The pros and cons of living in Calgary,
from someone who's been living here for a handful of decades ;)
What's up, everyone?
My name is Felix Chan. I'm a Calgary realtor and Mortgage Broker,
born and raised in Calgary.
And today I'm going to give you my honest opinion about Calgary.
I'm going to break this down into activities, finances, weather,
notable things about Calgary and safety activities.
There are tons of bike and walking paths all over the city.
There's bike paths that go all the way to and in downtown and along the Bow
River. It's an amazing city with lots of parks and trails.
There's world-class hiking with the Rocky Mountains only 45 minutes to an
hour away. And it's great for those who love exploring nature.
We have snow activities like snowboarding and skiing.
About an hour to an hour and a half away at sunshine village and Lake Louise
and towns like Banff and Canmore and places like Moraine Lake are
super close by finances.
There is no PST provincial sales tax here in
Alberta, unlike BC in Ontario where it's seven and 8%.
Housing is super affordable. I mean,
a newer home about 1800 square feet is around the mid $500,000 in
the suburbs. By the way,
if you want to keep your pulse on the Calgary real estate market,
be sure to subscribe to our channel.
We do have better cost of living ratio compared to other cities like Vancouver,
Toronto, due to lower price of housing. And when the economy is good,
there's lots of money and there's opportunity to advance.
Healthcare for all Albertans is actually free.
I'm going to leave a link in the description below,
and if you're in oil and gas, the pay can be pretty high.
Weather - now some people like a cold. And if that's you,
this is the perfect city.
If you'd like it warmer Chinooks in the winter time can really break up the
colder months.
Calgary, just some cool stuff about the city.
Now there's no shortage of new establishment popping up in the downtown,
Beltline, Inner city area.
There's always a new restaurant or a dessert place or something to try out,
which speaks to the entrepreneurial spirit the city has.
And if you work downtown, the plus 15 system makes get around the core,
really easy in the wintertime.
Wwhat it is is basically a network of bridges that connects to buildings
altogether. So you don't have to walk outside.
We do have an international airport here with Vancouver being about one and a
half hours away. We are a queen city. Traffic is not that bad. I mean,
from end to end from Panorama to Walden is about 35 minutes.
And anywhere you go, shouldn't take longer than a 20, 25 minute drive.
We are a dog friendly city. There's dog parks, all around town.
There's a total of about 150 public off-leash areas totaling
1,250 hectares,
which equals to be about 17% of Calgary's park
inventory. Oh,
an FYI dogs must be on leash in all public areas in Calgary,
unless there's a sign in the area that says off-leash.
Safety.
Now I was born and raised here and I've never felt that my safety
was ever compromised. It's a pretty safe city.
Alberta has one of the lowest crime rates in the staff can report,
which examined the countries 35 largest areas in 2020.
Alberta saw the largest drop for crime in Canada with a
17% drop for Calgary. Now, compared to other Canadian cities,
Calgary has significantly low crime rates.
Calgary police statistics report is actually available in the link below
if you're interested in seeing that. Cons - in terms of the economy,
we're not as diverse as Toronto or Vancouver,
and we're more weighted towards oil and gas in Alberta,
which makes up about 25% of our GDP.
We do however, have inconsistent weather.
Winters can be very cold.
Sometimes temporary cold snaps can be up to minus 30 degrees and it's normal
to have temperature swings of 20 degrees.
The city is a bit isolated. I mean,
we're not a port city or a central city like Vancouver, Toronto,
where you can do a short drive and you'll be in another city.
When you're in Calgary - You're just in Calgary places like Kewlona,
which if you've never been, you have to check out is seven hours away.
And Vancouver is about 12. There is no really big city feel here.
And the transportation, it's not as great as other big cities.
It is a driving city. So you do need a car here.
Here's my take.
Now I've been fortunate to travel all around the world and it's true.
What they say. There is no place like home.
I love this city. It's secure, it's safe. And the vibe is always positive.
The food scene here is always evolving and getting better every year.
There isn't a lot of clubs anymore, but instead,
a lot of beer halls have popped up. And if that's not your cup of tea,
there's lots of festivals and events on the weekends,
especially in the summertime. Or you could spend it in the Rocky mountains,
hiking or checking out popular towns like Canmore and Banff.
I've never felt racism here since it's super multi-cultural.
It's a pretty good balance between, you know, a smaller city and a big city.
And finally,
even though I'm not a huge fan of the large swings of weather,
it's always sunny here even in the winter time. And I'll be honest.
I prefer snow than rain plus having a white Christmas
is always awesome.
Hopefully that was helpful for you guys.
Let us know if there's anything else you want to know about Calgary.
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If you want to know more about Calgary and Calgary real estate, also,
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All right, guys, if you want to watch the cost of living,
check it out here for Calgary versus Vancouver,
check it out there. And my name is Felix Chan, Calgary realtor,
and mortgage broker with the LiveInnerCity real estate team,
helping you keep real estate simple. And we'll see you in a few seconds.