Living in Bragg Creek?

[BigNumbers]

Originally Posted by bagofpucks

Whatever floats your goat though!

[bagofpucks]

Exactly! It’s not rocket appliances!

[bossy22]

I have some good friends who lived out in Elk Valley Estates by West Bragg. They had to use Xplorenet for internet. They didn't have cell service at their house, which they liked. The kids had to phone their friends and have a conversation instead of texting.

Both kids played hockey, a boy and a girl, and they loved it. They liked the school.

Groceries weren't a big deal. A trip now and then in Calgary, but they mostly supported the local grocer. They both worked out there though, so for them, they got to avoid Calgary for the most part.

They have had bears, cougars, moose, and deer all their yard. One time a cougar used the neighbors deck as a place to store a kill. The neighbours had a vacation property they stayed at in the winter and came back in the spring to discover this.
My friends loved living out there. It's a different way of life and a lot of work. They now live in Switzerland and rent their home out in Bragg, but are planning on coming back eventually.
The one recommendation they have is that if you plan on being outside a lot, get a big dog. Eventually you will have a bear encounter.

[woob]

Thanks for all the great input so far! Definitely adding some items to my list to check up on. I've read that water quality in Bragg Creek isn't stellar. Is this something that plagues the entire area?

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Originally Posted by woob

Thanks for all the great input so far! Definitely adding some items to my list to check up on. I've read that water quality in Bragg Creek isn't stellar. Is this something that plagues the entire area?

I don’t think so...many of the houses in Bragg are on a municipal system now (but not all). Redwood has its own water treatment plant which is generally excellent

[Baaarrden]

I grew up in West Bragg Creek and my parents have owned their acreage out there for about 15 years now.

Cell service I would say is improving slowly. From my experience, Rogers is probably the best bet for the strongest coverage, however it really depends where you are in West Bragg and how high up. You'll generally have full service for the first 3.5km, which is about half-way before reaching the park at the end of West Bragg. After that, it honestly depends on your elevation. My parents live near the top of a hill so it's not too difficult to find at least 2 or 3 bars most of the time.

Internet is also slowly improving. I believe my parents have Xplornet as many here have mentioned and it's much better now than it was when I was growing up there. My parents can stream TV and movies without issue and while the download speed is obviously not anywhere close to what it is in the city, they have managed fine. I have heard some stories from my parents friends out there however, who have been frustrated with the poor quality of internet. I think similar to the cell phone issue, it can depend on your location and elevation. As others have suggested, I would definitely double check the internet at whatever house you're considering buying before you close anything.

The parking lot and road up to it in Kananaskis at the end of West Bragg was just completely re-done last summer. I'm sure if you're considering moving out there, you've likely been there, but they basically doubled or tripled the size of the parking lot to accommodate the massive increases in the amount of traffic that the park has seen over the last five or ten years. The upgrades were much needed and if you haven't been there, I'm sure you'll find the park useful for any type of activity you might be doing.

I would say that the actual hamlet of Bragg Creek sees a decent amount of turnover in terms of the stores that open up there - mostly because the guy who owns the main mall there is a d####e and gouges everyone for every penny they earn. I wouldn't say the grocery store there is all that great. As you can probably imagine, they're quite expensive compared to any regular grocery store in town so I think my parents tend to only stop there if they need something and don't want to drive all the way into Calgary. There's a hardware store in town that you can get basic stuff at, but similar to the grocery store, I think most people tend to use it only if they need something urgently. There are some decent restaurants/bars in town that have been around for a while - Creekers, Powderhorn, Bavarian Inn, Italian Farmhouse. They are all pretty different in terms of style and price, but I would say that those are the ones that have found some element of consistency and success.

For emergency services, the Redwood Meadows fire department services Bragg Creek and it's about a 5 minute drive from Redwood Meadows to the hamlet. For other medical non-emergencies, there is a pharmacy in Bragg Creek but not a whole lot else from what I can remember.

The traffic on weekends (especially in the summer) can get pretty insane. I know at one point they were talking about the potential of putting a traffic circle in at the four-way stop. Not too sure where they are on that anymore or if they're still considering it as a viable option.

As for the commute, my parents have been making it for 15 years now and it doesn't really bother them. My sister also still commutes into town most days and when I was still in university, I made the commute to U of C for the first couple years. It's honestly not awful; traffic moves pretty steady most of the time and in the winters, the highways are often ploughed and pretty clean. There's also plenty of routes to get in (Hwy 8, Hwy 1, Hwy 22x, Springbank) depending which part of the city you're travelling to or from. Your estimate of about an hour is probably pretty accurate if you're doing the drive/c-train combo.

As for the concern about Hwy 8, it's a pretty boring stretch of road that I think a lot of people get frustrated on when they're in any sort of rush and the car in front of them is doing the speed limit. There's also quite a few semis that use the highway as a shortcut from Hwy 1 to Glenmore Trail which a lot of people believe makes the highway that much more dangerous. I do know about 4 people who have died in three different accidents on Hwy 8, with two of the accidents actually within the city limits where the new ring road will run. I think (hope) once the ring road is complete, semis won't necessarily need to use Hwy 8 anymore and will opt to use Stoney instead - who knows though because that part of Stoney between Hwy 1 and the top of COP will be extremely steep and semis might not want to take the time to travel up it.

Other than that, I really enjoyed growing up in Bragg Creek. If you're thinking of raising a family, it's a pretty great place. Banded Peak School is a K-8 school and after that, most people go Springbank High, which is about a 45 minute bus ride. Most kids who play hockey, either play recreational no-hitting in Bragg Creek and the surrounding communities (Priddis, Millarville, Black Diamond, Cochrane) or go play in Springbank.

If you have any other questions, I can try my best to answer them! Good luck with your decision!

[woob]

Baaarrden, I wanted to specifically thank-you, beyond hitting the thanks button, for your post. Great insight and information!

[kevman]

Where are you commuting from now? My uncle lives in West Bragg and used to make the commute downtown. He would go into work early and said the drive was typically a little over 30 minutes. Although, Google says 40 - 60 mins from his place so maybe he was rounding down. By comparison, Google says 35-50 mins from McKenzie Towne so it's all relative.

My partner used to live in Canmore and I made the commute downtown fairly regularly. It was 65 minutes on a good day and it was maybe 66 minutes on bad day when the roads were terrible in the winter. The nice thing about commuting on the #1 is that traffic is never an issue. Even in the height of rush hour through Montgomery and down memorial you're still going the speed limit.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by kevman

The nice thing about commuting on the #1 is that traffic is never an issue.

Unless you work weekends.