MacKenzie Town to U of C

[shane_c]

Hi there,
We were down to MacKenzie Town today looking at houses. It's a wonderful community. I work at U of C and wonder how long of a drive it is? We drove from MacKenzie Town to the 16th Ave N exit in about 17 minutes. I'm guessing it's about another 10-15 from there to the U of C. Mind you today was Sunday and I'm figuring weekday traffic would be a little heavier. Does anyone else make this drive? How long does it take?

[Calgary Flames]

If you make it there in under 45 minutes i'd be VERY suprised.

[shane_c]

Originally posted by SuperChuckles@Feb 14 2005, 02:03 AM
If you make it there in under 45 minutes i'd be VERY suprised.

Right now I go from Applewood to the U of C and it's 30-35 mins through the week. When I'm driving over Deerfoot on 16th Ave it doesn't look like Deerfoot N is overly congested, it may be further south though. When I'm going home at the end of the day though Deefoot N is usually stopped, but it doesn't seem too bad going S.

[DeanOMac]

I do this commute all the time, and it is a bad drive.
I would say with NO traffic 30-35, any sort of rush hour or accident or something and your looking 45 minutes.

[Cowboy]

I found cutting across Glemore was better, Glenmore traffic did not seem to be as bad as 16th ave

[zarrell]

Originally posted by Cowboy@Feb 13 2005, 07:48 PM
I found cutting across Glemore was better, Glenmore traffic did not seem to be as bad as 16th ave

Good luck in the spring when construction starts on Glenmore.

For the next 2 years it's going to be brutal getting anywhere. Already this past year traffic has gotten exponentially worse in this city. I live in Chaparral and do a lot of work in the NW, springbank and Cochrane and commutes are getting close to 1 1/2 hours each way. :angry:

[Tiger]

leaving from Prestwick depending what time you start work. But leaving just before 7 you can get to the u of c in 40 minutes

Taking Deerfoot to barlow back onto deerfoot then memorial to crowchild tr.

My GF does the trip a couple of time a week since Oct

[peter12]

I'd say drive to Anderson and take the train.

[Dedly]

I go from McKenzie to the UofC every morning. I do one of three things depending on how lazy I'm feeling:

-Take the express bus downtown, then the train the rest of the way. To get there for 8:00, I'd have to get on the bus at 6:40.

-Drive to Anderson and take the train up there. To get there for 8:00 I try to get the 7:15 train, so have to leave home at like 6:55.

-Drive all the way up. I take Deerfoot to Barlow to Glenmore to Crowchild. You could get there in about 40-45 mins usually, I leave at about 7:05.

[Eddie Bronze]

Originally posted by shane_c@Feb 13 2005, 06:58 PM
We were down to MacKenzie Town today looking at houses.

Have you looked in Bowness at all? Really nice community as well and MUCH closer.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Why not move somewhere closer to your place of work? Lots of new communities in a variety of price brackets in the NW.

Like it or not, gone are the days when you could live anywhere in the city and drive trouble free. You can still choose to do that of course but be prepared to live with the traffic. Just a part of our march to a million....

[4X4]

Originally posted by fotze@Feb 13 2005, 09:45 PM
I've always wondered why people want to move so far out?

I'm curious, is it:

- A bigger house (i.e. more house for your dollar)?
- Better schools?
- A brand new house? No one ever living there before?
- Low maintenance due to the newness?
- Less traffic?
- Less hustle and bustle?

I guess if you work somewhere not downtown it is perfect.

I would just have so much trouble getting out of bed in the morning if I had to look forward to a 1.5 hour commute.

-More house for your dollar, as well as a higher likelyhood that the interior is acceptable to the female species

-as the city grows, inner city communities lose their schools & new schools pop up in neighbourhoods with kids, which tend to be the outer lying communities where starter homes are affordable

-brand new house... You can choose your own floor plan, interior colours & finishings, the guys like to do the outdoor projects & there are many of them

-low maintenance due to newness, sometimes. Depends on how you look at it (considering the last point). Plus, like the old saying 'they don't make 'em like they used to', its not totally uncommon to encounter shoddy workmanship, but hey, there is likely to be plenty of maintenance wether your house is new or old. Some of it will be preventative, some will be reactive.

-There may be less traffic as you leave your community, but all that does for you is speed up the time it takes before you hit the traffic jam on Deerfoot or Crowchild

[4X4]

I forgot the most important thing. Buying in a new neighbourhood is a great equity builder. By the time the community is established (3-7) years later, your house is worth much more than you paid for it. Buying a house in an established neighbourhood is out of reach to alot of people because the established community premium is there.

My sister got a brand new 1700 square foot house in Elgin for the same price as a 900 square foot bungalow in Acadia.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

All valid reasons for moving to the burbs and I can relate to many of them. Although I seem to recall reading in the Saturday paper that McKenzie doesn't have a school yet. Do keep in mind what you're getting into though with commutes, and you'll be much happier with you decision. My biggest beef with some of my friends that have moved to the burbs is when they start complaining:

"Traffic's terrible, we need roads!"
"We need a school!
"The Hospital's too far!"
"When's the C-Train coming out here?"

These deficiencies were known when you bought them but you traded all of them for an extra 700 sq ft and a great room in a "new house". Now you need to live with your compromise. I find it ironic that so many of my friends shunned the downtown condo lifestyle and their "new house" is crammed in so tight *cough*CougarRidge* that it's not really that far off from a town house. I saw a cul-de-sac in Rocky Ridge that had neighbors sharing driveways! And this was an "Estate" area of RR!

One thing you may find that as people get more fed up with commutes in the city, people are quickly learning to appreciate location. You can always reno a place for the amenities but location's something you're stuck with.

[Calgary Flames]

I used to live in Coach Hill and thought it was burbs central, with a huge 15 minute drive downtown... yeah right.

Now we live in Somerset and it takes 40 minutes to get downtown... It's terrible.... Can't wait to move back.

[Super-Rye]

Originally posted by I-Hate-Hulse@Feb 14 2005, 12:13 AM
All valid reasons for moving to the burbs and I can relate to many of them. Although I seem to recall reading in the Saturday paper that McKenzie doesn't have a school yet. Do keep in mind what you're getting into though with commutes, and you'll be much happier with you decision. My biggest beef with some of my friends that have moved to the burbs is when they start complaining:

"Traffic's terrible, we need roads!"
"We need a school!
"The Hospital's too far!"
"When's the C-Train coming out here?"

These things were known when you bought them but you traded all of them for an extra 700 sq ft and a great room in a "new house". Now you need to live with your compromise. I find it ironic that so many of my friends shunned the downtown condo lifestyle and their "new house" is crammed in so tight *cough*CougarRidge* that it's not really that far off from a town house. I saw a cul-de-sac in Rocky Ridge that had neighbors sharing driveways! And this was an "Estate" area of RR!

One thing you may find that as people get more fed up with commutes in the city, people are quickly learning to appreciate location. You can always reno a place for the amenities but location's something you're stuck with.

McKenzie has a few schools, public and catholic, McKenzie Towne doesn't, but they're right next to each other so it's no big deal. But McKenzie has nothing, few gas stations, a liqour store, and a bar. Mckenzie Towne has everything, so it kinda evens out.

[Hakan]

"There's no problem of urban sprawl in Calgary." - Dave Bronconnier

[shane_c]

Originally posted by shane_c@Feb 14 2005, 01:58 AM
Hi there,
We were down to MacKenzie Town today looking at houses. It's a wonderful community. I work at U of C and wonder how long of a drive it is? We drove from MacKenzie Town to the 16th Ave N exit in about 17 minutes. I'm guessing it's about another 10-15 from there to the U of C. Mind you today was Sunday and I'm figuring weekday traffic would be a little heavier. Does anyone else make this drive? How long does it take?

We were looking at several other communities. Our other favorite being Tuscany. Which from the people I talk to at work who live there, it takes them 25+ minutes to get to U of C. I don't mind driving a few extra minutes. We really like the community feel of MacKenzie Town compared to a lot of other subdivisions around that just seem like they decided to build a bunch of houses. The other thing we like about it is the fact that we could get the same house in MacKenzie Town for approximately $10-15,000 less than in Tuscany. As for schools, that doesn't matter to us. We don't plan on having any kids.

[Resolute 14]

Originally posted by shane_c@Feb 13 2005, 06:58 PM
Hi there,
We were down to MacKenzie Town today looking at houses. It's a wonderful community. I work at U of C and wonder how long of a drive it is? We drove from MacKenzie Town to the 16th Ave N exit in about 17 minutes. I'm guessing it's about another 10-15 from there to the U of C. Mind you today was Sunday and I'm figuring weekday traffic would be a little heavier. Does anyone else make this drive? How long does it take?

When did you do that drive?

16th Ave is absolutely awful in the morning rush, and will be even worse next year when construction on the road begins. You might be better off taking Memorial Drive up to Crowchild, even allowing for the backups on Memorial until you pass the flyover. Hell, going up to McKnight might even be faster.

Glenmore is a good alternate route heading west, then north on Crowchild, and should be *alright* during construction of the new interchanges, as they are actually paving an entirely new, 6 lane detour around the the actual construction. Just watch for backups as you hit the causeway, and the 14th/Crowchild interchanges.

I have a couble of good friends that go from MacKenzie Towne into downtown every day. Takes them 30-40 minutes simply taking the bus.

[Agamemnon]

I'd take Deerfoot North from Mackenzie Town (obviously), then exit onto Memorial Drive. Head West on Memorial till about 5a Street, and turn north onto it. You can immediately turn left onto 2nd Ave. NW and drive along it, parallel to Memorial, but with basically no traffic. When you hit 10th Street, turn right (north) till you get to 16th. You can then ride out the last little bit of 16th straight to University Drive, or you can keep going up 10th to 24th Ave, which runs along the north side of campus.

Little shortcuts like that can take 10-15 minutes off the commute, I'm beginning to find.