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Places to live in Calgary

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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142
I just got a job in Calgary so it looks like I'll be moving out there next year... but I don't know the city or the housing market very well. I'd probably be getting there in may. The place I'm working at is in the Bankers Hall East tower (9th avenue & 2nd street) and I'll be there a ton, especially the first year. So I want something close by, probably a 1 bedroom apartment or studio. What are some good options? Connaught? What can I expect to pay / where?
Jun 4 2009 2:53PM
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bailer
Posts: 2178 - Karma: 14
Bankers Hall is a nice building congrats you probably got a good job.

As for living... if you want to rent downtown close enough to walk to your job its going to be more expensive. Downtown living on your own will cost at least 800-900 minimum in rent alone. If you are willing to live outside of downtown it will be cheaper... proly more like 600-700 minimum for a place on your own. Generaly i would suggest sticking to the west side of Calgary, either NW or middle west (COPish area), not to far South... This will keep you at about 20mins to downtown and you can get out of the city quickly to drive to the mountains. Stay away from the dirty south and the NE.
Jun 4 2009 6:38PM
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wesmantooth
Posts: 125 - Karma: 50
living downtown in a one bedroom apartment.  try 1100-1300.  If you can find a place.  Good luck with that
Jun 5 2009 6:08PM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,123
why would you want to live in calgary?

Jun 5 2009 7:13PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142
People will pay me considerable sums of money to do so? But I do want a decent apartment. I can handle 1100-1300/mo if I absolutely have to go there... still, if there's another reasonably nice area not too far from downtown for sub 1k though that'd be preferable. Just want some info since I know almost nothing about the city.
Jun 5 2009 8:17PM
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auzzski
Posts: 172 - Karma: 446
there is some pretty nice apparments right by westbrook mall that are just getting built. i dont know the price it could be pretty pricy. It is quite far from downtown but there is a bus (301) that is really fast that will drive you right downtown.
Jun 6 2009 4:17PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142
I've got a while to get educated but I just sort of need some places to start looking. Is there a good website for info about this stuff or for listings aside from craigslist?
Jun 7 2009 4:21PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142
How's mount royal to live in?
Jun 7 2009 6:53PM
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___ASP___
Posts: 3861 - Karma: 490
mount royal is one of the nicest communities in calgary and also one of the most expensive, but if u can find a little apartment or condo thats on the end of mount royal closer to downtown u might be able to find something that is closer to the price u want to pay, its also a nice area in that you are only a few block from 17th ave and very close to downtown
Jun 8 2009 1:32AM
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rockymountainmilitia
Posts: 2706 - Karma: 12
kensington, west hillhurst, hillhurst, bankview, sunnyside, lower mount royal, beltline.

all of these are decent communities close to downtown. for kensington/hillhurst you can expect to pay 500-1000 bucks depending on the quality of the place.

check out www.homerent.ca, they seem to have the most extensive list of good rentals.

anything directly downtown you are looking around 1100-1500 a month.
Jun 8 2009 2:48AM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142
I can barely find anything on offer for downtown proper through craigslist, It's like there aren't any residential buildings there.
Jun 8 2009 1:31PM
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rockymountainmilitia
Posts: 2706 - Karma: 12

www.homerent.ca

check out inner city, take the toggles of and check just the neighbourhoods you want to view.

downtown, mission, kensington, inglewood, hillhurst, sunnyside, bankview, lower mount royal.

craigslist doesnt have anything.

Jun 8 2009 2:25PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142
Yeah that link is awesome. Thanks, definitely helps. How's the traffic getting downtown in the mornings from places relatively close-by (mission for example)? The tradeoff of not living right downtown is more space for less money so I have enough room for a home office I can work with.
Jun 8 2009 4:50PM
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bailer
Posts: 2178 - Karma: 14
^From most of those places it would be a short
Jun 8 2009 5:17PM
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rockymountainmilitia
Posts: 2706 - Karma: 12

You definitely would want to take transit from any close neighbourhood. If you are in mission, a quick walk to 4th st and jump on a bus and you would be directly down town in 5 or 10 minutes depending on traffic. From the other side of downtown in the NW, from kensington or sunnyside, the c-train would get you there just as fast. Parking your own vehicle downtown is between 20-25 bucks a day. The cheapest monthly parking passes run about 300 or 400 dollars, upwards of 1700 to park under bankers hall in heated parking. If your coming in may, just buy a bike. It is easily the quickest way to navigate downtown in the summer and the bike path system is awesome. Mission is a rad neighbourhood close to 17th ave, and right on 4th which is already packed with diners, resturants, pubs and lounges, plus a few good clothing and skate shops. On the other side of the city, Kensington is more of a spread out 4th street. a half dozen pubs and lounges, good resturants and good shops. Either area is exactly where you wanna be if your living in Calgary if you plan to spend your time in and around the downtown area.

Best things on 4th street and around Mission: Hana Sushi, Henry, Group 7, Earls Tin Palace, The Ship and Anchor, BLVD (kinda shitty, but wicked hot staff and a few fun nights a month),close to the Drum and Monkey.

Best things in Kensington: Pulcinella, Source, Mission, Fresh, Mollys, Higher Ground & Oolong Tea house, The Reagle Beagle for wings and ribs, Yardhouse for hot servers and girls, Globefish Sushi, Chicken on the Way, The Plaza Theater (shows old movies like Jaws or Star Wars for cheap)

Walking to Bankers Hall from either location is probably the same distance and time. give or take 15-20 minutes.  

Jun 9 2009 2:15PM
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Verno
Posts: 542 - Karma: 23

JD, congrats on the job.

Are you a Vancouverite or easterner?

The best site hands down for rentals in Calgary is RentFaster.ca.

I can't believe these other blokes didn't mention it.  Kinda amateur, actually.  Check it.  Forget about Craigslist and other generic crap like that. 

Right now is actually a killer good time to lock into a 1 or 2 person condo in the downtown core for a year.  Condos have been massively overbuilt here and I've visited friends in a couple of the newer buildings and OVER 1/2 of the units are bare bones empty.  It's incredible.  If you're assertive, you'll be able to negotiate something in the $900-1000/mo range for a 1 bdrm place.   2 brdms likely go for 1200 to 1300 for a nice place.  Having a roomy pays off if you're flexible.  Downtown's really the most expensive place and, for all intents and purposes, it's not worth it.  Calgary's core is dead at 6pm every night.  And I mean FRI/SAT too.  If you're a mid-20's professional, you'll much prefer Kensington, the Belt-line (incl. 17th ave - aka Red Mile - bar district) or maybe even Marda Loop or Parkdale...crap like that.  In general, you'll be able to find a basement suite pretty easily for $600-800, but don't expect rents that are stupid low....Calgary just isn't back there yet.  Don't both renting out of the inner city if you work downtown.  Commutes in Calgary are AMAZING compared to TOR or VAN.  Seriously, 10-15mins.  The damn LRT (Subway) usually takes longer.  The problem, though, is parking.  If you're driving, expect to shell out $20/day.  For that reason alone, it's worth taking the LRT.  Calgary's got some pretty sicke bikepaths and trails, so don't be affraid to keep that option open if the new work place has got a shower.

If you need any real advice drop me a PM.

Verno.

Jun 9 2009 2:53PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142
I'm from Vancouver. Thanks for the link to the site, it's really useful for actually mapping where the apartments are. If I can knock a little off the price of a couple of those options I could definitely afford downtown. I do have student loans to pay back, though, so I might want to think about cutting back on the expenses and getting rid of those over the first couple of years. I want a decent place though, no basements. I noticed downtown being dead on weekends but it's no big, I'm moving there for work not for social life. I think I'll probably be driving unless I'm living super close to the office and can +15 it quickly. Parking is free so it's no issue. I don't really know anyone living near downtown so I'm probably looking at a 1 bedroom. As for the work place having a shower, I don't really know, but it's a pretty huge building, so I'm guessing it has more or less everything including a fitness centre.

I have lots of time to get this figured out but I want to start getting a feel for the areas and prices now rather than later.
Jun 9 2009 7:56PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142
I'll probably be 30 before I start thinking about buying. Right now I just need a place to live while I start building up some money so that I CAN think about that eventually.
Jun 10 2009 6:03PM
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Verno
Posts: 542 - Karma: 23

The prices in Calgary will continue to fall in the next 2-3 years anyways.

Inflation will pick up, banks will raise interest rates, and all those that bought using 5 yr fixed terms 2-3 yrs from now will be shittin' their pants when it comes time to renew and their bank's offering them 8% rates.  It'll happen.  The market will again be flooded with houses & condos....that's if this round of condos even sell, that is.

Jun 12 2009 12:21PM
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skibunnie
Posts: 1756 - Karma: 14
umm no you can't. unless you're in the north east. and then youre not close to anything good.

JD, that's awesome you're moving here!!! congrats on the job!
if you're planning on driving you could look at Marda Loop and Killarney as well, both neighbourhoods are a short drive to downtown. I take the bus from killarney every morning and it takes 4 minutes.

you're lucky, the rental market has opened up a lot recently. it used to be next to impossible to find a decent place. when I was moving out of my last apartment I put an ad on craigslist and had over 100 emails about it within 24 hours. now prices have dropped and you can be a little pickier. I know a lot of people renting right now and many of them are buying places and moving in with boyfriends, etc. closer to when you're moving I can keep an eye out for anything opening up that you might be interested in.

Calgary is very spread out. the further you are from downtown, the more you get for your money. I didn't realize the differences until Jared and I started condo shopping. we could get a one bedroom tiny condo downtown or a 3 bedroom house in the north east or waaay far south for the same price. the same goes for rentals. we settled on a good balance I think. just bought a 2 bedroom townhouse with garage about 15 minutes drive from downtown in an area called glamorgan. super happy about it!

anyways let me know if you have more questions or need more help, and I'll keep an eye out for anything nice opening up.
Jun 12 2009 8:18PM
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@skiinmitch
Posts: 2781 - Karma: 78
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/Calgary/

look through u will probs find somthing close

Jun 13 2009 2:48AM
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Cone-argh
Posts: 191 - Karma: 24
OH. SNAP.
Jun 18 2009 7:10PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142
That's some pretty unnecessary garbage... if you're going to talk to a friend of mine like that, keep it out of my thread. I'm really just trying to figure out my options for renting, not what you paid for your condo. I definitely appreciate the input from people who ARE giving input, I have a much better idea now than when I started. Plenty of time yet, but hopefully I'll end up being pretty comfortable with the market rather than doing what friends of mine who are headed to Bay St are doing to find a place in Tdot, rushing around 2 weeks before they start work.
Jun 19 2009 2:09AM
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bailer
Posts: 2178 - Karma: 14
annnnnd varsity does not equal glamorgan.
Jun 19 2009 12:56PM
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skibunnie
Posts: 1756 - Karma: 14
alright. I guess I should have qualified that statement. When we were looking for a 2 bedroom condo we couldn't find any that we thought were nice enough to live in, and in a location that we though was desirable for under 200 at all. we weren't looking in the north very much and definitely not in varsity. good for you for finding one. I hope you enjoy it.

I'll be happy to go back to my wide open granite countertopped great view stainless appliance hardwood floored kitchen! I love it!
Jun 21 2009 2:23PM
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auzzski
Posts: 172 - Karma: 446
varsity is hardly 10 mins from downtown. maybe 10 mins from downtown at 3 in the morning. but in rush hour your looking at a good 30 mins.
Jun 30 2009 2:21PM
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sim
Posts: 1399 - Karma: -6
I'd personally not go any further north of downtown than Kensington or further south than Mission.  Both these areas are easily close enough so that you can bike to Bankers Hall.  Believe it or not, biking is also possible most times of the year.  Really, you could even walk both of these as well and lastly, public transit is fairly accessible from these areas.\

Now the reason I say not to go further (go closer if anything) is because if you do you will see Calgary as what it more or less is: vast suburban ugliness.  Some of the other parts of the inner city are good too, like mentioned, but if you are single and wanting to mingle, I don't know if that extra 100- 200 dollars savings is worth it.  Believe it or not, Calgary has a few things to offer in and around downtown.  It also isn't as dead as it use to be and is being claimed, however, don't expect it to be dt Van, Montreal or Europe.  Calgarians wouldn't want that even if it stared them in the face.  So avoid that side of Calgary as best you can.

As far as a car goes, unless you join a sports team, there is no where in Calgary you need (or want) to go that public transit doesn't fairly easily access.  Come winter it might be more of a necessity for the mountains.

It's probably a good thing that you are looking now, but Calgary is pretty dynamic and it can change pretty fast.  Based largely on oil and natural gas prices of course, so what you see now might not be next year, at all.

Did anyone mention Kijiji.ca?  I found that helpful when I recently moved to Edmonton... ugh.


Jul 9 2009 12:58AM
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skibunnie
Posts: 1756 - Karma: 14
umm so just an fyi for people in calgary

don't buy or let anyone else you know buy in the glamis green complex. the condo board is bankrupt, and each unit is going to have to pay $27 000 for repairs in a couple of months. there are a lot of units for sale in the complex right now, and most of them are foreclosures. foreclosures have a clause saying they don't have to provide condo documents. we luckily bought them and found out about this whole mess and walked out on the deal just in time.
Jul 9 2009 1:49PM
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