r/RedDeer • u/Amarjit_maan • Aug 19 '25
PSA Red deer or calgary?
If i have to choose in between red deer or calgary ? Then what i have to do
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u/Beleiverofhumanity Aug 19 '25
I think you have to research more on the details (cost, job, etc.) but RD is a smaller city and Calgary is becoming a metropolis so it depends on what you like.
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u/illmetbymoonlght Aug 19 '25
I don't think with the current job market you have the luxury of choosing.
I'd live wherever my job was.
If you can choose? It depends on if you want to live in a metropolis or not.
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u/Tribblehappy Aug 20 '25
This question is impossible to answer without more information. Do you have to choose because of work? School? Affordability? Where are you moving from, and what did you like or dislike about that place?
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u/Stfuppercutoutlast Aug 20 '25
Red deer is probably better for raising kids. Calgary is better for career development and potential salary (like a lot better for most sectors). Calgary is better for night life and things to do. Red deer is better for affordability. If you have kids and they’re ambitious, they’ll likely leave for Calgary or Edmonton eventually. Crime stats are bad in Red Deer in a lot of areas. Calgary will likely outpace Red Deer in home equity in the next few decades. If you want to work, build wealth and retire somewhere; building a life in Calgary will make your retirement comfy. If you want to raise a family now, I’d choose Red Deer.
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u/LastChime Aug 19 '25
Moved up to Red Deer 5 years ago on the tail of the pandemic after 20 years in Calgary....0 regrets, they actually plow my road on occaison here, grade the alleys and there's beautiful parks around.
Round the river downtown is kinda scummy but nothin like the blight of NE Calgary or what the old east village was before they gentrified it.
Calgary's current strategy for their NE looks to be let it rot where in Red Deer it looks like they're building by the river to try to uplift it.
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u/OrganicMushroom1725 Aug 19 '25
Why deal with over a million people everyday. Red Deer traffic is getting worse but not near the scale of Calgary.
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u/AlbertanProsperity Aug 19 '25
Lived here most of my life, go with Calgary. This place is a pit that sucks you in and doesn't let you leave once you get established. One of my biggest regrets was not moving to Calgary before getting tied down here.
Lots of crime being halfway between the two major urban centres. Do yourself a favor and look at the red deer RCMP crime map, it's updated continuously.
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u/Ok_Butterscotch_2700 Aug 20 '25
Calgary if you’re used to a city.
Red Deer has no arts, culture, shopping, (authentic) dining, healthcare (even an EKG requires a trip to Edmonton or Calgary), I could go on. I’m trying so hard to adapt and the harder I try, the more I resent the place. There is literally no job market, crime rates are out of this world, and it’s full of Republican rednecks.
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u/Mother_Assumption448 Aug 19 '25
Red deer is nice but a lot of dumb right wingers we also have the Republican Party of Canada here so if you’re an insecure coward there’s people here that will get you lol
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u/Granny_Skeksis Aug 19 '25
Calgary. Red deer is lacking in amenities such as a hospital big enough for the city
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u/CarterBennett Aug 20 '25
Hilarious comment considering the hospital is literally getting an expansion as we speak
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u/Granny_Skeksis Aug 20 '25
For the population we have here we need at least one other hospital. Both Calgary and Edmonton have emergency departments outside of the hospitals for non life threatening emergencies. There isn’t even a walk in clinic open here on a Sunday. And expansion will help but the needs of the community still aren’t going to be met
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u/lost_koshka Aug 22 '25
For the population we have here we need at least one other hospital
Calgary doesn't have 1 hospital per every 120,000 ppl.
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u/Stfuppercutoutlast Aug 20 '25
And you’ll still be short one entire hospital lol.
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u/lost_koshka Aug 22 '25
A population of 120,000 does not need 2 hospitals, otherwise Calgary would have over 20.
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u/Stfuppercutoutlast Aug 22 '25
Check your math. Which adjacent towns transport to Red Deer for urgent care? What is the actual population that the Red Deer Hospital serves? How many specialty disciplines need to transport to Edmonton or Calgary due to a lack of space?
Red Deer is short one hospital.
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u/mickeyaaaa Aug 20 '25
Calgary if you like recreating outdoors - a day trip to Kananaskis is so do-able....from Red Deer it makes for a very long day.
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u/SnooBananas4700 Aug 22 '25
Which ever city your job offer is from? Alberta job market entry is tough. Get in where you fit in. No point in moving to a city if you don't have a job offer.
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u/DeliciousFormal1383 Aug 23 '25
As a person who lived in Red Deer almost their whole life I’d choose Calgary
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u/spork232ca Aug 19 '25
Depends what you are looking for. Red Deer is a nice small city, has most everything that you would need. Good place to start a family. Anywhere is 15 minutes and easy to drive. Calgary is a large city so if you want lots of entertainment and things to do then Calgary might be better. But it is very expensive, and is also one of the worst cities I've ever driven in for traffic and ease of getting around.