Could I really live there?

[P Unit]

You can get a 1 bedroom place in Parkdale for under 1000 bucks. Only catch is that the bathroom is in the bedroom.

https://www.viewit.ca/vwExpandView.aspx?ViT=146137

[Chadillaccc]

I live in a sweet house in Ranchlands NW Calgary, both Dalhousie LRT (20 min) and Crowfoot LRT (35 min) are walkable if needed, extensive bus service, close to highways, grocery stores, theatres, bars, restaurants, etc... and I pay $550 for a room... in the outer suburbs. Only 2 roommates though, both of which are great. That's about as cheap as it goes for a quality place, especially with the ongoing and tightening rental crunch the city is experiencing.

[Aylmer]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I've heard that you can make your own spruce beer pretty easily, but I've never tried it. Does it taste like turpentine? Buckley's mixture?

All of my out-of-province friends ask this and I always say the same thing.

It tastes like a pine tree.

At first, I get blank stares, but as soon as they try it, they totally get it (and they love it too - it's a taste most people acquire after then first sip).

So the next time you're in Québec, go to any grocery store, buy a bottle and I swear, the first thing you'll think is 'Wow! It tastes like a pine tree!'.

[kwoldtimer]

LCBO apparently carries a spruce beer from Nova Scotia. I'll have to check and see if I can find it.

[flar]

Here's a tour of the neighbourhood from the OP.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=141099

The residential parts are actually outstanding

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by P Unit

You can get a 1 bedroom place in Parkdale for under 1000 bucks. Only catch is that the bathroom is in the bedroom.

https://www.viewit.ca/vwExpandView.aspx?ViT=146137

You can go cheaper (that actually looks pretty nice)...only $680 for this questionable-looking, 100 sqft. Parkdale studio:

[middeljohn]

What it comes down to is that I need to buy a property as soon as I can and rent it out.

[Nashe]

You can rent a brand new, 2 bedroom + bath + dining + WIC + kitchen + vaulted living apartment in DT Moncton for under $1300. Of course, it's in "DT" Moncton...

http://www.in-cite.ca/

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Xelebes

I pay 1000 for a two-bedroom with a few nearby bus routes and one quite dependable bus route. Live two neighbourhoods south of Bulliver.

Ouch. Edmonton sure has changed. I lived in the Old Strathcona area in the early 90's and never paid over $200/month. I briefly owned a condo on Sask Drive, paid $78K for 1,800 sq ft.

[rousseau]

Heh heh...in 1990 I paid $50 a month to live in this place while I went to U. of Winnipeg. This is on Simcoe north of Portage, just across from Vimy Ridge Park. The whole house went for $200. I had the room in the attic.

There was no insulation in the walls apart from wood chips, and the furnace had the heating power of a toaster oven. The place was absolutely freezing from October to March. But in September the parties at the beginning of the academic year were fun, as were the parties in April at the end of the academic year. The west end of Winnipeg looms large in my imagination.

[ue]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

You have several options:

1) $800 can get you a 600sq.ft. clean, bright (basement windows) and modern basement apartment NEAR a subway station.

2) $800 for clean and spacious yet basic apartments downtown that are AWAY from subway stations (bus accessible) are plentiful but you have to move quickly as they come on market and get snapped up quickly.

3) $1,100 minimum if you're looking for an above ground apartment/highrise NEAR or ABOVE a subway station, with 1-2 bedrooms (some are clean, some are not, you have to visit to determine for yourself).

4) $1200-1300 minimum for a clean/spacious 1 bedroom rental condo that's convenient (next to subway station or streetcar stop) and spacious (700-800 sq.ft.)

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

$1,200 would definitely get you a 1 bedroom in a reasonable 60s-70s tower block or a Victorian home, maybe a 2 bedroom in a slummier building or one away from the core.

There are still plenty of apartments downtown under $1,000/month, it's just that they're going to be 100-300 sqft.

Thanks for the info, guys.

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Yes, except for the fact that the chinooks do exist and it is a major factor of our winter weather every single year without fail, so how could it possibly be excluded?

Also, the difference in daylight hours in the summer is about a half hour. 300 km is pretty significant. At our maxmimum, we get 16 hours 33 minutes of daylight, Edmonton's maximum is 17 hours 3 minutes.... so I guess it's not as different as I thought. Before checking, I thought the difference was an hour.

I'm not opting for the exclusion of chinooks, but you're making it seem like Calgary has a wildly different winter compared to Edmonton. The reality is that you're going to get as much frigidity and regular winter weather (0 to -10) up here as you do down there, just you won't get random breaks from it every now and again. And comparing us with extremely cold cities up north is a bit unfair too, I might add.