More help with getting started in Calgary
This post is based on my e-mailed response to a couple of questions I got from another LiveJournal user who is planning a move to Calgary.
I recommend a couple of books that I received before the move that helped with some of the orientation and preparations:
Relocation 101: Focus on Calgary by Kai Hansen
Living and Working in Canada edited by Graeme Chesters
I also referred back to these books once in Canada for answering questions like "when is tax day?" "what are the rules on overtime work?" "how do I get my prescriptions filled?" and "when are the federal holidays?"
I found online classified ads, and that is how we found the place we rented. I started with the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun (the local newspapers, which have their classified online too) and also used calgary.kijiji.ca and www.rentspot.com. I liked the ads on rentspot.com because they had the most detail and some had pictures of inside the apt. It was a little awkward when I called the first time to get landlords to agree to making appointments in advance for viewing at specific times on a specific date (because there were only three days Andrew was in town and available to view and lease an apartment). They were much more inclined to ask Andrew to just give a call and drop by when he was in town.
There is a notable lack of affordable housing in the city, so many places were rented out before we called, even though we sometimes called in the same week an ad was posted. It is not impossible to find a two bedroom for less than $1000 if you rent out the basement suite of a house. They sometimes have decent windows so it's not entirely dark and gloomy, but they get colder in the winter than the rest of the house. I wasn't willing to live in the basement because I like to keep plants and basement rooms never have enough natural light to make me happy.
I recommend a couple of books that I received before the move that helped with some of the orientation and preparations:
Relocation 101: Focus on Calgary by Kai Hansen
Living and Working in Canada edited by Graeme Chesters
I also referred back to these books once in Canada for answering questions like "when is tax day?" "what are the rules on overtime work?" "how do I get my prescriptions filled?" and "when are the federal holidays?"
I found online classified ads, and that is how we found the place we rented. I started with the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun (the local newspapers, which have their classified online too) and also used calgary.kijiji.ca and www.rentspot.com. I liked the ads on rentspot.com because they had the most detail and some had pictures of inside the apt. It was a little awkward when I called the first time to get landlords to agree to making appointments in advance for viewing at specific times on a specific date (because there were only three days Andrew was in town and available to view and lease an apartment). They were much more inclined to ask Andrew to just give a call and drop by when he was in town.
There is a notable lack of affordable housing in the city, so many places were rented out before we called, even though we sometimes called in the same week an ad was posted. It is not impossible to find a two bedroom for less than $1000 if you rent out the basement suite of a house. They sometimes have decent windows so it's not entirely dark and gloomy, but they get colder in the winter than the rest of the house. I wasn't willing to live in the basement because I like to keep plants and basement rooms never have enough natural light to make me happy.