Cccchanges

So, after being gone 10 months, I've returned home to what is now "post boom" Calgary. First thing you notice is that there are 1000's of apartments. In fact, as I write this Rentfaster has a sum total of about 3800 available units. In 2007, there were 400 listed on Rentfaster. The prices have dropped a wee bit, but nothing spectacular. What really blows my mind is that Mission (3 blocks wide, 9 blocks) has 70 units available for rent.

Calgary is often maligned in the media..especially Eastern media that loves to point out the rapid rise in EU claimants or how the unemployment rate has "soared" in Calgary. It's a point of contention...because prior to the recession there WAS NO unemployment in Calgary. It's basic math, 2 is 100% more than 1...so it doesn't take much to post huge increases in EI claimants. Same for the unemployment rate. Two years ago it was 3 %, today it's in the high 6's..6.9% or something like that. Sounds bad until you realize that that figure was the unemployment rate in Toronto during GOOD times.

What I do notice being home is that there is a slight change in the "spend spend spend" mentality of people. I was surprised to sit in OJ's in Mission and have them offer me specials. The other thing that caught my eye was empty seats. A few months back, I went into OJ's and it had 10 people in it on Saturday. Of late, I find it to be fuller & places like Joyce on 4th are often near capacity. Compare this to just 18 months ago when I'd walk up and down 4th street trying to find a place that had an available seat. I notice that there is more focus on "deal" nights and prices are starting to get cut.

Up in Edmonton I was spoiled. I could pull into a Tim Hortons or another coffee shop and there would be 2 people in line. I lived on Whyte Ave in Edmonton.."the" urban area to live. I'd walk in the Tim Horton's and you'd be lucky to see 3 people in line in the morning. The Purple Perk, Starbucks, etc have the usual long lines. Same for many of the places that sell you lunch in the core.

So life here did pull back, but Calgary and Alberta in general seems to have escaped the brutal recession that hit Ontario and the USA. Energy prices still remain high (very high compared to even 5 years ago)..so overall I'd say things look positive.

Just means the end of the 25K bonuses and 3 flex days a month at the local oil company. Perhaps that's a good thing too. There is such a thing as too much money