Life in Alberta

[Bigjay73]

Anyone here from the Edmonton or Calgary areas? How do you like living there, what's some of the pros and cons?

 

[OntarioHunter]

Not many pros right now as Alberta is severely impacted by third wave COVID ... and already talking about a fourth wave.

Never been to Edmonton but I hate going to Calgary. The town is laid out along a river and very difficult to get around. Very expensive too. Three quarters of a million won't buy you much more than a shack right now. House prices are ridiculous. And the people of Calgary generally turn me off. We certainly had our fill of the city's riffraff when I was growing up in the Flathead. Canada Days three day weekend holiday in May became such a mess the local authorities finally did away with it.

 

[Randi]

since you asked for pros and cons and have already received a "con" to your question I will offer an opposing view

I love Calgary and have visited every year ( excluding 2020 -virus ) I have not attempted to purchase a home there so can not speak to that issue, but all the people I encountered were very nice. I pulled a horse up there ( or my dad did when I was younger ) to the Calgary Stampede, every year. . We looked forward to it every year. We enjoyed the event, people, city and ---Banff. If you go up to check it out, add a day or three to your trip and go up to Banff. If you do go, maybe stay at the Banff Spring Hotel, what a fantastic experience that was. Absolutely beautiful country. I have not hunted Alberto, but would like to do so, as they have a wonderful variety of big game and bird hunting opportunities.

 

[Panda Bear]

Alberto is a wonderful place to live if you like to hunt and fish and the scenery is pretty nice as well

cougar, black bear, antelope, sheep, goat, elk, moose, deer, wolf, bison, geese, ducks, pheasants, partridge, with grizzly and caribou just north of you. Dozens of beautiful lakes and rivers for fishing. AND, the scenery is not too bad either.

If you need to be close to one of those two large cities for employment reasons, there are several nice small towns close to them, especially Edmonton.

Home costs have increased in Canada --west, just as it has in USA --west.

 

[Baticus]

Not many pros right now as Alberta is severely impacted by third wave COVID ... and already talking about a fourth wave.

Never been to Edmonton but I hate going to Calgary. The town is laid out along a river and very difficult to get around. Very expensive too. Three quarters of a million won't buy you much more than a shack right now. House prices are ridiculous. And the people of Calgary generally turn me off. We certainly had our fill of the city's riffraff when I was growing up in the Flathead. Canada Days three day weekend holiday in May became such a mess the local authorities finally did away with it.

Spot on I would say. Edmonton isn't much different for housing I believe. But with our economic downturn in the oil sector, its not looking too good for either city.

Funny how they can talk about the fourth wave of covid, when we've barely begun the third...

 

[Deputy sheriff]

I live in a small town near Calgary. We have a resident herd of elk numbering in the hundreds within 10 miles of our home. In our town we have had moose and a grizzly bear wonder through without problems. I have seen more trophy mule deer and whitetail deer in one day than the 30 years I lived in the east. If your a hunter or hiker( Rocky Mountains close by) than you will love it here.

 

[Turbo2160]

I'm from the southern parts of Alberta..closer to drive to Haver MT then it is to Calgary but none the less its home.. in the last ten years I have yet to leave more then 10 min from home to fill my tags.. have way more mule deer and speed goats"pronghorn" then one would care to count and a hurd of elk that would make your jaw drop..and birds out the @ss.. only thing a person is missing is more moose.. I would love to see more swamp donkeys. Cant beat the Rockies to the west and everything elts to the east.. really cant find a much better place to call home..

 

[mxracer317]

Not many pros right now as Alberta is severely impacted by third wave COVID ... and already talking about a fourth wave.

Never been to Edmonton but I hate going to Calgary. The town is laid out along a river and very difficult to get around. Very expensive too. Three quarters of a million won't buy you much more than a shack right now. House prices are ridiculous. And the people of Calgary generally turn me off. We certainly had our fill of the city's riffraff when I was growing up in the Flathead. Canada Days three day weekend holiday in May became such a mess the local authorities finally did away with it.

Wow. Dude i used to live in Calgary. Born and raised there until i was 26 years old.

i travel all over the world and still consider it one of the friendliest and cleanest cities.

Close to the mountains, SUPER easy to get around -grid system and light rail trains. Close to world class hunting, skiing, hiking. Etc.

Only con I see is the high taxes in ALL of Canada (Alberta is the only province with no PST -provincial sales tax), and how difficult it is to be a gun owner in ALL of Canada.

I go “home” every year and consider it to be one of my favorite areas to visit.

 

[OntarioHunter]

The country north of Winnipeg, Manitoba is one of North America's hidden treasures. Great fishing (all kinds of trout, walleye, pike), deer, moose, bear, and elk (Manitoba subspecies). Waterfowl hunting can't be beat. An outfitter friend of a friend took us fishing seven years ago after he finished with bear season. He had 27 clients who went home with 27 bears. We saw everything in a couple of days, including one wolf. I caught rainbows, tiger trout, specks, walleye, and my biggest pike ever. The country is beautiful. More water than land. Rolling hills with farmland broken by timber sections and kettle ponds. Riding Mountain Park is nearby. Nice part is real estate prices are low. Property taxes were ridiculous low when I lived there. Not very crowded and the big city is not far away if that turns your crank. Winnipeg is notoriously easy to navigate.

 

[Deputy sheriff]

Sorry I forgot to mention that we also have Antelope, Big horn sheep, mountain goats , wolves , cougars ,coyotes , baggers and lots of bird hunting.

 

[Europe]

The country north of Winnipeg, Manitoba is one of North America's hidden treasures. Great fishing (all kinds of trout, walleye, pike), deer, moose, bear, and elk (Manitoba subspecies). Waterfowl hunting can't be beat. An outfitter friend of a friend took us fishing seven years ago after he finished with bear season. He had 27 clients who went home with 27 bears. We saw everything in a couple of days, including one wolf. I caught rainbows, tiger trout, specks, walleye, and my biggest pike ever. The country is beautiful. More water than land. Rolling hills with farmland broken by timber sections and kettle ponds. Riding Mountains Park is nearby. Nice part is real estate prices are low. Property taxes were ridiculous low when I lived there. Not very crowded and the big city is not far away if that turns your crank. Winnipeg is notoriously easy to navigate.

If we are going to recommend places in Canada, the op did not ask about and if the op enjoy's animals more than people, maybe The Yukon Territory would work for him. More caribou than people, you can hunt grizzly, and see polar bears and muskox. Your even allowed to "homestead" If they also have a fountain of youth, I would be on my way

 

[Pagosa]

We used to go across the border a lot before COVID and it was great and good people. My family never felt unsafe in Calgary, even with the the minimal police presence. Great hunting, fishing, and berry picking. Fishing regs are rather difficult to figure out.
On another note if anyone is legally crossing the border near Browning/Havre this September I need someone to transport a hound from the corner of AB/BC into Montana for me. I will make it worth your time. Thanks

 

[OntarioHunter]

We used to go across the border a lot before COVID and it was great and good people. My family never felt unsafe in Calgary, even with the the minimal police presence. Great hunting, fishing, and berry picking. Fishing regs are rather difficult to figure out.
On another note if anyone is legally crossing the border near Browning/Havre this September I need someone to transport a hound from the corner of AB/BC into Montana for me. I will make it worth your time. Thanks

I presume your talking about crossing at Eureka? My brother lives in the Flathead. He may know someone who can help. But you may have to wait a while. I believe they are still under stay-at-home order in Alberta. Not sure about B.C.

Edit: Sorry I misread your post. You're looking for someone to bring the dog south into US. Try calling some of the customs brokers. They may be able to get the dog moved for you. We use Cole International.

 

[Pagosa]

Thanks for the information

 

[Bigjay73]

Thank you for all of the replies. I do need to live near a larger city for work purposes, unfortunately that leaves Denver, and Denver as far as US mountain cities go, and Denver is getting old.

 

[Otto Matic]

Thank you for all of the replies. I do need to live near a larger city for work purposes, unfortunately that leaves Denver, and Denver as far as US mountain cities go, and Denver is getting old.

My eldest lived/worked in downtown Denver proper. After a night shift, stepping out onto the street meant being greeted by the local, naked street looney urinating in one of the buildings planters, dodging fecal piles and being hounded for handouts....but every damn one of them had a cell phone? !
When COVID-19 came about, work moved to working at home.
Only changed the number (fewer) of street loonies.
Went to visit. Other than breakfast at the "Delectable Egg", didn't find much I enjoyed.
Did I mention DIA seemed like a drive to Kansas to catch a plane?

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Alberta's sounding pretty sweet...

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Alberta's sounding pretty sweet...

... well it was, but you folks keep Coloradoaning it.

When will you people ever learn.

 

[SaskHunter]

Edmonton is a shyt hole but if you're into big cities, it's for you. Calgary is pretty kewl but borderline Hippy-Town, 45 min away from Kananaskis and Banff (the Rockies), you can't beat that.

... well it was, but you folks keep Coloradoaning it.

When will you people ever learn.

Locals mainly from Calgary have been hammering Kananaskis with COVID-19 and nothing else to do, and are shredding it so they're looking at having fees to use the Provincial Park... I hate people...

 

[Panda Bear]

Thank you for all of the replies. I do need to live near a larger city for work purposes, unfortunately that leaves Denver, and Denver as far as US mountain cities go, and Denver is getting old.

If Alberto doesn't fit for you, try The Yukon Terr. , we have only one big town to choose from, but you might like it ( Whitehorse, pop:25000 ) And, as was mentioned you can also homestead 160 acres, but there are strings attached. It is important that you like bears, as you will encounter grizzly and black bears quite often during the growing season. BUT, you will experience very few traffic alerts and if you do something in the morning, all 25000 citizens will knew about it by noon.