Advice For Finding A Place To Live In Calgary

[Storii]

Hello,

 

I will be moving from out-of-province to Calgary. I've done some searching for accommodation via Rent-Faster, Kijiji, etc. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for places to rent (somewhat near the Foothills campus)?

 

Thank you,

 

Storii

[MountainAmoeba]

Depends what you want to spend. Have you joined the Facebook page? For the new class? They have some fully furnished places near the Foothills hospital available. Check it out!

[Storii]

Depends what you want to spend. Have you joined the Facebook page? For the new class? They have some fully furnished places near the Foothills hospital available. Check it out!

Thanks! I've requested access to the group. Sounds like a good plan.

[CatLady]

I'm also OOP and I'm wondering if most students take the bus to school or choose to live closer? The place I'm looking at is a ~20 min bus ride away... is that typical? I get nervous having to rely on transit to get to school...

[sjc2]

There are a lot of options for living in Calgary. I'll summarize your options here in terms of most popular! (Note: this list is not the most popular in terms of order)

 

1. Live in Foothills Village/Parkdale to walk to school or take a super short bus ride up the hill from Parkdale (lots of ppl walk from there to though).

2. Live in the neighbourhoods north of UofC like Brentwood; it's a 20 minute bus ride or so, or a shorter drive.

3. Live in Kensington/Sunnyside, about a 30 minute bus ride or 10 minute drive

4. Live downtown/beltline; 45 minute bus ride or 15 minute drive.

5. Live somewhere else (lol I don't know Calgary very well)

 

I personally drive to school because my time is valuable and I don't want to sit on a bus for 1.5 hours a day when I can get to school in under 20 minutes. You have to pay for parking but that is something I am willing to do. A lot of people rent out their parking spots at Foothills Village and students park there. 

 

You don't necessarily need a car in pre-clerkship but unless you live super close to school I would think you'd want to. If you want to shadow physicians anywhere other than Foothills, you'd almost need a car for sure. Your life would be so much easier.Additionally, if you want to do any rural shadowing or do a rural placement for family med... definitely need a car. You 100% need a car for clerkship.

[CatLady]

What if you don't have a license lol? 

[oitj]

What if you don't have a license lol? 

 

Honestly, get one before starting. You can manage without, but you'll be wasting a lot of time and energy. Calgary is very car-centric. You can live near a grocery store centrally, but then for clinical experiences first and second year you can end up going to any site in the city. The South Health Campus can take an hour and a half one way on public transit to get to, and is a 30 minute drive.

[CatLady]

Omg yeah that sounds horrible, I guess that's what I get for being a giant baby. Thanks for the advice! 

[rugbydocwannabe]

Do most people rent or own? With moving around for clinical years, I am guessing renting is easier? 

[thisone]

There are a lot of options for living in Calgary. I'll summarize your options here in terms of most popular! (Note: this list is not the most popular in terms of order)

 

1. Live in Foothills Village/Parkdale to walk to school or take a super short bus ride up the hill from Parkdale (lots of ppl walk from there to though).

2. Live in the neighbourhoods north of UofC like Brentwood; it's a 20 minute bus ride or so, or a shorter drive.

3. Live in Kensington/Sunnyside, about a 30 minute bus ride or 10 minute drive

4. Live downtown/beltline; 45 minute bus ride or 15 minute drive.

5. Live somewhere else (lol I don't know Calgary very well)

 

I personally drive to school because my time is valuable and I don't want to sit on a bus for 1.5 hours a day when I can get to school in under 20 minutes. You have to pay for parking but that is something I am willing to do. A lot of people rent out their parking spots at Foothills Village and students park there. 

 

You don't necessarily need a car in pre-clerkship but unless you live super close to school I would think you'd want to. If you want to shadow physicians anywhere other than Foothills, you'd almost need a car for sure. Your life would be so much easier.Additionally, if you want to do any rural shadowing or do a rural placement for family med... definitely need a car. You 100% need a car for clerkship.

 

Thanks for the info, sjc2! I'm just wondering if most people live close to the university. I'm moving from downtown Toronto and am leaning more towards a trendy neighbourhood like Kensington/Hillhurst (near Sunnyside Station) -- but I've also heard that living in Foothills Village is a great way to make friends with other med students. Do people who live away from Foothills Village find it a bit isolating, or does it even matter? I wouldn't have a car during first year, and would likely take the bus to school.

 

[sjc2]

Thanks for the info, sjc2! I'm just wondering if most people live close to the university. I'm moving from downtown Toronto and am leaning more towards a trendy neighbourhood like Kensington/Hillhurst (near Sunnyside Station) -- but I've also heard that living in Foothills Village is a great way to make friends with other med students. Do people who live away from Foothills Village find it a bit isolating, or does it even matter? I wouldn't have a car during first year, and would likely take the bus to school.

 

I moved from downtown Toronto too and chose the beltline - I love it. A lot of people live in Kensington - I personally don't think it's isolating at all but that's just me. If you're not going to have a car though, you'd probably want to live near school. I think I would hate having to take the bus to school - but it's really a personal thing!

 

[MSWschnoodle]

Thanks for the info, sjc2! I'm just wondering if most people live close to the university. I'm moving from downtown Toronto and am leaning more towards a trendy neighbourhood like Kensington/Hillhurst (near Sunnyside Station) -- but I've also heard that living in Foothills Village is a great way to make friends with other med students. Do people who live away from Foothills Village find it a bit isolating, or does it even matter? I wouldn't have a car during first year, and would likely take the bus to school.

 

 

 

I live far away from the medical school (45 minutes-1 hour commute each way with traffic, 30-35 minute commute sans traffic) and it definitely does play at least a bit of a role in how many 'after school' activities I choose to stick around for. It's not the only factor (my medical school goal is to have my partner still remember what I look like by the time I reach the end of it) but it's a consideration for me. I don't feel super isolated to be honest, but I go to lecture every day which probably helps with that. If I was a podcaster and didn't do extracurricular stuff because of my distance from the school I would likely feel more like I was on the periphery. 

 

A car is an absolute necessity for me because of how far away I live but I'd honestly say a car is pretty required for clerkship, especially if you are doing an out of hospital call rotation. You usually have to be able to get back to the hospital within 30 minutes if on home call and at 3AM you don't want to be relying on a cab being able to get you right away. You also will have clerkship rotations at different hospitals around the city (and quite possibly outside of the city) and you may have to commute from your clerkship site to the U of C in a shorter time window than the bus would allow on certain days. 

 

That being said, there very well could be students in clerkship without cars (I just don't know of any off the top of my head), so hopefully they chime in here too! :-)

[MountainAmoeba]

How do you manage the expense of parking? I live in Cochrane, and currently work full time, but seeing as my income is about to dry up, I'm concerned with the expense.

 

I live far away from the medical school (45 minutes-1 hour commute each way with traffic, 30-35 minute commute sans traffic) and it definitely does play at least a bit of a role in how many 'after school' activities I choose to stick around for. It's not the only factor (my medical school goal is to have my partner still remember what I look like by the time I reach the end of it) but it's a consideration for me. I don't feel super isolated to be honest, but I go to lecture every day which probably helps with that. If I was a podcaster and didn't do extracurricular stuff because of my distance from the school I would likely feel more like I was on the periphery.

 

A car is an absolute necessity for me because of how far away I live but I'd honestly say a car is pretty required for clerkship, especially if you are doing an out of hospital call rotation. You usually have to be able to get back to the hospital within 30 minutes if on home call and at 3AM you don't want to be relying on a cab being able to get you right away. You also will have clerkship rotations at different hospitals around the city (and quite possibly outside of the city) and you may have to commute from your clerkship site to the U of C in a shorter time window than the bus would allow on certain days.

 

That being said, there very well could be students in clerkship without cars (I just don't know of any off the top of my head), so hopefully they chime in here too! :-)

[Borborygmi]

I also moved from Toronto and am in Kensington. I originally to the neighbourhood adjacent to the health sciences campus.Unfortunately, the area surrounding the health sciences campus is a desert for food or much of anything interesting. I bike or drive to campus from Kensington. Kensington is also sort of equidistance to fmc, rgh, and plc and is right on the river. Loving it a lot and happy I moved.

[thisone]

I also moved from Toronto and am in Kensington. I originally to the neighbourhood adjacent to the health sciences campus.Unfortunately, the area surrounding the health sciences campus is a desert for food or much of anything interesting. I bike or drive to campus from Kensington. Kensington is also sort of equidistance to fmc, rgh, and plc and is right on the river. Loving it a lot and happy I moved.

Thanks Borborygmi for letting me know! Kensington looks like the area that's most familiar to me (I'm an Annex kid at heart) and it's still fairly close to campus. If you don't mind me asking, do you have any tips on finding properties in the area? Rentfaster & Kijiji have properties, but I don't know if I should pounce on them or wait for better properties to open nearer to June. I'm also wondering if any upper-years are planning to post their properties to FB or not.

 

And thanks sjc2 and MSWschnoodle! I am thinking of starting off the year without a car and seeing how it goes. I'd like to save the expense for as long as I can, but if I really need it for first year I'll probably consider. The harsh winters might make me quickly reconsider... And I'll definitely be getting a car for clerkship.

[MSWschnoodle]

How do you manage the expense of parking? I live in Cochrane, and currently work full time, but seeing as my income is about to dry up, I'm concerned with the expense.

 

 

 

If you are willing to walk 10-15 minutes from your car to FMC then you can get your monthly cost down to around $50 a month during the pre clerkship years. For clerkship paying for parking will likely be a very expensive and unfortunate reality for me. 

[Borborygmi]

There are sneaky ways at every hospital to not pay for parking . You just have to walk short distances after parking. Sometimes it's worth it to save $15/d. 

 

thisone: I used rentfaster to find my place in Kensington. Things are always popping up online, so I don't think there's a huge urgency in jumping on properties. I found my place about.... 4-6 weeks out. If there is a listing that you really like that is for June though, for example, you could try messaging the landlord and asking to start in July. I really like the apartment I have right now, but when I was looking for places to rent the apartment was listed for occupancy one month before the time I was hoping. I used the "I'm a responsible and clean med student" opening e-mail and asked the landlord to consider July. They were happy to accommodate. Just a couple of tips. It's such a renter's market that landlords are often happy to have a responsible tenant.

 

Kensington is great though. Lots to do, decent restaurants (Vendome, Dairy Lane, Raw Market Collective, Hayden Block, Menyatai, Muku, + skipthedishes), right on the path system, adjacent to downtown, good yoga studios, gyms, and other fitness options, relatively close to campus (it's a 12-14 minute bike ride to campus, 7 by car, or a 25 minute bus ride), has a movie theatre, a decent number of coffee and tea shops that aren't Starbucks (but also has a Starbucks, if that's your thing), etc. Also a really awesome candy store called Gummi Boutique that I frequent way too frequently. I just wish Kensington had an awesome ice creamery, but Made by Marcus and Village Ice Cream are both close enough and I can get cupcakes at Crave as a sort of distant substitute . A new board game cafe and an escape room just opened in the neighbourhood and there is a rumour that a kitty cuddling cafe is coming soon! Plus, Kensington has a few good clothing stores for both men and women. 

And, I mean, I'm here and you can come and visit and chill. Maybe a little added bonus .

[MSWschnoodle]

There are sneaky ways at every hospital to not pay for parking . You just have to walk short distances after parking. Sometimes it's worth it to save $15/d. 

 

thisone: I used rentfaster to find my place in Kensington. Things are always popping up online, so I don't think there's a huge urgency in jumping on properties. I found my place about.... 4-6 weeks out. If there is a listing that you really like that is for June though, for example, you could try messaging the landlord and asking to start in July. I really like the apartment I have right now, but when I was looking for places to rent the apartment was listed for occupancy one month before the time I was hoping. I used the "I'm a responsible and clean med student" opening e-mail and asked the landlord to consider July. They were happy to accommodate. Just a couple of tips. It's such a renter's market that landlords are often happy to have a responsible tenant.

 

Kensington is great though. Lots to do, decent restaurants (Vendome, Dairy Lane, Raw Market Collective, Hayden Block, Menyatai, Muku, + skipthedishes), right on the path system, adjacent to downtown, good yoga studios, gyms, and other fitness options, relatively close to campus (it's a 12-14 minute bike ride to campus, 7 by car, or a 25 minute bus ride), has a movie theatre, a decent number of coffee and tea shops that aren't Starbucks (but also has a Starbucks, if that's your thing), etc. Also a really awesome candy store called Gummi Boutique that I frequent way too frequently. I just wish Kensington had an awesome ice creamery, but Made by Marcus and Village Ice Cream are both close enough and I can get cupcakes at Crave as a sort of distant substitute . A new board game cafe and an escape room just opened in the neighbourhood and there is a rumour that a kitty cuddling cafe is coming soon! Plus, Kensington has a few good clothing stores for both men and women. 

 

And, I mean, I'm here and you can come and visit and chill. Maybe a little added bonus .

 

 

Seriously?! Please share with me your free parking wisdom!!!!   

 

This is why you have to find yourself a good student mentor, folks. They carry with them the wisdom of generations that will save you some LOC room! 

[sjc2]

How do you manage the expense of parking? I live in Cochrane, and currently work full time, but seeing as my income is about to dry up, I'm concerned with the expense.

 

 

I have come to embrace being in debt. It is a part of who I am. 

[sjc2]

Seriously?! Please share with me your free parking wisdom!!!!   

 

This is why you have to find yourself a good student mentor, folks. They carry with them the wisdom of generations that will save you some LOC room! 

 

You can park at that park at the intersection of Memorial and Shaganappi and walk up the hill. Not explaining this well but I know some of the animal famjam parks there.

[Borborygmi]

You can park at that park at the intersection of Memorial and Shaganappi and walk up the hill. Not explaining this well but I know some of the animal famjam parks there.

 

SHC: block just south of Marriott is free parking and I always get a spot.

RGH: the neighbourhood across the street (across Crowchild) and the little road that goes to the bridge over the reservoir are both free for parking.

PLC: parking lot in the strip mall across the street is also free.

[Eian01]

I love the walking advice, its good for both health and pocket. If you secure to rent somewhere close to Foothills, this can also cut down commute time and costs....

[sjc2]

SHC: block just south of Marriott is free parking and I always get a spot.

RGH: the neighbourhood across the street (across Crowchild) and the little road that goes to the bridge over the reservoir are both free for parking.

PLC: parking lot in the strip mall across the street is also free.

 

This needs to go in the "How to be a Good Clerk" presentation lol

[BATMAN101]

I'm looking for two students to rent my apartment on university drive. About a 7 minute walk to the med campus. Comes with secured underground heating parking. 2 BR & 2 full bathrooms. Message me if you are interested.

[Goku]

What's the word on those Boardwalk apartments in University Heights? Any good?