NYC vs Calgary - anyone with first-hand experience?

[atz]

Hi everyone, does anyone here have experience living both in NYC and Calgary? If so what are your views how the overall lifestyle compare between these two places?

I am a Canadian PR and contemplating a move to Calgary. Here are my reasons why I don't like NYC that much but the grass always looks greener on the other side so would greatly appreciate your input on this.

1. A nice, beautiful and spacious house within reasonable commute from work ranks very high on my list - very hard to find around NYC within reasonable cost (< $500K)

2. 8:30 - 6:30 working hours are very common in my current firm in IT as well as other firms around midtown/downtown. And if you don't want to spend more than $1800 / month for 1BR apartment in rent then you need to live at least 1 hour commute from city which leaves very little time & energy for anything else like gym etc.

3. Parking issues everywhere. I prefer car over public transit any day if possible.

Now I acknowledge the fact that career/money opportunities available around NYC area are hard to match probably anywhere in Canada, but I don't want to just make a living and build a career. I also want to have time to enjoy whatever I have even if that means earning little less. What are your views?

Thanks

 

[ttrajan]

Winter will be very severe in Calgary. Temp may down to -30C in winter months and snowfall will be there from October to March. Also nowadays cost of living is higher in Calgary, since more people are moving to Alberta due to oil and gas booming market.

 

[ttrajan]

Refer the following link for Calgary:

http://www.provincialmoving.com/5-reasons-you-should-move-to-calgary/

 

[steaky]

1. How do you define a nice, beautiful and spacious house? In Calgary even houses built in the 50s costs more than $500K!

2. How much space (in sqft) can you rent for $1800 / month in NYC? Anyways, you can start looking at rent faster.ca for listings.

3. Parking is very expensive in downtown Calgary. Costed me $14 an hour!!! If I am traveling alone, I would take the Calgary light rail train and public transport.

 

[kriv]

Just my opinion

Calgary------------Vs------------- New york city
A Small City A Mega City
A Clean City I guess Below Average
More Reasonable Jobs offers Low job offers
Wages (good) Average/low
Business opportunities (good) more competition and only the fittest survive
Quality of living (above average) below average for most of the people
Nature of People (4 stars out of 6) Rude (1 star)
neighborhoods (4 stars out of 6) 2 stars for most of the boroughs
Crime (low) Near to High
Health care load on income (low) Very High
Shopping options ( average) High(lots of options available to buy any thing at any price)
Government offering help (high) Very low
Universities (Few) A lot of them
Schools (Few options) a lot of options (in both cities depends in which neighborhood you are living)
Transit time (low) High
Parks & playgrounds(a lot of them) Generally few
Night Life ( below average) Extreme
Extra activities (high) Average
open spaces (a lot of them) Rare
Diversity (low) Very high (each borough of nyc is like a whole different country)
24/7 (low) 24/7 city
traffic norms (v good) Average
Newcomers (low) High
People moving out (low) High
bedroom city workers (low) Very high
Expansion (Extensive) at a Matured state and no expansion
Shortage of workforce (high) low

 

[steaky]

Gas is more expensive than Montana