Originally Posted by
uncertaintraveler
That said, are the areas that you identified easily accessible by the train line? I can't quite explain it, but I find dealing with trains a lot less hassle than dealing with buses (or than dealing with a bus and train connection).
Ah, but your premise is based on an efficient train system, which Calgary's is the antithesis of. It's a poorly planned, over-crowded, 3rd world banana republic excuse of a mass transit system. It's all well and good to think about living in one of the neighbourhoods just outside the core and taking the train into downtown, but in rush hour, you could be looking at a 2 or 3 train wait to get onboard. And the system interacts with traffic downtown, so during rush hour, trains get backed up, and it can take 30 minutes to go 2 stops.
As someone who lives in Inglewood (which is just outside the core), I find the bus system works great. During rush hour there are various express routes and regular buses that go by, and I would say that between 7 and 8 AM, no fewer than 15 buses run through the nieghbourhood.
I agree with the other posters about not living on the C-Train line downtown. The area along the line is deserted after 6PM, and some people don't feel like it's the safest (although DT Calgary is very, very safe compared to most other cities its size). I would recommend either Inglewood/Ramsay or Kensington/Sunnyside (which are accessible by foot or bus into downtown, no more than a 30 minute walk), or somewhere around 17th Avenue SW. You'll find life far more enjoyable in any of those areas.