Small towns around Calgary could see an influx of residents in the coming years

Content of the article

Richard and Wendy Davis enjoyed living in Calgary, where they lived for 17 years.

But when Richard, who works in IT, retired, they wanted to move to a place with a slower pace of life but an hour's drive from the city. In Calgary, they took advantage of many things Calgary has to offer, including Flames games, concerts and pub parties with friends, as well as their daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren living in the city.

Content of the article

Content of the article

The couple, in their mid-60s, settled in Nanton, 90 kilometers south of Calgary on Highway 2. They moved to a small town of about 2,000 people last October.

It's a simple, unhurried life in Nanton, no fighting for parking spaces and no queuing, says Richard.

Although the southwest Calgary neighborhood of Braeside is busy, driving in Calgary can be challenging, says Wendy.

“When you're coming out of the neighborhood or coming back from Fish Creek or whatever, all of a sudden you're in traffic,” he says. It was like, 'Oh my god, I want to live in a place where I don't have that.'”

But there are no traffic lights in Nanton, says the impatient driver Richard.

The Davies, who moved to Alberta from Montreal in 1991, said noise in Calgary was a bit of a problem — they lived near a fire station and heard sirens all the time — and the city gradually filled up over 17 years. raised their three children in Cochrane in the 1990s until the mid-2000s, when it was a much smaller town.

“We've seen this a lot since COVID,” says Richard of Calgary's overcrowding. “Many of the parks we used to go and walk our dog in are overrun.”

Content of the article

Content of the article

The couple is looking forward to spending this spring, summer and fall getting to know their new hometown better, shopping at local stores, eating at local restaurants, checking out different events in town, and getting to know more people in the community.

By moving to Nanton, they say they got “good bang for our buck” by moving from a four-level split in Calgary to a Nanton bungalow.

“The house is in the same category, but it was a bit cheaper than Calgary in Nanton,” says Richard, adding that the addition of a detached building behind it, which he uses as a shop, was a big selling factor. he is.

“Positive for small communities”

Urban migration to rural communities can be valuable for those small towns, says Kevin McQuillan, author of a new University of Calgary study titled “Exiting the Big City: New Patterns of Migration in Canada.”

“Overall, it's a positive for smaller communities because we see many of them going through declines, declining populations and seniors, and so on. we know that they are experiencing problems,” he says.

People with money in the bank after selling their home in Calgary and moving to the countryside will become valuable taxpayers for their new community, says McQuillan.

Content of the article

“The influx of new citizens gives people the opportunity to work in the community, whether it's running for office or helping out with various non-profit agencies,” he says.

Nanton and other communities near Calgary could see an influx of residents in the coming years if housing costs remain high, McQuillan said.

Canada's largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, have taken a heavy toll on smaller communities in their respective provinces due to recent work trends such as work-from-home and hybrid work, as well as rising housing costs in the big cities. study.

But in Calgary and Edmonton, the number of people leaving the city for other parts of the province is equal to that coming to the city from other Alberta communities, McQuillan said.

More Calgarians may move to smaller communities within commuting distance: author

McQuillan said if housing costs continue to rise, he wouldn't be surprised to see Calgarians decide to move out of the city to communities outside the metropolitan area in the coming years. The Calgary metropolitan area includes Airdrie, Cochrane and Chestermere.

Content of the article

“If you only have to go to work one or two days a week, being 75 or 80 kilometers from your workplace is not the end of the world,” he says. “If you had to do it five days a week, it would be quite a challenge, but if you only did it one or two days a week, it probably wouldn't be such a big challenge.”

In part due to the pandemic, many people have adapted to working from home and hybrid situations are becoming more common, opening up more ways to live.

“Both the housing issue and the job issue will be important in deciding where people want to go,” says McQuillan.

Housing prices are an important factor in deciding where people choose to live, he says.

“For younger people, they're looking for cheaper housing by moving away from cities,” says McQuillan, adding that in Toronto's case, older residents are cashing in on valuable real estate.

Small communities available: Realtors

Nanton Realtor Allison Isbell says Calgarians are moving to smaller communities like Nanton because of affordability.

“As much as (prices) go up, it's a lot cheaper than Okotoks and High River and Calgary,” he says. “If you're willing to travel, you can get a much bigger, nicer house here. Or we will attract pensioners or young families.”

Content of the article

Local realtors in Nanton say the housing market is at an all-time high, with several homes on the market at any given time, and buyers snapping up homes — sometimes for above asking price — quickly after they go up for sale. In years past, there were usually 25-30 homes on the market in Nanton, but now there are only a few.

The situation in High River is the same as it was among the other communities Davis reviewed. Prices are significantly lower in the city of 14,000 than in Calgary, which is the biggest source of buyers for High River homes other than locals moving in, says Realtor Jim Ross.

“The median (single-family) price here is $200,000 less than the median home price in Calgary,” says Ross.

Wells also attributes High River's appeal in part to what he calls excellent medical care in the city, including a hospital with a 24-hour emergency department, maternity unit and cancer center. It appeals to both seniors and families, he says.

“High River is a very safe, comfortable, attractive small town to live in,” says Ross. It adds to the city's abundance of green space, school system and kindergarten capacity, and a short drive to the south end of Calgary in less than 25 minutes.

Content of the article