Wilfrid Oldham

Before you take the leap with hiring a long distance moving company, here’s our guide to some of the awesome – and not-so-awesome – things that make Calgary unique.

There are plenty of perks about moving to Calgary compared to other cities in Canada. After all, it’s been named the world’s fifth most livable city by the Economist for seven years in a row, earning top marks for stability, healthcare and education.

If you want to make Calgary home, here are some of the many reasons why the booming city of  “Cowtown” is such a great place to live.

Starting in 2007, Forbes magazine ranked Calgary as the world’s cleanest city. And as of 2023, the World Atlas still claims that it’s the world’s cleanest city. Calgary has also topped the 2014 Mercer Global Financial list for the same honour.

The city boasts clean sewage systems, good water drinkability and availability, and there’s not much air pollution.

What keeps Calgary so spick and span? For one, there are heavy fines for littering. Even dropping a cigarette butt onto the sidewalk can net you a $500 to $1,000 fine.

There are also a bevvy of recycling programs in place. The city also cleans a significant amount of the city’s streets each spring — not just the major roads. Some 15,000 kilometers of streets get swept. It’s no wonder that Calgary is one of the cleanest cities year round!

One of the nice things about living in Alberta is that there’s no provincial sales tax. If you move to Calgary, you’ll only have to pay the five percent federal Goods and Services Tax.

In comparison, if you live in Ontario, Quebec, or the Atlantic provinces, you’re paying about a combined 15 percent provincial and federal sales tax. This means that you spend less on items such as groceries, clothes and entertainment.

There was, however, some talk in 2016 about adding a provincial sales tax, but that appears to have died down. No new sales taxes have been put in place as of yet.

If you’re looking to save money shopping, therefore, then Calgary is currently a good bet.

Calgary has an extensive covered skywalk system for pedestrians called the Plus 15 Skywalk – named for the fact that it’s mostly 15 feet above the ground. It is the world’s biggest collection of footbridges connected to buildings, totalling some 16 kilometers in length.

With the Plus 15, you can walk to various downtown buildings and stores without having to go outside. Because it is heated, you can walk around in it during the winter in shorts and a T-shirt.

The city is said to be currently looking at reviewing the Plus 15, though. It does create a problem in that it prohibits foot traffic at street level on downtown streets. This prevents things such as nightlife to really take root and flourish. That’s not to say that there aren’t any restaurants and clubs or things to do in Calgary, though. Some just feel that there might not be just as many as there could be.

In the end, if you don’t want to set foot outside in the winter or during a downpour, Calgary is the place for you.

Calgary’s public transit system is said to be “reasonably good”. There’s a network of trains and buses designed to get people downtown in the mornings and back again in the evenings.

Keeping with the city’s focus on cleanliness, Calgary’s light railway — called the C-Train — is powered by electricity from wind farms. It is the first wind-powered public transit system in North America. Thanks to this initiative, carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by more than 56,000 tonnes in 2012.

Outside of the downtown core, there are park-and-rides for the buses and trains. The nice thing about them is they have free plug-ins for your engine’s block heaters, which helps make your car easy to start after it’s been sitting outside in the cold Calgary winter.

Also, public transit is pretty affordable. The average fare for an adult trip ticket is $3.60. Plus, in downtown Calgary, the C-Train is free to ride within a certain zone. If you rely on public transit, Calgary seems to be a good town to get around in.

It used to be, during the boom years, there weren’t enough family doctors for Calgary’s expanding population. That has changed. Calgary now has 141 physicians per 100,000 people.

The national average is 115. In August 2016, 373 of Calgary’s 1,400 family doctors were accepting new patients. That was up more than 60 percent from the previous year.

Here’s a moving to Calgary tip. If you have an Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan card, many health services are free. There may be, however, a waiting period after arriving in Alberta to become eligible for one. It doesn’t matter if you’re from another province or another country — you might expect the same wait time. You should check to see if your current province’s plan covers health services in Alberta before moving.

Being in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Calgary is a boon to anyone who loves the outdoors. No matter what activities you love doing, Calgary offers it.

For starters, the city is home to Canada Olympic Park, which is used by both professional athletes and the general public. In the winter, you can slide down a hill there on an innertube.

Thanks to the park, you can also ski and snowboard right in the city, and take part in public skating and bobsledding. Summertime brings activities such as mountain biking and ziplining.

Calgary is also home to 8,000 hectares (nearly 20,000 acres) of parkland. If you’re a runner or a cyclist, the city offers 800 kilometers of pathways for you. It’s the most extensive network of urban pathways and bikeways in North America. Even if you’re downtown, the trails along the Bow River and Elbow River are spectacular and well-traveled.

If you’re looking for natural beauty, there are a few other destinations close by. Banff National Park is about an hour away by car, and offers some of the best downhill skiing in the world. Jasper, closer to Edmonton and about a five hour drive from Calgary, also has excellent skiing. Both locations are home to national parks that are wonderful places to camp and hike.

Calgary is within striking distance of other places to see. Edmonton is only a three hour drive away going north. There’s great shopping and a water park at the West Edmonton Mall, for starters. There are plenty of museums and galleries to take in in the city, too.

The US border is a three hour drive away from Calgary in the opposite direction. On the other side, you can visit Glacier National Park, which is a United Nations World Heritage site. It’s home to more than 1,000 different species of plants, and hundreds of different kinds of animals.

A little longer of a drive at more than 10 hours is Vancouver. It’ll take you a day, but, once there, you can visit the ocean or take part in the city’s culture.

While some people may feel Calgary is a bit of an island because, unlike Toronto, there aren’t any major cities right beside it, it’s not nearly as isolated as you might think. There are places you can check out if you don’t mind putting a bit of gas in the tank.

Calgary is home to a vibrant arts scene, from premier art galleries and museums to world-renowned festivals and events. There’s no shortage of things to do when you’re living in Calgary.

Every season is festival season in Calgary! The arts scene hosts Calgary International Film Festival, High Performance Rodeo, Calgary Folk Music Festival, and more. Or if you’d prefer something more hands, Beakerhead is where art, science, and engineering come together.

If the weather isn’t to your liking, you could simply wait for those chinook winds to warm things up, or head indoors to Telus Spark science center, the Glenbow Museum, or the Esker Foundation.

And any list of Calgary events wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the Calgary Stampede, of course! The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth is famous for a reason: it’s a spectacle that the entire city gets behind. Happening for 10 days in July, it’s something you’ve got to see at least once.

No matter what type of mood you’re in, Calgary has a scene for you. There’s certainly plenty of dancing, music, and bars to be found in every genre. The huge dance hall Cowboys is “the most fun you can have with your boots on”, while the Blues Can offers live music 7 days a week.

dmesg (diagnostic messages) is a command on most Unix-like operating systems that prints the message buffer of the kernel The output includes messages produced by the device drivers dmesg (diagnostic messages) is a command on most Unix-like

Mister Nice Guy's Bakeshop

Address: 151 Union Rd, Ascot Vale VIC 3032, Australia

There are no basic entry qualifications required to become an HCA You will receive all the training you require as part of your first 6mths in

• Put your car into second gear and switch on the ignition, pressing down the clutch.
• Get a friend or passer-by to push the car until it reaches between 5-10 miles per hour.
• Release the clutch quickly when the car reaches 5-10 miles per hour.