Hi,
I am planning to move to Edmonton or Calgary. Can somebody give me some insight or comparison between these cities?

Right now seems I prefer Calgary because it is a bigger city. But price of house, rent cost, public transport, jobs availability, weather, crime, can somebody give me comparison?

Thanks!

As you know city vs city threads are banned, so please keep the discussion clean !

both are great cities and you will be happy with either...what line of work is prob the biggest thing.

www.movetoedmonton.com

www.edmonton.ca

www.calgary.ca

www.connect2edmonton.com

www.calgary.com

although some might disagree, but are very comprable in all regards IMO

Yes i agree that both are great cities, living in calgary i can give you a perspective on the city.

Calgary often gets more chinooks the edmonton making it feel a little warmer during the winter months. However calgary is alot drier the edmonton which can be both a benifit and drawback.

The absolute best thing about calgary is having the mountains so close. Many people find that the big advantage of calgary over edmonton. The best thing about edmonton is either the river valley, or if you prefer its central location in the provence and proximity to fort mac.

Housing avalibility and prices in calgary are crazy. i'm sure its the same way in edmonton, but i think calgary is being hit worse then they are. you stand at least a small chance of finding something in edmonton.

Job avalibility, companies are begging people on hands and kneees to work for them. you won't have a problem finiding a job anywhere. The problem comes in when trying to find a job that pays your cost of living.

Crime the two cities are quite equal in crime rates. Both have gang and drug problems in certain areas, but most feel relativly safe.

Finally tranist, i can't comment on edmontons, but calgary's sucks. the rate of growth, lack of people for the job, and general neglect by the city has brough transit service to unacceptable levels. Other then the main routs your waiting a good half hour to an hour for a bus. It realy sucks when you jsut miss your transfer and have to wait for another half hour. Hopefully some improvements will be made.

@DSO and coldrsx: thanks for replies! I am still thinking. Both are very cold in winter. Calgary lacks public transit and that means I need a car. But Calgary probably is bigger now.

I think it is a bit extreme to say that we 'lack' public transit.

Certainly, if you insist on living in a suburban setting, taking buses is a real pain in the ass and the service is terrible. The further you go out, the worse it gets. I live at the edge of the city and my community's bus route is running once every 45-50 minutes (at one point in the morning there is an hour and a half gap).

The C-train is still quite reliable, though crammed during rush hour. It can also get you to all the hotspots throughout the city (McMahon Stadium, Saddledome, Downtown, various malls, the University of Calgary, etc.). If you can live near a C-train line, DO IT!

A problem I have recently encountered, living in the burbs with my parents, is that there are no good places where you can leave your bike at C-train stations. There are a couple unused bike racks (who wants to leave their bike alone all day?), and some bike lockers which you have to rent, and Calgary Transit won't allow you to take your bike onboard during Rush Hour.

So yes, if you are going to live in Calgary burbs then you are going to want a car. That is, again, unless you have the good fortune of living right by a C-train line.

However, if you are going to live (and preferably work) in the inner city, you should be fine without a car, since most amenities are within walking or biking distance, and the C-train is available for longer distance trips.

Of course, I am making the assumption that whatever job you have here would be somewhat near a C-train line or close to where you live. If your job ends up being way out in suburban office parks by, say, Westmount or up by Calgary International, you are going to need a car and there is no way around it.

Overall, Calgary Transit easily meets or beats the system in Vancouver. So you shouldn't have any problems in that regard.

@Boris550: Thanks for your description on public transit.
I just got an email asking somebody in Calgary about the price of houses in Calgary. He said, he just move into his house, and is already in the range of 650,000. Well, he said he live in the North and all houses there are new.

This shocks me. It almost defeat the purpose of moving which is to find job and lower price of housing. Calgary has abundant jobs but the city is expanding, people pouring and that drive the cost of houses there. But I did not imagine it is in the level with Toronto and Vancouver??

So, in that case, Edmonton's houses probably cheaper??

BTW, what happen when the oil price come down... which I believe is possible. Will it impact Calgary growth and job growth?

^ House prices in Edmonton are cheaper than Calgary but the prices are rising at an increasing rate here. If the price of Oil goes down the tube, Fort McMurray and Calgary would end up being the worst hit by recession in Alberta.

It almost defeat the purpose of moving which is to find job and lower price of housing
Depending on what type of Job you want , you may want to check out Kamloops, ( very cheap for housing, in comparison to the Rest of B.C. and cheaper I belive then Edmonton even ) . Like I said it is all in what type of JOB you want. Plus we have better weather . I am biased though .

i'm an outsider, so don't take my opinions seriously....if i were to choose, I'd pick Calgary. There are more opportunities and they've got a kick ass light rail system. :p

A look at mls.ca will reveal a dramatic difference between Calgary and Edmonton. Given the small difference in population, Edmonton would be the better of the two. Housing in Calgary is craaaazy! You may as well stay in Vancouver. If this were 6 years ago, Calagary was still affordable. Edmonton is cosmopolitan. We are going to Edmonton for a wedding in a week and I am looking forward to it.

Supply on Calgary MLS has almost tripled since May and there are fair deals to be had. A lot of condos are overpriced based on greed/optimism from sellers who are taking the ridiculous prices that "worked" during the March-May bottleneck. I've seen some of these listed for 4 months now- find what you like and bid lower. I am also seeing a few 1-brdm units for less than 200k, which is more reasonable than where it looked, a few months ago, like where the resale market was going.

Calgary's "cosmopolitanism" has been increasing/improving as fast as its population has been growing- we just closed an incredibly successful resurrected (after 6 years without) Fringe Fest. Edmonton had a 21-year head start with its international film festival, but in 6 short years Calgary's has become the third largest by screenings and the fourth largest by attendance in the entire country. I could go on and on. Things are good here.

Only suburbanites would seriously call Calgary's transit service "lacking," incidentally. Try getting from Scarborough to Etobicoke on the TTC. Great system, world class, but that commute is a nightmare.

LIVE INNER CITY. It is worth the expense.

Calgary is not worth the price for a home. I would rather live in Maple Ridge, for instance, and enjoy all of greater Vancouver, etc. Greater Van is made up of actual cities each with many amenities, while Calgary has, well, Calgary and many character-less subdivisions. As someone who lived in calgary, it is just not worth the cost of housing. We built a house in McKenzie Towne (quite far from downtown actually) in 2001 for $146k, now not only is the same model selling for $320+k, but dinky little condos in the area are selling for over $250k; again, it is not worth it. Good luck trying to find a place to rent; a testament to this is the dramatic increase in homelessness in Calgary thanks to a lack of affordable housing, rental units, etc.

People seem to forget, teddy, that you are looking for an attractive market for a home, and Edmonton is where you should relocate to based on that.

housing prices in edmonton have gone up 28% in the 1st 6 months of 2006....and calgary about the same or more....it is nuts.

Edmonton is still more affordable, and the inventory is greater.

Since you said that you will be finding a job wherever you move, have you considered outside of Calgary and Edmonton. I won't turn this into one city vs another or province vs province. But there is more to Alberta and Canada than Calgary and Edmonton.

I won't say the bubble has burst for Calgary, but you have to figure things will slow down eventually. If that is the case will you move on to the next hot thing?

Many of my family and friends have done the Alberta thing over the last few years and it's funny to see that well over half have moved on from Alberta. Either to BC. or back home to Saskatchewan.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is do you really need to leave BC. or do you just want to follow everyone else?

I sure as heck would not leave Vancouver for Calgary, so like Calvin said, do you really have to leave? What field are you in? Could you find something in Winnipeg? Saskatoon or Regina?

Calgary is a nice city, why don't you take a tour of Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg.... do a comparison, good luck brother and I hope you find success.....

Hi, thanks for all replies.
@WinnipegPatriot, Calvin_W, stamps: Thank you.
My intention is to find affordable housing and job opportunities. Yes, after searching for a while, housing in Calgary is too crazy now. So Edmonton is more suitable for me.
In terms of housing, Edmonton is still cheaper than Vancouver, with lots of jobs. So, WinnipegPatriot, ditto for you.

Weatherwise, British Columbia wins, hands down. And you told me about Maple Ridge... well yes, I am considering Maple Ridge, though jobs, Edmonton still wins. There is no such perfect place in this world. If Edmonton's weather is nice I definitely to there... but I think the perfect place would be so crowded already.

No, I do not have to move to follow others. I have a longer plan for my life. As I am getting older, I have to plan for my life, settle down, have job and family. I have to drop Calgary at this moment, focusing on Edmonton instead. Not sure about Kamloop, but I will open my ear!

Thanks so much you all, I will go back and check here from time to time or if I have done moving to Edmonton. :)

yeah Kamloop ! ( s ) lol

I just came back from Edmonton, and boy is that city "growing up". When I was there last time (my first time too) in 1999, the downtown and its periphery were not as nicely developed as they are now with so many infills and condos, etc. The tax incentives offered for housing development sure paid off! The downtown is clean (for the most part), and there is a captivating energy there too; I think you will be quite happy there!

Hi thanks WinnipegPatriot. It all sounds all positive and nice to me! I am more firm to move now than ever!

I just came back from Edmonton, and boy is that city "growing up". When I was there last time (my first time too) in 1999, the downtown and its periphery were not as nicely developed as they are now with so many infills and condos, etc. The tax incentives offered for housing development sure paid off! The downtown is clean (for the most part), and there is a captivating energy there too; I think you will be quite happy there!


well said and i completely agree and more is coming...MUCH MUCH MORE.

Edmonton is cheaper to buy than Calgary but let's not kid ourselves, Calgary housing is still a whopping 40% cheaper than Vancouver.
They are still not even in the same league. Even Victoria is more expensive than Toronto. Kamloops may be cheap by BC standards but that means it would be outrageous for a similar size city anywhere else in the country.
All of BC is way out of wack with the rest of the country in terms of housing prices. With interest rates going up even more more are feeling the squeeze. Wages are much lower than Alberta's but taxes are higher.
BC is a beautiful place and has a lot of attributes but if you come to BC longterm then expect your standard of living to take a pounding.
Greater Vancouver has, byfar, the lowest rate of home ownership in the country and the percentage of mortgage payments to after tax income is 30% above the national average.
BC doesn't stand for "Bring Cash" for nothing.

I will not question your stats, but I prefer real life, and if I have $225k to spend on a home (obviously a condo in either market), I can get a better deal in Burnaby (which of course is just a hop, skip and a jump from DT vancouver and a nice city in its own right) than Calgary. Also, living in, say, Shaughnessy (again, looking at pricing) puts you further away from downtown Calgary than Burnaby does from vancouver; I would prefer to live in Burnaby than "Shaughnessy".

Is Calgary warmer than Edmonton?

Is Calgary warmer than Edmonton?


by about 2 degrees on avg. i believe.

by about 2 degrees on avg. i believe.

Year round avg temperature is the same. Edmonton actually has a longer growing season (days above 0) so even though its on average 2 degrees cooler in the winter its also hotter in the spring and fall and summer.

Hi. I am in Edmonton now. It's sunny when I came and I like it. Yes, I saw Hiring signs from the airport to downtown. I notice for Edmonton there are more development on the South side... am I right?

Year round avg temperature is the same. Edmonton actually has a longer growing season (days above 0) so even though its on average 2 degrees cooler in the winter its also hotter in the spring and fall and summer.


Here's a comparison. You can see that they are pretty close. Calgary is warmer on average 5 months of the year, Edmonton 5 momnths of the year, and two months the same.
Calgary generally cools off more at night. If you look at daytime highs, Calgary on average is actually the same or warmer 11 out of the 12 months.
As far as days above 0, it depends on how you look at the stat. Edmonton has a longer growing season because it has more frost free days. If you take the number of days over the entrie year where the high goes above zero, Calgary has more.
Anyhow, here's a proper comparison

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2965/weatherwk3.jpg

^ House prices in Edmonton are cheaper than Calgary but the prices are rising at an increasing rate here. If the price of Oil goes down the tube, Fort McMurray and Calgary would end up being the worst hit by recession in Alberta.

Sorry, I just had to respond to this. This couldn't be more innacurate, and is one of the biggest myths going.

Go back over the last 20 years and look at the price of oil, and you'll see that it doesn't have much correlation to Calgary's economy and growth, Calgary was booming when Oil was 12$ a barrell, but Edmonton and Fort McMurray were having their worst years.
Edmonton's current boom is mostly all oil sands related. Look at Fort MacMurray and Edmonton around 1998 (when oil was $12 a barrel), and compare to Calgary in 1998. You'll see exactly what I mean.

Calgary is an oil and gas city no doubt, but it's state of economy isn't tied directly to the price of oil or the oil sands for a couple of reasons

- Calgary's involment with oil and gas is mostly head office operations.
- A large part of Calgary's economy is 'gas' which is a different industry than oil.

Hi. I am in Edmonton now. It's sunny when I came and I like it. Yes, I saw Hiring signs from the airport to downtown. I notice for Edmonton there are more development on the South side... am I right?

Yes, the south side has always been busier. That's why you'll find land prices in the North end are generally cheaper too.

honestly calgary housing is way OVER PRICED. its not even a metro city like vancouver, toronto, la, nyc, theres no greater calgary area (well sort of)

I'm not quite sure how 1.1 million doesn't qualify for a metro. Compared to Toronto is not a metro either.

I far prefer calgary's climate due to the Chinooks and being drier in the winter. They get a small amount of snow to begin with but due to Chinook { which actually means "snow eater"} you tend to have a lot less snow on the ground in the winter and often next to none.

I prefer Calgary because I find its downtown and inner city more vibrant than Edmonton's. Edmonton is doing a good job of trying to fill in those paring lots in the inner city area but has quite a ways to go.

Edmonton does have a much better arts scene and seems less likely to go thru the piotential downutrn if the oil boom starts to really slow down due to being a civil service city.
Edmonton has the best, largest, and most renowed university........U. of A.
U. of Calgary isn't in its league.
Calgary has over course the mountains next door and is closer and easier to get to the west coast and has the larger airport.

To me its quite amazing that when you consider that they are roughly the same size in a oil driven province just how very different they are.
Depends on what you like.

I've not been to either, but Edmonton seems like a nice, more genteel city, and Calgary a more go-go-go city, more cosmopolitan.

Hey Teddy Bear, I hope you're still reading this:

Just in the last 2 months, I had the privilege of visiting both Calgary and Edmonton, and also Regina.

I won't get into too much detail, for I can't really articulate my feelings about the subject yet, but I had a much more favourable impression of Edmonton over Calgary. Calgary and it's surroundings were very dry and dirty as hell (mind you, this was in January), and many parts of the city reminded me of Hamilton and the older neglected suburbs of Montreal. To be fair to Calgary, the downtown is massive, and being able to see the mountains from the city is a huge plus.

Edmonton was more to my liking, though I'm not sure why. It's just nice. And if you are looking for affordability, move to Saskatchewan. Regina is a beautiful city, it's small, easy to escape, and is surrounded by the incredible vast prairies.

A lot of people say that.
They prefer Edmonton because it just seems a bit mor relaxed while Calgary is definatly a go-getter kinda place.
I just don't like downtown Edmonton..........seems to barren with all those parking lots and at night Jasper still feels like Casper Ave. When they finally get most of those parking lots filled with housing then I will feel different but until then I just feel is too vacant.

I'm not quite sure how 1.1 million doesn't qualify for a metro. Compared to Toronto is not a metro either.

I far prefer calgary's climate due to the Chinooks and being drier in the winter. They get a small amount of snow to begin with but due to Chinook { which actually means "snow eater"} you tend to have a lot less snow on the ground in the winter and often next to none.

I prefer Calgary because I find its downtown and inner city more vibrant than Edmonton's. Edmonton is doing a good job of trying to fill in those paring lots in the inner city area but has quite a ways to go.

Edmonton does have a much better arts scene and seems less likely to go thru the piotential downutrn if the oil boom starts to really slow down due to being a civil service city.
Edmonton has the best, largest, and most renowed university........U. of A.
U. of Calgary isn't in its league.
Calgary has over course the mountains next door and is closer and easier to get to the west coast and has the larger airport.

To me its quite amazing that when you consider that they are roughly the same size in a oil driven province just how very different they are.
Depends on what you like.
Fair assessment. However, Edmonton's economy is more than just civil servant. It is also home to a large and growing medical sciences and R&D industry. Over 80% of the biotech companies in Alberta are HQ'd in Edmonton.

A lot of people say that.
They prefer Edmonton because it just seems a bit mor relaxed while Calgary is definatly a go-getter kinda place.
I just don't like downtown Edmonton..........seems to barren with all those parking lots and at night Jasper still feels like Casper Ave. When they finally get most of those parking lots filled with housing then I will feel different but until then I just feel is too vacant.

Perhaps, though that doesn't explain it for me. For example, I love Toronto.

I can understand where you are coming from but its Edmonton's downtown is just to barren for me.

I can understand where you are coming from but its Edmonton's downtown is just to barren for me.

I won't dispute that.