Housing Choices - where you choose to live

[Ferreth]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Thanks for the tip!! Never would have known to look there.

What about for walking routes into downtown? I know I can walk past the drop in centre, or stay North along the river and pop over Centre Street or Prince's Island. Is there a way in further to the East?

Any tricks for walking to the Saddledome?

If you are on the far east side of Bridgeland, the Zoo bridge through Inglewood, crossing the Elbow river on 9th and south to the 'dome might be a bit quicker, otherwise it's Edmonton trail to 2nd St.

For the zoo crossing: Depending on where you are you either come at it from 12St NE and walk west or from the LRT bridge, walk east. Then tippy-toe WEST through the island (where a lot of bums sleep at night) and cross the suspension bridge landing you just east of 6th St. If you want to go to Inglewood, follow the path EAST along the zoo and cross what is my favorite steel girder car bridge in Calgary. You will be in Inglewood at this time. Stop by at Swan's on 9th & 13th St. for a beer.

Here's a map

Bridgeland to 'Dome

Swan's

[hulkrogan]

^Perfect! Thanks! Good to know. I'll check out Swan's for sure. I'm on the West side (7a Street) but that's only a couple blocks west of the LRT memorial crossing, so those work good!

[Danma]

Be careful if you go to lunch at Swan's... I've ended up waiting 40 minutes + for my food orders there! Beer is good though.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by Danma

Be careful if you go to lunch at Swan's... I've ended up waiting 40 minutes + for my food orders there! Beer is good though.

I've eaten at Swan's more than a few times and have never had service that slow. The do a pretty tasty hamburger.

[Ferreth]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

I've eaten at Swan's more than a few times and have never had service that slow. The do a pretty tasty hamburger.

As a semi-regular patron, I'll pass along that they've had some cook problems during the boom times - I've had slow service as well. It seems to be fixed now, but I haven't been there much lately (never for lunch), so I'm not sure about that. I strongly recommend the Pizza with spicy italian sausage It's from Spolumbo's, just down the street (another place to visit).

Oh, and speaking of beer, Swan's is one of the few places in town that will do a proper pour on a Guinness or Kilkenny. You haven't had draft until you've had a proper pour - worth the longer wait.

[Fiveway]

Total thread derail, but is it Swan's or Swann's? Either way, I went there once when I first moved to Iwood and food was so lame I never went back. I do my beer drinking at The Hose, but perhaps I should give Swan's another chance.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by Fiveway

Total thread derail, but is it Swan's or Swann's? Either way, I went there once when I first moved to Iwood and food was so lame I never went back. I do my beer drinking at The Hose, but perhaps I should give Swan's another chance.

I think it's Swans. No extra n and no apostrophe. I've been known to frequent both establishments from time to time and I prefer the menu at Swans over the The Hose. The Calgary Dining forum might be a better place for this topic.

[RicoLance21]

Now that I live in Windsor Park for over a month, I find the place very convenient because of Bus Route 3. However, there were a few occasions when the bus don't show up for more than 30 minutes, and that was during afternoon rush hour in snowy December. I am just wondering what you guys think of Windsor Park in terms of walkability. Also note that my neighbourhood is walking distance to Sunterra and Chinook Centre.

[kw5150]

The new SAIT tower is directly in line with my from porch basically. I love my location because the SAIT C-train station is 4 blocks away.

If I want to go for a walk with the boyfriend, we just walk or bike down the 10th st hill into Kensington. From Kensington we ca nget anywhere. We have become urban explorers on the weekends.

There are 3 food stores, tonnes of pubs, gyms and other amenities only a close train ride away.

This is the best living I have ever experienced in Calgary. I would like to move further and further in. Maybe Bridgland?

The man who loves inner city life....even in Calgary!!

[Bassic Lab]

Originally Posted by RicoLance21

Now that I live in Windsor Park for over a month, I find the place very convenient because of Bus Route 3. However, there were a few occasions when the bus don't show up for more than 30 minutes, and that was during afternoon rush hour in snowy December. I am just wondering what you guys think of Windsor Park in terms of walkability. Also note that my neighbourhood is walking distance to Sunterra and Chinook Centre.

It would be better if the Britainia retail strip was a fair bit larger and more varied. If retail carried east along 50th Ave it would help a great deal. If Avi's project on the north side of the road ever goes forward in some form then street front retail should be mandated. Windsor Park does show how easy it is to redevelop formerly suburban areas and achieve a very high density, as long as it is on a grid system.

[hulkrogan]

House sitting for some family in Rocky Ridge right now and I want to kill myself.

I never used to find the 20-30 minute drive to get downtown that bad, but I'm now spoiled. I hate paying for parking, filling up with gas twice a week, and getting into a cold car after work. I will be very happy to be back to my daily choice of walking, biking, taking the bus or the train.

[freeweed]

You can take the train to Rocky Ridge quite easily - even easier in a few years.

[sim]

Well I grew up on a farm in central Alberta. I've since lived in a trailer in Golden, Staff accom complex in Whistler, 3 different SFH in Calgary as well as a walkup, townhome, and a 3 story apt, and a walkup in Edmonton. I also had the opportunity to live in a campus apartment in Germany, a two bed dorm in a 21 story building in HK and a strange 4 bed dorm in a complex in Turkey.

I currently live in a 6 story apt building in the beltline. I like it there the most compared to the other communities I've lived in here, though I've only been there 1 month. I can't say that I've spent extensive amounts of time in any of the above places so my assessments might not be too fair. I was initially leery of living in HK as it's, well, really, really urban and I'm from a farm... or something. Either way, I really ended up enjoying it. Also due to all that moving around I can't say that I have overly many friends in Calgary. However, I still couldn't picture myself anywhere else in Calgary other than the very inner city.

The pros of course being that I'm close to everything. I don't actually use my car other than to get to work as I unfortunately don't work downtown. However, this is still a pro as I generally go against main traffic flow, thus my drive isn't too bad.

Cons: I do like screwing around and building things so that can be trickier with less space. I also don't have a tree for my hammock...

I find though, that with a bit more resourcefulness the cons can be diminished.

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by freeweed

You can take the train to Rocky Ridge quite easily - even easier in a few years.

You beat me to it Freeweed! And the time is about equal to driving to boot.

And hulkster, what the hell do you drive that requires filling up 2x week? I drive the same trip (almost) every day with my big bad truck and it's a fill up about every 1 1/2 to 2 weeks for me.

[sync]

after stints in edmonton and vancouver, my wife and i are trying to decide what to do after she finishes grad school in july.

we would love to stay in calgary but aftering browsing the portland real estate listings this morning i am officially depressed about the price of housing in calgary and what is available.

we will certainly be looking at portland if we decided to leave canada.

we both work in the health care industry.

[Wentworth]

^ If I were in your shoes, I'd probably be considering Portland too.... if you can readily find employment, which is the challenge for Portland. Unfortunately, I think Oregon's unemployment rate sits at 11% now. The housing market is probably a reflection of this.

http://seattlebubble.com/blog/wp-con...ast2009.08.png

[freeweed]

Yeah, I also get very depressed when I browse US real estate these days. You can get bloody mansions for what a small 3 bedroom house costs in Calgary.

Then I spend 20 minutes talking to people about the unemployment rate and average wage (plus vacation time), and remain very happy that I'm here.

[sync]

Originally Posted by Wentworth

^ If I were in your shoes, I'd probably be considering Portland too.... if you can readily find employment, which is the challenge for Portland. Unfortunately, I think Oregon's unemployment rate sits at 11% now. The housing market is probably a reflection of this.

http://seattlebubble.com/blog/wp-con...ast2009.08.png

unfortunately the health care industry in alberta doesn't have much to offer right now either.

i'm glad she has 7 months to go!

[RicoLance21]

Originally Posted by Bassic Lab

It would be better if the Britainia retail strip was a fair bit larger and more varied. If retail carried east along 50th Ave it would help a great deal. If Avi's project on the north side of the road ever goes forward in some form then street front retail should be mandated. Windsor Park does show how easy it is to redevelop formerly suburban areas and achieve a very high density, as long as it is on a grid system.

There are a couple of empty lots along Elbow Drive. One on the SE corner of 52 Ave and another on the SW corner of 50 Ave. The latter used to be a gas station there, but I heard that lot is contaminated. Imagine streetfront retail on these lots with 6 floors of condos above it. That would be sweet, and IMO, they would not overpower the surrounding areas. Eventually, I would like to see rows of these along Elbow Drive from 50 Ave all the way south to Glenmore.

[Bassic Lab]

Originally Posted by RicoLance21

There are a couple of empty lots along Elbow Drive. One on the SE corner of 52 Ave and another on the SW corner of 50 Ave. The latter used to be a gas station there, but I heard that lot is contaminated. Imagine streetfront retail on these lots with 6 floors of condos above it. That would be sweet, and IMO, they would not overpower the surrounding areas. Eventually, I would like to see rows of these along Elbow Drive from 50 Ave all the way south to Glenmore.

I actually think the section of Elbow Drive south of Glenmore would work better in that role. The mansions that back onto the Calgary Golf and Country Club really hinder any chance of changing the west side of Elbow Drive between 50th and Bel-Aire Drive. Really most of Elbow north of Glenmore just feels more like Memorial Drive; it is pleasant, in large part due to the parks and mansions, but it just doesn't feel like a community main street.

On the other hand, south of Glenmore Elbow Drive has fewer interruptions, the building stock seems less permanent, and the road simply feels more central to the communities along its length as opposed to peripheral. I think the site that Vespucci developed at Heritage could have been something really special if the building had met the street, with parking below ground and around the back, and included two or three stories of apartments or offices built on top. Replicate that kind of development up and down Elbow and it would be a very nice main street.