Calgary vs. Ottawa

[If you have reached this page because you wanted to know how long it takes to move from Ottawa to Calgary, I can tell you that it is 3500 km (2100 miles) if you drive on the Canadian side the whole time, which is what we did when we moved in August 2008. We documented the trip in a series of posts, which can be found here. Our total travel time was 46 hours, driving in a moving truck at about 100 km/h and stopping regularly to change baby diapers.]

We've been in Calgary for two weeks now, and in that time I've noticed a few major differences between the two cities. Instead of construction updates, we'll start with a city comparison.

1. Driving Speed
Every place I've ever lived, people always claim that the local drivers are the worst ever. This is not the case in Calgary, that's for sure. Here, everybody drives EXACTLY the speed limit. It's quite a change from Ottawa, where everyone drives 20 km/h above the speed limit as a general rule. I think the difference is enforcement. The Ottawa Police hardly spend any time running speed traps, and they don't use photo radar. Photo radar is quite widely used in Calgary, and people have slowed down as a result. With everyone driving the same speed, they end up traveling in tight formations from one traffic light to the next. It's almost eerie.

2. Temperature
It could totally be a fluke, but we've noticed a significant drop in temperature between Ottawa and Calgary. This is a good thing, because the car that we bought here doesn't have a/c.

3. Tim Horton's
In Ottawa (as well as most of Ontario), each street corner is marked clearly with a street sign and a Tim Horton's coffee and donut shop. In Calgary, so far I've only seen one Tim Horton's shop that I can think of.

4. Help Wanted
In Calgary, every place of business has a "Now Hiring" sign out front, as companies struggle through the labour shortage caused by the tremendous economic boom taking place in the province of Alberta. This shortage can also translate into service problems inside the stores. For example, we went to a recently-opened Home Depot near here and there was one guy running about a quarter of the store. We needed help with plumbing and this guy was there. When we needed some wire cut, it was the same guy. Unfortunately, he was so busy in plumbing that he took 15 minutes to come and cut the wire.


Scott is adapting to the changes admirably. His sleep has been thrown off a bit, and we're finding that some nights he wakes up more frequently than before. We've discovered that he giggles the most if you tickle his ribs while his shirt is off for a diaper change. He still chokes on his laughs a bit, but he doesn't slip into hiccups every time like he used to.