You are welcome!
Never been to Calgary. How was it? Did you post about it?
No, I haven't posted about Calgary (or my tour) yet.
To start off, the city is extremely clean. The suburbs of the city are very spaced and are indistinguishable from the satellite cities of Toronto (Brampton, Mississauga, York, etc.). Calgary has the nicest downtown of any city I visited (compared to Vancouver and Toronto). Your life in Calgary will be very similar to living in any city in Ontario, but with nicer people.
If you wish to travel through the city, there is the C-train, but it only covers a little bit of the east, west, and south of Calgary. The bus transit is like any other city in Ontario. It takes an hour to go anywhere whereas driving will take you 20 mins max.
When I first landed in Calgary, it felt like a dead city with no culture. However, the more time I spent there, the more I liked it. To start with, Calgary is truly multicultural. In other parts of Canada, each region is dominated by particular demography. That wasn't the case here. You will meet people from all parts of the world throughout the city and isn't dominated by just one race. Unfortunately, if you want a vacation or would like to visit nature spots, you would have to go to Banff, which is like just one hour away from Calgary. If you travel around the city during the day, you will barely see anyone anywhere. The city comes to life during the evening. Even downtown feels like less of a downtown and more like a place people go to relax, with people taking walks and enjoying themselves in the restaurants and malls.
Even though people say Calgary is cheap, I didn't find it so. It may be cheaper than other cities in Canada but the rent over there is still comparable to a place in, say, Brampton or Mississauga. Houses are only cheap to own and not rent. Groceries and other things cost the same as in any other city in Ontario. It's only the tax (which is 5% on most things) that provides a little bit of a breather. I actually found the food to be cheaper in BC (to eat out and for groceries).
Weather-wise, it is true what they say about Calgary. It is very dry over there. I found myself reaching for a water bottle every 15-minutes or so. Although I visited in the peak of summer, during the mornings, it's like 12 degrees C during the early hours over there.
Having said that, I would still prefer to live in Vancouver initially just until I can own a car and drive it. The Vancouver Skytrain beats any public transport in Canada. I have heard similar things about the subway system in Montreal but I didn't visit it, unfortunately. I find Calgary to be more similar and had many parallels with life in Ontario. For example, if you don't own a car, it's impossible to do anything outside of Calgary. It's important to keep in mind that there are only 3 cities in the whole of Alberta province, which is not true for Ontario or BC.
