Guest Jochi1543 Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 Well, after taking many issues into consideration, I have concluded that it would be better for me to move to Calgary instead of Vancouver in May. That said, I would like to do the same thing I did in the BC forum a couple of months ago and ask you all about Calgary. What do you like? What do you dislike? How are the realities of life such as car insurance, public transportation, nightlife? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kayak22 Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 There is a thread about this already - check it out under "why the U of C is for me" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jochi1543 Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 There isn't much information about the city itself there, only about the school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kayak22 Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 yup...you're right. There isn't much info about Calgary on the other thread. Calgary is awesome! Though I am biased as I have lived here all my life. Depending on what you enjoy doing, Calgary is both big city and small town wrapped into one. I live on the outskirts of town and don't have to venture into downtown very much so Calgary feels a lot smaller than if I had to force my way through traffic everyday. I can get to the mountains in 45 minutes and go running/hiking/paddling any time I want. The city has a great night life too. With this city becoming a hot spot with oil and gas and all the major companies setting up headquarters - it is seen as the land of opportunity. After having lived in southern Ontario for a few years, Calgary seems a lot more relaxed and the people much more friendly. There are bike paths and running paths everywhere!!! and there are lots of trendy areas in town that are great to explore. I'm not quite sure what you are wanting to know...but I hope this is a start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jochi1543 Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 Hey Kayak, this is exactly the type of stuff I'm looking for. Just wanted to know what people living in Calgary think about their city. So how's the climate? My impression is that you often have major temperature fluctuations in the winter. Is it more difficult to handle than a stable cold winter? How is the traffic situation there? Is it easy to get around in a car, or is it rush hour hell 20 out of 24 hours every day? Is gasoline affordable? What about public transportation, is it reliable/cheap/safe? Are there any specific areas of Calgary where rent is relative low, but the neighborhoods are still safe? I won't be able to see the city/apartments before I rent, so I'd like to know whether you'd recommend a particular convenient area of town to live in (either close to businesses or in the suburbs, but easily accessible by freeway without too much traffic) or let me know what areas of town I should stay away from. You have car insurance through the government in Alberta, right? How are you finding the rates? Do you have mandatory car inspections in Alberta/Calgary? Hope you have answers to some of these questions. Thanks!:hat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest happy2bme Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 My two cents..... Major temp fluctuations are welcomed by myself instead of a long cold winter, but feared by those who suffer from headaches due to weather changes It can be difficult to get around by car at rush hour but it usually is just slow, you don't have to sit in traffic for 2 hours or anything like that, you are in Minneapolis, we definitly do not have the freeway system of that city but we are not as large either. Calgary is just under 1 million. I never had use transit in MN but transit here will take along time if you are on the edges of the city to get to UofC med school which is located at Foothills hospital. If you don't have a car, find a place close to the C-train (above ground light rail system) or close to campus itself to save your sanity. Although we have some minor gang activity, it's nothing compared to living in Vancouver or MN. Crime in Calgary is growing but I feel safer here than living in either of Van or MN. Most communties are very safe, including all the communities around UofC. Some lower income areas such as Forest Lawn you will find some crack houses/ pros etc. But I live in Edward sissorhands suburbs are we just had a grow op busted on our nice, quiet, manicured lawns, street last year, so one just never knows. Car insurance cost me about 15% than it did for me in BC. hope some of this helps, i wrote quickly so hopefully it's not too confusing!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jochi1543 Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 Thanks for your contribution, Happy2bme. Just one question, when you say: Car insurance cost me about 15% than it did for me in BC., were you saying it cost you 15% more or less than when you lived in BC? What would be the "safe" radius around U of C, in your opinion? Is everything within a 5-mile radius safe to live in, for most part? I don't need a white picket fence to feel safe, but the equivalent of Frogtown/University Avenue in St. Paul (I assume you have been to the Cities from your post) is a little more than I can handle. This is funny, my old apartment was in a very prestiguous neighborhood, and the story was that the previous tenants were evicted for drug dealing - the police busted them and found like 4 pounds of cocaine and dozens of guns in there. So yeah, you never know your neighbors as well as you think you do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest marbledust Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 What would be the "safe" radius around U of C, in your opinion? Is everything within a 5-mile radius safe to live in, for most part? I would say everything around the university, and quite a distance beyond, would be what you would consider "safe." You gotta remember Jochi this is Canada--have you ever seen Bowling for Columbine where Michael Moore is astonished to find Canadians don't lock their doors. All kidding aside, Calgary is what I would consider extremely safe. You do hear of gang violence that seems to occur repeatedly in specific areas of the city, but it is by no means restricted to those areas. I'm not going to unfairly bash any specific neighbourhoods, but they generally are not in the vicinity of U of C or FMC (where the medical school is). One point to note, however, is that you are going to pay more for the convience of living near school. Speaking of safety, my uncle who is a detective, says one of the greatest dangers facing Calgary right now is an exponential rise in serious road rage cases. So, you know, don't flip anybody the finger here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jochi1543 Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 Speaking of safety, my uncle who is a detective, says one of the greatest dangers facing Calgary right now is an exponential rise in serious road rage cases. So, you know, don't flip anybody the finger here. I have an old geezer car, so I never get involved into this type of stuff. People just assume I'm 90 years old and completely senile and therefore any interaction with me is pointless.:rollin By the way, I plan to join the police force if I don't get into meds, so one day I might work with your uncle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UBCGuyFromAlberta Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 Well I am a Calgarian born and raised so I thought that I would add my two cents. Safety - I am not sure that there is a safer city of this size. I am currently at UBC doing undergrad and I honestly say, as a fairly large male, that I would feel safer walking in ANY Calgary community (including some of the lower income neighbourhoods like Forest Lawn, which despite it's poor reputation is much more good than bad) than travelling to many vancouver neibourhoods. Housing - Hard to say where the best place to live is. My personal suggestion would be in the Hillhurst/Kensignton/Sunnyside community. Right beside the C-train, safe, close to any shopping you could imagine, rent is horrific (not really cheap either), close to downtown, walk to Prince's Island Park or Eau Claire. And most of all there is just a great feeling of community living there (as you may have guessed my family and I used to live there). Getting around - Two words: urban sprawl. Calgary is frickin' huge. My junior high social teacher told me that it was the second largest city in North America in land size next to LA (though I am unsure of the validity of that). If you don't have a car or live resonably close to transit getting to school everyday may be a serious inconvenience. That being said if you are close to either the university (the medical school I mean), or the C-train it is not a big deal. Weather - You get used to it. 20 degrees in December. Snow in June. Sunshine all year round. The position of weatherman here is more for show than anything. That being said you get to see amazing blue skies most of the year, and don't have to face 7 months of unrelenting cold as is the case in other places. In thinking about my own experience moving to Vancouver this year I can tell you that seeing the sun and blue skies is worth the extra ten or fifteen degree colder it is in the winter. Summer here are amazing; warm, sunny, Calgary Stampede... Overall I must say that of all the cities that I have visitted I think Calgary is amoung the most liveable. People are friendly, places are safe, there is a sense of community, and, well... chinook winds are incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest happy2bme Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 jochi, it costs me about 15% more, than it did in BC If you have a "junker" car you might have an issue getting it safety checked. I know we had problems with one of our "junkers" when we first moved here. The stupidest thing was that I also had to pay to have a saftey check done on my car that I had bought brand new only 8 weeks before in Vancouver!!! Talk about a money grab!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jochi1543 Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 I think I have to do a safety check anyway when I cross the border....hopefully this won't mean I'll have to do TWO.:x Luckily, my car's not a junker, it's not new, but it's in good condition overall. How much was the safety check? Is it the same for all cars, or does it depend? Is there some website with basic info about that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wintersnowflake Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 With all of this talk of how great Calgary is, I am really starting to get excited (I am flying into Calgary tomorrow to meet with some prospective grad supervisors and to spend Christmas with my family in BC). Maybe I too will be moving to this great city in the future... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jochi1543 Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 Have you been there before, wintersnowflake? Are you applying anywhere in that area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wintersnowflake Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 My parents have a place in BC (but we always fly into Calgary), so I have been to the city a number of times and love it!!! I havn't applied to med in Alberta (I did to a couple in Ontario but I don't have much confidence in them), so I am planning to do my masters at UofC and apply again. Best of luck with your Calgary endeavors, I am sure you will love it there too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest not rex morgan Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 As someone who recently moved to Calgary from BC, I thought I could add my observations. Safety-I've lived in Vancouver for a number of years, and yes, it is safer here. People think it's funny that I have a steering wheel lock for my car. (I don't use it anymore) City/Country- it is actually a good mix of that. It has the conveniences of a city, but the people have the mentality of country folk (minus the imports from other provinces, but even then, it is contagious) Car insurance- it's all private here, so shop around. If you can, join the Alberta Medical Association. It's dirt cheap to do so as a student. They have a deal through a company, and it was roughly half the price of anywhere else I looked. With insurance being private, they base their rates on their own statistics on how "insurable" they think you are. Example, I have lousy car Karma. You have to report all car accidents in the last 6 years whether or not they were your fault. I had 5 or six in that time. All of them, I was either parked and not in the car, or at least at a complete stop. Think car being set on fire while I wasn't on the continent, think semi-truck backing into me in traffic, think hit and run while parked and asleep in bed. etc. To some companies, I was uninsurable. To others, I had to pay ridiculous premiums. You do get a break if you are a female and have ten consecutive years of having car insurance. Mentality-while the people here are for the most part kind-hearted, I do notice the conservative air. There are certain issues such as addiction medicine, gay rights, abortion, social welfare etc, that stun me every time they are brought up. Car inspections- I leased my car less than a month before I was supposed to come here. They were still going to make me go through an inspection until I went to the mechanic to get it done. He was dumbfounded by how stupid it was that I should have to get my car inspected, he called somebody he knew in the government and found me a loophole so I didn't have to pay him any money. In exchange, he simply told me that it would be nice if I remembered him when I needed an oil change...that's a great example of the nice Albertans. (incidentally, if anyone wants a referral to this honest mechanic, PM me) Housing- my situation will be different from yours. Given that I'm here doing a residency and getting paid, I bought a place. Rent, from what I understand isn't very cheap. You could probably get a 2 bedroom place in a convenient area for 800-1000 per month. Still cheaper than Vancouver, though. As far as location goes, most people live in the central areas depending on where they prefer to live. Some love living downtown (I don't, which is good b/c it's more expensive). Many students seem to live in the northwest by the Foothills hospital. It's a good area, not overly trendy. If you wanted trendy, but not too busy, I agree, the Hillhurst/Kensington area is where it's at. Transportation-it's true, unless you live along the C-train route or along a good bus route, you need a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jochi1543 Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Thanks notrexmorgan, a very comprehensive reply.:hat Ah, I've lived in the Dirty South, I don't think I could ever possibly stick as a sore liberal thumb more than I did down there, so I guess I'll be cool with the rednecks. Unfortunately, I will have only had my license for 2 years when I move, but no accidents. Actually, I did have an accident a year ago (hit a light in a parking lot, car got wrecked like no tomorrow), but even here in Minnesota they didn't know about it, since it happened in Arkansas. Apparently, all states have their own accident registries.8o Oh well, lucky me. So, I should have a clean driving record.....and 2 consecutive years of car insurance, so I guess things should be tolerable. Go ahead and PM me the number of this wonder mechanic as well as his location....:hat By the way, how much are car inspections, usually? Or does it depend on the model? I need to know if I should expect to shell out like $800 for it or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest muchdutch Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 The last time I got my car inspected, it was $35 bucks. That was a number of years ago, so I'm assuming the cost would have gone up, but is probably still under $100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jochi1543 Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Oh good. I remember the cutthroat inspection costs in Japan. They are so expensive, it's cheaper for people to just own a car for 3 years and then send it to Russia for sale than to have it inspected. I think an inspection there was like $3500 or something?:eek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.