Tell me about life in Alberta! - Straight Dope Message Board

Calgary here too. I'm not sure what the demand is like for technical writers, but if you can find a role in O&G you can make a decent living.

phreesh answered most of your questions pretty well, but I'll just add a few data points:

We own a three bedroom bungalow in an older neighborhood technically considered 'inner city' (barely) that we purchased for $455,000. It takes me about 20 - 25 minutes to drive downtown/home during rush hour, which I never do, because it costs me $35 a day to park across the street from work. The cheapest parking lot I can find within a kilometer of work is $17.

I either take transit or bike to and from work 95% of the time. I live within walking distance of the LRT and it costs me about $2.75 each way (or you can buy a monthly pass for much cheaper). Door to door is 45 minutes if I walk to the train (about 1 km). If I drive to the train, that cuts about 15 minutes off the trip. I almost never get a seat on the train during rush hour.

Biking to work involves roads and bike or multi-use pathways. They are maintained very well and are generally cleared before the main roads in the winter, oddly enough. Most companies provide free or very low cost bike parking (mine is even undergroud/inside).

Downtown becomes a ghost town in the evening/weekends generally, but the city is working to change that. We do have some good culture/music stuff, such as Shakespeare in the Park, outdoor concerts, really good free-ish performances/live acts during Stampede in July, and we do get some good shows. As mentioned, we generally get passed over for some of the larger concerts, mostly because our stadium can't host their productions/stages (though Edmonton can).

We have a pretty good recycling program in place, and for the most part, the city is clean. We have lots of parks and green spaces, and a comprehensive pathway network through the city. Our infrastructure is lacking and hasn't kept up with our population growth, so driving can be frusterating.

The best thing about Calgary is access to the mountains. If you're an outdoorsy person, Calgary is the better choice between us and Edmonton. However, we are a city of immigrants and wealthy cowboys who don't care about maintaining the 'Calgarian' identity. While I personally don't notice it, some say people here are rude.

I love Nenshi and think he's making good changes in our city. I personally hope he gets re-elected for another term, but the older generation doesn't really like him. His win was a product of his fantastic social networking and subsequent ability to get young voters out.

Fort McMurray is a place where you live to work. That's it. There is no housing, and the housing you can find costs upwards of a quarter of a million. Those that work up there generally live in camps or shared housing. You do not live in Fort Mac because you like it up there (unless you are from there - then I guess you might feel tied to the area).

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Last edited by EmAnJ; Today at 04:51 PM.

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