Work in Calgary, live outside city

sphelps · #1 11-22-2010, 04:12 PM

For anyone who works within Calgary but lives in a town or community outside the city limits. Looking for peoples opinions and experience on the daily drive to work and back and how bad it is. I'm considering the community of Lyalta which is advertised as 35min from downtown, took me 36 min on Sunday but I have no idea about rush hour. How bad is it, am I crazy?

Wingin It · #2 11-22-2010, 04:27 PM

I don't live outside the city, but I am a driver in the city and I pass through all the major arteries on the outskirts of the city, and so i'm assuming you will be using Hwy 1/16th Ave NE to enter the city...it reallly depends on two things. Time and weather. If you enter during rush hour you may be waiting a while longer than you did on Sunday and when bad weather strikes, there are traffic jams everywhere! I guess you need to weigh the pros/cons to living in Lyalta b/c traffic can and will vary day to day. At least you're not on the South end which is even worse than the NE end! lol

kien · #3 11-22-2010, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sphelps

For anyone who works within Calgary but lives in a town or community outside the city limits. Looking for peoples opinions and experience on the daily drive to work and back and how bad it is. I'm considering the community of Lyalta which is advertised as 35min from downtown, took me 36 min on Sunday but I have no idea about rush hour. How bad is it, am I crazy?

You're crazy!!!!

I know a lot of people who dont mind commutes from outside if the city (chestermere, okotokes, airdrie, strathmore, etc). If you are one of those people that dont mind sitting in their cars for a while then you should be fine

. Every Calgarian knows that our poor roads were not designed for the types of traffic that we are seeing theses days. It is tough enough just getting around the city

. I guess I'm spoiled as I'm probably one of the few calgarians whom have been here since the 80s.

.. Did I mention you were crazy?

Parker · #4 11-22-2010, 05:06 PM

Would your employer allow you to work different hours? I once made arrangements to work 6:00 am to 2:30 pm. I used to miss a lot of the traffic that way. This is in Edmonton though, I don't beleive our road systems are any better.

sphelps · #5 11-22-2010, 05:16 PM

Yeah I have flexible hours. If the drive takes 45min I would leave the house at 6am and be home by 4pm. The morning drive I would probably enjoy, I find morning driving to be relaxing and good way to prepare for the day (believe it or not) driving home however will probably not be as pleasant but I believe the other benefits will out weigh this greatly.

I'm just uncertain on how long it will actually take to drive to and from work. Also the newer communities here "in" the city don't really offer a much better commute IMO/E. Inner city houses are out for me so I'm left with either a really nice place outside of town or a cookie cutter in a newer community.

Magma · #6 11-22-2010, 06:04 PM

well I was born and raised here in calgary and I never understand why people would live outside calgary and commute every day.

1. Traffic always is hit or miss even if you live in the city
2. Does the Lower of the price of a house really matter when you end up spending the extra on gas anyways?

Not to mention higher property taxes etc.

I have never seen the point it and for me why would I want to live another 20-30min out of town when it already can take upwards of an hour to get home when the bad weather hits. (even though its only a 10min drive normally)

365seasons · #7 11-22-2010, 06:32 PM

IMO if you can swing it for 6am-4pm, you're just missing the heavy traffic both ways, coming in, and going home.

+1 on what most people said though, very time and weather dependent.

sphelps · #8 11-22-2010, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magma

well I was born and raised here in calgary and I never understand why people would live outside calgary and commute every day.

1. Traffic always is hit or miss even if you live in the city
2. Does the Lower of the price of a house really matter when you end up spending the extra on gas anyways?

Not to mention higher property taxes etc.

I have never seen the point it and for me why would I want to live another 20-30min out of town when it already can take upwards of an hour to get home when the bad weather hits. (even though its only a 10min drive normally)

Yeah but where do you live and have you bought a house or looked into buying recently? To get anything decent for your money you're looking at either far north like Country Hills, Far South like Cranston, or Far west like Valley Ridge although Valley Ridge isn't exactly that cheap either. These are the places you get the most for your money and yet you're still stuck with a smaller lot on a cramped street. You sacrifice privacy, architecture, and space and for what? The commute still sucks, from Country Hills to my work it's 45min, far south around 30 min to get to work but 45min to get back home. The west isn't much better and can be worse depending on traffic.

Outside the city I get way more for my money (almost double), a nicer and quite community, security, more social environment, better view, more space inside and out, and over all more freedom. And it'll still likely take 45min. The property tax is lower, not higher and 45min on the highway is less gas than 45min in the city.