college (lookin' at you MRU), technical school, art school, zoo, science centre, amusement parks, etc. it's all at your doorstep in a city like Calgary.

In a small town you limit the opportunities for your kids and yourself. I can't understand why people live in them. It would be interesting to see statistics on the percentage of people from small towns who go on to post-secondary education, average age of getting pregnant, drug habits, etc. versus their counterparts raised in a city. I'm just going to go ahead and assume townfolk measure worse in every measure compared to cityfolk unless somebody cares to prove me wrong.

You have no idea what life is like in a small town and the different advantages it brings.

You are so wrong on so many of these assumptions.

[Reaper]

Funny that I am currently on a business trip in the city with the lowest jobless rate.

(waits for everyone to look it up and then express pity)

[jammies]

How many people abandon the big city for the small towns, and by "small towns" I mean places like Acme or Drumheller, not the parasite communities like Airdrie or Okotoks, which aren't much more than suburbs by another name.

If the flow of people isn't heavily weighted in favour of the city, I would be very surprised. Sure, there are people who like small towns better than the city - heck there are people who want to live on an acreage in the middle of nowhere. I know a girl who came to Calgary for a couple years, then moved back "home" to the country because she hated it here. So it happens. But I know a lot more people who moved from small towns to Calgary who never, ever, want to go back.

Oh yah, and moon - I certainly would like to live in New York City more than Calgary. London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, LA, Dublin, Tokyo, Sydney - I'd be ecstatic to move to any of them, but there are other factors besides "want" that make such moves unlikely.