What is living in Okotoks like?

[JB_AOL]

Went out for a drive south of the city yesterday and kind of liked the area.
Any body live in Okotoks? Do you like it? Pros/Cons? What are the schools like?
I'd be commuting to downtown Calgary, but I already cummute from Evergreen, so what's an extra 15mins.

I'd appreciate any info shared.
Thanks in Advance.

[Okotokian]

Ok, deep breath... here goes. Moved there 21 years ago when the population was 5,000 and there was one single stop light. Current population is nearing 25,000.

I commute to downtown. Usually go to the end of the c-train line, park, and take train, though sometime I drive right downtown. The commute is what I dislike most about living there. It's a pain, pure and simple, and you had better plan on at least an hour. There ARE two bus runs each morning and afternoon that go to and from downtown, but I've only taken them a few times as you usually need reservations and you have no flexibility as to when you can leave work. They are studying regular transit to Calgary. I doubt it will be long.
\
That said I like pretty much everything else. Schools: They are great, especially the Catholic system. Among the highest rated in the province in the ratings that the Fraser Institute puts out each year. No gangs, few problems. My two sons (23 and 21) both say they would like to move back when the time comes to raise a family.

The town is very youth/family oriented and safe. There are tons of sports, arts, other activities. The river valley is fantastic, good fly fishing, tubing, etc. parks and walking trails all along it. Love going to Seaman Stadium, having a few cold ones and watching a Dawgs baseball game. Great way to spend a summer afternoon or evening. Beautiful new baseball park.

Don't have to go into Calgary too much anymore now that the town has Walmart SuperCentre, Home Depot, Costco, lots of large grocery stores and a ton of restaurants.

Mountain views are great. I think the town is much prettier than any other bedroom community around Calgary. All in all happy I moved there.

[JB_AOL]

Thanks.
One of our concerns was post-secondary schools. As in, it will cost us more, because we either need to buy them a vehicle to commute or they rent in the city. This is years away (15+), but was something we were concerned about.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

Thanks.
One of our concerns was post-secondary schools. As in, it will cost us more, because we either need to buy them a vehicle to commute or they rent in the city. This is years away (15+), but was something we were concerned about.

We have found that for that very reason a lot of kids we know went away to university, including our own (U of A). Other parents bought houses or condos in Calgary and had their kids live there. Some do commute. In 15 years I suspect the commute will be much easier to SAIT or the U of C. Heck, the C-train will probably be there. But they can still just drive to the end of the line and hop on a train right to either school.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

Thanks.
One of our concerns was post-secondary schools. As in, it will cost us more, because we either need to buy them a vehicle to commute or they rent in the city. This is years away (15+), but was something we were concerned about.

A lot can change in 15 years... and you never know what your children will decide when the time comes. From our house, it is fairly easy to get to the U of C using public transit. Each of our four children chose their own path and the location of our house did not seem to figure into that decision as none will graduate from the U of C.

ARG

[eastcoast]

I would guess it's ok except for maybe having okotokian as a neighbour.

[New Hunter Okotoks]

Living in Okotoks is great;especially if you like fishing the Southern Reservoirs!

We love it here. The people are generally very friendly. I can get to any store in Okotoks within 10 minutes. The Urgent Care Medical Facility is only a 45 minute at most;from what I've experienced. We commute to Calgary for work but I find that it's really not that bad.

I have two girls; aged 2 and 4. Part of out reason for moving to Okotoks 4 years ago was the high quality school system out here. I am lucky enough to live on a street with 2 CPS Members on it as well. It really does not matter that much though,as crime is low. Also,I have not seen any "Tagging" on mail boxes,fences etc.

If you move into the Crystal Shores area,you will have access to a Community Lake which has a beautiful Lake House and is well stocked with Rainbows.

[heybert]

My wife and I moved just south of Okotoks about 5 years ago. We love it out here even with the 77 km commute to work. We have access to most anything the city can offer, but a lot less hassle. Heck, go into Costco to pick up a few things and you don't have to wait in line for an hour. Cheap 1st run theatre, lots of recreational activities, our own hockey and baseball teams, and now 2 Tim Horton's!!!!!

[twofifty]

Be very careful with on-street parking...

[slivers86]

Okotoks was an alright place to grow up... compared to the BC life...

Schools are decent all the way up. Sports in the schools were big when I went through (grad 04). Public highschool was far superior when it came to options and career type stuff than catholic. The ' Alberta High School of Fine Arts' was great to attend! I use nothing I learnt in highschool now however... why didn't I take law? Lol

The town definitely has big city crime, and a drug problem. You literally dont need to leave okotoks anymore unless you are looking for big name brand stores, and than its only 40 minutes to chinook or south center.

Sheep is a great river for a mid summer dip, tubing, or fishing for rainbows, whites, and bulls and the occasional stray other species of trout.

Pathway systems are great and nearly endless in the river valley and communities.

I was more than happy with the recreation facilities, and the pool is very nice with the new (5 year old now???) renovations that took place making it salt water!

[eastcoast]

Originally Posted by twofifty

Be very careful with on-street parking...

[slivers86]

Originally Posted by twofifty

Be very careful with on-street parking...

as with everywhere now days. know your municiple bylaws so you don't get tickets

[JB_AOL]

Not too concerned about the post secondary thing, it was just one of "bad" things we could think of.

The town definitely has big city crime, and a drug problem.

Can't be any worse than the big city..

Our reason for considering Okotoks basically revolve around more value for the money (ie larger lots than Calgary). Where we live not (Evergreen), we've had 3 grow ops busts. So yah.

Guess I'll have to research the bylaws.. What specifically is the problem.

Thanks everyone.. Please keep it coming..

[twofifty]

Neighbourhood parking watch - they're everywhere not just in Okotoks.
Don't buy a house near a condo or appt. building and you'll be fine.

[JB_AOL]

Well.. I've got a 33' Travel trailer that will sit out front for no more than 24 hours as we load it. It will be hooked up to the truck. Although some of the lots I've seen, I'd be able to park it on the driveway to load.

[slivers86]

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

Well.. I've got a 33' Travel trailer that will sit out front for no more than 24 hours as we load it. It will be hooked up to the truck. Although some of the lots I've seen, I'd be able to park it on the driveway to load.

see, and thats fine... I've gone out with bylaw before and they give a warning, and come back in 24 hrs. They are fairly reasonable, as long as they are met with respect. And if you need to park for over 24hrs, just pull into walmart - its free

One other note, you're right, it can't be worse than the big city crime. Its a fairly good town to live in, as a kid, it was fun, but I made more friends in Calgary... just my choice!

Hope the town works out for ya !

[justsomeguy]

What are the range options??

[tola]

Hello everyone
I want to move to okotoks. I get job as cook 13$ per hr
Plz i need advice from u
Im not thinking for 13$ i know its not enough but im looking for my future and i will bring my wife wz will work together
Plz ineed u re advice from u thank u

[IR_mike]

Originally Posted by tola

Hello everyone
I want to move to okotoks. I get job as cook 13$ per hr
Plz i need advice from u
Im not thinking for 13$ i know its not enough but im looking for my future and i will bring my wife wz will work together
Plz ineed u re advice from u thank u

Problem solved.

As noted above Okatokians kids are out of the nest.

Spare rooms available and he is always looking to learn new cooking techniques.

You can thank me later OKI.
Best to you and yours in 2015 and good luck with that elk tag.

[Winch101]

It's not quite busy like Cowtown but close . It use to be quiet .
Different kind of traffic problems ,blue hairs and near deads ,
Don't be in a hurry 9 to 5 .
Pretty high taxes for what you get . No good restaurants .
It's just like any big city . 5 yrs it will be Calgary SES .
I would go further south ,Nanton , Clareholm .
If you owned a 33 ft. Bayliner I would have said
High River ,just tie it to the porch .
In my neighbour hood 24 hr. 10 mins ....bylaw

[EZM]

Originally Posted by tola

Hello everyone
I want to move to okotoks. I get job as cook 13$ per hr
Plz i need advice from u
Im not thinking for 13$ i know its not enough but im looking for my future and i will bring my wife wz will work together
Plz ineed u re advice from u thank u

At $13 an hour, some is taking advantage of you unless you are flipping burgers at McDonalds.

Tim Hortons in Edmonton was recently advertising $15/hr for people to pour coffee and screw up orders.

$20 / hr is entry level labor rate for jobs like manufacturing or warehouse ... a 60% premium to what you are looking at might be a better choice if you are trying to feed your family, albeit, you are not cooking and maybe its something you love to do.

I carefully consider your options before moving for $13/hr.

[mich]

Our family goes back a lot longer than all of the posters. Okotoks is not a town anymore, it is a subdivision of Calgary, commuting is the norm and has been since the 70's.
It is better than the city and the available amenities pretty much mean you do not ever need to go to the city. If you have kids it is a great place.

Our kids are gone and we will be soon

[Dave P]

Bumping an old thread.

Wondering if anyone has moved from Calgary to Okotoks recently?

Giving it some serious thought.

Thanks for any insight!

Dave

[Dave P]

Well bought a place in Okotoks so committed now haha.

Still looking for the good, the bad, the ugly haha

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by Dave P

Bumping an old thread.

Wondering if anyone has moved from Calgary to Okotoks recently?

Giving it some serious thought.

Thanks for any insight!

Dave

Relative just moved away. The commuting costs to Calgary were very high. Racking up lots of mileage, gas, maintenance on vehicles. Risk of bad roads in winter made driving all the worse.

They said other than the commute, the town was nice.

We visited a fair bit and liked the atmosphere.

[TheFall]

Originally Posted by Dave P

Bumping an old thread.

Wondering if anyone has moved from Calgary to Okotoks recently?

Giving it some serious thought.

Thanks for any insight!

Dave

I moved to Okotoks about 5 years ago after renting for years in Calgary.

Okotoks is the best! If you are into that type of atmosphere. It is sort of a town feel with most of the amenities you expect in Calgary. For us, we were able to get way more house/land than in Calgary for the same price. I am not sure if that is still the case. Our neighbourhood is pretty decent for space, the houses all have a great amount of space between them and everyone has a large/super large backyard. Even with our 24x24 foot detached garage, we have a huge back yard. Not always the case, but for a newer neighbourhood there is triple the space of some of the new neighbourhoods in south Calgary.

The Costco is always manageable and I find I am always less frustrated leaving it that than leaving a Costco in Calgary.

There are a great selection of local and big business.

The Town has a lot of great events throughout the year as well, especially if you have kids. I can not speak to the quality of the schooling system, but a lot of our friends say that they are pretty happy.

If you have a dog, the dog park is huge! There are also walking paths (I think over 50km now) that join all the communities so they are great to go and walk around.

Generally I find the town to be ran pretty well as well, they do a good job in my opinion and will sometimes send out questionnaires about property tax spending.

I commute to downtown Calgary, used to be every day, but now it is only 2 times a week. My wife and I used to carpool and it made it quite cheap compared to taking the train/bus even with parking downtown. I usually leave my place around 6:30, takes me between 35-50 minutes, but generally on the low side of that as there is not a whole lot of traffic at that time of the day. Coming home can take a bit longer but that is really dependent on what time I finish work for the day. My commute to work is shorter than some of my co-workers living in Calgary, and it is much shorter than my previous hour and 20 before moving. It is a pain sometimes but overall the time driving home is nice to decompress from work.

The Commute to Calgary is offset by how close the mountains and Kananaskis are for us. Lots of times after work in the summer we will drive out and go for a hike or see the sites. Makes it really nice for going camping on Friday nights.

Overall I am pretty happy, everyone is nice, it is rare I have to go to Calgary to get something, I am currently happy with how the town is being ran. Calgary was a bit fast and loud for me when I lived there.

[Okotok]

Lived there for 14 years and moved to Calgary in 2007 as my Daughters were doing post secondary in Calgary plus my wife hated the highway drive for her frequent shopping trips. 8500 people when I moved there in 93. Still a beautiful town although with way more amenities now.

The Sheep River is a big plus. Besides great fishing, the rafting was great when water levels were right. The trip from the pumphouse upstream, over the 4' x 45 degree falls was always a hoot and ending in town or down by Seaman's stadium was a great hot afternoon trip. Many great swimming holes but one of our favourites was West of the Fasgas by the railroad crossing. Great swimming and snorkeling where you could see lots of big bulls, rainbows and suckers.

Close to Kananaskis on the East side of the range is great too. Sandy McNab and Bluerock Creek at the end of the road are very nice campgrounds. Indian Oils and Sheep Falls and the rest of the hiking around there is verging on world class beautiful.

[Austin]

Just bought and moving to Oko this month from Edmonton, born and raised. I’m surprised they let me in? Lol

[Dave P]

Been here since June 30th. Great town, everyone is pretty friendly. Only thing its missing is a dedicated Fly Shop/Fishing Store haha

[justsomeguy]

For fishing check out Fly's Etc in High River, 15 minutes south of town.